Original Sound by Default

[PRM-KS]

Hello - just updated zoom today (11.02.22) and it seems like Original Sound needs to be turned on manually every time now.

For the last few months it was already always on once I did it initially ... and this was so amazing. No more messing up meetings where I share audio or workshops where we're working on music things and I just know its going to sound amazing from the beginning without the extra awkward "wait let me turn on original sound".

Is there a way for me to turn original sound on and let it be that way forever on the newest version? If not...can this become a thing please?

[YaBoiB]

Hello @frednow, 

 You are correct. Please forgive my verbiage. I have reached out to the Engineering team and I am awaiting their response. 

Regards,

Brandon

[kareebee]

I'm so hopeful that this can be fixed!!! We are so rushed at start of meetings to have to look for and click this, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE have a default in settings.  I've blown soo many recordings and am very upset.

[bdp]

Hello Brandon,

Any updates on the Original Sound ON option? Would be so helpful for me and my music students  not have to remember to turn it ON each time. It's hard enough to help them even find the Original Sound setting spot as they use different devices - phones, tablets, laptops, etc. Thanks!

[riverszen]

Obviously that response fell on deaf ears. Sigh

[frednow]

Hi Brandon,

As it's been more than two months since your reply, I'm wondering if there has been any movement on this issue? We really need the option to set "Original Sound: ON" as the default preference. Can you give us a progress report on when we can expect this capability?

Thanks,

Fred

[doremiteacher]

Try rolling back to Zoom 5.11.1

open an meeting

See the Original Sound toggle on the screen?

See the down arrow?

See the choices?

The CHOICE to default to "original sound on" is what we are all asking for.  

None of us are asking for a default to "original sound on" for EVERYONE. 

Anyone who is looking for a [temporary] fix to the problem, roll back to Zoom 5.11.1

If/when Zoom has a REQUIRED update in the future, let's all hope that it will give us back the choice that we all had before they took it away. 

[Rayco]

As Khirschmann has stated, that response is NONSENSE.  

In the past you had the option for EITHER, if you wanted it off you could leave it. 

All we are asking is for the to be put back the way it was.  Give everyone the choice they had before. 

The 'majority' if you want to call them that had the option before to have OS set to OFF, now millions of users are having to select this multiple times a day. 

[RevMusic]

Hi Brandon.  Thanks so much for answering all of these things.  As I am a music teacher, and often record videos using Zoom, it would be much appreciated if you could have something that has a default setting for Original Audio.  One thing is this: as soon as I log out of one profile on my computer, and then log into another one (because I have 2 accounts for Zoom -- both from different workplaces), the original sound doesn't even have a checkmark, even though I had previously checked it with both profiles.  I would greatly appreciate if Zoom could have some default settings that was in the main window of Zoom, but could be changed for a meeting if needed.

Thanks again for your time.

[Msteele]

There is a way to install Zoom in Windows from the command line with the Original Sound On permanently  enabled. Only disadvantage is you don't have the option to turn it off, so this may not be desirable for some users. Requires downloading the .msi installer under the “Download for IT Admin” section of Zoom. There are a lot of options available here – primarily for locking out features for users, but also setting other defaults.
https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362163-Mass-deployment-with-preconfigured-settings-for-...
Here’s the command line I used as a test:
msiexec /package ZoomInstallerFull.msi /norestart ZConfig=”EnableOriginalSound=1;AudioAutoAdjust=0”

There's also an option for Mac users which requires copying a plist file to a specific location.

[Rayco]

Interesting, do you have a link for Mac version? 

[Msteele]

Apologize for not seeing your post earlier. In case you haven't seen it, here's the instruction for installing this on a Mac -

https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/115001799006-Mass-Deployment-with-Preconfigured-Settings-f...

[Khirschmann]

This isn't really very useful.  Turning Original Sound on in the settings still doesn't turn it on in the meeting.  It only gives the option to turn it on.  This is not the same as setting Original Sound default to on during meetings.

[curiousGG]

I was able to get it to, within meetings, default "Enable Sound For Musicians: ON" by using the reg key option.

I tried the registry key option without installing a new MSI or anything of the sort. If you do the following (FOR WINDOWS):

1. Access your registry editor
2.  Navigate to "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Zoom\Zoom Meetings\Meetings"
   1. Note -- if the folders aren't there, you will need to right-click -> new key and make the folders verbatim
3. (Inside the Meetings Folder) Create a DWORD Key called "EnableOriginalSound" with value "1"
   1. This is the internal value that Zoom has opted to make "0" (False) after the update that changed it for everyone
4. Save and close Regedit and Zoom. Restart Zoom
5. If you open a new meeting, assuming you had in the preferences set it to the original sound, the in-meeting config that you had to re-apply every time should be defaulted (and only set to) "ON"

These settings were tested on a Free tier account with no enterprise which, this policy is for and what Zoom is obliged to make as an option for customers who pay (as group policies are). It is interesting that they opted to default to off; we can only hypothesize as to why. 

That being said, this hasn't been tested on enterprise or other accounts in which one is not the admin or has the authority to change such settings on their computer. In the end, this is still a workaround, one that might need to be re-applied when Zoom is updated, but at least you won't need to re-apply the setting every time.

[curiousGG]

Update/Note: When this setting is enabled, after testing, it looks like it may force the original sound for musicians as "ON" regardless of the preference set in Zoom settings (e.g. you switch from "Original Sound" back to "Zoom Background Noise Removal", the audio will still sound as if original sound is on within the active meeting). That means, as a consideration, you may need to restart Zoom and change the previous registry value to "0" or remove it should you want the regular/previous Zoom behavior.

[Rayco]

We used to be able to click one button in Zoom and it was switched on every time we started Zoom, WHY SHOULD WE HAVE TO DO ALL THIS ZOOM ??? 

[GroundAttack]

Thanks for this. Very happy to leave original sound on all the time. 

[Vegeman]

The registry hack mentioned here worked for me perfectly in my Windows 11 Home OS, 64 bit.  Granted, I didn't see the Zoom folders, but like it was mentioned, just create them verbatim and it should work for you as well.  No need to download Enterprise MSI !!!  Thanks a bunch curiousGG...you rock 🙂

[Rayco]

It worked perfectly well for almost everyone in version 5.11, but since changing this feature there have been thousands of complaint s but NO RESPONSE or action from ZOOM.  Very poor. 

[Rayco]

Still no response fro the Zoom Engineering team, still on Christmas holidays presumably. 

So many requests for this to be fixed.  About time we had a reply. 

[YaBoiB]

Hello All, 

 I sent the feature request to Engineering to add a toggle switch, which is still being reviewed. I do not foresee this will be solved soon, so unfortunately, it will have to be a manual adjustment until the toggle is added. I think everyone in this thread can subscribe to the release notes. I can attempt to reply here occasionally, but I need to find out how long that will take me as I have many duties in my full-time position at Zoom. I, like many of you, volunteer this time to the community to help our wonderful customers. I know that after I sent this request to the developers, they acknowledged the response and are reviewing it with the product team. I apologize, but that is the only information I have now. 

Kind Regards,

Brandon

[Khirschmann]

Brandon,

Thank you for submitting the request.  We appreciate your presence in this community, but based on what you said that you volunteer your time by participating here it sounds to me like Zoom does not truly value the feedback we provide here if you, or someone else, is not here in an official capacity.  I find that truly disappointing, though I am grateful you take a personal interest in listening to our feedback.  I hope the timeline for this can be expedited since this request is simply asking for a previous feature to be restored, rather than a new feature added from scratch.  I guess we'll have to wait and see.  Other than these forums, is there a formal way to provide feedback or make feature requests?

[YaBoiB]

Hi @Khirschmann, 

 We do have a dedicated team for the community and others like me choose to participate and offer up our expertise and experience as Zoom employees. This is not uncommon with most forums in the industry. 

Regards,

Brandon 

[YaBoiB]

Hello All, 

 I did reach out again to the development team to request more information on where we are at with this feature request. I will let you all know as soon as I possibly can. 

Thanks, 

Brandon

[YaBoiB]

Hello All, 

 After speaking with the team, we plan to keep this setting as is.

For desktop Windows users, you can disable audio enhancements in your system settings for audio. We have seen that this is a viable option that will stay enabled/disabled statically for every meeting. 

Please let me know if there is anything further that I can do to assist the team. 

Kind Regards,

Brandon

[chantelleflx]

That's extremely disappointing, but thanks for the update and for sharing the workaround. I'm not sure how anyone would ever think to do that though. Saying it's a viable option just because there's a way to make it work seems a bit of a stretch. Still not understanding why the option to turn original sound on by default within Zoom was removed in the first place.

[Rayco]

Total nonsense, no reason for it to be removed in the first place. 

And not my use to me or the millions of other Mac users out here. 

[doremiteacher]

I am also rather disappointed. 

In addition, I just went to set my computer as you said and the options that you listed are not there at all. 

So, I'm back to my original solution.  I have gone back to ZOOM 5.11 - temporary solution.

Thank you, Brandon, for trying.

[bdp]

Hi Brandon,

Like others, I am disappointed with the development team's response. This setting, Original Sound ON, used to persist, which was how we music people who use Zoom daily for our professional services, including performance and teaching, preferred the setting.  We doubt that most others who use Zoom for voice teleconferencing ever bothered to go into AUDIO settings to turn Original Sound ON.  They probably didn't even know that setting existed. If they occasionally did, it probably hardly impacted their listeners.  (I NEVER have students complain about my speaking voice quality during Zoom music teaching sessions when Original Sound is ON.)

I'm not sure how the "disable audio enhancements" for Windows is going to bridge the gap since I  (and other musicians) find that many/most of my students/clients are using iOs and Android platforms.

Thank you for the update.  Hope the decision will be reconsidered soon.

[doremiteacher]

Hi Brandon.

This "disable audio enhancements" option is not available in my computer.  What else can I do?

[operator]

Dear Brandon,

I know you are volunteering and I don't want to pick on you.  

Does the development team actually use Zoom?  Have they ever heard the difference?

As a retired software engineer, I discovered THE most valuable suggestions came from customers.  When we implemented THOSE suggestions, we were frequently deluged with praise from others who also wanted it but were reluctant to "bother" us.  Anytime we received the same suggestion from two people, the suggestion went high on the queue.  You have many paying customers who are requesting this option!   You are giving your paying customers a reason/excuse to explore other alternatives.  And you do have competitors.  

At the risk of losing your job, please try again to restore the OPTION to turn on Original Music for Musicians in Settings or to have it persist once a user has turned it on.  We just want a choice!

Please!   Thank you!

[Khirschmann]

Brandon,

I need to join my voice to the chorus of disappointment at your decision.  As many others have stated, you have a thread full of people who are simply asking for a feature that was removed to be restored.  The option you presented only works on Windows and a significant number of your customers use Mac, so it is only a viable option for some of your users.  Also, the Windows setting may impact other applications on Windows computers inadvertently.  So truly, it's not as viable as an option as you presume.  Though it may achieve a similar result, there could be unintended consequences.  So once again, I implore you and the engineering team to reconsider.  I just can't fathom why there is resistance to restoring a feature that so many found useful, and many of those on this thread view as vital.  As someone else mentioned, how many more people are out there that relied on this feature that don't or won't participate in this forum for whatever reason.  Just because Zoom has marketshare does not mean there are no viable competitors.  Refusing to consider this request will likely mean a number of us (and not just from this thread) will choose to evaluate your competitors.  But keeping an open dialogue would at least show that Zoom cares about all of their customers, not just the ones who use the features that Zoom deems important.

[Khirschmann]

Just an FYI to everyone else on this thread.  I just checked and Webex offers a default setting for Music Mode which is the equivalent of Original Sound.

[Rayco]

Will check that out as it's obvious Zoom are not listening to paying customers needs. 

[Msteele]

It would be trivial for Zoom to add and extra level of menu labeled 'Expert Settings' or something similar. Then just have an option to make this setting sticky. This would prevent 99% of users that are accidentally leaving original sound on.

[doremiteacher]

Temporary fix:

Roll back to Zoom 5.11.1

Gives us back the choice that we all had before Zoom took it away. 

Of course, in the future, if there is a required update.....???

Let's just hope that, by then, they listen...

[doremiteacher]

Interesting....I keep posting a possible work-around, but my posts keep getting removed. Hmmmm

[YaBoiB]

Hello Everyone, 

 Please know that I hear you. I did put in a Feature Request directly to the Development and Product team, asking for a toggle to allow you to make changes to the original sound. I can do that. What I can’t do is tell you how much time it will take to be developed. I am following that ticket, so I get a notification in my inbox anytime a change is made to the key. I will return to this thread as often as possible, but some may know that developing a switch is not as easy as you think. There are many aspects to adding to the code. I am no developer but I have worked here long enough to know that. 

Know that I hear your frustration and empathize with the music community. I am a big music fan, so I understand your art's importance to you. 

Also, please remember that our team scrutinizes every decision made at Zoom regarding our code. We do not make decisions lightly for any aspect of the product. So, the fact that they made this change means it was necessary for one reason or another. 

I will post it here as soon as I have more information about the feature request. You have my word on that.

Kind Regards,

Brandon 

[operator]

Brandon, Thank you for your continued interest and assistance.  

[Khirschmann]

Ok, this is different from what you said previously, but I'm happy to hear it's still on the table.  I understand these things take time.  Please keep us updated.  Thank you.

[operator]

Brandon,

Thanks for keeping this on the front burner for us.  Your CEO's LinkedIn profile says "your happiness is my happiness."  Since it is important that he know of the unhappiness of many users, I sent a direct message to him this morning.  I wanted you to know that I sent it.  It says:

Dear Eric,

If "Your happiness is my happiness", please review the comments on the Zoom Community

https://community.zoom.com/t5/Meetings/Original-Sound-by-Default/m-p/109738#M63067

The change made, I think in November, has made Zoom users very unhappy.  

The request is to implement a settings SWITCH that would be set by users that would default Original Sound to ON.  Alternatively, the setting could be retained once set by a user.

If you search the Community, you will find many threads asking for such a setting.  

Please check this out.  Thank you.

Sincerely,