Original sound for musicians issues - Mac | Community
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hmmassey
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January 30, 2025
Question

Original sound for musicians issues - Mac

  • January 30, 2025
  • 3 replies
  • 2 views

I'm running online singing lessons using a Macbook Air, and always have original sound for musicians enabled so that my voice doesn't cut out and I can play the piano at the same time. Of late - the last month or so - I find my students are complaining they can't hear me. I'm too quiet. I've tried increasing the microphone input, but it's on its max. The automatic adjustment doesn't work either. Am I missing a new setting somewhere? 

3 replies

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lrac
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February 27, 2025

Same problem! But it's been on my students end.... even though they have original sound for musicians on, their sound has been completely muted. I found a work around. But extremely frustrating. Does zoom have an answer?

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WalkingRiver
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March 23, 2025

Been running into the same situation. My church has three nearly identical M1 MacBook Airs. Two of them are flawless and can use Original Sound for Musicians perfectly. The third cannot. We thought it might be the mic, but we've switched them around and only one MacBook ever has this problem. We've compared settings, both in the OS and in Zoom. We're using Zoom solely for audio, with no extra software in the audio path. 

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WalkingRiver
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March 23, 2025
Hi everyone, I wanted to share a solution for those experiencing audio issues during Zoom calls on macOS, especially if your music (like piano) is being muted or sounds too quiet for participants, even with "Original Sound for Musicians" enabled. The culprit might be macOS’s Voice Isolation mode, which filters out background sounds like music to prioritize your voice. Here’s how to turn it off while in a Zoom meeting:
  1. Open the Control Center:
    • While in a Zoom meeting, look at the top-right corner of your screen in the menu bar. You should see an icon that looks like a microphone or sound icon (it might be orange if the mic is active).
    • Click this icon to open the Control Center. (On some macOS versions, you might need to click the time or sound icon to access it.)
  2. Find the Mic Mode Setting:
    • In the Control Center, look for a section labeled Mic Mode. It will show the app currently using the microphone (e.g., "zoom.us").
    • You’ll see a dropdown with options like "Standard," "Voice Isolation," and possibly "Wide Spectrum."
  3. Switch to Standard Mode:
    • If "Voice Isolation" is selected, click the dropdown and choose Standard. This will stop macOS from filtering out background sounds like music, which should help with lessons or performances.
    • (Note: If you see "Wide Spectrum," that’s another option to preserve music, but "Standard" usually works best for most setups.)
  4. Verify the Change:
    • Test your audio with a student or by recording yourself in Zoom to ensure both your voice and any instruments (like a piano) are coming through clearly.
Important Reminder: Enable Original Sound for Musicians in Zoom
Even with Voice Isolation turned off, you still need to enable "Original Sound for Musicians" in Zoom to ensure the best audio quality for music and singing:
  • In your Zoom meeting, look at the top-right corner of the Zoom window.
  • Click the Original Sound toggle (it might say "Turn on Original Sound for Musicians").
  • Make sure it’s On. This prevents Zoom from applying its own audio compression, which can interfere with music.
Why This Happens
We noticed this issue on one of our M1 MacBook Airs but not others, even though the settings looked identical. It seems macOS might enable Voice Isolation by default after an update, or it could be a bug with how Zoom and macOS interact. Turning off Voice Isolation fixed the problem for us, and I hope it helps you too! Unfortunately, I couldn’t upload screenshots to show the menu, but the steps above should be straightforward.
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