Zoom bluetooth audio crippled

[bkummel]

Hi,

I have this issue where during a Zoom meeting, the audio suddenly starts to sound crippled. On a level that I can barely understand what others in the meeting are saying. This only happens when I use a bluetooth headset. At first I thought the headset was the issue. I got it replaced by a headset from a different brand, but the issue remains. I don't have crippled sound when using the headset for e.g. listening to music. It also does not happen always. I can get the sound back to normal by disconnecting the bluetooth and then connect again. I hear from colleagues that they experience the same with different headsets and also only with Zoom.

Does anyone else recognize this problem? Is there a way to prevent the crippling from starting? It's really annoying to have to disconnect the headset in the middle of a meeting!

[storyhub]

Audio is very complex on computer systems and depends upon many factors. You have not stated what device and OS is being used which further complicates the possibilities.

As a best guess I would guess that you did not connect to the device using the bluetooth connect feature of Zoom.

[bkummel]

Hi @storyhub ,

Thanks for your reply. I run Zoom on a MacBook air (M2, 2023) running macOS 15.1. I've updated to the latest version of Zoom.

Can you elaborate more about the bluetooth connect feature? As far as I'm aware the bluetooth connection is the responsibility of macOS. But let me know if there's another way to connect, happy to try!

[bkummel]

Thanks for you reply, @storyhub !

I'm running Zoom on a MacBook air (M2, 2023), running macOS 15.1.

Can you elaborate more on the "Bluetooth Connect" feature you mentioned? As far as I'm aware, the only way to connect a bluetooth device is through the macOS bluetooth menu.

[storyhub]

Apple devices have very complex audio management requiring permissions and special devices that follow all of Apple's requirements. If the device connected only supports 44.1K sample rate that can lead to issues. If the device connected is a bluetooth speaker and a mic that device may not work as a speaker device for shared audio because it is a bluetooth device. Bluetooth is not a well established standard and is not a recommended technology in the pro audio world because of many incompatibility situations. If your bluetooth headset was not produced by Apple then incompatibility is an expected issue. Additionally, bluetooth has significant latency that will throw lip sync off. As an audio engineer we avoid bluetooth devices because of all these issues. On iPads and iPhones Zoom has a separate bluetooth connect function as a part of the speaker function. A bluetooth device that works on an iPad or iPhone with Zoom may not work on a PC with Zoom even when it APPEARS to be properly connected. If you want to use Apple devices and their airplay technology it is highly recommended that you ONLY use Apple bluetooth devices. Apple does not give out all the compatibility rules to other manufacturers to force users to use only Apple devices. If you want to use non Apple devices it is best to use USB or analog technology.