--- title: "Why Sony Headphones Sound Bad on Mac Calls" description: "Sony headphones sound muffled or underwater on Zoom or Teams on a Mac? Bluetooth switches modes when the mic is on. Here's why, and how to keep good sound." url: https://opensoundconnect.app/guides/sony-headphones-bad-call-audio-mac language: en --- # Muffled on calls, and why Music sounds great until you join a call, then everything turns flat and muffled. That's Bluetooth, not your headphones, and there's a simple way around it. Applies to: [MDR-1000X](https://opensoundconnect.app/headphones/mdr-1000x), [WH-1000XM2](https://opensoundconnect.app/headphones/wh-1000xm2), [WH-1000XM3](https://opensoundconnect.app/headphones/wh-1000xm3), [WH-1000XM4](https://opensoundconnect.app/headphones/wh-1000xm4), [WH-1000XM5](https://opensoundconnect.app/headphones/wh-1000xm5), [WH-1000XM6](https://opensoundconnect.app/headphones/wh-1000xm6), [WH-1000XX](https://opensoundconnect.app/headphones/wh-1000xx) · Updated 2026-11-03 ## Short answer When a Mac uses your Sony headphones' microphone, Bluetooth switches to a mode that carries the microphone and audio together, and sound quality drops until the microphone is no longer in use. [Apple describes this](https://support.apple.com/en-us/102217) for all Bluetooth headphones. To keep the good sound on calls, use the headphones only for listening: 1. Open **System Settings → Sound → Input** and choose your Mac's built-in microphone (or a USB microphone). 2. Choose the same microphone in your meeting app. 3. Keep the headphones as the **Output**. ## Two Bluetooth modes, one of them for calls Bluetooth headphones connect to a Mac in one of two ways. Sony calls them **Stereo** (A2DP), for music, and **Hands-Free** (HFP/HSP), for calls: | | Stereo (listening) | Hands-Free (calls) | | --- | --- | --- | | Used when | Only sound goes to the headphones | An app uses the headphones' microphone | | Sound quality | Full quality | Reduced: call audio runs at 8 kHz or 16 kHz | | Microphone | Not in use | In use | Apple puts it plainly: when Bluetooth switches to the second mode, "audio quality is reduced until the microphone is no longer in use." The drop isn't a fault in your headphones, and every Bluetooth headset behaves this way on a Mac. It's why the other people on a Zoom call, and any music or video, suddenly sound muffled, thin or "underwater". ## Keep the headphones in high-quality mode The headphones only switch to Hands-Free when something uses their microphone. Give your Mac another microphone and they stay in Stereo: 1. Open **System Settings → Sound**. 2. Under **Output**, select your Sony headphones. 3. Under **Input**, select **MacBook Air Microphone**, **MacBook Pro Microphone**, your iMac's microphone, or a USB microphone or webcam. 4. In your meeting app, choose the same microphone, not the headphones. You hear the call in full quality, and the others hear you through the Mac's microphone. A Mac mini has no built-in microphone, so plug in a USB microphone or use a webcam's. Step-by-step settings for each app are in [Sony headphones for meetings](https://opensoundconnect.app/guides/sony-headphones-meetings-mac). ## If it stays muffled after the call Sometimes the quality doesn't come back when the call ends, because an app is still holding the headphones' microphone. Apple suggests: 1. Quit apps that use the headset's microphone, including meeting apps still running in the background and browser tabs with a call in them. 2. Close the **Sound** settings if they're open. 3. In Control Center, open **Sound**, choose the Mac's built-in speakers, then choose your headphones again. ## Why the equalizer doesn't fix it The reduced quality comes from the Bluetooth mode itself, so changing the sound afterwards can't bring back what isn't there. The [equalizer](https://opensoundconnect.app/features/equalizer) and DSEE live in the headphones and shape the sound they receive; they don't change the Bluetooth mode. On the WH-1000XM6, DSEE is turned off during calls anyway, and on the WH-1000XM5 and newer the app shows DSEE as unavailable while a call is active, when the headphones report it. It isn't a volume problem either: if calls are quiet rather than muffled, see [Sony headphones too quiet](https://opensoundconnect.app/guides/sony-headphones-low-volume-mac). If music sounds bad all the time, even with no microphone in use, look at [stuttering and crackling](https://opensoundconnect.app/guides/sony-headphones-stuttering-mac) or [codecs on a Mac](https://opensoundconnect.app/guides/sony-ldac-aac-lossless-mac). ## What Open Sound Connect can and can't do Open Sound Connect changes the headphones' settings over Sony's control connection. It doesn't handle the Mac's audio, so it can't change the call mode, the codec or the microphone. What it can do for calls is help you set up the rest: switch to ambient sound so you hear your own voice, turn [Speak-to-Chat](https://opensoundconnect.app/features/speak-to-chat) off, and do both automatically with a [scene](https://opensoundconnect.app/features/scenes) when your meeting app opens. ## Common questions ### Is my headset microphone broken if calls sound bad? No. The drop in quality is the Bluetooth call mode, which every Bluetooth headset uses on a Mac. Choose another microphone under **System Settings → Sound → Input** and the headphones keep their normal sound. ### Why does music sound worse while Sound settings are open? The **Input** section's level meter listens to the selected microphone. If that's your headphones, Bluetooth switches to the call mode while the settings are open. Close them, or select another input, as Apple suggests. ### Will a better codec like LDAC help? No. Codecs such as AAC are for listening; calls use the Hands-Free mode. A Mac uses SBC and AAC for music in any case, not LDAC. More in [LDAC, AAC and lossless on a Mac](https://opensoundconnect.app/guides/sony-ldac-aac-lossless-mac). ## Where to next - [Microphone not working on a Mac](https://opensoundconnect.app/guides/sony-microphone-not-working-mac): Fix a Sony headphone mic that doesn't work on a Mac: input, permissions, the meeting app and the cable. - [Meetings: Zoom, Teams, Meet, Discord](https://opensoundconnect.app/guides/sony-headphones-meetings-mac): Speaker and microphone settings for Zoom, Teams, Meet and Discord, plus a scene that sets up your headphones for calls. - [LDAC, AAC and lossless on a Mac](https://opensoundconnect.app/guides/sony-ldac-aac-lossless-mac): Which Bluetooth codecs a Mac uses with Sony headphones, why lossless needs a cable, and what an app can't change. --- Open Sound Connect is independent software. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by Sony. Sony, DSEE, DSEE Extreme and LDAC are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sony Group Corporation or its affiliates. Apple, Mac, macOS, Finder, Safari, Xcode and App Store are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries and regions. The Bluetooth® word mark is owned by Bluetooth SIG, Inc. Other names are trademarks of their respective owners.