Audio issues on macOS

Most macOS audio issues come down to four causes: microphone permission, the wrong device picked in Cradle's Audio Settings, AirPods being used for calls when they shouldn't be, or system extensions interfering with audio routing. This article covers each.

On Windows or Linux? Try Audio and headset issues on Windows or Audio issues on Linux.

Quick checks (try these first)

Check that Cradle has microphone permission. See "Microphone permission" below.
Open Cradle's Audio Settings and confirm input, output, and ringtone are set to your headset (not built-in MacBook microphone, not AirPods).
Restart the Cradle desktop app once after changing any system audio setting.

Microphone permission

The single most common macOS audio fix. If your call ends within a second of pickup, with no audio either way, the cause is almost always that macOS hasn't granted Cradle access to the microphone.

Open System Settings.
Click Privacy & Security in the sidebar.
Click Microphone.
Find Cradle in the list and toggle it on.

If Cradle isn't in the list, restart the app once. macOS adds apps to the list the first time they ask for the microphone, so Cradle will appear after its first call attempt.

There's a dedicated guide at Microphone permission on macOS.

You're set to a different device than you think

macOS picks an input and output device system-wide. Cradle has its own device choice on top of that. When the two disagree, what you hear and what the caller hears can come from different devices.

To check macOS:

Open System Settings → Sound.
On the Output tab, see what's selected.
On the Input tab, see what's selected.

To check Cradle:

Open Cradle's Audio Settings.
Confirm input, output, and ringtone are what you'd expect.

If you've just plugged in or unplugged a device, reopen Cradle's Audio Settings and choose the device fresh. Cradle doesn't always re-grab a device after a hot-plug.

Mid-call device switching

If you plug in a new device (a USB headset, a pair of AirPods) during a call, macOS may automatically switch system audio to it, but Cradle stays pinned to the device you chose. You hear silence from one side.

The fix is to either:

Not plug in audio devices during a call, or
Open Cradle's Audio Settings during the call and re-pick the device you want.

AirPods

AirPods are designed for music. The speakers sound great. The microphones are tiny, far from your mouth, and pick up a lot of background noise.

If you use AirPods for a call, the caller will hear muffled, scratchy, or echoey audio. Even on a quiet day in a quiet room. This isn't a Cradle bug. It's how AirPods work.

If you have AirPods and a proper headset, set the headset as Cradle's microphone, even if you keep the AirPods as the speaker. Better still, use the headset for both.

System extensions blocking audio

Some virtual-camera and audio-routing apps (Loopback, Krisp, Audio Hijack, Discord screen-share helpers, virtual webcam software) install system extensions that sit between Cradle and macOS Core Audio. When these crash or misbehave, Cradle's audio breaks.

If audio worked yesterday and stopped today, and you've installed or updated audio software recently:

Open System Settings → General → Login Items & Extensions.
Disable any audio-routing extensions that aren't essential.
Restart your Mac.
Try Cradle again.

If audio works after this, you can re-enable the extensions one by one to find the culprit.

Still stuck?

Send us a note with the make and model of your headset, your macOS version, and a description of the audio problem.

Email help@cradle.io.
Cradle support hours are 8:30 am – 5:00 pm New Zealand time, Monday to Friday.