If you are using a Mackie USB mixer or microphone with a Mac and your audio sounds thin, distorted, robotic, or choppy, macOS Voice Isolation may be turned on.
Voice Isolation is a macOS feature meant for voice calls. It can negatively affect music, streaming, and recording audio from Mackie products.
Common Symptoms
Robotic or “underwater” audio
Choppy or gated sound
Sudden volume changes
Audio sounds bad in recordings or streams but fine on the mixer itself
How to Fix It
Voice Isolation is set per app.
Open the app you’re using (Zoom, OBS, GarageBand, etc.).
Start a session with your Mackie product selected as the audio device.
Click the microphone icon at the top-right of the Menu Bar.
Under Mic Mode, select Standard.
Make sure Voice Isolation is not selected.
You must repeat this for each app that uses the microphone.
Why Standard?
Mackie USB devices send clean, full-range audio to your Mac. Voice Isolation applies heavy processing that can make professional audio sound worse. Selecting Standard prevents macOS from applying this detrimental processing and allows your recordings to come through clearly.
For more information or questions about Mackie products, please contact us here.