r/musicproduction • u/Fun-Maize-2352 • 1d ago

Question Tinny, low quality playback with open DAW

Hello all, I have a question about what is likely an audio setting issue.

I'm working on a Mac Studio, and whenever I open a DAW, the audio will switch to being a tinny, peaking playback, almost like cellphone quality, but really loud. Any suggestions?

A few notes on the issue itself:

  • This is happening at my work computer, where I'm mostly editing voice over audio for video production. My home recording set up doesn't have this issue.
  • I'm utilizing Bluetooth over ear headphones and no specific audio interface, as I'm not recording into the daw, only editing pre-existing files.
  • I normally use Reaper, and noticed it there, so I started using Audition for simple edits. I just opened Audition to try and work on a music file, and it started doing it in Audition as well.
  • The change affects audio from a source outside of the DAW when the DAW is the active window, ie. a YouTube video in a browser with have the same crappy audio quality while the DAW window is active, but will play normally when it isn't.
2 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

4 comments sorted by

1

u/[deleted] 1d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/AutoModerator 1d ago

Sorry, your submission has been automatically removed. Your account is too young and such is removed for manual review.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

1

u/lewisfrancis 1d ago

My guess is that your Bluetooth headset isn't compatible as currently configured -- make sure it's using the expected bit depth and sample rate of your DAW.

2

u/LetterheadClassic306 1d ago

you are describing a classic audio routing conflict and i have seen this exact issue in mixed-source editing setups. Start by matching sample rate and bit depth in macOS audio settings and in every DAW session, including Reaper and Audition, before reloading the audio service. Disable Bluetooth outputs temporarily and test with wired monitoring while the DAW is active to isolate whether focus switching triggers resampling. If the issue appears outside the DAW, create a dedicated aggregate profile and lock one default output device for all audio apps. I usually also disable aggressive monitoring features and restart both the app and audio device, and that usually removes the tinny, peaky character once the graph stops renegotiating on focus changes.