Snow Leopards iChat, horrible sound

Hey.
I've used iChat to webcam with a friend in the US for a while now (im in sweden), without a problem.
We both now updated to Snow Leopard, and there's a very noticeable drop in audio quality, to the point where its hard to hear what the other person says.
There's a lot of static noises, it sounds like a distant airplane or something like that.
Both of us are using ichat through AIM accounts.
For that reason we're having to use Skype at the moment which we'd rather not.
Does anyone know how we could fix this?

Hi,
The "MotorBoating" a drone/whooshing sort of noise somewhere between a low ceiling fan and an Off Shore Power boat is Audio Feedback.
Reducing the Bandwidth can help with this sometimes as it can be caused by the iChat Buffering not keeping up between faster and slower Buddies.
Other steps can involve pointing external Speakers away from the Mic.
Using a headset.
Using Ambient Noise Reduction for Internal Mics in the System Preferences > Sound > Input tab for Laptops
Using an External Mic
Balancing the sound Output and Input in the two tabs in System Preferencs > Sound
A headset is the "best" solution.
An External Mic isolated for any transfered Sound and not in line with External Speakers is next.
I have my external Speakers pointing away for the Mic.
My ears can not tell the difference but the Mic can.
10:37 PM Wednesday; September 16, 2009
Please, if posting Logs, do not post any Log info after the line "Binary Images for iChat"

Similar Messages

Snow Leopard iChat Fundamentally Broken

The situation. We have family in Minnesota (MacBook, hardwired 1.5Mbps), Missouri (iMac, hardwired 1.5Mbps), and Illinois (MacBook, wireless 10 Mbps). Since Christmas we have been ichatting with very few if any problems. All computers were Leopard.
The computers in Missouri and Illinois have been updated to Snow Leopard. Now all connections are essentially unusable. Audio just quits. Picture pixelates. Can't connect sometimes. The problems do not matter if the connection is one to one both Snow Leopard, three way with the one Leopard, or Snow Leopard to Leopard. Even when connection is established and working it degrades or just quits working.
We have tried all of the suggestions in the forums. Limited the ichat bandwidth to 500kbps (and we tried all the others settings also). Playing with Quicktime on the Leopard system. Etc.
It seems to us that iChat in Snow Leopard is fundamentally broken. At no time have we seen better video even with Snow Leopard to Snow Leopard.
Has anyone successfully and reliability used Snow Leopard's iChat to anything else?

Hi,
I also can Video Chat from Snow to Leopard and Screen Share between the two.
Only on Friday evening I was chatting via Video to someone in Lesotho (South Africa) despite their appalling Internet speed.
I have iChat set to not Limit the bandwidth.
My G4 computer still on iChat 4 can also connect to Snow Leopard/iChat users.
I use UPnP in my Sagem 2405 Modem.
iChat 5 reports in the Connection Doctor > Network Status that this device is Port Restricted in the way it does NAT (iChat prefers Full Cone NAT according to iChat Help and the ? mark in Network Status)
We have known for a long time (Since iChat 2) that some routing devices can cause NAT issues for iChat
http://www.ralphjohns.co.uk/page15.html#CertainBuddy
This can be further complicated if you are using two Connection Devices.
I am not saying that the transition was entirely smooth.
I had a few issue at first.
iChat 4 to iChat 5 seemed to work better at first.
Changing the Bandwidth to 500kbps seemed to be a step forward.
I have turned the Mac Firewall On then Off then On and finally Off.
It did seem that I got more success each time.
Although impossible it did seem as if iChat was learning how to do things again.
Currently I am Logged in to AIM on Port 443 with no SSL login.
My GoogleTalk ID is using SSL but other Jabber IDs are not.
Bandwidth, as I have said, is at NONE.
Firewall is currently Off.
Things I also looked at:-
System Preferences > Sharing > Internet Sharing Mine is Off but some say having it On now helps.
System Preferences > Date and Time had to change to my Time Zone which seemed to help (iChat does time code messages/Chats)
Repaired Permissions. Always a good coverall action.
5:09 PM Sunday; September 20, 2009

Snow Leopard's digital sound is a giant step backwards

I have a Mac Pro connected to a Pioneer receiver using an optical cable. When I was running system 10.5 my DVD's would play in DVD player with 5.1 digital sound ( I have a surround sound system connected for the sound). With Snow Leopard all the DVD player application outputs is Dolby Pro logic. A big difference in sound. If I boot up in Windows Vista using Boot Camp and play the same DVD I get 5.1 digital sound. Something seems to be wrong in OSX 10.6. I am going to go back to 10.5 until Apple gets this sound thing fixed unless someone here can tell me how to get the 5.1 digital sound to work in 10.6. This is a huge let down for me, and it would seem to me to be a giant step backwards for the operating system.

HI,
This would make a good feedback topic for Apple.
http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html
Note, they read feedback but do not respond. But since this worked in 10.5 then hopefully that will be taken into consideration. Audio is important!
Carolyn

Boot up time (on Snow Leopard) and clicking sounds...

Hi,
While trying to upgrade to SL my MBA wouldn't boot. I went to an Apple store and they sent it out for repair. Now that I have it back the MBA seems to be more sluggish. While booting (before the Apple logo comes on) I hear a clicking sound. I also hear clicking sounds on other occasions.
Is this normal?
Thanks for your feedback everyone!
Mikey

More data needed: what do you mean more sluggish? It should take a minute or two for your MBA to boot up.
Don't turn it off. Just shut the lid and re-open it when you are ready. It's designed to be put to sleep, not turned off after each use,
The clicking sounds in the MBA come from the hard drive and the fan. They can click from time to time if you are moving your MBA while it is booting up or shutting down...if its clicking sitting on your desk, and this started after the repair, you need to go back to AppleCare for another repair.

IChat 5.0 - iChat connections got worse since upgrade to Snow Leopard.

Hi. Me and my significant other chat on a dayli basis, so "Improved" video and audio in Snow Leopard (iChat 5.0) seemed like a golden "Must buy". Since I installed it, she has reported issues with my audio and video. She says it lags to the point where she isn't hearing hear a single word (50% of the time). And the video jumps in quallity every 10 seconds, with bit mistakes. Only good thing was that for the first time... Screen Sharing worked!
Now I expected that changed codecs in Snow could mean that if she upgraded, aswell, it would work, but no. Now her video seems to have downgraded in quallity, but I still hear her (Apart from horrible volume jumps)
We've tried the following: Switching to google servers, to realize they didn't support Video. Trying SSL port 443. Turning off and on the feature that let's AOL relay chats, no luck anywhere.
I have an idea why this is... In Leopard, a router with NAT Type 3 on my end, meant that nothing worked. A connection with NAT Type 2 on my end (I use that the most) meant that video and audio worked, but not screen sharing.
I don't know what her NAT type is, but at home, (For her) these problems started, but anywhere else... No problems, at all, no matter where I am!
These clues don't add up for me, and I would love a solution, since Long-Distance relationships are a pain, when I only see her once a month...
Thanks for reading, hoping for support =) (And yes, I am willing to do anything to my router setting, and tell her what to do)

Hi Defcom,
Running /Applications/iChat.app/Contents/MacOS/iChat -errorLogLevel 7 in Terminal shows me that iChat "Sees" the whole of my internet Connection speed.
This will raise the issue of faster and slower Buddies and the iChat Buffering again.
Video Buffering means that Audio can not be matched and if the difference is significant then the Audio will get dropped.
It may be that both ends have to try different iChat Bandwidth settings to get to the point where the video and audio are in sync.
I would also say that I had to start at 500kbps between my G4 and MacBook Pro (Set at the MacBook Pro end on Snow Leopard) but that it does seem to have "Learned" what it can use.
9:01 PM Thursday; October 8, 2009

Snow leo ichat - audio gain VERY LOW !!!

hi,
open ichat , start a video conference... open system prefs>sound>input and look at the audio gain .... no matter how high you can set the audio gain ichat keeps lowering it down so much that snow leopard ichat is a BIG STEP BACKWARD IN TERM OF AUDIO QUALITY..... i can no longer contact my parents and talk with them .... the sound is TOO LOW
PS: i'm using the integrated cam of the apple led display
apple come on correct this (and the wifi adhoc network lost capability also)
Message was edited by: olivier hericord

See also this thread
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2129454
9:11 PM Tuesday; February 23, 2010
Please, if posting Logs, do not post any Log info after the line "Binary Images for iChat"

Not impressed with Snow Leopard

i upgraded to Snow Leopard, thinking it would make my computer run more efficiently, and expecting some of the problems with programs that were present in Leopard to be resolved (this was promised in the description of the upgrade on the apple website). Unfortunately, I almost want to revert back to Leopard, as Snow Leopard appears to have done more harm than good for my system.
The computer actually seems to be running more slowly, and programs take up more power than before, so the battery dies faster and takes longer to charge fully. Also, before Snow Leopard, iChat had been crashing occasionally when video chatting in full screen mode, but now it barely works at all! I have to try several times to start a video conference, and even then it crashes more often than it ever did before.
My browser runs less efficiently as well, and Safari frequently quits altogether, which is very frustrating. I am not sure what was improved in this upgrade, but I think there might still be a great deal of work to be done here, and that perhaps Snow Leopard was released too soon.
I have one of the newer models of Macbook; I bought it last December, so it is not even a year old. This shouldn't have anything to do with the issues I am having with Snow Leopard.
Is anybody else having these problems, or does anybody know if there is anything I can do? Is there a way to go back to Leopard??
Thanks!

The update is only good for Mac's listed in this About the Performance update.
DALE

Ichat no audio on video chat with snow leopard

Hello,
I am having an issue where there is only one way audio when doing a video chat with those using snow leopard. If I start the video chat, the other person can hear me and I cant hear them. If they start the chat I can then hear them but they can not hear me. This was not a problem prior to upgrading to snow leopard (both of us). I can video chat fine with those who have not upgraded to snow leopard.
Audio chats alone work fine with these people.
I have tried changing bandwidth settings in ichat on both ends, enable 32 bit mode, checked the sound preferences, etc and nothing helps. We are not running any third party apps that have been mentioned to interfere with ichat.
I would greatly appreciate any suggestions..
Thanks.

Hi,
Also cap iChat in iChat > Preferences > Video Section > Bandwidth Drop down to 500kbps
There is some evidence that it is the iChat Buffering.
iChat tries to buffer the Video to match changes in the Internet Speed.
Now that iChat 5 "sees" the whole of your Internet Connection (or your Buddies if they are on Snow Leopard) there can be bigger differences with a 1% slow down.
There may also be a larger difference in what your Buddy can now stream to to you as iChat is Processor/Bandwidth dependant on how big and how many frames a sec are sent/Received. (your Buddy, or your to your Buddy, may well be able to overwhelm the other).
9:23 PM Tuesday; November 3, 2009
Please, if posting Logs, do not post any Log info after the line "Binary Images for iChat"

Ichat no longer works with snow leopard

i recently installed Snow Leopard on my macbook pro and ever since, when I try to open iChat, a window opens and says "You can't use this version of the application iChat with this version of Mac OS X. You have iChat 4.0.8. I thought that the new version would have installed with Snow Leopard. What do I need to do?

Hi,
Go to the Applications folder.
Do you have two versions of iChat in there ?
If so, Click on to Highlight it.
Use the Apple Key (CMD) and I key together (Get Info)
In the panel that pops up what version number is it ?
What is the version number of the other one ?
If one is iChat 5 and one is iChat 4, drag the current iCon for iChat Off the DOCK and let go. (Puff of Smoke animation)
Drag the iChat 5 icon to the DOCK (It does not move the App just links to it.)
If you only have iChat 4 then post back and let us know as there will be more steps.
Please note the time of my post as I may not reply for some time.
10:31 PM Monday; September 7, 2009
Please, if posting Logs, do not post any Log info after the line "Binary Images for iChat"

IChat Inline Images No Longer Working After a Fresh Install of Snow Leopard

My roommate and I share the same computer network and iChat through Bonjour. This is mostly for us to drop data to each other as we both work - urls, images, etc. He upgraded to Snow Leopard as a completely fresh upgrade and reinstalled his existing software with no new software added. As soon as he upgraded, he could no longer receive inline images from me, and he has to go into the file transfer window to see the images. I can see inline images from him with no problems. I can't upgrade to Snow Leopard at this time. How do we fix his image problem?

I have not set my Snow Leopard computer to Not Start Up iChat if it is Quit (unstarted on computer start up) when someone IMs me. (Off line Messaging.)
I get sent a File when I am Off line on a Sunday if I miss a particular group chat on Saturdays.
I never seem to get a Chat started as this Group Chat has finished.
The Last Group chat I was in though does pop up as per my Setting for Saved Transcripts.
It is a File not a pic.
It is not "in a Chat" either.
I am not sure how close my situation is to what you describe as to Closed Windows for the Bonjour Buddy list or other factors (there is no Off Line Messaging for Bonjour but the Buddy List Window can be closed)
I regard it a a partial replication.
It may give clues.
7:59 PM Sunday; September 27, 2009
Please, if posting Logs, do not post any Log info after the line "Binary Images for iChat"

IMac 10.6.8, Snow Leopard with iTunes 11.0.1. loss of wifi speed when connecting a Bose Sound System via bluetooth

Hello, I have an iMac 10.6.8, Snow Leopard with iTunes 11.0.1. When connecting my Bose Sound System via bluetooth the wifi downloadspeed goes from snappy to a crawl, disconnecting the bluetooth connection, the downloadspeed goes up again. Don't have this problems with the Sound System when connecting it to my iPad. I like to mention too, that the downloadspeed of my iPad is always better than of my iMac. Are there any experiences concerning this problem? Thank you in advance.

UPDATE - PROBLEM SOLVED!!!!!!
You can thank me later - after an hour on the phone, I finally got through to a Senior Engineer.
Apperently the issues lies with GRID VIEW.
Open your Itunes, Click on TV SHOWS, then quickly change your view from GRID VIEW (Defaults to this) to List View and Viola!
We tested it out on the phone just minutes ago, my problem is solved and I suspect if you guys try this yours will be too.

ISight in not working in Photo Booth, iChat, and VMWare with Snow Leopard

System Info
Model Name: iMac
Model Identifier: iMac8,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.8 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 6 MB
Memory: 4 GB
Bus Speed: 1.07 GHz
Boot ROM Version: IM81.00C1.B00
SMC Version (system): 1.30f1
OS Version 10.6.1
Symptoms
iSight is not working, a blank screen is shown in the following Apps / VM
1. Photo Booth
2. iChat
Visible to VM app, but unable to connect in Windows XP running on VMWare
It is however viewable in Skype preference Video tab
Visible in System Profiler under USB
Following actions taken for troubleshooting
SMC reset - by unplugging all cables over couples minutes, as well as CommandOption+PR key at boot time
Repairing Permission on the Macintosh HD drive, rebooted after and didn't work
Not user account specific, tried different account and the same problem persists

Welcome to Discussions, Stanley Chung
Sorry you are still having problems even after trying the good suggestions from Ralph and Boomer.
I did not see specifically from your posts that your iSight worked before upgrading to Snow Leopard, but I am inferring from your topic's title that it did. If your iMac came with Snow Leopard installed, please post and tell us whether you erased the disk and reinstalled all your iMac's software before you started using it. If you upgraded your iMac to Snow Leopard, consider the following.
(1) Until you get iSight working, do all your testing while no peripherals other than keyboard/mouse are attached to your iMac. To eliminate all possibility of any conflict external to your Mac, be sure you also disconnect any wireless devices (iPod, printer, etc) connected to your system.
(2) If you still have problems with all you have tried, it seems to me that you must have a software issue. You might try uninstalling Skype and VMWare and testing again to see if those installations are causing a conflict.
(3) Check the support sites for all of your third party software to be sure there are no known Snow Leopard issues and that you are using the latest compatible versions.
(4) If the problem still exists and you have not already tried this, reinstall Snow Leopard, repairing permissions immediately before and after the reinstall.
(5) If your problem remains and System Profiler still shows your inbuilt iSight as a USB device, I suggest you backup all important files, erase your disk, reinstall all Apple software, and test to see if iSight works properly. Once it does, you can install any necessary peripherals and third-party apps one-at-a-time, testing after each addition to see if one of them is causing problems.
EZ Jim
MacBook Pro (13 inch, Mid 2009) 2.26GHz w/Mac OS X (10.6.1) G5 DP 1.8GHz w/Mac OS X (10.5.8)
G4 PowerBook 1.67GHz (10.4.11) iBookSE 366MHz (10.3.9) LED Cinema Display External iSight

Can't Star iChat Service after update to Snow Leopard Server

We had installed Mac OS X Server on a Mac Pro, and we had the iChat Service working in the organization; but when we update to the Snow Leopard Server we can't start the iChat service again. In the Server Admin app, on the iChat node in the Overview I have this:
iChat Service is: Stopped
Start time: not available
Domain: not available
Client connections: not available
With the update if I choose the iChat service node, I can't see the Start iChat button.
Can somebody help?
Thanks a lot.

Please try here http://discussions.apple.com/forum.jspa?forumID=1352
OS X Server Snow Leopard > Chat and other items.
8:40 PM Monday; January 4, 2010
Please, if posting Logs, do not post any Log info after the line "Binary Images for iChat"

Snow Leopard 10.6.3 and iLife '11 causes sound problems in iTunes, iMovie, and Mail

After updating my OS to Snow Leopard 10.6.3 and installing iLife '11, the sound in iTunes, iMovie, and Mail does not work. The sound in other programs like Skype does work, though. Any ideas?

You should run software update. The current version os SL is 10.6.8, several bugs were squashed and improvements made.

Snow Leopard Mail - Bouncing Icon/Play Sound Rules Cancel Each Other Out

I recently saw a movie which featured many closeups of a MacBook Pro being used; every time the actor got an e-mail message, the Mail icon bounced in the Dock AND played the New Message Sound. In the current version of Snow Leopard Mail, you can create a Rule to 'Bounce Icon in Dock' when a new message is received. Unfortunately, this disables the New Message Sound. When the user adds another Rule to 'Play Sound', this rule disables the 'Bounce Icon in Dock' feature. At this point, both Rules display as being active, but only one of them works. Anyone know how to get both the New Message Sound AND the bouncing icon? (The actor was able to do it in the movie, but maybe that was just special effects.)

Look at that:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1262364&tstart=0&messageID=732 9984
Post 5 and 10
You can use both rules together (sound & bouncing)
I had test it!
mindsuk

Snow Leopards iChat, horrible sound

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for