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How to improve iChat AV's sound quality Apps
Last night, while experimenting with the new iChat AV and speaking with a friend in Montreal (we both have cable modems), we were both experiencing very "muffled" sounding audio. We could hear each other, but it was hardly clear. After some experimentation, we found a couple of things that really help.

The first is probably obvious -- headphones made a big difference. Still, though, things sounded quite muddled. We then took a look at iChat -> Preferences -> Video, and found the real key to success. In the "Bandwidth Limit" drop-down, the initial setting is "none." When we lowered it to 100K, audio quality went up dramatically, but, of course, video quality suffered. After some epxerimentation, it seems that (between two cable modem connections, anyway), the 500K rate gives the best balance between video and audio quality. Your experience may differ, of course, but it's worth trying the different bandwidth limits to find one that strikes a good balance between audio and video quality.
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How to improve iChat AV's sound quality
Authored by: danb5 on Jun 24, '03 03:32:30PM

We also found that by muting the sound for a moment, it would come back better quality afterwards.



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How to improve iChat AV's sound quality
Authored by: randalla on Jun 24, '03 03:47:47PM

Yes, we figured that out ourselves, but you have to constantly do it, which is annoying. I haven't had a chance to try this hint yet, though.

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This is my signature.



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How to improve iChat AV's sound quality
Authored by: Mikey-San on Jun 24, '03 04:18:53PM

http://forums.macosxhints.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=12942

:-/

At least I'm not the only one.

YAY BETA! :-D



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How to improve iChat AV's sound quality
Authored by: fbisono on Jun 24, '03 08:33:54PM

I have also noticed that increasing the gain on the microphone is the SOUND settings of the Systems Pref's helps a bit when it comes to the sound quality. Just be careful not to increase it too much or the sound will start to clip!

Frank



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How to improve iChat AV's sound quality
Authored by: penum6ra on Jun 25, '03 12:34:45AM

I thought I was seeing things when I tried this on my TiBook 667, but then I checked it on a 12" AlBook and the Gain did the same thing: When the clipping started, if the conversation was live, it turned itself down automatically.

Dunno how, when or why... but it worked, and both users were able to hear much better.



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