Bug 180078 – Reduced volume across OS, after acquiring a mic stream and unplugging headphones.

• Status: NEW
• Component: WebRTC

Hi,

Apologies if the title isn't clear. Here are the steps to reproduce the issue we're experiencing:
Be careful to not turn volume all the way up if you're testing this.

1. Plug headphones into Mac
2. Visit https://webrtc.github.io/samples/src/content/getusermedia/volume/
3. Unplug headphones
4. Plug headphones into Mac

The OS is now playing audio with reduced volume across the system, until I quit Safari.
At which point audio "jumps back" to the original volume, which almost gave me a heart attack.

Tested on:

- MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016, Four Thunderbolt 3 Ports)
- MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2014)
- MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2015)

Let me know if you need more information.
Have a good week.

[Radar WebKit Bug Importer]

<rdar://problem/35727788>

[youenn fablet]

The audio volume decrease is expected since echo cancellation is on.
We could increase the ramp-up time, i.e. the time it takes to go from reduced level back to normal level.
That would help reducing the "heart attack" feeling.

[Jon Lee]

(In reply to philipp.weissensteiner from comment #0)
> Hi,
> 
> Apologies if the title isn't clear. Here are the steps to reproduce the
> issue we're experiencing:
> Be careful to not turn volume all the way up if you're testing this.
> 
> 1. Plug headphones into Mac
> 2. Visit https://webrtc.github.io/samples/src/content/getusermedia/volume/
> 3. Unplug headphones
> 4. Plug headphones into Mac

Philipp, are steps 3 and 4 necessary?

Insert a step 0: in another tab, play a YouTube video.

Presumably you hear reduced volume after step 2.

@Jon yes steps 3 and 4 are necessary. Without unplugging the headphones the volume does not change.

@youenn Upon visiting the page initially there is a short dip and ramp-up in terms of volume. But I'm referring to something else: the volume is decreased by *a lot* after step 4. And it's reduced system wide (iTunes, Chrome etc.). Closing the safari tab with the webrtc sample doesn't make a difference. The only way it "jumps" back is actually quitting Safari.

[youenn fablet]

@philipp, thanks for the additional clarification, this is really helpful.