Mac mini headphone output option gone?

spark240

Exactly that..I was using the headphone out jack as audio out to my monitors, then last night no sound....checked all sorts got back to the headphone output option in settings has just disappeared ?

How is that even possible?

Done some Googling...tried cleaning the jack and reboot PRAM but no joy...

Anyone had this happen ?

andy_k

Which Mac mini? which OS?
I have had some strange issues on my MBP on El Cap, where the audio settings get changed when a particular programme is used, ie if I use Audacity to preview something, the system will revert to system settings, and I have to re-boot to get my Focusrite USB detected, also sometimes re-sets sample rate to 44, when I have it set to 48.
What is the situation after a fresh start in system settings / audio prefs? 

spark240

andy_k said:

Which Mac mini? which OS?
I have had some strange issues on my MBP on El Cap, where the audio settings get changed when a particular programme is used, ie if I use Audacity to preview something, the system will revert to system settings, and I have to re-boot to get my Focusrite USB detected, also sometimes re-sets sample rate to 44, when I have it set to 48.
What is the situation after a fresh start in system settings / audio prefs? 

Hi bud...Yeah I had a zoom call last night and I could get hear audio so I was fiddling with the setting and ended up rebooting then it worked, but it seems during that process the headphone output has not only stopped working, its not even in the system audio list ?

Ive also notice the Loopback seems to have disappeared as well...all very odd.

Ive redirected my Mac audio now via my Revelator io24 and onto monitors so its sort of sorted but still like to know where the headphone option has gone.

Resetting the Mac audio seemingly did nothing.

Philtre

Surely it must be a hardware problem? I have an M1 mini and the headphone/mic ports don't show up in the audio list until there is a physical connection.

spark240

Philtre said:

Surely it must be a hardware problem? I have an M1 mini and the headphone/mic ports don't show up in the audio list until there is a physical connection.

Yeah this is the thing...apparently there is some optical gizmo inside which determines off its a physical connection when the jack is in...Ive tried cleaning it etc but no joy....I can live without it for now, but I will take it apart soon and look inside 

Philtre

Can you try a different jack connection?

spark240

Philtre said:

Can you try a different jack connection?

Yeah I’ve tried all sorts bud…

andy_k

Why do Macs seem to take one step forward, then 2 steps back?
I have my MBP stuck on Mojave, for this very reason, it is working well at the moment and it took so long for all the plugins to get updated I completely missed the next OS update.
I have an old Mac mini, as a back up machine and it seldom gets used, but it looks like they have made the audio jack over complicated and probably multi function.
In my case, I would probably be using a USB I/O, and would have monitors connected to that, but it is a new thing if hardware that is built in, is not recognised unless something is connected, which is probably of some benefit, saving resources etc, but is really just something else to go wrong.

spark240

I know….I’m currently moving everything over to an M1Mini but I have a project on the old Mac and all my plugins are not on the M1 yet…

andy_k

I have recently moved in the other direction, I'd like to upgrade, but can't justify the price, and dread the set up of trying to get all my old stuff compatible again, so I am now working on projects on a Raspberry Pi, with Reaper native plugins.
It is actually quite liberating for me to try and make things as cheap and simple as possible, I have my original projects on my MBP, which is loaded with all the Slate stuff, Fabfilter etc, and plenty of VSTi things from Spitfire etc, but I am working towards a version of the track which is an unmastered WAV, or a set of stems.
Then I create a new project on the Pi, and can use my Zoom R16 as a control surface for 8 tracks of automation for mixing.
The more recent plugins for Reaper, such as the limiter and ReEq, are as good as anything , and there are some great new JS plugins available, Tukan's pack for example.
I know it is in a different league to the M1 Mac, but moving forward, I know which is more affordable for me, and it is useful to get to know Linux at some stage, which is not that bad these days, I was surprised how capable the Pi is, and if they were readily available< I would highly recommend one to try out.

TeleKinesis

spark240 said:

its not even in the system audio list ?

Hi, do you mean in System Preferences -> Sound?

Might be worth checking if it's listed in (Apple Icon) -> About This Mac -> System Report -> Audio

Listed as 'External Headphones' on my Intel Mac Mini + Mac OS Monterey. Though it seems this too only appears if there's a connection detected, so might not get you any further. Hope it resolves for you!

spark240

TeleKinesis said:

spark240 said:

its not even in the system audio list ?

Hi, do you mean in System Preferences -> Sound?

Might be worth checking if it's listed in (Apple Icon) -> About This Mac -> System Report -> Audio

Listed as 'External Headphones' on my Intel Mac Mini + Mac OS Monterey. Though it seems this too only appears if there's a connection detected, so might not get you any further. Hope it resolves for you!

Yeah I’ll check that but I suspect it won’t be there, it’s been working fine for years so I’m thinking the jack has failed somehow , I’m using the USB out to IO now so it’s not life threatening!

spark240

TeleKinesis said:

spark240 said:

its not even in the system audio list ?

Hi, do you mean in System Preferences -> Sound?

Might be worth checking if it's listed in (Apple Icon) -> About This Mac -> System Report -> Audio

Listed as 'External Headphones' on my Intel Mac Mini + Mac OS Monterey. Though it seems this too only appears if there's a connection detected, so might not get you any further. Hope it resolves for you!

Not listred ...