Mic Mode?

[gavspen]

I just upgraded to Sonoma and there is now an orange mic icon in the menu bar when I open DP. It can switch from "Standard" to "Voice Isolation" but doing so disables DP's audio. What is it for?

[mikehalloran]

…. What is it for?

It's not in the New Features, Plug-Ins Guide, Getting Started or the User Manual.

I do notice that it appears only when my interface is active. Normally, for mix and mastering, I go through my monitor controller via Core Audio instead and Mic Mode does not appear.

This is odd because it does appear to be a Core Audio function.

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/m ... 2b42f0/mac

[gavspen]

Maybe I'll ask MOTU. Since it's "enabled" when you start DP, it must have some function inside it, no?

[cuttime]

I'm not on Sonoma, and I'm only guessing, but I'd be willing to bet that is the System Security Setting icon. I'd bet if the DP mic enable in the Privacy and Security Settings was off, that icon would disappear. It looks to be a very iOS sort of thing.

[jduber]

It seems to be an option intended for video calls (FaceTime, Zoom.). More info in the section entitled "Filter out background sounds" here:

https://support.apple.com/guide/facetim ... c07113/mac

HTH,
/jd

[bayswater]

It seems to be an option intended for video calls (FaceTime, Zoom.). More info in the section entitled "Filter out background sounds" here:

https://support.apple.com/guide/facetim ... c07113/mac

HTH,
/jd

That’s what I thought. It goes along with the camera function that follows you around. We probably need a few more iterations of AI before it becomes useful recording.

[gavspen]

Here's MOTU's reply, in case you care.

Thanks for connecting with us. "Mic modes" is a mac-specific feature, and is not related to Digital Performer. DP does not have any mic mode-related functionality. If you see that icon, just select "Standard" from the dropdown menu, because "Voice Isolation" will introduce issues such as the ones you've experienced.

The mic mode icon appears whenever you open an application that utilizes audio input. For example, the icon will appear if you open the Quicktime application and select "New Audio Recording". All this to say, it's not DP-specific, just a newer mac feature that pops up with audio applications.

So there ya go.

[dtobocman]

Great. More clutter.

[stubbsonic]

That my Mac is now making it obvious when the camera & mic is on, is a good security feature. It roughly means that if some app is capturing audio (for whatever reason) that you are aware of it. It's a good practice, and I'm for it.

[mikehalloran]

Actually, the orange Mic icon means that the app has access to the microphone, not that it's recording or otherwise in use—it was a dot i Monterey and Ventura first showing up on external displays. As we know, most audio apps including DP require access to the microphone to function.

In Sonoma 14.4, Apple gave us the ability to turn off these indicators … but for external displays only.
https://support.apple.com/en-gb/118449

There are ways to turn off the camera icon for the main display but it cripples other functionality including ApplePay and is not sanctioned by Apple. Since the camera icon doesn't bother me, I'm not interested in chasing that rabbit down the hole.