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Quicktime does not work with Air Pods Pro

MacBook Air M2 Ventura 13.3.1(a). Quicktime-Player does not play when sound redirected via bluetooth to airpod pros. Without it plays. Any idea?

MacBook Air (M2, 2022)

Posted on May 23, 2023 5:15 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jan 26, 2024 10:50 AM

Confirming this is happening to me as well with some added information.


QuickTime.mov files with AAC LC audio encoding will not playback when my AirPod Pro 2nd gen are hooked up and using the QuickTime X application. If the audio is switched to speakers, there is no issue, but when switched to AirPods the files will not play.


Work around is to use VLC or Telestream Switch for playback but this won't work for my clients.


If I use HE-AACv2 as an audio codec the file will playback fine but I need to use the industry standard AAC LC @ 192 kbps and not another codec.


Same files run as MP4 wrapper and not QuickTime do not have this issue, so it's QuickTime related.


These same files will playback using older standard AirPods but there seems to be some sort of incompatibility when QuickTime is trying to read the AAC LC audio. The file won't even playback in QTX. It will open but will not playback.


I'm running on Ventura 13.6.3. Can anyone confirm on Sonoma? I've also tested a few Macs running slightly older versions of Ventura and the same issue persists.


Is there a possible Firmware fix for these?

16 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jan 26, 2024 10:50 AM in response to sputnik_1

Confirming this is happening to me as well with some added information.


QuickTime.mov files with AAC LC audio encoding will not playback when my AirPod Pro 2nd gen are hooked up and using the QuickTime X application. If the audio is switched to speakers, there is no issue, but when switched to AirPods the files will not play.


Work around is to use VLC or Telestream Switch for playback but this won't work for my clients.


If I use HE-AACv2 as an audio codec the file will playback fine but I need to use the industry standard AAC LC @ 192 kbps and not another codec.


Same files run as MP4 wrapper and not QuickTime do not have this issue, so it's QuickTime related.


These same files will playback using older standard AirPods but there seems to be some sort of incompatibility when QuickTime is trying to read the AAC LC audio. The file won't even playback in QTX. It will open but will not playback.


I'm running on Ventura 13.6.3. Can anyone confirm on Sonoma? I've also tested a few Macs running slightly older versions of Ventura and the same issue persists.


Is there a possible Firmware fix for these?

Jun 20, 2023 3:24 PM in response to mirdi32

I have the same issue, sputnik_1! I recorded some videos on a different Mac using Quicktime. Then copied the videos to my MacBook Air and am trying to view them. They are .mov files. They play and sound fine through my MacBook Air speakers but if I connect my Air Pods Pros to my MacBook Air, I cannot play the file at all. The file loads and looks like it is ready to play, but once I click the play "button" the file looks like it is going to start to play but then immediately stops. I have other videos which I use Quicktime to play (e.g., .mp4 files) which work fine when my AirPodPros are connected. Just the Quicktime .mov files fail to play at all.


My suggestion is to download the free VLC player. It plays these .mov files just fine when the AirPodPros are connected.

May 24, 2023 2:17 AM in response to sputnik_1

Hey there, sputnik_1!

Sorry to hear about the trouble you're having with Quicktime and your AirPods Pro. One thing you might want to try is checking if your AirPods Pro are selected as the output device in your Sound settings (System Preferences -> Sound -> Output). Make sure your AirPods are connected and selected there.

Also, consider updating your Mac and Quicktime to the latest versions if you haven't already. Sometimes, these kinds of issues can be resolved with a simple update. Let us know if this works for you!

Jun 21, 2023 12:33 AM in response to bobtwom

Thanks for your input. Just to be sure: What Mac OS version are your computers running? I have experienced the problem you describe in a similar way: The files don't play. It must be a bug in Ventura's Finder or its environment. I'm on Ventura 13.4 with the Macbook Air, but the files work on my old Macbook Pro with High Sierra. The good news is that Apple will probably fix it sooner or later :-). In the meantime, your tip about VLC is a good one.

Jan 27, 2024 8:40 AM in response to Arn Campero

> QuickTime.mov files with AAC LC audio encoding will not playback when my AirPod Pro 2nd gen are hooked up and using the QuickTime X application. If the audio is switched to speakers, there is no issue


I did a quick test and my Mac mini 2018 macOS 14.3 Sonoma QuickTime Player does not play audio neither in .mp4 nor in .mov H.264 with HE-AAC version 1 or version 2. Neither will IINA or VLC. Tested via AirPods Pro, LG Ultrafine 4K speakers, and Mac mini internal speakers.


Regular AAC is OK as always. I am unfamiliar with HE-AAC so please educate me, if necessary. I encoded my test files from H.264 AAC .mp4 input as (did not test libfdk_aac):


ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v copy -c:a aac -profile:a aac_he -b:a 64k H.264_aac_he.mov


ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v copy -c:a aac -profile:a aac_he_v2 -b:a 32k H.264_aac_he_v2.mov


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-Efficiency_Advanced_Audio_Coding


https://trac.ffmpeg.org/wiki/Encode/AAC

Jan 28, 2024 7:47 AM in response to Arn Campero

I now tested HE-AAC libfdk_aac and unlike in with plain aac macOS 14.3 Sonoma QuickTime Player could play audio OK, also via AirPods Pro.


HE-AAC version 1:


ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v copy -c:a libfdk_aac -profile:a aac_he -b:a 64k H.264_libfdk_aac_he.mp4


HE-AAC version 2:


ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v copy -c:a libfdk_aac -profile:a aac_he_v2 -b:a 32k H.264_libfdk_aac_he_v2.mp4

Apr 3, 2024 11:26 PM in response to th-boston

> The problem is not resolved


What specific problem?


That QuickTime Player does not play some rare audio codecs like HE-AAC to AirPods (or AAC LC at all?)?


My setup (Sonoma 14.4.1) can play libfdk_aac_he and libfdk_aac_he_v2 audio but not without libfdk (IINA can also play the latter but strangely it needs to go through the movie once before (96 kHz there, otherwise 48 kHz) audio is played). All my movies have the plain AAC LC anyway, and no trouble with that.

Apr 5, 2024 12:16 AM in response to th-boston

Have you tried this: quit Quicktime Player, and move these folders to the Desktop folder (just in case before deleting them) helps:


~/Library/Containers/QuickTime Player

~/Library/Containers/com.apple.QuickTimePlayerX/Data


If not, try to make a dummy user and see if Quicktime Player works in that account.


...


For the record about those rare High-Efficiency Advanced Audio Coding (HE-AAC) codecs:


I now noticed that the native ffmpeg AAC encoder (-c:a aac) does not have the ability to output HE or HEv2 profiles. The audio it outputs does not play in any app I tried (QuickTime Player, IINA, VLC).


If you need HE profile you'll have to use -c:a libfdk_aac or -c:a aac_at (macOS/iOS only). aac_at encoder -profile option only accepts numeric values, e.g. 4 works as aac_he and 28 as aac_he_v2. aac_low 1 is "The default, AAC 'Low-complexity' profile. Is the most compatible and produces decent quality." It is the most common AAC profile found in typical files.


FF_PROFILE_AAC_MAIN 0

FF_PROFILE_AAC_LOW 1

FF_PROFILE_AAC_SSR 2

FF_PROFILE_AAC_LTP 3

FF_PROFILE_AAC_HE 4

FF_PROFILE_AAC_HE_V2 28

FF_PROFILE_AAC_LD 22

FF_PROFILE_AAC_ELD 38


HE-AAC version 1:


ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v copy -c:a aac_at -profile:a 4 -b:a 64k H.264_aac_at_he.mp4


ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v copy -c:a libfdk_aac -profile:a aac_he -b:a 64k H.264_aac_libfdk_he.mp4


HE-AAC version 2:


ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v copy -c:a aac_at -profile:a 28 -b:a 32k H.264_aac_at_he_v2.mp4


ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v copy -c:a libfdk_aac -profile:a aac_he_v2 -b:a 32k H.264_aac_libfdk_he_v2.mp4


Apple's audioToolbox.framework (normally available only on macOS) will provide a series of codecs suffixed _at. Apple's encoder is even better than FDK-AAC.

Quicktime does not work with Air Pods Pro

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