Hi dpdan,
Thanks for reaching out to Apple Support Communities.
It sounds like you’re having an issue with turning off Spatial Audio on your Mac.
We’re happy to assist.
We recommend checking out the steps in the section titled "Stop using Personalized Spatial Audio" from the article here: Control Spatial Audio and head tracking
To stop using Personalized Spatial Audio on all your devices, do one of the following:
*iPhone or iPad: Go to Settings
, then tap the name of your AirPods near the top of the screen. Tap Personalized Spatial Audio, then tap Stop Using Personalized Spatial Audio.
*Mac: Choose Apple menu
> System Settings, click the name of your AirPods in the sidebar (you may need to scroll down), then click Stop Using Personalized Spatial Audio.
*Apple TV: Press and hold
on the Siri Remote, select AirPods, then select Personalized Spatial Audio.
To use Personalized Spatial Audio again, you can set it up on your iPhone.
The reason why we’re recommending the steps above is because they directly address the issue you initially posted about: you'd like to stop using Spatial Audio on your Mac.
If the original problem persists after trying the previous steps, please provide us with specifics on what you see for more help, and we will continue from there.
Cheers!