Poor Audio Output Under Parallels 14/Windows 7

[AlexanderG5]

Hello all,



I just purchased a Sennheiser MB Pro 2 UC bluetooth microphone headset that I use with a MacBook Pro running Parallels Desktop 14. I use Parallels to run Nuance's DPI 15 dictation software in a virtual machine under Windows 7.

As recommended for speech recognition applications, I pair the headset with a BTD 800 dongle rather than connecting directly to the laptop via bluetooth, and there have been no problems with pairing. Configuration appears to be correct -- I have the BTD 800 specificied for both input and output in Parallels, and dictation works just fine.

Audio output through the Senneisers is a different story, however.

I forced the MacBook to accept the high-quality apt-x codec, but have yet to see the BTD 800 dongle's purple LED light up to indicate that it is transmitting undert apt-x either from iTunes on the OS X side or from Windows.

More frustratingly, if I run iTunes on the OS X side (as I often do to listen to music while I dictate), the sound quality is very good. But as soon as I boot up Windows under Parallels and the focus shifts to the virtual machine, audio output quality degrades significantly, and sounds more like what I assume to be the low-quality SBC codec (grainy sound, lots of artifacts, etc.).

Interestingly, if I shift back and forth between OS X and Windows, the sound quality will change for a while as well; but ultimately, it will "settle down" into the degraded output quality that seems to be associated with the Parallels/Windows set up.

If I plug an old-fashioned wired headset mic with a standard non-USB 1/8" male audio plug into the output port on the laptop, I get great audio output (regardless of the non-apt-x issue) under both OS X and Windows, which makes me think this is some strange USB port problem on the Parallels/Windows 7 side. But no matter what I do, I can't resolve it.

Has anyone else encountered this problem? And does anyone have any advice for solving it? I really like the Sennheisers, and would love to enjoy the better output quality they are capable of (whether apt-x or not) while using DPI in Parallels.

Thanks in advance,

AG

 

[PaulChristopher@Parallels]

Hi @AlexanderG5, please reinstall Parallels Tools: Action (From Mac menu bar) -> Reinstall Parallels Tools and keep us posted the results.

 

[AlexanderG5]

Thanks, but I've done that a couple of times now, and it hasn't had any effect. A support person at Sennheiser told me that the virtual machine might be eating up enough system resources to degrade the audio quality, but I find that hard to believe. He also suggested that the VM is not perfectly emulating the Windows system. But again, I should think it would do so well enough to provide decent audio output. Do you have any other suggestions?

 

[KebhaK@Parallels]

Thanks, but I've done that a couple of times now, and it hasn't had any effect. A support person at Sennheiser told me that the virtual machine might be eating up enough system resources to degrade the audio quality, but I find that hard to believe. He also suggested that the VM is not perfectly emulating the Windows system. But again, I should think it would do so well enough to provide decent audio output. Do you have any other suggestions?

Hi @AlexanderG5 , Please follow steps in this article for troubleshooting the issue.

 

[DrB]

I am using Parallels 15.1.2. In attempting to update recently installed Dragon 15 to newer version, the installer queried whether to shut down the dragon app with a dialogue box that dragon app was held in memory. I said yes, quit the app at which point the installer removed the previous version and predictably attempted to install the update. However, that didn't happen. It removed dragon and then quit. What went wrong and how do I properly update the dragon app without losing it (again). It's a time intense nightmare to keep reinstalling it! Thank you.