macOS microphone access issue, please help!

[aamicarelli]

Mac Studio M1 Max
macOS 12.6.1
EarMaster 7.4.63

I only have external soundcard/interface Focusrite 2i2 3rd gen connected to Mac using USBC with professional microphone connected to soundcard via XLR

When setting up the microphone in EarMaster 7 it recognizes the audio input, however, every time I use the microphone I get a popup that says "Please give Ear Master access to your microphone from your OS settings" (please see attached screenshot)

I go to System Preferences -> Security and Privacy -> Privacy -> Microphone and EarMaster is not listed in the apps list. I also do not have an option to add it manually. I have tried reinstalling Earmaster several times, rebooted the computer several, and even cleared the microphone cache list using terminal command and still no luck. Can someone please help me out with this? As of now the sight singing/aural recall portion of the software is unusable; I'd prefer not to cancel the membership but I need to get this working soon or I'll be moving on.

Btw, I use this soundcard/microphone setup with Logic Pro and other programs with no issues.

[aamicarelli]

Also admins, the workaround in the previous thread is unavailable to me since the Mac Studio does not have an internal microphone. Also as mentioned in the previous thread, macOS does not seem to have an issue since the audio is being detected and even analyzed in the program, this seems to be an EarMaster bug. Was this issue ever addressed?

[Quentin]

Hi,

I had the opportunity to test this on a Mac Mini, and I can confirm what you describe. The EarMaster Mic permission entry is not added like on a Macbook. Our team is looking into this, let me get back to you when I have something new.

[Quentin]

Hi again,

Until this gets solved with an update, I found a temporary solution for Mac Mini and other Mac models without internal mic:

• Install a virtual audio cable like VB-Audio (https://vb-audio.com/Cable/). It's a tiny utility that enables you to route audio across apps. It's just to make the OS "believe" that there's an internal mic in your Mac.
• Restart your Mac
• Launch EarMaster and start an exercise that requires you to sing
• You will see the "Oops, it looks like...." message. Click Ok and restart EarMaster. Now the mic permission should be added in the macOS settings
• If you don't want to keep VB-Audio, move it to the trash

Please let me know if that worked on your Mac Mini. A coming update will fix this for good

[aamicarelli]

Hi again,

Until this gets solved with an update, I found a temporary solution for Mac Mini and other Mac models without internal mic:

• Install a virtual audio cable like VB-Audio (https://vb-audio.com/Cable/). It's a tiny utility that enables you to route audio across apps. It's just to make the OS "believe" that there's an internal mic in your Mac.
• Restart your Mac
• Launch EarMaster and start an exercise that requires you to sing
• You will see the "Oops, it looks like...." message. Click Ok and restart EarMaster. Now the mic permission should be added in the macOS settings
• If you don't want to keep VB-Audio, move it to the trash

Please let me know if that worked on your Mac Mini. A coming update will fix this for good

Worked perfectly, thanks for the prompt response and workaround!

[Quentin]

Wonderful, glad I could help

As I mentioned, a more permanent fix will be included in an upcoming update.