Microphone Priority
(New in 1.6) Settings > Audio lets you set a Microphone Priority ladder — an ordered list of your microphones that tells Murmur which input to use, and what to fall back to when a device isn't available. One ladder is shared across dictation, voice notes, and meetings.
Why it exists
macOS normally routes audio to whatever device connected most recently. That means connecting AirPods (or any Bluetooth headset) mid-day can silently hijack your microphone — often to a lower-quality mic — right when you start dictating. The priority ladder puts you in control: Murmur captures from the highest-ranked microphone that is currently available, and falls back down the list automatically when one disconnects.
Keeping your built-in mic at the top of the ladder means connecting AirPods won't interrupt dictation — Murmur keeps using the built-in mic unless you move AirPods higher.
How the ladder works
The ladder is a drag-to-reorder list in Settings > Audio:
- Drag the handle on any row to reorder it. Changes take effect immediately.
- At record time, Murmur walks the list top to bottom and uses the first microphone that is currently connected.
- A special System Default entry represents "whatever macOS is currently using." Rank it wherever you like — for example, keep specific mics above it and let System Default catch everything else.
- If none of your listed devices are available, capture falls back to the current system default input, so recording never fails for lack of a match.
Reading the list
Each row shows the device, with live status:
- An icon for the device type — built-in, USB/wired, or Bluetooth.
- A green dot marks the microphone currently in use.
- A device that is remembered but not connected is greyed out with a "not connected" marker, and stays in the list so it snaps back into place when you plug it in again.
- The list refreshes on its own as devices come and go, so it always reflects what's actually connected.
Devices are remembered by identity
Murmur identifies each microphone by its stable hardware ID, not its name or its temporary system number. So your ordering survives reboots, unplugging and replugging, and even two devices sharing the same name. A newly-seen microphone is added to the bottom of the ladder automatically — again, so a freshly-connected headset never jumps the queue.
Related
- Automatic Device Switching — what happens when a mic changes mid-recording
- Recording Quality — sample rate and bit rate for saved audio