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Echo Cancellation on Mac and Windows

This page covers the desktop app — Mac and Windows run the same app and behave identically here. For what the setting does in general, see the Echo Cancellation overview.

There is no toggle to find on the desktop — it's handled for you. The app applies the right loop guard for whichever audio source you pick, and the two sources need different guards.

Microphone Source​

When you record with the 🎙️ Microphone source, Whisperr always opens the microphone with echo cancellation, noise suppression, and automatic gain control enabled. Your computer's own speaker output — including the spoken translation from Speech Mode — is filtered out of the mic signal before anything reaches the transcript.

This is on permanently and needs no configuration. It's also why you can leave the Interpreter toggle on while using your laptop speakers without the app translating itself in circles.

System Audio Source​

When you record with the 🔊 System audio source, echo cancellation doesn't apply — the app is reading the whole output mix from the operating system, and neither macOS nor Windows lets one application be excluded from that capture.

Whisperr guards the loop differently here: it silences the captured audio while its own spoken translation is playing, then picks straight back up. Nothing is dropped from the stream's timing, so sentence chunking stays accurate; you only lose whatever the far end said during the few seconds the translation was speaking.

This is the mode to use when the thing you want translated is a video, a call, or a meeting playing on the computer itself.

Common Issues​

The same sentence keeps getting translated over and over​

Switch the source from System audio to 🎙️ Microphone if you're translating someone in the room, or use headphones. On System audio, check that Whisperr's own playback volume isn't so loud that it's still bleeding through after the mute window.

Whisperr isn't picking up the video I'm playing​

You're on the Microphone source, where echo cancellation deliberately removes audio this computer is playing. Switch to 🔊 System audio.

The spoken translation cuts off audio I wanted to hear translated​

That's the System audio loop guard muting the capture while it speaks. Turn the Interpreter toggle off to keep the capture continuous, and read the translation on screen instead.

Still not working? Contact Support

Don't have the app yet? Download Whisperr for Mac or for Windows.