I've been running into a strange issue and I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced this.
Whenever I import videos recorded on my iPhone 17 Pro Max that use Apple's Audio Mix feature into CapCut, the audio becomes noticeably distorted and sounds much worse than the original.
The same videos sound perfectly fine when played back in the Photos app, so the issue seems to happen only after importing them into CapCut.
I've attached a sample video for reference.
Hi,
I inspected the sample you attached.
From the file itself, I don't see any unusual audio encoding that would normally cause distortion:
- Audio codec: AAC-LC
- Sample rate: 48 kHz
- Channels: Stereo (2-channel)
- Bitrate: ~109 kbps
- Container: MP4
That suggests the distortion is unlikely to be caused by a corrupted recording. Instead, it points to how CapCut is interpreting audio from videos recorded with Apple's Audio Mix feature.
What's likely happening:
On newer iPhones, Audio Mix (Standard, In-Frame, Studio, Cinematic, etc.) relies on additional audio processing and metadata created during recording. Apple's own apps (Photos, QuickTime, Final Cut Pro) understand this metadata correctly.
Some third-party editors, including certain versions of CapCut, either:
- incorrectly interpret the processed audio,
- ignore Audio Mix metadata,
- or apply an additional processing step that results in clipping, phase issues, or a "distorted" sound.
Since:
- the video sounds normal in Photos, and
- only sounds bad after importing into CapCut,
this strongly suggests a CapCut compatibility issue rather than an iPhone recording issue.
Things to try
- Turn Audio Mix off temporarily
- Record another short clip with Audio Mix disabled.
- Import it into CapCut.
- If it sounds normal, you've confirmed Audio Mix is the trigger.
- Export from Photos first
- Try saving or exporting the clip from Photos before importing into CapCut.
- Sometimes this flattens Apple's processing into a standard AAC track.
- Update CapCut
- If you haven't already, install the latest version. Apple has introduced several new camera/audio features recently, and editor support often lags behind.
- Test another editor
- Import the same file into iMovie or Final Cut Pro.
- If those sound correct while CapCut does not, that's additional evidence it's a CapCut-specific issue.
If nothing works then it is better to report this to CapCut developers.
Which Audio Mix mode was selected when this video was recorded? (Standard, In-Frame, Studio, Cinematic, or another mode.)
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