Change sound output

With my old ibook i could decide what sound outputs i wanted like either headphone or internal speakers and never have to unplug any cables but with my imac i don't have that option. To get the internal speakers to work i have to unplug my external source from my imac which is a pain. i was wondering why this occurs or if this is just a fluke? Is this something with the programming on the imac or is this dealing with tiger? thanx in advance.

If the Sound System Preference is not working, I would try using the program Audio MIDI Setup in your Utilities folder to see if it can fix your problem.

Similar Messages

Can not change sound output. Help Please

Well, i've been digging all the forums lately in web. my problem is, i can't change my 'system' sound output to my sound card which is Native Instruments Audio8 Dj.
Let me explain my problem decently. I do the usual procedure, system preferences > sound > n then select the output. but nothing happens. it is always set on internal speakers or headphone or whatever plugged in to the *Built-in Output*. I try switching from audio-midi setup n that doesn't work as well. The system perfectly recognizes the sound card, i can get output from sound card with applications which have their own output settings. But i cant change the system output. I have the latest version of soundflower loaded(this might be causing the problem who knows), i used many soundcards before(or maybe even ex-drivers?) n they used to work until i updated to snow leopard. I also tried trashing the files in macintosh hd > library > preferences > audio >>
and those files *did not regenerate* after restart(like 10 times), so i had to copy them from my imac.(hehe). i tried resetting pram or nvram.(didn't do any good too)And also i tried trashing soundpref.plist which didn't do me any good neither. Now i need that sound card to give me my system output. I don't need drivers of any other ex-sound cards or whatever. My drivers are up to date. And im pretty sure this ain't an hardware fail.
So, any ideas? Thx.

I am having the exact same problem. I have spoken with Apple Care and they are having my case reviewed by "Engineers," apparently. Its very frustrating as I cannot listen to iTunes or any of my video games through my really nice monitor speakers. FYI, I had this problem without installing Sound Flower, since then I have installed it in the hopes that having something different to select it might work but no changes. If I hear any good news from Apple I will be back to let you know. This seems to be a very rare problem as I have only found one other post about this issue.

How to change sound output?

Howdy
I recently bought a high-end toslink cable which I connected from the optical/digital out from my iMac to my receiver. The sound quality is excellent, however I noticed that all sounds now gets passed to my Hifi system all the time. The only way (I could find) to route sound to the internal speakers is by physically unplug the cable. This is really not workable in the long run as it wears down the plug and, not to mention, my patience...
So, anyone know any way to switch output to internal speakers w/o having to unplug the cable? Or is there another approach (I'm thinking Airport Express)?
/Cheers

Unfortunately, you cannot select +Internal speakers+ in System Preferences Sound pane Output tab, if you have something plugged into the audio output port.
If you got an AirPort Express, its AirTunes feature would certainly work for iTunes output. However, I believe AirTunes would only play the output of iTunes. So it would work great as long as you were only playing songs and videos using iTunes, because all other sounds will come from your computer speakers. No need to change any setting manually, after you are done listening over the stereo system. However, it would not work so great, if you wanted the audio output of some other programs to be played from the stereo system; but there seems to be a third-party solution for that issue
http://www.rogueamoeba.com/airfoil/mac/
If you have separate powered computer speakers that connect using a standard mini-jack, one alternative is to get a USB (or possibly FireWire) sound output device (if you want to be able to change the sound output setting manually). The least expensive one may be the Griffin iMic.
http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/imic/
It provides a second sound output port over USB, so it should show up as a separate choice in System Preferences Sound pane Output tab. Therefore, you should be able to use the Sound preference pane to manually switch the sound output from you stereo system to the computer speakers connected over the USB iMic.

I cannot change sound output to line out

I have a first gen 8-core Mac Pro 3GHZ. Since upgrading to Snow Leopard, the machine wont let me change the sound output so that the sound comes out my external speakers. Have tried binning all sound prefs files, re-booting, PRAM and rebuild permissions. I know the speakers work and have tried using sound preferences panel, and Audo/Midi panel
Help!
Thanks in advance

Same here. Every time I reboot the sound defaults back to internal speakers. But it gets worse from there.
If it goes to the screen saver and log back in the sound is still set to line out but the output volume no longer works. By that I mean I can press the up and down volume on the keyboard and the volume control picture appears on the screen. However, the output volume under preferences>sound>output does nothing and the sound remains at the same volume. If I take the keyboard down to mute it will mute the system and cause the check box to activate. In order to fix the problem I have to click on internal speakers and back again to line out. At that point my volume controls work again.
Yippie Snow Leopard. Between that and taking away Quicktime's ability to make movies with picture files I wish I had waited on the upgrade.

Changing SOUND Output

In the System Preferences and as well as using the Sound icon on the top right of the screen, you can select the Output and Input devices. (pressing Option key while selecting the sound icon, or going straight into the Sound Preferences).
How can I switch between headphones plugged in and the internal speakers without having to unplug the headphones each time.
If the headphones are plugged in, under Output it only shows "Headphones." If it is not plugged in, then it only shows "Internal Speakers." But never both. I was told that I can switch between them. How do I do this? Thanks
Jonathan

I cannot help you, Jonathan; but I have the same problem. I just bought a nifty little stereo sound system with an audio input I'd like to use with my iMac. I'd really like to leave the computer speakers on too, because of the shape of the room. I suspect, though, that the reason nobody has replied to your original question is because there just is no way to run internal speakers at the same time as external ones.
The jack itself mechanically disconnects the internal speakers, I suspect--if it works like the plain, vanilla 3.5 mm phone jacks that electronics stores carry. If that's the case, then short of opening the case and replacing the jack, there's nothing that can be done.
Fixing this problem would involve a dedicated jack that does not disconnect the internal speakers as well as one that does (for, say, headphone use), and I really hope that Apple might consider adding such a jack in future models.
I'd like to be wrong with my reply, since it would be very nice to have a workaround that does enable inner speakers to work with external ones.

Automator - Toggle Sound Output Device

Hi.
I have an audio interface with headphone output, and the internal imac speakers. I like to toggle between them very often Right now I have to open system prefs, click on sound, and select the sound output. This is a pain. Ideally, I would like a keyboard shortcut t do this for me, but I can't find a way to do it. I had a play with automator and thought I'd solved it by getting it to record me changing sound output - but it didn't work.
Can anyone give me some relatively simple instructions on how to make this task feasible?

edit: (i know it's a 3 year old thread)
not sure why you would say that automator can't do it. if you can do it with a gui, there is almost certainly a way to do it using automator. this is what i use for os x to switch to bluetooth (using ifttt to trigger a certain playlist when i'm almost home).
tell application "System Preferences" to set current pane to pane id "com.apple.preference.sound"
tell application "System Events"
    tell process "System Preferences"
        tell window "Sound"
            click (radio button 2 of tab group 1)
            delay 0.0
            select row 2 of first table of first scroll area of first tab group
            delay 0.0
        end tell
    end tell
end tell
tell application "System Preferences" to quit

Changing sound preferences - Applescript

Hi there,
I want to change Sound Input and Sound output settings in System preferences to my Bluetooth headset (Logitech HS04 V01) and back. By one click. I did not found any system option to do it, but there should be the way to do it with applescript.
What I found and modified is this script:
<pre>
tell application "System Preferences" to activate
tell application "System Events"
get properties
tell process "System Preferences"
click menu item "Sound" of menu "View" of menu bar 1
delay 3
set theRows to every row of table 1 of scroll area 1 of ¬
tab group 1 of window "sound"
set theOutputs to {} as list
repeat with aRow in theRows
if (value of text field 1 of aRow as text) ¬
is equal to "Logitech HS04 V01" then
delay 1
set selected of aRow to true
exit repeat
end if
end repeat
end tell
end tell
tell application "System Preferences" to quit
</pre>
It changes sound output to my Bluetooth headset. But only the output and only one way. How to improve it? How to extend it to change both input and output?
Jirka
iBook G4 Mac OS X (10.4.5) 1.33 GHz, 512 MB, 12-inch

Some additional details:
- If I change my sound settings to internal speakers while the USB device is connected they do change, however if I unplug the USB device and plug it back again they changed again to USB device (so it hasn't saved my settings for the USB device).

No sound output on macbook

I cannot get sound when trying to play videoes etc and when I try to change sound output to built in speakers it is not there to choose. There is only an option for optical digital ou port

I cannot get sound when trying to play videoes etc and when I try to change sound output to built in speakers it is not there to choose. There is only an option for optical digital ou port

Sound output: keeps changing from internal speakers to Apple TV

My iMac keeps changing the soudn output from internal speakers to Apple TV. Why. This makes it a pain. Eveytime I use the iMAc, I have to go into preferences>sound>output and switch to internal speakers. Any ideas how to stop this form happeneing?
Thanks!

If you use LogMeIn, it is their sound driver. I'm having identical problem and it started after using LogMeIn.
See this page;
http://community.logmein.com/t5/Free/Mac-restore-defaul-sound-output-device-on-d isconnect/m-p/88522/highlight/false#M8093

Device for sound output changing randomly

After the latest OS update, I've been having issues with my sound output settings. My sound will play most the time through the "line out" setting, but then randomly the "sound effects" will play thru the internal speakers. I keep changing the setting in the "sound" panel of system prefs but it keeps changing randomly on me. I've saved the setting and rebooted and thought it would be fine, but it keeps doing it. Once my Sound Output setting were changed too, and my music just started playing thru the internal speaker.
Anyone know what's up with this, and what could correct the problem?

It may sound silly, but from my own experience (having had exactly the same problem while working on a soundtrack) after snooping around I found that the plug/cable I was using (a cheapo cable) was somehow the guilty party.
It fit snugly, no wobble, no crackling, changed the cable and all problems went away.
Same cable works 100% now used to hook up the iPhone to the mixer.
Seems to make no sense, and yet... voodoo (or a badly soldered plug).

How can I change default audio / sound output or remove the displayport audio option?

I upgraded from Mavericks to Yosemite and while I don't have any of the number of issues that see to accompany that move, I've discovered a different one that is not necessarily related to it, but is irritating.
2014 Macbook Pro Retina
I use a thunderbolt to displayport (AKA just displayport) cable to attach a Dell monitor to my mac at the desk.
Prior to this update, the mac ignored the display as far as audio was concerned (the Dell does NOT have audio built in). But now it seems to think it does.
Moreover, it continually switches back to that Sound output in the preferences whenever I plug or unplug an audio source from the audio jack. This is Annoying!
Is there any way to either
1) set the default to prefer the internal speakers / headphones instead of the DP?
2) remove the Sound output for the DisplayPort connection (which is a false connection since the Dell doesn't actually have AUDIO)
Thanks much

I found the com.apple.audio.SystemSettings.plist and Com.apple.audio.DeviceSettings.plist, but can't make sense of either enough to feel confident in altering any entries there. here's the SystemSettings one that seems like it might have something you could change, but...

System preferences in iMac for sound output shows only headphones. How do I change this to get sound through computer? Thanks.

In sound System preferences on iMac headphones is only option for sound output. How do I change this to get sound output through computer, as in a video etc. Thanks.

There is a switch in the jack that may be stuck. Try plugging and unplugging a headset plug into the socket a few times.
You might try dipping the headset plug into some pure alcohol, wiping it nearly dry, and repeating the process to clean/clear the socket.

Can't change device for sound output

Hi,
Hi I've a MBP 17 inch that is plugged in to an USB sound card.
I usually just switched between the USB sound card and the internal speakers through the day, but for some reason that isn't working for me anymore.
No matter what preference I pick from the Sound Preferes output devices list, the Mac plays its sound on whatever device it picked as default -- for example, if I boot it without the USB audio card plugged in, it plays on the internal speakers; if I reboot it with the USB plugged in, it plays sound to the USB card.
So the actually problem is in switching between the devices.
I couldn't link this to anything abnormal, just started out of nowhere.
Any ideas? Any preference files I can delete or re-setup?
From the Console application, this is what I get when I try to change devices:
2/2/10 8:05:25 AM System Preferences[477] Error who? trying to set sOut device to 262
Thanks in advance.

I wasn't familiar with that app; I just tried it, and got the same problems.
It won't let me change the sound output.

IMac sound output changes

As I'm trying to watch tv shows I've bought from iTunes the sounds keep turning on and off.
I opened the sound preferences and found the output was switched to digital out- I cant even remember the last time I put headphones in!
Then, as I put my show on, right before my eyes the sound output changed from digital out to internal speakers (at which point I could hear my show once again) before it just as quickly changed to digital out without me doing anything at all!
How can I stop this?

I don't think there is a real fix to the problem, there was a thread about this a while back and no one came up with anything, but to just get it to go back to built-in output, try plugging an 1/8th inch cable into the audio out jack, then either a) jiggle the plug in the jack (seems to have worked for other people) or b) adjust the computer volume (worked for me - I used the keyboard buttons rather than the sound preferences to do it, not sure if it makes a difference), then unplug it, and your sound output SHOULD change back to your internal speakers. Hopefully. Try both methods a couple of times if it doesn't.

Sound output has DRASTICALLY changed

Bran new macbook pro 13' came with os x 10.7.1 and I recently updated to 10.7.2 I dont know what happened but it sound as if my mid range has been scooped and my volume has been stolen. As far as I know there is no master eq settings or any other sound options besides sys pref>sound>output. Any hep would be much apreciated

Utilities/Audio MIDI Setup is the global tool to adjust volumes etc.
Select the Outpout device and adjust the sliders there then close the app.

Change sound output

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