USB External speakers

My wife got her new toy a few days ago and we notived when plugged in usb powered external speakers in it he sound still comes out of the speakers on the computer itself and no thru the external. Now some of the buttons work though like can control the volume from the external speakers.
We are new to apple so wondering if we need to turn something on in system directory.
We have tested the speakers and work fine on my windows laptop.. Its a logitech.

Open System Preferences/Sound and select the USB Speakers as your Output device
If that doesn't do as you expect, or you need to tweak them, run Utilities/Audio MIDI Setup and select them there then adjust the Format and Volume etc.

Similar Messages

  • Need Audio Help - USB External Speakers

    This should be fun!
    Need Audio Help!  My USB external speakers are recognized in Garage Band Preferences, but NOT in System Preferences. (I use the audio interface, US-144 Tascam)
    Which means:
    I can only play my speakers using Garage band and not iTunes.
    They were working in both iTunes and GB many times before.
    I see that others have had problems losing their external speakers after updating their iMac.
    I've called Apple for assistance (no help)
    Changed the order of connections
    I've shut down again, again...
    Help please

    Open System Preferences/Sound and select the USB Speakers as your Output device
    If that doesn't do as you expect, or you need to tweak them, run Utilities/Audio MIDI Setup and select them there then adjust the Format and Volume etc.

  • Having USB headset and external speakers both connected

    Have JBL external speakers plugged into the headphones jack and would like to get a headset for communications use. Am assuming that a USB headset would be best for my purposes, since I don't want to have to plug/unplug a device each time I want to use the other.
    * Does anyone use this setup? That is, does it work? If yes,
    * Would SoundSource (http://www.rogueamoeba.com/freebies/) be the application to use to switch devices?
    * What low-cost headset would you recommend?

    Hi Chrystal
    If I'm understanding correctly, I believe the Sound Preferences within the System Preferences would give you the option of toggling back and forth between the input and output you want. I have speakers run to the headphone jack and also a usb sound device plugged in, and I am able to choose which one I want under the "Output" tab. Take a look at it.
    Of course, it might be a hassle switching back and forth. I'm not familiar with the software you named - that might indeed make it simpler.

  • Can't get USB powered external speakers to work...

    I'm using Windows XP Pro, and for some reason, iTunes won't play through a pair of Logitech V-20 portable USB-powered speakers. I've checked all the settings I can think of, and everything seems to be set okay. If I use WMP, the sound goes through the speakers....and if I generate a computer sound (beep) through iTunes, it plays through the speakers. However, iTunes music is only playing through the laptop speakers. In fact, these speakers have a play/pause button that communicates with iTunes....and also previous track/next track buttons that also work with iTunes. If I plug different speakers into the headphone port, they work fine....and I didn't have this problem on a previous XP Pro computer when using iTunes (although I think it was an earlier version). I'm running the latest version of iTunes. Anyone have any ideas on how to fix this problem?

    http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93610

  • How do I connect Apple TV to external speakers and my TV?

    I just bought an Apple TV for my studio apartment and have it connected to my TV via HDMI, and use AirPlay to stream my music and videos. Video works great, but the my TV's internal speakers are low quality. So, I would like to have my audio come from external speakers (which I have not bought yet), for the following 2 scenarios:
    Listening to music via AirPlay, preferably without having to turn my TV on.
    Watching videos on my TV, with the audio coming through my external speakers rather than the TV speakers
    I see my Apple TV has an Optical Audio (Toslink) port, but the salesperson at the nearby electronics store said none of their speakers have Toslink cables, only 3.5 mm (or USB). The only solution I found is an AV receiver box that has optical input but costs hundreds of dollars. I am looking for something cheaper and am willing to settle for "pretty good" sound quality.
    Is there another way to get this to work?
    This article recommends using a digital audio converter (DAC) to connect the Apple TV to a stereo amplifier. This seems like it would satisfy scenarios (1) and (2) above.
    Also, I found this "Toslink to 3.5 mm adapter" for a few bucks; could I just plug that into my Apple TV and then connect it to any speakers (like computer speakers) with 3.5mm input?
    Any ideas would be appreciated.

    Rex,
    Since the toslink is optical, the 3.5mm adapter will not work for you as it is only ment as a conversion to a mini-toslink cable. Your first option of using the DAC, is in my opinion the best and perhaps only way to get audio out without going to a fancy amp or tuner first.
    One option that I'm considering is the Bose Solo TV sound system. It might set you back about 4-Grant's, but I generally enjoy the sound of bose for most music/tv/movie purposes; and it has a direct optical audio input that you can run either from your tv or your ATV. Whatever audio you're sending to your TV via the HDMI, should go to these speakers through your HDTV's toslink output with equal digital clarity.
    I've read a few other posts on the apple discussion forum which lead me to believe that the optical output of the ATV might not work so well after the 5.2 update... so whatever I do, it won't be JUST for use with the ATV.

  • Please Help My External Speakers Are'n't Working

    I am using a powerbook g4 (titanium) and OS 10.4.10. For some reason, my headphone jack plays sound when I plug in headphones but not when I plug in my speakers. Bought new pair of speakers and they still do not get sound ( Is this a coincidence?) I even bought i-mic for using the usb port and I still don't get sound from my external speakers. I've reset the pram and made sure the audio/midi settings are correct. This is too strange....Please someone help.

    Sorry, I meant aluminum powerbook not titanium. Also, my headphones work when I plug in the i-mic but not the external speakers.

  • How do I get external speakers to run on my Bootcamp Windows 7 partition?

    I have an intel based iMac and am running Windows 7 on bootcamp. I use the bootcamp partition more than the Mac. I hooked up some external speakers to the iMac and they function fine when running the Mac OS but they don't work when running Windows 7. The control panel in Windows doesn't recognize the speakers. Any ideas how to get the speakers functioning?

    PorterLayne wrote:
    The speakers aren't USB but are plugging directly into theheadphone jack.  This works when running the OSX partition but not the Windows side.  Bootcamp is updated to the latest version.  As for the drivers, I don't have a disc (they came with an older Gateway), but Windows isn't even recognizing that new hardware is connected so I can't search for drivers.
    Speakers that plug into the headphone jack won't have drivers.  (The computer will just see them as "headphones.")  I asked because you did not state whether you had USB speakers or not.  (USB speaker would definitely require drivers for Windows to be installed separately from anything installed in OSX, and so was the most probably issue based on your description.)
    With Windows running, unplug the speakers from the Mac.  If you will probably see a red light coming out of the headphone jack.  This means that the optical audio has been enabled.  There is some troubleshooting steps for OSX, but Apple doesn't have much on the Windows side.  Google has a few hits on people unplugging and plugging in again the plug to the headphone jack to "hit" the mechanical switch inside the jack, that determines if a optical cable is inserted or not.  In the past, an update to Boot Camp 3 drivers was offered.  In the future, when you say "latest version", you'll want to be specific to what version since the "latest version" at this point in time is version 4 and the "fix" you'll see on Google is for Boot Camp version 3.

  • Strange issue with external monitor, only working when external speakers plugged in (using Thunderbolt to VGA adaptor)

    Hey – I am having a very strange issue with my external monitor; where it only works if my external speakers are plugged in and connected.
    I am using a late 2011 Macbook pro, running Mavericks 10.9.4, along with an MBox 2 (USB Audio Interface), and two powered speakers (KRK Rokit 5). This setup has had no issues. I have just acquired an external monitor (Benq T2200HD), which I am using with a thunderbolt to VGA adaptor (a cheap Chinese knockoff adaptor).
    To start - I plugged the monitor in with the thunderbolt adaptor, and it powers up and works fine. However, there is a nasty buzz coming from the speakers. I did some research and it looks like a simple ground loop issue. I did a bit of troubleshooting, and this is where things get weird.
    What I found is - If I unplug the MBox, the monitor loses signal from the computer (displaying ‘No Signal Detected!’). Further, if I keep the MBox plugged in, however unplug both the cables from the MBox to the speakers, the monitor loses signal. It doesn’t matter if the speakers are turned off, however they need to be plugged in (or the monitor loses signal). Weirder still, I can unplug the MBox, however the monitor will work if I plug in the speakers through my macs headphone jack.
    Simply put, the monitor only works if there is a direct connection between the computer, the speakers, and the power source.  What is going on here? Is the monitor grounding through the computer port, to the speakers (I don’t know how this works, is this possible?). Could it somehow be the cheap VGA adaptor I am using?
    Some other information:
    - Everything is plugged into the same multi-box for power. I have tried plugging things into separate sources, and the result is the same.
    - If I unplug the thunderbolt adaptor, then the speaker noise disappears straight away.
    - The ground noise doesn’t appear in my headphones, which are plugged into the MBox.
    Any information would be great – am I missing something here, or is this genuinely weird?

    Well, I went back into Best Buy to test on 3 other laptops (2 Asus, and their floor model for this Sony). It seems to be doing the same problem so at least I was able to rule out broken hardware issue on my particular laptop.
    Here's what I did to test:
    Since I couldn't really install Adobe Premiere on their machines, I used the DVIO software (http://www.carr-engineering.com/dvio.htm) and a 5 min clip I captured.  I transferred onto their machines, hooked up my Sony D8, and attempted to play the video.  It would play for 15 seconds and then stop and jitter with a loud noise (like it does on my laptop).  I even tried changing each machine's firewire driver to the legacy one and same results.  I pulled a brand new 4 pin to 4 pin firewire cable off their shelf and still the same problem.
    I think I've nailed it down to Win7x64 bit Home Edition not playing nice with Firewire driver.  Very annoying.  I can't find any concrete evidence of this from other users on any of the forums that have my particular problem, but from my own testing, it's all I can conclude.
    I have 2 other things I can try:
    1.  Opening the laptop and looking at the firewire to maybe find appropriate driver (ugh, I don't want to have to open this thing up).
    2.  Upgrading to Win7x64bit Pro and possibly testing with XP on the new MS Virtual PC (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/).  I can't do it with my Home edition apparantly.
    Who needs to view video on an external TV anyways....sheeesh...(scarcasm).
    Tim

  • External speakers not recognized

    After sucessfully setting up airport, and getting my external speakers to work, my apple network no longer sees the external speakers.  The speaker option does not come up at the bottom right of my iTunes screen.  Any ideas?
    TIA

    Mike in No. Va. wrote:
    When I hooked up the Bose Companion II speakers .... the computer didn't recognize them.
    Am I missing something here? Whenever I've connected a USB device
    to my MacBook Pro or Powerbook G4 they've worked flawlessly.
    I've seen referenced to setting up the MIDI utility, could that be it?
    Not sure what you mean by "the computer didn't recognize them."
    Do they appear in *System Preferences > Sound > Output* ?
    When I connect a USB audio output device, the system "sees" it -- but
    doesn't automatically enable it as the active audio output. The system
    default (internal speakers or headphone jack) remains in force 'til you
    change it manually -- either in System Preferences > Sound > Output
    or with /Applications/Utilities/Audio Midi Setup > Audio Devices.
    Looby

  • External speakers popping/clicking sounds on new 24" iMac 2,8 GHz

    Hello everyone,
    got a new iMac from Gravis in Germany and connected it via it's headphone jack to my external stereo amplifier and it emits clicking or popping sounds whenever I switch the light in my room on or off. I've used the same connection for my Windows PC and that is working fine - no pops or clicks. The problem also exists if the Mac is muted. I can not hear clicks or popping noises when I disconnect the external speakers and use the in-built ones.
    I brought my Mac back to Gravis and explained the problem and they replaced the audio board and cabling. No success. The popping and clicking is still there. Replacing the audio cable with a better shielded one does not fix the problem. Turning the power connectors of amplifier and/or Mac 180° does not help also.
    The problem seems to come from a bad shielding inside the Mac or the built-in power supply that is not capable of filtering the power surges.
    I've found some threads but I'm not sure whether or not these issues are related. Some people seem to think that these problems are software related.
    A workaround could be:
    1) getting an online USV that disconnects the Mac from the power cabling
    2) using the digital output (toslink)
    3) getting an external Firewire or USB sound device for sound output
    Neither of these three workarounds are options for me - I still want a fix for my Mac.
    Anyone here who has the same problems?
    vex

    Hi Elvinio,
    I'm trying to solve this problem by getting rid of the analog connection between Mac and stereo. I've ordered a digital 7.1 receiver for 250 Euro and a toslink cable for 20 Euro.
    Another solution would be an online UPS. That UPS disconnects the Mac from the direct power source and delivers "freshly generated" and "perfect" current without disturbances.
    I think that those pops are power surges that are not filtered by the Apple Mac's power supply. My ordinary Windows PC is not subject to clicking and popping sounds - so I suppose that either the power supply or the internal shielding of the Mac is crap.
    I hope that those ugly pops are gone when I establish the new connection...
    I will post the results of my not too cheap work-around.
    Regards
    Message was edited by: viciousvex

  • Strange issue with external monitor, only working when external speakers plugged in

    Hey – I am having a very strange issue with my external monitor; where it only works if my external speakers are plugged in and connected.
    I am using a late 2011 Macbook pro, running Mavericks 10.9.4, along with an MBox 2 (USB Audio Interface), and two powered speakers (KRK Rokit 5). This setup has had no issues. I have just acquired an external monitor (Benq T2200HD), which I am using with a thunderbolt to VGA adaptor (a cheap non-apple adaptor).
    To start - I plugged the monitor in with the thunderbolt adaptor, and it powers up and works fine. However, there is a nasty buzz coming from the speakers. I did some research and it looks like a simple ground loop issue. I did a bit of troubleshooting, and this is where things get weird.
    What I found is - If I unplug the MBox, the monitor loses signal from the computer (displaying ‘No Signal Detected!’). Further, if I keep the MBox plugged in, however unplug both the cables from the MBox to the speakers, the monitor loses signal. It doesn’t matter if the speakers are turned off, however they need to be plugged in (or the monitor loses signal). Weirder still, I can unplug the MBox, however the monitor will work if I plug in the speakers through my macs headphone jack.
    Simply put, the monitor only works if there is a direct connection between the computer, the speakers, and the power source.  What is going on here? Is the monitor grounding through the computer port, to the speakers (I don’t know how this works, is this possible?). Could it somehow be the cheap VGA adaptor I am using?
    Some other information:
    - Everything is plugged into the same multi-box for power. I have tried plugging things into separate sources, and the result is the same.
    - If I unplug the thunderbolt adaptor, then the speaker noise disappears straight away.
    - The ground noise doesn’t appear in my headphones, which are plugged into the MBox.
    Any information would be great – am I missing something here, or is this genuinely weird?

    Hello cgoldberg11
    Please go to the below link to test if you are having a speaker hardware failure.
    Testing for Hardware Failures (Windows 7)
    This will rule out hardware failure, let me know how that goes.
    Thanks
    If I have solved your issue, please feel free to provide kudos and make sure you mark this thread as solution provided!
    Although I work for HP, my posts and replies are my own opinion and not those of HP. .....
    Reguards,
    Mo

  • How do i connect external speakers

    I am migrating from PC to Mac.
    I would like to connect my Altec Lansing 495 external speakers whic is a 5.1 system to the Imac.
    how would I go about doing this?
    Will I need any drivers?
    Thanks
    deputyaj

    Do you have the manual? This http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/acc/ACS495/ doesn't mention Mac support for the USB software part of the controls. So you use it in Stand Alone mode, which I assume means you just connect the subwoofer to the headphone jack on your iMac, like any other set of speakers. But no more software control menu like on your PC.

  • Internal (central) and external speakers (left,right)

    Hi all,
    I looking for a way to put the speakers in the iMac to good use.
    what I know:
    I can't use the headphone-jack and the internal speaker simultaneously,  since there is a hardware switch in the headphone-jack.
    what I don’t know:
    If I would use an usb-sound card, is there a way to use the internal speakers as a central speaker and the sound card for left and right channel?
    Perhaps somebody has an idea to this.
    Thanks
    Patrick

    I don't believe this is entirely true, it appears that while running Windows XP through Bootcamp, because of the absence of some kind of driver, both the internal speakers and the external speakers play the sound. Apparantly some guy was using Skype with his headphones, but the sound was not only coming through his headphone but also through the speakers.
    Long story short, there has to be a way to do it, even though it may be through some ugly firmware hack.

  • Mac mini - built-in speakers and external speakers?

    Hello
    Is it possible to use built-in speaker and external speakers the same time?
    I have connected Mini to my sound system, but sometimes I listen to the radio and would like to use the built-in speaker.
    How can I do such thing without unplugging external speakers?
    Regards
    Przemek

    You can't.
    There are 5.1 speaker systems that work with Macs that have built-in SPDIF ports:
    http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=506627&tstart=0
    (the M-Audio link on this tip is to a no longer available product)
    And there is 3 channel based speaker adapter here:
    http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/firewave/
    And while hard to find, you may be able to also get this Sonica Theatre USB Card somewhere:
    http://www.m-audio.com/index.php?do=products.main&ID=eee876ef2e6cbb4ac377f83c406 e8885&mode=preview

  • Using external speakers

    Why won't older external speakers work on my computer?

    What kind of old speakers are you trying to use and what type of connector is being used?
    If the speakers are connected with USB, you'll probably have to download drivers from the speaker manufacturer to make them work.
    Some other general tips on this Apple page -> Mac Basics: Connecting a home stereo, iPod, iPad, musical instruments, or speakers

Maybe you are looking for