How to Use Dual Speakers on Mac.
Most Mac computers come with Bluetooth, which allows you to connect external speakers to it. You can then play the audio track on your Mac, and then listen to it through Bluetooth enabled speakers.
Many Macs also have a 3.5mm audio jack, allowing you to connect and use wired headphones and headphones with your device.
However, the problem is that you cannot use wireless and wired headphones at the same time. If both of your devices are connected to your Mac, your Mac will only send output to one of your devices. The other device will not hear sound and will remain inactive until you remove the first device from your car.
However, you don’t need to remove one of the devices if you use the following workaround. There is a little trick that allows you to use two speakers on your Mac, which includes headphones or speakers. It requires no external hardware and you can complete the entire procedure using only the built-in tools on your Mac.
Connect Dual Speakers to Your Mac
The first step in the procedure is to connect wired and wireless speakers to your Mac. If you have a wired speaker, use the 3.5mm port on your Mac to connect. Wireless speakers can be connected via Bluetooth.
Click the Bluetooth icon in the menu bar, select your audio device from the list, and select the Connect option.
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Both speakers should now be connected to your Mac.
Create a multi-output device on your Mac
Now you need to create a virtual device that can receive two outputs on your Mac. Then you add dual speakers to this unit, and this unit will act as a single audio output device for your car.
The built-in app on your Mac should help you get the job done, and here’s how you can access it.
Click Launchpad in the Dock, select the Other option, find and click the app labeled Audio MIDI Setup. This is what you are going to use.
When the application starts, click the + (plus) sign in the lower left corner and select the Create Multiple Output Device option. This is where you create your virtual device.
Click on the newly created device on the left sidebar, check all the devices you want to use at the same time on the right sidebar, and check the Drift Correction box for your additional speaker.
Right-click your virtual device in the left sidebar and select Use this device for audio output.
Your virtual audio device has been successfully created. It is now ready to receive audio and will broadcast it to both connected speakers.
Set virtual machine as the primary audio output in Mac
Now, you need to change the setting on your Mac so that all the sound played by your machine is directed to the virtual device, which then routes it further to your dual speakers.
You will find the setting you need to change in the preferences menu on your Mac.
Click on the Apple logo in the upper left corner of the screen and select “System Preferences.”
On the next screen, select the Sound option to change your Mac sound preferences.
Click the Output tab at the top to see all audio output devices currently connected to your Mac. Select your virtual audio device from the list to set it as the default speaker for the entire machine.
You don’t need to manually save your settings, your Mac will do it for you.
Test the dual speaker setup
Since your virtual device is now the default primary speaker for your Mac, all of your Mac’s sounds, including system sounds, will play on the virtual device. You will hear them through multiple connected speakers.
It should also be noted that you won’t be able to adjust the speaker volume from your Mac’s volume control menu. You will need to use parameters in your applications to control volume levels, or you will need to manually define these levels on the speakers themselves.
How to revert to the default
When you’re done listening to your favorite music tracks on your multi-speaker system, you can revert to the default Mac speakers.
Also, if you are no longer going to use multiple speakers with your Mac, you can remove the virtual device from your computer. Here we show you how to do it.
Use default Mac speakers
- Open the System Preferences panel and select Sound and then Output.
- Click on the device labeled “Internal Speakers” in the list.
[use-default-Speakers.png]
Removing a Virtual Audio Device
- Open Audio MIDI Setup from the launcher on your Mac.
- Select your device from the list and click – (minus) below.
The device will be immediately removed from the list.
Conclusion
MacOS’s ability to let you play music on two speakers at the same time is really great as you can place one speaker in your room and the other in the other room and both can enjoy your music tracks.
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