How to set up multiple audio outputs on your Mac

In most cases, audio devices are designed to operate alone, so only you are listening to songs or enjoying movies. But what if you want to listen to a song on multiple audio devices? In the early days, you might have come across audio splitters that easily routed audio to two separate headphones. These may not be of any use right now since we're dealing with wireless audio devices.

So, how do you connect multiple speakers or headphones to your Mac without using additional accessories? This is what we will explain in this article.

Prerequisites
Before you can set up your speakers and headphones as a single output, you need to connect them all to your Mac. Here are some configurations you can use to connect the audio devices you own to your Mac:

1. Use Bluetooth to connect multiple wireless headphones or speakers
macOS lets you connect to multiple Bluetooth devices at the same time. You can add and configure Bluetooth devices on your Mac by going to System Preferences > Bluetooth. Here you can turn on Bluetooth, add new devices, connect to them, and add a Bluetooth toggle to the top menu bar for easy access.

2. Use the audio jack to plug in one wired audio device and connect the rest via Bluetooth
If you have wired speakers or headphones, you can plug them in with 3.5mm audio jack (if your Mac has one). Unfortunately, you can only plug one of the wired devices into your Mac and then connect the other audio devices via Bluetooth, just like you did in the steps above.

How to Set Up Multiple Audio Outputs on Mac
Once you decide which method you want to take, you can go ahead and set up all your speakers and headphones together.

Open the Audio MIDI Setup application by going to Applications > Utilities or searching on Launchpad or Spotlight. You should now see the Audio Devices window on your screen. Here, click on the icon in the lower left corner and select the "Create multiple output device" option when the menu appears. You will now see the Multiple Output Device options listed in the left sidebar. You can now connect all the devices you want to add to your multi-output setup. When you do this, they will start to appear in the right pane within the Audio Devices window. To add a device to your multi-output setup, select the checkbox under "Use" next to the device name in this list. If you have wired headphones or speakers connected to your Mac, you must check the "Built-in output" box to add them to your setup. Next, click on the drop-down menu next to Primary Devices at the top. Now, select the audio output you want to use as your master device from the Master device drop-down menu. This is the device that has all the control over playback and volume adjustment. Once done, select your auxiliary device under "Drift Correction." This ensures that the audio on all other devices does not get out of sync due to different sample rates. After that, right-click or Control-click on the “Multiple Output Devices” option on the left sidebar. Now, click on “Use this device for sound output” to enable it. If you wish, you can also enable alerts and sound effects to be played through this device in the same way. After doing this, the new multi-device setting will now be enabled on your Mac. You can now close the audio device window. To make sure this setting is enabled, open System Preferences on your Mac from the Dock, Launchpad, or menu bar (Apple logo > System Preferences). In System Preferences, click Sound. In the Sound window, click the Output tab at the top and make sure the newly configured multi-output device is selected. If not, click to select the Multiple Output Devices option.

Your multi-output audio is now set up. You can try playing a song or video on your Mac to see if you can hear its audio on all connected devices.

When and why do you want to set up multiple audio outputs?
If you are wondering why you need to use multiple audio devices as output on your Mac. While you can do most of your daily work with a single speaker or headset, in some cases, setting up multiple audio outputs can be a blessing.

When you're watching a movie with someone in a public place: In most cases, you'll probably keep what you're listening to, but when you're in a public place with friends or family, such as on a flight or airport , you might want to watch a movie or listen to a song with them. Since you won't be playing them on your Mac's speakers, you may want to connect two headphones to your Mac so that you and your friends can watch the movie without disturbing others around you. You can connect multiple headphones on Mac using the steps mentioned below. When you have multiple speakers around you and you want to play audio on all speakers: If you have a bunch of wireless speakers and you want to use all the speakers at the same time to enjoy songs or movies, you can set up multi-audio output. This way you can connect all your speakers to your Mac and set them up in a room for a surround sound effect. When you want one device to control all other audio devices: Setting up multiple speakers or headphones on your Mac is one thing, but if you want to know how to control all of them, the Multiple Audio Output Utility on Mac lets you set up Main device. This master device has all permissions to adjust volume and playback when all other devices are connected as outputs.

That’s all you need to know to set up multiple audio outputs on your Mac.

The above is the detailed content of How to set up multiple audio outputs on your Mac. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!