Control sound through two Studio displays

[pdbain]

I've been researching how to control the sound through two Studio displays and I'm coming up short. Soundflower does not work.

So far, the only option appears to be creating a multi-output device under Audio Midi. The problem with this option is that I lose keyboard control for volume.

Has anyone found a solution?

UPDATE: Looper is the solution. Not only does it allow you to control speakers on both monitors with the keyboard, it allows you to configure the speakers in the left monitor as the "left speaker" and the speakers in the right monitor as the "right speaker." While Looper is not free ($99), it's well worth these features (keyboard control and sound balancing).

 

[Phil77354]

Control the sound in what way, exactly?

This thread may be helpful - suggests using Loopback:

Use two Studio Displays for stereo output? - Apple Community

discussions.apple.com

 

[rustyosaurus]

I'm sure the OP means how do you control the sound for both displays from your keyboard? Does Looper allow you to do this?

 

[astrorider]

You create a multi-output device in the Audio Midi Setup.app in your Utilities folder (using the + symbol lower left). Set the checkboxes for both "Studio Display Speakers", and secondary-click on the multi-output device you created and choose to use it for both sound output and alerts. Then, to control this new multi-output device with your keyboard, install MultiSoundChanger.app to your Applications folder, and set it as a Login Item so it launches on login (System Preferences > Users & Groups). MultiSoundChanger.app has media key support and adds a menubar item too.

 

[podasaurus]

@astrorider Wow! Thank you so much for walking through this so clearly. This is the solution I've been looking for.

I bought 2 studio displays a few months ago and could never figure out how to get both monitor speakers working & control the volume via the keyboard... without spending $100 on the recommended software.

Now I'm really enjoying my setup. Thanks!!!

 

[mackinleyrobinson]

Thank you for this, very helpful. I just purchased dual Studio Displays, and was able to set them as an aggregate MIDI sound source, but when I download MultiSoundChanger, it won't let me run it. Do you know why I'm getting this issue?

 

[astrorider]

Thank you for this, very helpful. I just purchased dual Studio Displays, and was able to set them as an aggregate MIDI sound source, but when I download MultiSoundChanger, it won't let me run it. Do you know why I'm getting this issue?

View attachment 2318611

I think you can override that warning by right-clicking on the app and selecting Open. Here's an Apple doc about what this does: https://support.apple.com/guide/mac...k-app-for-malicious-software-mchleab3a043/mac

 

[xraydoc]

Does this basically render your sound as mono - stereo going to both displays - or is there a way to make the left display play just the left channel and the right display play the right channel?

 

[astrorider]

Does this basically render your sound as mono - stereo going to both displays - or is there a way to make the left display play just the left channel and the right display play the right channel?

I think you need something like Rogue Amoeba's Loopback to separately route left/right channel audio to the left/right display. I'm not sure how much of an improvement that would make compared to Audio Midi Setup given my monitors are placed side-by-side with their inside speakers directly next to each other. I'm pretty happy with Audio Midi Setup playing music from both displays versus only playing from the left or right, but I'm curious if anyone's tried something like Loopack and thinks it's worth the cost.