Control sound (TV or soundbar) from Mac?

[Mity]

I have my M1 Mac Mini in my living room connected via HDMI. I'm using a Logitech wireless keyboard that has volume control buttons. I can't change the volume using the keyboard - I have to use the remote. This does not happen with Windows or ChromeOS.

So, I'm thinking about buying a soundbar and connecting it using the 3.5mm jack. Does anyone here know if that will allow me to control the sound using the volume controls on the keyboard / Mac?

 

[Lifeisabeach]

I have my M1 Mac Mini in my living room connected via HDMI. I'm using a Logitech wireless keyboard that has volume control buttons. I can't change the volume using the keyboard - I have to use the remote. This does not happen with Windows or ChromeOS.

So, I'm thinking about buying a soundbar and connecting it using the 3.5mm jack. Does anyone here know if that will allow me to control the sound using the volume controls on the keyboard / Mac?

You might be able to use a 3rd party utility to do this. I used to have a Mac mini connected to an ASUS monitor with speakers in that monitor, and the display/media keys didn't work out of the box. This is "normal". I wound up finding an open source app, MonitorControl, and it did the trick. I would certainly give this a whirl.

GitHub - MonitorControl/MonitorControl: 🖥 Control your display's brightness & volume on your Mac as if it was a native Apple Display. Use Apple Keyboard keys or custom shortcuts. Shows the native macOS OSDs.

🖥 Control your display's brightness & volume on your Mac as if it was a native Apple Display. Use Apple Keyboard keys or custom shortcuts. Shows the native macOS OSDs. - MonitorControl/Moni...

github.com

 

[Mity]

You might be able to use a 3rd party utility to do this. I used to have a Mac mini connected to an ASUS monitor with speakers in that monitor, and the display/media keys didn't work out of the box. This is "normal". I wound up finding an open source app, MonitorControl, and it did the trick. I would certainly give this a whirl.

GitHub - MonitorControl/MonitorControl: 🖥 Control your display's brightness & volume on your Mac as if it was a native Apple Display. Use Apple Keyboard keys or custom shortcuts. Shows the native macOS OSDs.

🖥 Control your display's brightness & volume on your Mac as if it was a native Apple Display. Use Apple Keyboard keys or custom shortcuts. Shows the native macOS OSDs. - MonitorControl/Moni...

github.com

Darn! Did you connect to the monitor via HDMI? Did you try connecting via the 3.5mm jack?

 

[Lifeisabeach]

Darn! Did you connect to the monitor via HDMI? Did you try connecting via the 3.5mm jack?

It was connected by HDMI. I think the problem is that normally these media controls don't work with monitors connected over HDMI... just firewire/thunderbolt and maybe DisplayPort. This app solves that problem.

 

[kuck]

Hi Mity,

to answer your question, yes, when connected via headphone jack, you are able to control the volume with the native volume control keys on your mac keyboard.

 

[Mity]

Hi Mity,

to answer your question, yes, when connected via headphone jack, you are able to control the volume with the native volume control keys on your mac keyboard.

Thanks - I've been holding off on buying a soundbar because I didn't know whether I use my M1 Mac Mini with this capability.

 

[George Dawes]

I bought a sonos beam 2 ,great sound but terrible connectivity

Tbh I’d go for a cheap av amp next time , even basic ones have multiple hdmi’s