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Hooking up speakers to my Macbook

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fyree39

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 27, 2009
6
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I have a Macbook that I purchased 2 years ago. I'm still very new to Macs and somewhat ignorant of computers in general. I have a set of speakers that I'd been using on my ancient PC and would like to hook them up to my Macbook. I tried simply plugging the set into the headset input on the side of my Mac, but that resulted in silence. I was looking around for some sort of hardware recognition message, but found nothing.

Can anyone help me out here? Thanks...
 
What model MacBook? The one with 1 or 2 audio ports?

If 2 then be sure you're plugging into the OUTPUT.

If 1 then after you plug in your speakers, go into System Preferences>Sound>Output and be sure that the pull-down menu near the bottom of this page says "Use audio port for: Sound Output" If this has worked then under "Select a device for sound output" it should have an option other than "Internal Speakers."

If this doesn't work, are your speakers analog or digital?
 
I have one audio port. It is a Mac OS X, version 10.5.7. The speakers are digital and my Mac says I can use the USB port, but the speakers have the simple plug, not a USB plug. It appears my Mac doesn't recognize the speakers when I plug them into the port. Computers are only as smart as the user and my computer is pretty dumb right now. :rolleyes:
 
Go to your spotlight and type "MIDI" and click on Audio Midi Setup.

Under Output in the Source pull-down menu, there should be the "Digital Out" option. For the sake of checking that your speakers are working, put the Format at 44khz and try 2ch-16bit and then Encoded Digital Audio.

Let me know how that works.
 
MrCheeto said:
Go to your spotlight and type "MIDI" and click on Audio Midi Setup.

Under Output in the Source pull-down menu, there should be the "Digital Out" option. For the sake of checking that your speakers are working, put the Format at 44khz and try 2ch-16bit and then Encoded Digital Audio.

Let me know how that works.
Click to expand...

I think you're speaking English, and in case you are, I'm going to go try this. Maybe. If I can wrap my head around the language. I'll be back and hopefully with a success story.

Wouldn't it be funny if my speakers were broken?
 
OK, then. Under Audio MIDI Setup, I have to choose between Audio Devices or MIDI Devices. I've selected Audio Devices and in that area I have System Settings, Audio Input, Audio Output. In the Audio Output section, there is a message stating that Output is not support. Any other ideas?
 
Can you take a picture of the connector of the speakers, as well try to use the port with headphones or other speakers to try and eliminate that variable.
 
Here is a photo of the speaker connector. I have no other speakers to try. Tell me this: If the speakers were dead, would they possibly not be recognized by the computer? My son told me he couldn't get them to work in his PC. I may have wasted your time. Sorry about that!
 

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Well, if they don't work I honestly don't know how the computer will react.

However, we should be sure the speakers are powered. Are they plugged into the wall or have batteries installed? I've had people call me when I sold them a computer because they forgot to plug the speaker into a power source :p it happens.

If it's not plugged into a power source, check for the regular power-jacks on the speaker itself or a battery compartment.

Also, FYI, you informed me the speakers were digital, that is an analog connector. For future reference if it has that long metal plug it is analog :D
 
MrCheeto said:
Well, if they don't work I honestly don't know how the computer will react.

However, we should be sure the speakers are powered. Are they plugged into the wall or have batteries installed? I've had people call me when I sold them a computer because they forgot to plug the speaker into a power source :p it happens.

If it's not plugged into a power source, check for the regular power-jacks on the speaker itself or a battery compartment.

Also, FYI, you informed me the speakers were digital, that is an analog connector. For future reference if it has that long metal plug it is analog :D
Click to expand...
Re: Analog v. Digital; That's exactly what I was thinking. USB = digital, right?

The speakers are plugged in and powered up. I can hear noise out of them, so I know something's getting powered. It's acting like they're not being driven. And that's the extent of my speaker knowledge.
 
Also, do you have an iPod or anything else that you can try the speakers with? Before doing the complicated stuff, eliminate the easy stuff. Make sure the speakers in fact work before mucking about with the audio settings. Most problems are caused by the simple things....

good luck
 
Does the MacBook have sound without the speakers plugged in? Look into the headphone jack on the MacBook and see if you see a glowing red light? This is not a joke, if it's glowing red then it means the digital optical output is stuck in the on position.
 
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