How to get speakers to work on Asus ProArt Monitor?

[Phrasikleia]

Well now this should be easy. There is a headphone jack on my MacMini. I used it to connect to a pair of external speakers up until I got this new monitor (Asus ProArt PA279).

The other end of the supplied audio cable (that came with the monitor) is plugged into the monitor's audio jack (it has one audio input jack and a headphone jack, and I've tried both).

My Mac's sound setting has output set to "headphones".

So...why don't I get any sound? The monitor is connect to the Mac via a DisplayPort cable.

 

[mfram]

Looks like the monitor accepts audio input from either HDMI or the audio jack. Maybe there's a menu setting on the monitor which selects the audio input to use. You might need to crank up the volume on the monitor as well.

 

[MCAsan]

See that speakers are listed in System Preference in the Sound area.

 

[Phrasikleia]

Thanks for the replies. I got the speakers to work finally, and here's what was happening.

1) For whatever reason, using the "headphones" option for sound output just plain does not work no matter what I do. I just gave up on that.

2) It seemed as though audio output wasn't working through the DisplayPort connection either. Turns out I was confused about the latter problem because when I tried to use the keyboard's audio keys, it gave me a "no" symbol, showing that the keys were not functional. That led me to believe that I had no audio because normally when I press those keys, I hear an alert sound for volume up or down. But when I went to iTunes and played a track (with the DisplayPort targeted for audio out), then the speakers worked.

So apparently, Macs (or at least my 2011 Mac) cannot process USB control of audio when audio is working through the DisplayPort. Bummer. I did some researching and found an extension called Soundflower that supposedly would allow the keyboard to control the audio, but it just freezes the Mac. Oh well, so much for that!

 

[MCAsan]

Thanks for the replies. I got the speakers to work finally, and here's what was happening.

1) For whatever reason, using the "headphones" option for sound output just plain does not work no matter what I do. I just gave up on that.

2) It seemed as though audio output wasn't working through the DisplayPort connection either. Turns out I was confused about the latter problem because when I tried to use the keyboard's audio keys, it gave me a "no" symbol, showing that the keys were not functional. That led me to believe that I had no audio because normally when I press those keys, I hear an alert sound for volume up or down. But when I went to iTunes and played a track (with the DisplayPort targeted for audio out), then the speakers worked.

So apparently, Macs (or at least my 2011 Mac) cannot process USB control of audio when audio is working through the DisplayPort. Bummer. I did some researching and found an extension called Soundflower that supposedly would allow the keyboard to control the audio, but it just freezes the Mac. Oh well, so much for that!

 

[MCAsan]

Good excuse for a new rMBP!

 

[Phrasikleia]

Good excuse for a new rMBP!

Do the new ones not have that problem?

 

[MCAsan]

My Mac keyboard, connected via USB, adjusts the volume of either my ATD speakers connected via mDP/Thunderbolt or external sets connected via USB.

 

[jerwin]

Looking at the user manual for the asus pa279q, there seems to be both an input jack and a earphone jack. Be sure that your are connecting the mac's headphone jack to the monitor's input jack (and not the other way around).

AFAIK, the mac's function keys cannot be used to adjust the volume of any digital output-- hdmi, spdif, etc. If you are comfortable adjusting your monitor's volume using whatever buttons ASUS has seen fit to provide, that's not aproblem. If not, you're going to have to use analog sound output.

Hold it.

Are you sure this monitor has speakers?

 

[MCAsan]

No it does not seem to have speakers. Dont use the headset jack tp connect external speakers. Use USB-based speakers connected/powered via the USB hub. They should show up in the System Preferences Sound icon.

 

[jerwin]

Use USB-based speakers connected/powered via the USB hub.

Is the MacMini's DAC really that bad? (I use a external DAC, but that's mainly because it makes switching between headphones and speakers much more convenient.)

 

[Phrasikleia]

My Mac keyboard, connected via USB, adjusts the volume of either my ATD speakers connected via mDP/Thunderbolt or external sets connected via USB.

That doesn't answer the question. I have keyboard control over external speakers too, just not via the DisplayPort connection.

Looking at the user manual for the asus pa279q, there seems to be both an input jack and a earphone jack. Be sure that your are connecting the mac's headphone jack to the monitor's input jack (and not the other way around).

AFAIK, the mac's function keys cannot be used to adjust the volume of any digital output-- hdmi, spdif, etc. If you are comfortable adjusting your monitor's volume using whatever buttons ASUS has seen fit to provide, that's not aproblem. If not, you're going to have to use analog sound output.

Hold it.

Are you sure this monitor has speakers?

Yes it has speakers. See above where I said that I got them working finally.

You've just answered my other question, though, about function key control over digital output. Apparently this is a Mac problem, and so far nobody is saying that it has changed in newer Macs.

As for the two analog inputs (headphone and audio in), yes of course I tried both, in conjunction with the necessary changes to the system settings for audio output. No go. Those jacks just do not seem to work. But the speakers do work over the DisplayPort connection.

No it does not seem to have speakers. Dont use the headset jack tp connect external speakers. Use USB-based speakers connected/powered via the USB hub. They should show up in the System Preferences Sound icon.

Yes, it has speakers, and as I mentioned above, they now work. I just don't have keyboard control over them because the Mac can't send keyboard commands over the Display Port.