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How to get the Pro’s internal speakers to work with external monitor attached?

BaddAdvice

BaddAdvice

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 9, 2016
505
609
I’m probably missing something simple, but I get no sound with an external monitor attached through the HDMI port on the Apple USB-C to Digital AV dongle? Using the physical or soft volume controls, I only get the option to mute/un-mute. Volume up or down does nothing and I don’t the volume pop-up on the screen. Removing the dongle restores the sound to the iPad’s speakers.

What’s going on here? Oh, and the external monitor does not have built-in speakers.
 
sracer

sracer

macrumors G4
Apr 9, 2010
10,287
13,021
where hip is spoken
BaddAdvice said:
I’m probably missing something simple, but I get no sound with an external monitor attached through the HDMI port on the Apple USB-C to Digital AV dongle? Using the physical or soft volume controls, I only get the option to mute/un-mute. Volume up or down does nothing and I don’t the volume pop-up on the screen. Removing the dongle restores the sound to the iPad’s speakers.

What’s going on here? Oh, and the external monitor does not have built-in speakers.
Click to expand...
When you have an HDMI cable attached, the sound AND the video is routed through it. Because your monitor does not have speakers you will not get any sound. You'll need one of those HDMI break-out boxes that will pass the video through the HDMI to the monitor but offer a 3.5mm audio out to attach to speakers.
 
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BaddAdvice

BaddAdvice

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 9, 2016
505
609
Thanks for the quick reply. That’s a bit disappointing - guess I’ll be using my BT headphones a lot more!

I’m assuming this would happen with a laptop as well - the dongle would port both audio and video through the HDMI output/cable?
 
JayMysterio

JayMysterio

macrumors 65816
Apr 24, 2010
1,494
32,929
Rock Ridge, California
BaddAdvice said:
Thanks for the quick reply. That’s a bit disappointing - guess I’ll be using my BT headphones a lot more!

I’m assuming this would happen with a laptop as well - the dongle would port both audio and video through the HDMI output/cable?
Click to expand...
I personally went with an inexpensive Anker/Soundcore BT speaker, so I can multiple uses out of it.
 
M

Momof9

macrumors 6502
Aug 22, 2018
479
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NO there is an easy solution! Go to the Control panel and select the music panel (I hope that is what it's called) press the symbol on the to right, then you can select which "speakers" to use!
 
BaddAdvice

BaddAdvice

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 9, 2016
505
609
Momof9 said:
NO there is an easy solution! Go to the Control panel and select the music panel (I hope that is what it's called) press the symbol on the to right, then you can select which "speakers" to use!
Click to expand...
Huh? Not following, sorry. EDIT: OK, that’s weird. So pulling down the Control Center, with my AirPods connected, I see the little symbol where you can choose an output (in my case, the AirPods, and the Bose Mini SoundLink). Then, I select the Bose and bam, sound from the Bose. It’s like I had to trick with the AirPods first or something..... Thanks Momof9!

And, for some reason, I can’t get any BT speaker to work with the HDMI cable plugged in. My AirPods work just fine, but I have an older Bose Mini SoundLink and a brand new Bose Mini SoundLink Color II and either work with the dongle/HDMI cable plugged in. If I remove the dongle, no problems. Hmmm......

EDIT 2: OK, so it appears that in order to get a BT external speaker to play with the AV dongle attached and an HDMI cable attached to the dongle, I first need to fire up my AirPods, start the music/video playing, then pull down the Control Center and change the output from the Music tile. If I unplug the dongle, I have to do that again, the setting doesn’t stick. Anyone else have this going on?
 
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sracer

sracer

macrumors G4
Apr 9, 2010
10,287
13,021
where hip is spoken
If you want a more reliable option, I recommend this adapter that I just bought myself for this very reason...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076MNY1RD/

I prefer this over doing the dongle-shuffle because it allows me to hook up ANY device with an HDMI output to my monitor and allow audio.

615-EXxdzAL._SL1001_.jpg
 
BaddAdvice

BaddAdvice

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 9, 2016
505
609
sracer

sracer

macrumors G4
Apr 9, 2010
10,287
13,021
where hip is spoken
BaddAdvice said:
Thanks for this. So, sorry to be dense, but how does this connect to the iPad? You still need some sort of dongle, no?
Click to expand...
No worries. Yes, you'll still need the dongle. USB-C to HDMI. You'll need to connect a standard HDMI cable from the converter to the monitor for video. Typical computer speakers are self-powered and have a 3.5mm audio cable that would be plugged into the audio out of the converter box.

As I mentioned previously, I like this setup (though it requires that $20 HDMI converter box) because I can connect ANY device with an HDMI out to that converter box. I use this setup to connect a BluRay disc player, XBox, Playstation, etc.

hdmi.png
 
BaddAdvice

BaddAdvice

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 9, 2016
505
609
sracer said:
No worries. Yes, you'll still need the dongle. USB-C to HDMI. You'll need to connect a standard HDMI cable from the converter to the monitor for video. Typical computer speakers are self-powered and have a 3.5mm audio cable that would be plugged into the audio out of the converter box.

As I mentioned previously, I like this setup (though it requires that $20 HDMI converter box) because I can connect ANY device with an HDMI out to that converter box. I use this setup to connect a BluRay disc player, XBox, Playstation, etc.

View attachment 810109
Click to expand...
Ah, ok, got it, thanks. So, this solution still wouldn’t allow audio to play out of the onboard iPad speakers when hooked up to HDMI, but it would allow for external, wired speakers/headphones.
 
M

Momof9

macrumors 6502
Aug 22, 2018
479
183
sracer said:
If you want a more reliable option, I recommend this adapter that I just bought myself for this very reason...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076MNY1RD/

I prefer this over doing the dongle-shuffle because it allows me to hook up ANY device with an HDMI output to my monitor and allow audio.

View attachment 810076
Click to expand...
So will this let your iPad charge? I am trying this with using the Apple TV (on a monitor with no sound output) and AirPlay and finding I can't have sound.... so frustrating.
 
sracer

sracer

macrumors G4
Apr 9, 2010
10,287
13,021
where hip is spoken
Momof9 said:
So will this let your iPad charge? I am trying this with using the Apple TV (on a monitor with no sound output) and AirPlay and finding I can't have sound.... so frustrating.
Click to expand...
If you have the lighting port to HDMI adapter that has the inline lightning port then in theory it SHOULD allow charging the iPad while displaying HDMI to monitor. (as I mentioned earlier, you'll need speakers connected to the audio out port on that HDMI box)
 
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