Is there any way to use my imac's bulit in speakers alongside my output speakers?

[tombarnes]

I'm bored and I was wondering...

...Is there any way to use my imac's bulit in speakers alongside my output speakers?

In other words, use my built in speakers at the same time as the ones powered by my amplifier.

Tom

 

[mkrishnan]

Are your speakers connected using the line-out or USB?

I'm pretty sure the answer is no, unfortunately, for line-out. The system seems to be defined so that the line-out is a hard bypass of the speakers. This annoys me too for the opposite reason of what you want -- I would like, for instance, to be able to leave my TV plugged in to my video and audio outputs but only divert things to it when I want to do so; there's no way to do this unfortunately, because there's no way to have something plugged in and not activated on these ports.

For USB, you may be able to use Rogue Amoeba's free SoundSource.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong...I'd love to be.

 

[tombarnes]

It's my line-out, not USB

 

[kalisphoenix]

Doesn't the startup "BONG" still sound through the system speakers, rather than the external ones?

If not, then my Mac mini just gained 500XP and advanced to the next level.

 

[mkrishnan]

Doesn't the startup "BONG" still sound through the system speakers, rather than the external ones?

If not, then my Mac mini just gained 500XP and advanced to the next level.

Okay, that's fair enough. So it's not *that* hard-wired. But still, as far as I know, you don't see a line-out and the internal speakers as separate outputs in OS X.

 

[kalisphoenix]

Okay, that's fair enough. So it's not *that* hard-wired. But still, as far as I know, you don't see a line-out and the internal speakers as separate outputs in OS X.

Nope. Apple's too "helpful" to allow you to get around that. It's an OS thing for all machines, I'd assume, because IIRC I got output from my B&W G3's internal speaker and line out under Linux.

I'm kinda surprised that there isn't a well-known OS X utility to enable you to get sound from your internal speakers and line out simultaneously.

 

[Dimwhit]

If not, then my Mac mini just gained 500XP and advanced to the next level.

Oh please...everyone knows it takes 1000XP to hit 2nd level...

 

[mkrishnan]

I'm kinda surprised that there isn't a well-known OS X utility to enable you to get sound from your internal speakers and line out simultaneously.

Rogue Amoeba's SoundSource lets you redirect output to a destination of your choice... I seem to remember that they specifically discussed the issue of doing this with line outs and said that it wasn't feasible. I can try to find the reference....

 

[screensaver400]

I think with early versions of Boot Camp on my MBP, the sound driver couldn't redirect sound properly, and it would play out of both the internal speakers and any earphones I had plugged in. I could be wrong, though.