Use internal speakers with others plugged in

Question

I have a set of surround speakers, connected to my iMac through the headphone jack. I use a switch to control what goes to the speaker set (iMac, iPod, or MacBook/aux). So that I don't have to be constantly unplugging and replugging, I leave the audio cable in the iMac's audio port. This means that when I'm listening to something from another source, I can't hear anything from the iMac unless I unplug the cable.

Is there a way to force sound to come out of the internal speakers, even if there's something in the audio out port?

Answer 1

This is definitely a kludge, but it might work:

1. Download Linein from Rogue Amoeba
2. Download Soundflower from Cycling '74
3. Set the system sound output to Soundflower
4. Set Linein to receive input from Soundflower and to output to Internal Speakers

I'm not entirely sure whether Linein will recognize the internal speakers while the other speakers are plugged in, but it's worth a shot. (I'd check, but I recently got a new computer and I haven't migrated my software yet.)

Answer 2

A faster way to do what @rwr suggested is to option click on the audio icon in the menu bar and select Internal Speakers under Output.

Answer 3

Check out Rogue Ameoba's SoundSource program. It's a free app that sits your task bar and lets you pick where audio should get routed. You can route internal, system sounds and general audio buss sounds to different locations. Super handy if you want to keep speakers connected but choose where audio goes. In your case you could route both audio types to the internal speakers even if your external speakers were plugged in.

I like to use it to keep system sounds from landing on my powered monitors, which can be running pretty loud at times. Nothing worse than a Chime or a Yoohoo type tone bouncing off your skull at high volume when an email comes in while you're tracking audio.

Answer 4

You can change the audio (output and input) directly on the Sounds Preference panel. There's an output tab that includes a selector for selecting the output.

If you want something a bit more convenient I used a free program called Audio Switcher from Spike Software. It sits in the task tray and offers quick access to the same settings you see in the Sound Preferences pane.

Answer 5

I have been trying to get this to work. After moving from my Mac Pro which has speakers and headphones plugged in and I simple switched between them (and even internal speakers) to a new iMac where I have to keep unplugging the headphones to get sound through the iMac speakers. What I'm about to order is a simple USB Sound Card dongle. Small thing that gives an audio jack via a usb, this should then allow me to alt+click the volume icon and switch between built in and headphones as it will see them as separate outputs.