To create an immersive audio experience, this video shows you how to play audio from your Mac simultaneously on multiple speakers and headphones.
By clicking the sound icon in the menu bar and selecting an available speaker, I can quickly choose one of the speakers mentioned above to serve as the audio output. You were aware of this.
But what if I want to simultaneously listen to audio on each of the four speakers?
You can simultaneously play audio through numerous devices with a built-in feature of macOS. The iOS operating system also offers a similar capability that allows two AirPods or Beats headphones to share audio simultaneously, but it is not available for speakers made by Apple or Beats (also owned by Apple). Luckily, Mac does not have this restriction, therefore any speaker can be used for multi-device output.
Use your Mac to play the same audio across many speakers at once
2) Open the built-in Apple Audio MIDI Setup app on your Mac.
3) Click the plus button (+) from the bottom left and choose Create Multi-Output Device.
4) You will see all the speakers currently connected and available on your Mac. Click the small Use checkbox for each speaker you want to add to the multi-device setup. In my case, I want all four speakers to play the audio at the same time. So I have checked them all. Also, leave the (already checked) boxes under the Drift Correction heading as it is.
5) From the top, you can change the Primary Device or Master Device. A clock icon is displayed next to the master device. In theory, audio is sent to the master device, and it also plays on all the other devices added to the multi-output device setup. I have set my Mac’s built-in speaker as the primary device.
6) Optional: Click Multi-Output Device in the left sidebar and give it a different name. I have called it Audio to all 4 speakers.
7) All configuration is done. Click the speaker icon in your Mac’s top menu bar, and you should see this multi-output setup as a possible audio destination. Select it.
If you don’t see it the first time, select the multi-output device setup in the left sidebar. Next, click tiny arrow from the bottom of the Audio MIDI Setup app, and choose Use This Device For Sound Output.
Now let’s test
1) Select the multi-audio device option as your sound output.
2) Play something in the Music, Spotify, Safari, Chrome, or another app on your Mac. You will hear the audio coming from all the speakers at the same time.
No way to alter the sound?
The sound slider in the menu bar and the primary volume keys on your Mac keyboard might not work to modify the sound. But, using the in-app settings of an app like Music, Spotify, or VLC, you can change the volume.
Get rid of the multi-output device setup
1) Open the Audio MIDI Setup app on your Mac.
2) Select the multi-audio output device setup.
3) Click the minus button (-).
