How to Play Audio Through Two Devices on Mac

Why you'd want multiple audio outputs

There are several legitimate reasons to send audio to two devices at once:

Presenting in a room – hear the call through your headphones while the room hears it through speakers
Monitoring with a partner – two people listening to the same audio from one Mac
Recording while listening – send audio to both your recording interface and your monitors
Desk setup with monitor speakers – use your monitor's speakers and a USB headset together

macOS doesn't expose this option in System Settings. You need Audio MIDI Setup, a built-in utility that Apple ships with every Mac but never mentions.

Step 1: Open Audio MIDI Setup

There are two ways to find it:

• Open Spotlight (⌘Space) and type "Audio MIDI Setup"
• Or navigate to Applications → Utilities → Audio MIDI Setup

You'll see a list of all audio devices connected to your Mac – built-in speakers, headphones, USB mics, Bluetooth devices, monitor speakers, etc.

Step 2: Create a Multi-Output Device

Click the + button in the bottom-left corner of the Audio MIDI Setup window and select "Create Multi-Output Device".

A new device appears in the list called "Multi-Output Device". On the right side, you'll see checkboxes for every audio output connected to your Mac.

Check the boxes for the devices you want to use simultaneously. For example, check both "MacBook Pro Speakers" and "External Headphones" to play audio through both at once.

The first device you check becomes the "clock source" – the master device that controls the audio timing. This should be your primary output (usually the one with the best quality or lowest latency).

Step 3: Set it as your output

Now tell macOS to use your new Multi-Output Device:

Open System Settings → Sound
Under Output, select your "Multi-Output Device"

Or Option-click the volume icon in the menu bar and select it from there.

Important caveat: when using a Multi-Output Device, you can't control volume from the keyboard or menu bar. You need to set the volume for each individual device in Audio MIDI Setup. This is the biggest annoyance of this approach and there's no workaround – it's a macOS limitation.

Using this for video calls

If you're using multiple outputs during a video call, be careful about echo. If one of your outputs is a speaker in the same room as your microphone, the other participants will hear echo. See our guide on how to stop echo on Mac for fixes.

For calls, you'll also want to make sure your input (microphone) is set correctly. The Multi-Output Device only affects output – your mic setting is separate. Check it in System Settings → Sound → Input, or in your call app's audio settings. More on this in our why your Mac picks the wrong microphone.

And as always, stay muted when you're not talking – especially with speakers active in the room. Am I on Mute? gives you a persistent floating indicator so you always know your mute state, regardless of which app is in front.

Troubleshooting

No sound from one device

Make sure the device's checkbox is ticked in the Multi-Output Device settings in Audio MIDI Setup. Also check that the device isn't muted at the hardware level.