sound not coming through USB headset

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Level 1

93 points

sound not coming through USB headset

I have a USB Plantonics headset plugged into my Intel iMac (10.6.) I can hear the internal sound effects from my computer but not audio from anything coming from the internet. I.e. YouTube etc. Settings are correctly set for the USB and volume is up. Sounds do come from speakers when settings are changed to internal speakers but I want to listen to Internet content w/o disturbing others. Any helpful hints?

iMac Intel, Mac OS X (10.6.5)

Posted on Nov 20, 2010 8:43 AM

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Answer 1

ElenaInez Author

Level 1

93 points

Nov 20, 2010 6:01 PM in response to OrangeMarlin

Thanks for your posts. I double checked the settings in System Preferences and both input and output are set for the Plantronics headset. I also tried to change the default settings in the AudioMidi setup but though the headset shows up in the list and I can select it I don't know if this is enough to make it the default. At least the pulldown menu next to Source says default but is grayed out. I can hear the computer alert sounds through the headset but when I go into the internet (I use Firefox) I cannot hear sounds in greeting cards, YouTube videos etc. As soon as I pull out the USB Adapter for the headset the audio reverts to the built in speakers and I can hear through them fine. I obtained the Mic/headset through MacSpeech and use it primarily for dictating with MacSpeech/Dragon software. They don't seem to provide support for the microphone however, and Plantronics doesn't seem to list this particular model on their website. If I were to have to download a driver I'm not sure where I would get it. Thanks for your help.
Eileen
PS I don't know why this got posted in this forum...I thought it was going into Sounds

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Answer 2

Nov 20, 2010 12:47 PM in response to ElenaInez

ElenaInez wrote:
I have a USB Plantonics headset plugged into my Intel iMac (10.6.) I can hear the internal sound effects from my computer but not audio from anything coming from the internet. I.e. YouTube etc. Settings are correctly set for the USB and volume is up. Sounds do come from speakers when settings are changed to internal speakers but I want to listen to Internet content w/o disturbing others. Any helpful hints?

Just to make sure I understand you, you're saying that you've gone to System Preferences>Sound and set the output to come through your USB Plantronics device. It should actually spell it by name. Use the Sound preference to test to see if you hear it.

Make sure nothing is plugged into the sound output on your MBP like external speakers. That seems to cause issues.

Otherwise, this should be plug and play. I'm hoping it's a very simple issue for you.

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Answer 3

Nov 20, 2010 12:52 PM in response to OrangeMarlin

I've done a bit more review. It seems like you might need to install a driver, but I'm skeptical that you really do.

You might try to go to Applications>Utilities>Audio MIDI Setup and force the Plantronics device to be the default one. When you unplug it from the USB port, then it should go back to internal speakers.

I dont' have to do this with my own USB headset, but some headsets have funky configurations.

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