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9.22. SoundUsing the panes of the Sound panel, you can configure the sound system of your Mac in any of several ways. Tip: Here's a quick way to jump directly to the Sound panel of System Preferences ”from the keyboard, without ever having to open System Preferences or click Sound. Just press Option as you tap one of the volume-adjustment keys on the top row of your Apple keyboard. 9.22.1. Sound Effects Tab"Sound effects" means error beeps ”the sound you hear when the Mac wants your attention, or when you click someplace you shouldn't. Just click the sound of your choice to make it your default system beep. Most of the canned choices here are funny and clever, yet subdued enough to be of practical value as alert sounds (see Figure 9-14).
As for the other controls on the Sound Effects panel, they include:
Tip: If you like the little volume-adjustment clicks most of the time, you can shut them up on a one-shot basis by pressing Shift as you tap the volume keys. 9.22.2. Output Tab"Output" means speakers or headphones. For 99 percent of the Mac-using community, this pane offers nothing useful except the Balance slider, with which you can set the balance between your Mac's left and right stereo speakers. The "Choose a device" wording seems to imply that you can choose which speakers you want to use for playback. But Internal is generally the only choice, even if you have external speakers. (The Mac uses your external speakers automatically when they're plugged in.) A visit to this pane is necessary, however, if you want to use a Bluetooth or USB phone headset. Choose its name from the list. Repeat on the Input tab. 9.22.3. Input TabThis panel lets you specify which sound source you want the Mac to "listen to," if you have more than one connected: external microphone, internal microphone, line input, or whatever. It also lets you adjust the sensitivity of that microphone ”its input volume ”by dragging the slider and watching the real-time Input level meter above it change as you speak. Put another way, it's a quick way to see if your microphone is working. |
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