Easier way to switch sound output device

Question

I bought a USB soundcard for my Macbook Pro, so I can use a headset mic for Skype. By default, the. sound goes to a pair of external speakers (for iTunes) or the built-in speakers (on the road/gaming)

Is there a simple way to switch or toggle (keyboard shortcut, menu-bar icon, dock-able app) between these two output devices.

Apple-Menu->System Preferences->Sound is just too many clicks, requiring much precise mouse manuvering, when all I want to do is switch the output in a hurry).

I'd rather not buy a "switcher", one more device to carry around!

Answer 1

It sounds like you are after SoundSource:

SoundSource is a tiny tool for OS X enabling you to switch your audio input and output sources with a single click, and even adjust their volume settings.

Another program that does the same thing is PTHVolume.

Answer 2

Also in Snow Leopard if you hold option and click the sound icon in the upper Right of the Mac it will bring down a menu similar to what the above mentioned 3rd party plugins do.

Answer 3

You can use applescript to switch between two sources, triggered by Quicksilver being the fastest way:

property speakers : "Headphones" --ext. speakers are connected to headphone output
property headset : "Line out"

tell application "System Preferences" to activate
tell application "System Events"
    get properties
    tell process "System Preferences"
    	click menu item "Sound" of menu "View" of menu bar 1
    	delay 2
    	click radio button "Output" of tab group 1 of window "sound"
    	delay 1
    	set theRows to every row of table 1 of scroll area 1 of tab group 1 of window "sound"
    	repeat with aRow in theRows
    		if selected of aRow then
    			set curr_output to (value of text field 1 of aRow as text)
    			if curr_output is speakers then set desired_output to headset
    			if curr_output is headset then set desired_output to speakers
    			exit repeat
    		end if
    	end repeat
    	repeat with aRow in theRows
    		if (value of text field 1 of aRow as text) is desired_output then
    			set selected of aRow to true
    			exit repeat
    		end if
    	end repeat
    end tell
end tell
tell application "System Preferences" to quit

Also, there is a command-line wrapper for SoundSource, making it easier to integrate with applescript/quicksilver/scripts etc:

http://whoshacks.blogspot.com/2009/01/change-audio-devices-via-shell-script.html

And another to try:

http://code.google.com/p/switchaudio-osx/downloads/list

Answer 4

You can press Option-Volume(Up/Down/Mute) to open the Sound Preferences directly, although you would still need to select the desired output.