Change Mac Sample Rate Without Audio MIDI Setup

Short answer: Audio MIDI Setup's Format menu sets your output device's sample rate. If you change it often, SoundDial puts a sample-rate menu for the current output device in your menu bar, whenever the device offers more than one rate.

You plugged in a USB DAC or an audio interface and want it at 48 kHz instead of 44.1 kHz. Or a recording session needs 48 kHz and the interface is still sitting at 44.1 kHz from yesterday's music listening. On a Mac, the place to change this is Audio MIDI Setup, a utility most people open once, forget about, and then have to find again every time. If you change the output sample rate more than occasionally, that detour gets old quickly.

How sample rate works on a Mac

An output device runs at one sample rate at a time: 44.1 kHz, 48 kHz, or whatever else the hardware supports. That rate belongs to the device, not to the app. Everything that plays through the device, whether it's Music, Spotify, a browser or a DAW, goes out at the rate the device is set to, and macOS converts audio from other rates as needed.

Built-in speakers and many headphones offer few rates or only one, so there's often nothing to choose. USB DACs and audio interfaces often support several, which is why the question comes up.

The built-in way: Audio MIDI Setup

macOS gives you a proper tool for this, and it's worth knowing:

1. Open Audio MIDI Setup (in Applications > Utilities, or search for it with Spotlight).
2. Select your DAC or interface in the device list on the left.
3. On the Output tab, if your Mac shows one, choose the rate you want from the Format menu.

That works reliably, and Audio MIDI Setup does far more than change rates: Aggregate Devices, Multi-Output Devices, speaker configuration, MIDI setup. If you're building a complex studio setup, it's still the right place.

The downside is practical. It's a separate app in Utilities, it opens a full window, and you have to find your device in a list every time. If you switch between 44.1 kHz for music and 48 kHz for video work several times a week, that's a lot of clicking for a one-value change.

The faster way: from the menu bar with SoundDial

SoundDial is a menu-bar app that gives each app that plays sound its own volume slider. Version 2.0 adds an output card with controls for your output device, including its sample rate.

1. Click the SoundDial icon in the menu bar, or press Control-Option-S.
2. On the output card, make sure your DAC or interface is the selected device. The card has its own device menu.
3. Check the format label, for example "48 kHz · 32-bit", to see the current rate and bit depth.
4. Open the sample-rate menu and choose the rate you want. Depending on the hardware, rates range from 44.1 to 384 kHz.

One thing to know up front: the sample-rate menu only appears when the device offers more than one rate. If your built-in speakers or headphones run at a single rate, there's nothing to switch, so SoundDial doesn't show a menu for them. That's expected, not a bug.

Change it with a link

SoundDial also understands sounddial:// links, so you can set the rate from any launcher or script that can open a URL, or with open in Terminal:

• sounddial://sample-rate?value=44100 sets the output to 44.1 kHz.
• sounddial://sample-rate?value=48000 sets it to 48 kHz.

In Terminal that's open "sounddial://sample-rate?value=48000". Handy if you want one button for "music" and one for "video".

What to expect

• It's the device rate. Because the rate belongs to the device, changing it affects every app playing through that device.
• A volume mixer, not an audiophile player. SoundDial makes no bit-perfect claims. If bit-perfect playback matters to you, use a player built for that.
• Stereo only. SoundDial is not a surround or multichannel tool, and speaker configuration stays in Audio MIDI Setup.

For Aggregate Devices, Multi-Output Devices and speaker configuration, Audio MIDI Setup remains the tool to use. SoundDial just makes the everyday rate change faster.

A second DAC problem: no volume control

Many USB DACs and interfaces have no volume control of their own that macOS can use, so the volume keys do nothing. For a device like that, SoundDial shows a " volume" slider named after the device, and explains it: "This device has no volume control of its own, so SoundDial sets the level for every app." It applies that level as software gain to every app it controls and remembers it per device. More in USB DAC With No Volume Control on Mac.

Examples

Music on the DAC, everything else elsewhere

You want Spotify on your USB DAC while calls and notifications stay on your headphones. Keep the headphones as the main output, open Spotify's ⋯ menu in SoundDial, choose Play Through and select the DAC. Spotify now plays through the DAC while other apps stay where they were. The full walkthrough is in Send Only Spotify to Your USB DAC on Mac.

Switching between music and video work

You listen to music at 44.1 kHz in the evening and edit video at 48 kHz during the day. Instead of opening Audio MIDI Setup twice a day, you open the SoundDial popover and change the sample-rate menu. Or you keep two links handy: sounddial://sample-rate?value=44100 and sounddial://sample-rate?value=48000.

An interface that ignores the volume keys

Set the device's software volume in SoundDial, then fine-tune each app with its own slider in the popover, from 0% to 200%.

Common questions

Why don't I see a sample-rate menu for my device?

SoundDial only shows it when the device offers more than one sample rate. Built-in speakers and many headphones offer only one, so there's nothing to choose. The format label still shows the current rate.

Which rate should I pick?

There's no single right answer. If you're unsure, leave the current rate, or match the material you work with most, for example 48 kHz for video.

Is this bit-perfect playback?

SoundDial makes no bit-perfect claims. It's a per-app volume mixer with output-device controls. If bit-perfect output matters to you, use a dedicated player for that.

Do I still need Audio MIDI Setup?

For Aggregate Devices, Multi-Output Devices, speaker setup and MIDI, yes. For changing the output rate of a DAC or interface, SoundDial is usually faster.

Does SoundDial need an internet connection or an account?

No. SoundDial changes levels; it has no network entitlement and no account.

SoundDial, a per-app volume mixer for Mac needs macOS 14.2 or later and costs €14.99 one-time purchase on the Mac App Store, no subscription.

Get SoundDial on the Mac App Store.