Hi Teresa, You can bring up your system sound settings using the keyboard shortcut Fn+Option+F10, or substitute any of the other media keys for controlling sound for F10 (e.g. F11 or F12, where Fn+F11 mutes, Fn+F11 decreases volume, and Fn+F12 increases volume). I'm assuming that your keyboard preferences are set with "Use all F1, F2, etc. keys as standard function keys" checked. The general rule is that you can get quick access to the preferences settings menu for a related F-key control by pressing the Option key together with the shortcut combination you'd use. So adding a press of the Option key to any volume-related F-key shortcut will bring up the sound preferences settings menu. Similarly, adding a press of the Option key to any brightness-related F-key shortcut will bring up the display preferences settings menu, which contains a slider for setting brightness. On my 13" MacBook AIr there are controls for raising and lowering the brightness of the backlit keyboard keys with the F5 and F6 keys, so pressing Option+Fn+F5 or F6 will let me bring up the keyboard preferences settings menu. That won't work on laptop models without backlit keyboards, like the 11" MacBook Air, and I don't think it will work with your Mac Mini. Also, if I'm giving instructions to someone who isn't using VoiceOnver the shortcut keys are Option+F10, F11, or F12 (without the Fn key press) to bring up the sound preferences settings menu, and Option+F1 or F2 to bring up the display preferences settings menu.
A second tip, if you want to adjust volume or brightness in finer grain increments, hold down the Option+Shift keys as well. So for lowering volume with the media keys, this is Fn+Option+Shift+F11, and for raising the volume this is Fn+Option+Shift+F12. Now, an easier way to switch your audio devices without having to bring up your system sound preferences settings is to get a free app named Audio Switcher. This sits in your status menubar, so you navigate there with either Control+F8 or VO+m+m, and then switch devices from its menu. I'll point you to the MacUpdate page: https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/26433/audio-switcher You can download from there, but you should also check the link to the developer's web page to read the documentation. For people who remember using SoundSource, a freebie from Rogue Amoeba that worked accessibly up through Leopard to let you switch your audio devices, Audio Switcher is like that. (SoundSource isn't compatible with Mountain Lion). HTH. Cheers, Esther On May 22, 3:19 am, Teresa Cochran <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi, all, > > I have a Mac Mini, and since it doesn't have a microphone jack, I've been > switching back and forth between using my USB headset for system sound when > Skype is loaded, and using my headphone jack/speakers. I'm wondering if > there's a way to get to these settings quickly so I don't have to open system > preferences, then sound. Of course, I could just keep the sounds dialog open, > but I'm curious if there might be a way to show this in the status menu > volume control settings, or something similar? > > Thanks, > Teresa -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
