Yes. If both monitors' speakers already show up as separate outputs in your Mac's Sound settings, you can combine them into one output the same way you'd combine any two speakers: a Multi-Output Device in Audio MIDI Setup, or a Group in Chorus. The monitors being different models changes nothing about whether this works.
This guide assumes both sets of speakers already work on their own, one desk with two external monitors, each with built-in speakers macOS already lists. If yours don't show up at all yet, that's a separate, more common problem, usually a video-only adapter, and our guide to external monitor speakers not showing up on a Mac walks through the fix. Come back here once Sound settings lists both.
Do your monitors' speakers already show up as outputs?
Open System Settings, go to Sound, then Output, and check the full list rather than the highlighted device. Two entries with model-sounding names, not just "Mac mini Speakers" or "Headphones", means macOS is treating each monitor as its own independent output. That's the only requirement for combining them: macOS doesn't care whether the two outputs are the same brand, the same size, or even the same connection type, one over HDMI and one over DisplayPort combines exactly as easily as two over the same cable type.
How do you combine two monitors' speakers into one output?
The free, built-in route is Audio MIDI Setup, in Applications, Utilities. Click the plus button in the bottom-left corner, choose Create Multi-Output Device, then tick both monitors' speakers in the list on the right. macOS immediately starts treating that combination as a single selectable output, available in the same Sound menu as everything else.
The catch is what you lose along the way. A Multi-Output Device has no volume of its own, since it's a wrapper around two real devices rather than a device itself, so the system volume slider greys out and your keyboard's volume keys stop doing anything. You have to open Audio MIDI Setup and drag each monitor's own Master slider by hand every time you want the level to change, on both of them, separately.
Every feature free for 30 days. No account, no card details.
Download for MacChorus groups the same two outputs the same way, but keeps the parts Audio MIDI Setup drops. Pick both monitors in Chorus's Groups tab, and moving the one volume slider or pressing a volume key changes both monitors' own level together, in proportion, so the on-screen volume display and your keyboard both keep working. The group is also saved, so it's a single click the next time you sit down rather than rebuilding a Multi-Output Device from scratch.
Why does one monitor sound louder than the other?
This is the part that catches people out with two different monitor models specifically. Two identical displays, say a matching pair from the same manufacturer, tend to have identical amplifiers and identical speakers, so the same system volume produces roughly the same loudness on both sides. Two different third-party monitors almost never do. A cheaper 24-inch panel's tiny speakers and a larger monitor's beefier built-in amp can sit several notches apart in perceived loudness at the exact same system level, simply because the hardware inside each one is built to a different spec.
Audio MIDI Setup has no answer for this beyond adjusting each Master slider by ear and hoping the ratio holds, which it won't, since there's nothing storing that ratio between sessions. Chorus's Groups feature includes a per-device balance specifically for this: set the quieter monitor a few notches higher relative to the louder one once, and the group remembers it every time you use it afterwards, the same fix covered in more depth in one speaker louder than the other on a Mac, which is worth reading if the imbalance is the main thing bothering you.
Do you actually need to combine them?
Worth asking honestly before setting any of this up. Combining two mismatched monitor speakers gets you sound in two places at once, but it also means every alert, notification and video plays through both, including the one that's further away, less clear, or aimed somewhere you don't want it. For a lot of desks, the simpler and genuinely better-sounding option is picking whichever monitor's speakers are closer or louder as your one main output, and leaving the second monitor's speakers switched off entirely, or connected to something else like a separate pair of headphones.
Combining is worth it when you actually want sound to fill the space, a shared desk, a small room where both sides matter, or a setup where you genuinely can't hear one monitor from where you sit. If you're only combining them because it feels like the "complete" thing to do, one good output beats two mediocre ones fighting for the same volume level.
What are the limits of the free route?
Beyond the missing volume control, Audio MIDI Setup's Multi-Output Device has a few other rough edges worth knowing before you build one:
- No saved balance. Every Master slider position resets to whatever it was left at, not what you set last time.
- No shortcut back to it. Switching the group on or off means reopening Audio MIDI Setup and re-selecting the output, every time.
- All-or-nothing routing. Every app plays to both monitors at once; there's no way to send one app to just one of them without leaving the group entirely.
Chorus doesn't need a kernel extension or an audio driver to fix any of this; it works with the same macOS audio system Audio MIDI Setup does. It's a one-time $4.99 purchase, one licence covers up to three Macs, and it runs on macOS 13 or later on both Apple Silicon and Intel. The 30-day trial includes every feature, Groups and per-device balance included, with no account or card details needed to start.
For the step-by-step on building a Multi-Output Device, see Apple's own guide to Audio MIDI Setup.
Frequently asked questions
Can I combine two monitors' speakers into one output on a Mac?
Yes. If both monitors' speakers already appear as separate outputs in System Settings, Sound, you can combine them into a Multi-Output Device in Audio MIDI Setup, or into a Group in Chorus, the same way you would combine any two Mac outputs. It doesn't matter that they're two different monitor models.
Why is one monitor's speakers louder than the other's?
Different monitor models use different built-in amplifiers and speaker hardware, so their maximum volume and perceived loudness at the same system level rarely match. This is far more common with two different third-party monitors than with two identical displays, since identical hardware behaves identically.
Do both monitors need to be the same model for this to work?
No. macOS doesn't check the model before combining outputs, so two completely different monitors from different manufacturers will combine without issue. The only thing that changes with different models is how likely a volume mismatch between them is, not whether combining them works.
Is it better to just use one monitor's speakers instead of combining both?
For a lot of desks, yes. If one monitor sits closer to you or simply sounds better, using its speakers as your main output and leaving the second one alone is simpler than running two mismatched speakers at once, and it avoids the volume-balancing problem entirely.
Can Chorus fix the volume difference between two different monitors?
Yes. Inside a Chorus Group you can set a separate balance level for each device, so a quieter monitor can be turned up relative to a louder one and that ratio is remembered every time you use the group, rather than resetting each time like the free Audio MIDI Setup route does.
