The Problem: Volume Slider Bar won't work.

This is one of the most well-known problem on the Intel version of macOS, where the volume slider bar that controls audio volume simply won't work, but only acts as a switch (happened to most replicas out there, though some were unaffected). While Apple themselves would never look into the problem, we can circumvent this with an open sourced tool.

WARNING

This guide is meant for those that have Intel-based Macs (i3, i5, i7; not M series chip). If your Apple Silicon (M series chip) Mac won't play audio with your current AirReps, check out the Common Bugs section.

Prerequisite

Before the tutorial, please make sure that you:

• Have sudo access (or your macOS' account did have administrative access)
• brew package installer (if not, simply follow this section)

TIP

PS: using brew is much easier than manual installation, but if you want to skip using brew, you can read this and follow the steps here.

brew Installation

If you haven't got brew installed on your system, we can start here. Enter this page, copy the command and run it in Terminal.

WARNING

Вам может быть предложено ввести пароль, введите пароль как обычно (ваш пароль может выглядеть скрытым, но это не так в данном случае).

Installation

Download

Once everything is ready, you can start by opening Terminal, then run the following command: brew install --cask proxy-audio-device

TIP

Во время установки это нормально, если системный звук немного глючит. Поэтому убедитесь, что вы делаете это в среде без обработки звука (никакие программы для обработки звука не запущены).

Setting Up

1. Navigate to Launchpad, run the newly installed Proxy Audio Device Settings to begin the setup process, it will look something like this:

2. Once open, a window will show up like so.

Don't be tempted to click off this tutorial, most people like you can set them up like so:

• Proxy device name: Name of the output, you can leave them as is.
• Proxied device: Audio source (select your AirRep's name)
• Buffer size: Permitted time for macOS to process audio (oversimplified) (please leave them as is, as 512 is sufficient for the majorities)
• Proxy device is active: How the software works in the background. This is where it gets tricky, but it boils down to these option:
  • If you don't mind the audio cut off (short duration sounds), pick When proxied device is active
  • For most people, pick When user is not idle
  • For people who want consistent audio, or gaming, pick Always.

3. Finally, navigate to Control Center > Sound > the ">" icon, and pick the newly created audio device (Proxy Audio Device by default).

Side-effects

While it is fine to use most of the time, some users might face these issues:

Нет значка «Звуки» в верхней панели

К сожалению, вам придётся переходить в Центр управления для управления звуком (или использовать горячие клавиши).

Нет звука при отключении

Приложение разработано так, чтобы всегда подключаться к выбранному устройству. Вам придётся вручную выбрать «Internal Speaker».

Треск/щелчки или односторонний звук

Вы можете обойти это, увеличив размер буфера или выбрав Always в опции Proxy Device in Active приложения.

Uninstalling

If you wish to remove the app, you can simply run this command in the Terminal:

brew remove --cask proxy-audio-device

...then restart your system.

Optional: Survey

I've made a poll here to figure out if this workaround is actually working. It's incredibly simple to do and it helps a lot to get a whole picture of this workaround, I'll be much appreciated if you share your thoughts!