Switching to the Mac[c] The Missing Manual
Using the tabs of the Sound pane, you can configure the sound system of your Mac in the following ways.
13.22.1. Sound Effects
"Sound effects" means error beeps the sound you hear when the Mac wants your attention, or when you click someplace you shouldn't. Just click the sound of your choice to make it your standard system beep. Most are funny and clever, yet subdued enough to be of practical value as alert sounds.
As for the other controls on the Sound Effects panel, they include:
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Alert Volume slider . The main volume slider for your Mac is at the bottom of the Sound panel, called "Output volume." The slider on the Sound Effects pane is just for error beeps.
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Play user interface sound effects . This option produces a few subtle sound effects when you perform certain Finder operations: dragging something off of the Dock, for example, or dropping something into the Trash.
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Play feedback when volume keys are pressed . Most Mac keyboards have little speaker icons that, when pressed, adjust the overall volume louder or softer. Each time you press one of these keys, the Mac beeps to help you gauge the current speaker level.
That's all fine when you're working at home. But more than one person has been humiliated in an important meeting when the Mac made a sudden, inappropriately loud sonic outburstonly to amplify that embarrassment by furiously and repeatedly pressing the volume-down key, beeping all the way.
If you turn off this checkbox, the Mac won't make any sound at all as you adjust its volume. Instead, you'll see only a visual representation of the steadily decreasing (or increasing) volume level.
Tip: This System Preferences pane is another one that offers a "Show in menu bar" option at the bottom. It installs a volume control right in your menu bar, making the volume control instantly accessible from any program.
13.22.2. Output Tab
"Output" means speakers or headphones. For 99 percent of the Mac-using community, this pane offers nothing useful except the Balance slider, with which you can set the balance between your Mac's left and right stereo speakers .
13.22.3. Input Tab
This panel lets you specify which microphone you want the Mac to "listen to," if, indeed, you have more than one connected. It also lets you adjust the sensitivity of that microphoneits "input volume"by dragging the slider and watching the real-time Input Level meter above it change as you speak.