How to Set Up macOS Audio Output with Wave XLR Pro

When setting up Wave XLR Pro on a Mac, you might select it as your audio output device in macOS Sound settings, the same way you would with headphones or speakers. With Wave XLR Pro, audio routing works differently.

Wave Link manages where your audio goes. The mixes you configure in Wave Link, and the outputs you assign to those mixes, control what you hear through your headphones, speakers, or other connected devices. Selecting Wave XLR Pro itself as your macOS output device can disrupt this routing, causing all system audio to arrive on a single channel in Wave Link instead of being properly separated.

Most audio devices expose a single stereo output to macOS. Wave XLR Pro is a multi-channel mixer. It exposes nine stereo audio channels to the operating system: four hardware inputs and five independent mixes. These channels are designed to be managed by Wave Link, which assigns apps to specific channels, combines them into mixes, and routes those mixes to hardware outputs like your headphones or speakers.

When Wave XLR Pro is selected as the macOS output device, macOS sends all system audio directly to the device, bypassing Wave Link's routing. Instead of apps being separated across individual channels, everything arrives on one channel.

From Wave Link

Wave Link detects when Wave XLR Pro is set as the macOS output and shows a warning banner at the top of the mixer. The banner includes a dropdown to select a different output device and a Set Default Output button that applies the change immediately.

From macOS System Settings

1. Open System Settings.
2. Go to Sound > Output.
3. If Elgato Wave XLR Pro is selected, change it to another device, such as your MacBook speakers or external speakers.

Your macOS output setting controls where system sounds and non-Wave Link audio play. For everything routed through Wave Link, your mix output assignments in Wave Link determine where audio is heard.

Wave XLR Pro has four hardware outputs: Headphones 1 (front), Headphones 2 (rear), Line Out, and USB Aux Out. Each mix in Wave Link can be assigned to one or multiple outputs, and each output can receive a different mix.

To assign an output to a mix:

1. Open Wave Link.
2. Select the mix you want to configure.
3. Select Add Output at the top of the mix.
4. Choose a hardware output, such as Headphones 1 or Line Out.
5. To send the same mix to additional outputs, select Add Output again and choose another destination.

For example, you could send your personal monitoring mix to both Headphones 1 and Headphones 2 so a host and co-host hear the same audio. Or you could create separate mixes with different volume balances and assign each one to its own headphone output. Wave Link can also route mixes to other audio devices connected to your Mac, such as Bluetooth headphones or desktop speakers.

Once your mixes and outputs are configured in Wave Link, your audio routing is set regardless of what macOS shows in its Sound settings.