Volume controls for OSX when using external soundcard

Solution 1:

Brilliant with Soundflower, it works perfectly. For the beginner, follow the following steps if you want your volume keys to control your volume in OSX while your are using an external soundcard (USB, Firewire...): - Install Soundflower > Look for the website Cycling74.com - Open Preferences in OSX - In output, select Soundflower 2ch or 16ch (it means that your signal from iTunes or more generally from your OSX applications will go to the virtual inputs of Soundflower - Open Soundflower > A flower will appear on the top right corner of OSX - Select your soundcard in Soundflower 2ch (just below, your soundcard should appear) - Make sure the outputs in Soundflower are rooted correctly

Then, it will work ! It you want this to work permanently, make sure Soundfower is launched each time you start your mac. For that, go to Preferences, Account, Login Items and add Soundflower...

That`s it. Good luck, Note: adding simple comments on Internet could save some time for lots of people... this people might you one day !

Solution 2:

Some connections have the remote device control the volume; optical connections tend to cause the phenomenon you're experiencing.

Anytime the computer cannot feasibly control the volume the software controls will be disabled: typically headphone-like cables are the only way you'll be able to control the volume from the computer.