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Tip of the Day

Is it possible to customize my Mac's system sounds?
Posted 07/09/2007 at 1:59:41pm | by Johnathon Williams

Xounds ($10) is a utility lets you assign custom sounds to any system event. Like Unsanity's other haxies, it installs itself as a new pane in System Preferences. To trigger a sound with a system action, click the Settings tab within the Xounds pane. Drag a sound from the list on the bottom-left and drop it onto the appropriate action. You can add your own custom sounds in AIFF format to the list on the bottom-right. Just go easy: Lots of sound triggers certainly set your Mac apart, but they can also reduce productivity - and possibly drive you and your coworkers nuts.

 

Is it worth ten bucks to gain total control over your system sounds? Sure it is...

 

COMMENTS: 5
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COMMENTS
avatarThere's also a slightly more

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 2007-07-09 12:23

There's also a slightly more dangerous way, but it doesn't require software. If you right-click on an app, like Mail for instance, you can choose "Show Package Contents." In the "Resources" folder you'll see a bunch of ".aif" files. They're very plainly labeled and as long as you save a copy of them on a disc, and can make your own .aif files, you can change the sounds that way! Just make sure to label them exactly the same!!!

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avatarless danger

Submitted by kurtrandom on Fri, 2008-07-18 08:58

I created an applescript this morning that will, if correctly used, back up the current system sound for emptying the trash and insert a new one of your choosing. Here goes:

--This script will back up the default system sound for emptying the trash and copy any other aiff file. First, name your desired sound "empty trash.aif" and place it on your desktop. Then just run the script and follow the prompt. To get the sound to take effect, you do have to log out and log back in. If something goes wrong and the script doesn't work, run the restore portion of the script before trying the change portion again.

--If you do a little snooping, you can pretty easliy change this script to change any of the default sounds. Just don't blame me if you screw something up.

 

display dialog "Do you want to 1. Change the Noise or 2. Restore the original noise" default answer ""

set doWhat to text returned of result

 

 

if doWhat is "1" then

display dialog "This will change your empty trash noise. Please enter your password." default answer "password"

set userpassword to text returned of result

set name1 to "empty trash.aif"

set name2 to "empty trash.aif_bu"

do shell script "cd /System/Library/Components/CoreAudio.component/Contents/Resources/SystemSounds/finder/;sudo mv " & quoted form of name1 & " " & quoted form of name2 & "" password userpassword with administrator privileges

display dialog "Make sure that the file you wish to use is on your desktop and named 'empty trash.aif'"

do shell script "cd ~/Desktop/;sudo cp " & quoted form of name1 & " /System/Library/Components/CoreAudio.component/Contents/Resources/SystemSounds/finder/" password userpassword with administrator privileges

display dialog "Done!"

else if doWhat is "2" then

display dialog "Please enter your password." default answer "password"

set userpassword to text returned of result

set name2 to "empty trash.aif"

set name1 to "empty trash.aif_bu"

do shell script "cd /System/Library/Components/CoreAudio.component/Contents/Resources/SystemSounds/finder/;sudo rm " & quoted form of name2 & ";sudo mv " & quoted form of name1 & " " & quoted form of name2 & "" password userpassword with administrator privileges

display dialog "Done!"

else

display dialog "You chose poorly. Goodbye."

end if

 

Just paste that into script editor and away you go! 

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avatar10 bucks???

Submitted by Mike Jones (not verified) on Mon, 2007-07-09 13:31

Why would i pay 10 bucks to change my systems sounds???

This should be normal and easy to change if i want, without any "program".

The lovely Windows machines let you change those things for free.

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avatardumping mac now --

Submitted by AZB (not verified) on Mon, 2007-07-09 21:16

Per Mike Jones: "The lovely Windows machines let you change those things [sounds] for free" REALLY? No kidding? That's it. I'm getting rid of my Mac and picking up a Dell as soon as I can!
Thanks Mike!

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