The Mac’s Missing Audio Controls

There are several reasons why Mac owners should look beyond the rudimentary audio controls that are built into macOS. For example, you might want to:

• Adjust the volume of individual apps so that, for example, your game volume is turned right down but audible while you’re listening to music.
• Direct audio from different apps to different output devices. So, you might have your game sounds coming out of a MacBook’s speakers but your music directed to connected Bluetooth speakers.
• Use different equalizer (EQ) settings for different types of audio. For instance, you might want a “rock” setting for music streamed via Spotify, but leave your Podcasts app on a “vocal” setting.

None of the above is possible with macOS, but these features are available from several apps that I’ve been testing over the past few weeks.

Mac Volume Mixer Apps

SoundSource

The first Mac volume mixer I tried was Rogue Amoeba’s SoundSource. It contains all the features mentioned above and many more. For example, it has “super volume keys” that can be used to control the volume on external devices with the Mac keyboard volume controls and it’s compatible with the Mac Shortcuts app, so you can build audio adjustments into your workflows.

It’s very neatly designed and it sits unobtrusively in the Menu Bar until its needed. The only thing that’s not great about SoundSource is the price: $49 is a lot to ask for a utility such as this.

FineTune

The next best thing to SoundSource is an app called FineTune, which has the majority of its most useful features and it’s entirely free (there’s a link to tip the developer from the download page). Note: there’s an app in the Mac App Store called Finetune that’s a completely different app; use the link provided to download.

FineTune lets you set the volume level of individual apps, change which device each app’s audio is broadcast from and apply individual EQ filters to each app’s output. It remembers your preferences too. So, if you choose to have the volume from a game output via headphones, it should remember that the next time you play.

To keep the interface clean, apps only appear in FineTune if they’re playing audio at the time, but the app offers the option to pin apps, so if you want to direct audio before you start streaming music from Spotify, for example, you can pin that app. Likewise, you can make FineTune ignore apps if you’d prefer they were handled by macOS audio.

Like SoundSource, FineTune also controls inputs, so if you want to adjust the gain level of a mic you’ve got plugged in, you can do so from within the app.

Elgato Wave Link 3.0

The final app worth a mention in this round-up is another freebie: Elgato Wave Link 3.0.

Wave Link offers per app volume controls, just like the other two, as well as letting you mix the volume of different input devices. However, Wave Link lets you save up to five “mixes” (think presets) for different purposes. So you might have a mix saved for when you’re gaming, another for work, or another for when you’re recording a podcast.

The Elgato software has a range of “pro-grade” effects that can be applied to any source, whether that be software or hardware. It also works seamlessly with Elgato’s Stream Deck hardware. So, if you have one of the fancier models, such as the Stream Deck + XL with physical volume dials, you can adjust the individual app volume levels with them, much like a physical mixing desk.