SoundSource 6.1.5 — Mac version

If you’ve ever dug into Audio MIDI Setup to route sound, SoundSource feels like the friendly front door Rogue Amoeba bolted on. It lives in the menu bar and hands you proper faders for every app that’s making noise, plus system input, output and sound effects — without opening System Settings.

• Set volume separately for your browser, music player and video call app.
• Tuck Headphone EQ onto one app — say, a podcast player — and leave the rest flat.
• Save a whole audio configuration (mic, speakers, per‑app levels) and switch back to it with a single click.
• Send sound to an AirPlay speaker right from the menu bar.
• Call up input, output and effects controls without leaving what you’re doing.

It’s the kind of utility that earns its keep the first time you tame a loud tab while keeping your DAW monitor level untouched. The latest build tidied a Bluetooth crash and updated the ARK plugin that handles audio capture, so wireless headphones behave better on recent macOS releases.

Option-click the menu bar icon to swap outputs

SoundSource is full of little time-savers that aren't announced with a big arrow. Once you know they're there you start using them without thinking.

• Option-click the menu bar icon — it toggles the default output between two devices. Handy when you switch between headphones and desktop speakers a dozen times a day.
• Hold Command while dragging a volume slider and the adjustment snaps in finer increments. Good for setting a quiet app just right without overshooting.
• Right-click any app's volume fader to mute it instantly or send its output to a different device. No need to open the full routing panel.
• Magic Boost sits in the effects list and does more than a simple volume bump. It lifts quiet passages without pushing loud peaks into clipping — useful on a laptop speaker that struggles with dialogue in a film.
• Super Volume Keys — tucked in Preferences — lets your keyboard volume keys control whichever device is currently playing sound, not just the system default. If you plug in a USB mic that shows up as a separate output, the keys follow it.

None of these are buried behind a paywall or a hidden plist. They just want a right-click or a modifier key held down.

A workflow: recording a voice memo with music playing

Say you want to record a quick spoken note into QuickTime Player while a reference track plays quietly in a browser. On a stock Mac you'd have to drop the system volume and hope the mic doesn't pick up the speakers. SoundSource gives you a clean split.

1. Open SoundSource from the menu bar. Under Input, set your microphone as the active device.
2. In the Output section, keep your usual speakers selected so the reference track stays audible to you.
3. Scroll down to the Applications list. Find your browser and drop its volume halfway so the music sits at a comfortable low level in the room.
4. Now find QuickTime Player in the same list. Click the output routing button next to its fader — the little speaker icon — and switch it to None. QuickTime now records from the mic but won't play its own monitoring through the speakers, which avoids feedback or an echo in the recording.
5. Hit record in QuickTime, speak your note, and stop. The browser audio never leaked into the recording because QuickTime was only listening to the mic input.

You can save that whole setup — mic, app volumes, routing — as a preset from the SoundSource menu. Next time, one click loads the exact same configuration.

First few days: things worth doing early

Install SoundSource and it works immediately, but a short setup pass makes it feel like it was built for your exact desk.

• Pin your most-used apps to the top of the list. Drag them in the Applications section so Music, Safari and Zoom stay above the fold. The list can get long on a busy Mac.
• Label your devices. If you own two identical-looking USB interfaces, right-click each in the Output list and rename them. "Scarlett desk" and "Scarlett bag" beats guessing which is which at 9pm.
• Set up an Output Group. In Preferences, under Output Groups, combine your desktop speakers and an AirPlay speaker in another room. Now you can pick that group as an output and hear the same thing in two places — good for a podcast you're listening to while moving around the flat.
• Check the Headphone EQ presets. There are curves for common headphone models tucked under the effects menu. If your cans are listed, try the match — it flattens the response closer to neutral, which helps when editing audio or just wanting a less coloured sound.

If you grabbed SoundSource from a community source — a SoundSource torrent or a SoundSource Mac crack — take an extra minute to confirm the version you've got is 6.1.4. Earlier builds had the Bluetooth crash that's now fixed, and the updated ARK plugin matters for wireless audio stability on macOS 27. A SoundSource for Mac crack floating around might still be an older revision. No shame in that — just know what you're running so you don't chase a bug that's already been squashed.

SoundSource 6.1.5 is out now with Rogue Amoeba’s freshest fixes and quiet under‑the‑bonnet tinkering.

• macOS 15 or later
• Apple Silicon or Intel 64‑bit Mac