SoundSource provides superior sound control for your Mac. Use it to control the volume and output device used by individual apps. You can also apply an equalizer and other audio effects to any audio. It even provides easy access to your Mac's audio device settings and levels instantly, from anywhere. SoundSource gives you truly powerful audio control, from a globally available menu bar app.

Getting Started

This manual provides you with a useful overview of the application, including an outline of the interface, as well as details on using the application. We recommend a quick read-through, but you can also just dive in if you like. Refer back here for assistance at any time, right from SoundSource's Options (Gear) menu.

Additional Assistance

The following resources will supplement a read-through of the manual and help you get the answers you need.

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Search This Manual

Use the search field in the upper right to locate specific keywords in this manual.

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Visit Our Online Support Center

Our searchable SoundSource Support Center provides answers to common questions, as well as tutorials, tricks, and more.

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Email Support

Finally, Rogue Amoeba's top-notch Support team is always ready to assist, both before and after purchase. Select Contact Support in the Options (Gear) menu to get in touch. We're amazingly responsive, and strive to reply within 24 hours.

Information for Users of Previous Versions

If you've used any previous version of SoundSource, the additional information below may be helpful.

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Release Notes

The Release Notes window always provides a comprehensive list of improvements and fixes made to SoundSource. Access it from the Options (Gear) menu.

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Upgrading to SoundSource 4

If you purchased a license for SoundSource 3, you're eligible for a heavily discounted upgrade to SoundSource 4.

See the What's New page to read about updates in version 4.

Accessing SoundSource

SoundSource is a menu bar application, which means it lives in the Mac's menu bar. As a result, it does not appear in your Dock nor in the Application Switcher. To access SoundSource from anywhere, just click its icon in the upper-right corner of your screen, near the clock.

Menu Bar Access

SoundSources's menu bar icon provides access to its settings from any application. Look for SoundSources icon in the upper-right corner of your screen:


SoundSource's Default (Left) and Alternate (Right) Menu Bar Icons

No matter what application you're currently using, clicking SoundSource's icon will reveal its main window.


SoundSource's Main Window

As you can see, the menu shows SoundSource's main window. From here, you can access all parts of the application, adjusting your audio configuration as desired.

Right-Click Menu

Right-clicking the SoundSource menu bar icon will cause a convenient menu to appear instead of SoundSource's main window. Use this menu to easily access many of SoundSource's settings and controls, or to quit the application.

Floating Access

SoundSource can also be pinned, which causes its window to stay open and floating above other windows on your screen. To pin the window, click the Pin button:


SoundSource's Pin Button

When you click the Pin button, SoundSource will detach from the menu bar, enabling you to drag it to your desired location on screen. You can also click and drag SoundSource's main window to tear it off from the menu bar, placing it wherever you'd like.

To close SoundSource's main window, click the Pin button again to unpin it. SoundSource will then return to the menu bar for later access.

Keyboard Access

In addition to clicking the menu bar icon, you can also access and control SoundSource via the keyboard. Start by setting the configurable global keyboard shortcut. When this shortcut is pressed, SoundSource's main window will come forward and receive focus, enabling you to see your current settings, and adjust them.


SoundSource's Global Shortcut Setting

To adjust SoundSource's global keyboard shortcut, open the Preferences window and change the Show SoundSource setting.

For a comprehensive overview on controlling SoundSource from the keyboard, be sure to read the Keyboard Controls page.

System Audio Device Adjustments

At the top of SoundSource's main window, you'll find the controls for System audio devices. Here, you can adjust settings for the default devices the system uses for audio output, audio input, and sound effects.


The System Devices Area

Output Device

By default, all audio on your Mac will play through the system's selected output device. Using these controls in SoundSource, you can switch the specific device being used for output, and adjust the output volume, balance, and sample rate.


Output Device Controls

You can also apply audio effects to all audio played through the output device. These effects include the built-in Magic Boost and 10-band Lagutin equalizer, as well as third-party Audio Unit effects. For more details, see the Audio Effects page.

Input Device

The system's selected default input device is used to pull in audio in to your Mac, and will generally be something like a microphone or mixer. Using these controls in SoundSource, you can switch the specific device being used for input, and adjust the device's input level and sample rate.


Input Device Controls

Sound Effects Device

Sound effects are a special type of audio played by applications on the Mac, and include things like the ding of a new email arriving or the paper crinkle of emptying the Trash. You can opt to play sound effects through a secondary audio device, so they don't blast over other content you may be enjoying, such as music or a movie.


Sound Effects Device Controls

With these controls in SoundSource, you can switch the specific device being used for sound effects, and adjust their volume level.

Per-Application Adjustments

The lower half of SoundSource's main window provides audio controls for individual applications. When you first open SoundSource, it automatically adds several common applications to this list for easy configuration.


The Applications Area

With these controls, you can adjust the volume levels of individual applications, apply audio effects, and adjust the audio devices audio plays from.

Per-Application Audio Controls

The per-application controls provide the ability to adjust audio on an application-by-application basis. That means you can have audio from one app play louder than another, or mute an application entirely. You can also control where audio plays, so different applications play audio through different outputs.


Basic Per-Application Controls

The basic controls for application adjustments are as follows:

Per-Application Audio Effects

When an application's Effects area is shown, it will look like this:


Per-Application Effects

Here, you can adjust SoundSource's built-in 10-band Lagutin equalizer, or add third-party Audio Unit effects. For more details, see the Audio Effects page.

Editing SoundSource's Applications List

You can add or remove any applications from SoundSource's list to change what applications it can control.


The “Add App” Menu

To add an application to SoundSource's list, click the Add App menu. Here, you'll be able to select an already-running application, or choose any other application on your Mac. Once the app is added to SoundSource, you'll be able to adjust its specific audio controls.

To remove an application from the list, hover over the application's icon to make the Remove button appear. Click it, and the application will be removed.


The Remove Button

Once you remove an application, SoundSource will no longer adjust its audio.

Audio Effects

SoundSource makes it easy to apply audio effects to any audio playing on your Mac. This page provides details on effects you can use with SoundSource.

Built-In Effects

SoundSources includes three powerful audio effects to help you improve the sound of your audio. We've worked to make these built-in effects simple to use, so anyone can get great-sounding audio.

Magic Boost

When you activate Magic Boost, you'll get richer, fuller sound from any source. Magic Boost listens for quiet passages of audio, and gives them a healthy boost, while leaving louder audio untouched. Whatever your audio source, Magic Boost will give you tremendous volume, all with a single click. It's perfect for maxing out small speakers like those found on Mac laptops.

Volume Overdrive

While Magic Boost will increase the level of quiet portions of audio, Volume Overdrive can assist in getting extra volume out of your speakers. It will amplify audio from individual applications up to 400%, making it possible to hear your audio even in loud environments. Volume Overdrive also improves the quality of overdriven audio using limiting to prevent digital distortion.

Note that Volume Overdrive is not available on the system's default output. It must be applied to individual apps, within SoundSource's Applications section.

Comparing Magic Boost and Volume Overdrive

Magic Boost and Volume Overdrive can both increasing the volume of audio, but they do so in different ways.

Magic Boost works to keep all audio at the same level, by raising the volume of quiet portions while leaving louder parts unaffected. This complex adjustment is often useful, but flattening the difference in levels can occasionally produce audio which sounds strange to the ear.

Volume Overdrive allows you to boost volume levels past 100%, maxing out the volume while maintaining the relative difference between quiet and loud portions. This is a simpler adjustment which attempts to get more out of your speakers, but may produce audible distortion, especially at higher boost settings.

10-Band Lagutin Equalizer

For almost two decades, Rogue Amoeba's renowned 10-band Lagutin equalizer has helped users obtain better sound. Select from almost two dozen presets, or configure the EQ manually as well. Once you've set it, you'll get the exact sound you want, any time you play audio.

You can even save your own custom equalizer settings. Adjust the equalizer to your liking, then select Save Preset As… from the Presets menu.

Audio Unit Effects

In addition to its built-in effects, SoundSource also features support for Audio Unit effects. These advanced audio effects provide complex audio adjustments. Using Audio Unit effects, you can adjust audio in countless ways to get the exact sound you want, from any application, or from your entire system.

SoundSource provides access to over a dozen Audio Units provided by Apple as part of MacOS, as well as Audio Units you've installed from other companies. It will find Audio Units in two locations:

/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components
~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components

When a compatible Audio Unit is installed in either of these locations, SoundSource will include it in the menu shown when clicking Add Effect for either the System Output device, or a per-application adjustment.

Audio Effects Indicator

SoundSource makes it easy to see which of your audio sources are being adjusted through the use of audio effects. Just look for the helpful FX indicator on the Hide/Show Effects button:

In the example screenshot below, audio effects are being applied to the System Output device, and to Spotify's audio, while Safari and Chrome's audio is not being adjusted.

Advanced Notes on Audio Flow

Audiophiles may be curious about the exact pipeline through which audio flows when using SoundSource. Audio first flows through any per-app adjustments which are configured, and then through any System Output Device adjustments.

Within a single effects area, audio is first adjusted by the 10-Band Equalizer (and Balance control, if present), then any active Audio Unit effects, and finally by the Magic Boost effect.

Keyboard Controls

To make lightning-fast adjustments to your audio, SoundSource can be controlled entirely from your keyboard. This page provides a comprehensive overview of the keyboard controls available in SoundSource.

Show SoundSource

With the Show SoundSource global hotkey, you can bring SoundSource forward from anywhere on your Mac. Doing so will place focus on the SoundSource window, enabling you to view the current settings and use additional keyboard controls to adjust them.

For more details on the Show SoundSource global hotkey, see the Preferences page.

General Navigation

When SoundSource's main window is in focus, several controls will work to navigate around the application's main window:

Cycle through visible controls Tab, Shift-Tab
Adjust selected control Spacebar
Move selected slider (Standard increment) ,
Move selected slider (Large increment) Shift-←, Shift-→
De-select current item Escape (Esc)

Source-Specific Navigation

When a specific Source is selected in the top-level list, the following keyboard controls can also be used on it:

Increase volume Cmd-↑
Decrease volume Cmd-↓
Mute/Unmute Shift-Cmd-↓
Open Effects area
Close Effects area
Remove selected application or effect Cmd-Delete
Jump to Audio Unit list Cmd-E
Toggle selected Audio Unit effect on/off Cmd-B
Move selected application up in the list Option-↑
Move selected application down in the list Option-↓

Additional Keyboard Controls

Whenever SoundSource's main window is in focus, several additional shortcuts will also work.

Open Preferences Cmd-,
Close Window Cmd-W
Quit SoundSource Cmd-Q

Preferences

SoundSource's preferences can be accessed from the Options (Gear) menu in the upper-right corner of SoundSource's main window.

General Preferences


The General tab of SoundSource's Preferences window

General

Start SoundSource at login: Turn this option on to have SoundSource run automatically when you login to your computer. This setting will provide uninterrupted audio adjustment, and access to your sound controls. We strongly recommend turning it on.

Super Volume Keys: Activating this option will allow your keyboard volume keys to adjust any audio device you set as the System Output.

When Super Volume Keys is active, SoundSource works behind the scenes to provide volume adjustment for audio devices which do not support it on their own. This includes HDMI-based hardware, DisplayPort monitors, and other non-standard digital audio devices. If you have a hardware device that does not ordinarily provide volume control, this setting should prove very useful.

Global Hotkey

With the Show SoundSource setting, you can configure a global keyboard shortcut which will immediately bring SoundSource to the foreground. This makes it easy to adjust settings, right from your keyboard.

Software Update

Automatically check for software updates: With this option activated, SoundSource compares itself to the most current version available from our server and alerts you when a new version is available. Leave this on and SoundSource will help you stay up-to-date.

To initiate a check manually, click the Check for Update button.

Appearance

Theme Selector: This setting dictates how SoundSource will appear. The default “Match System” setting will follow OS-wide appearance settings. You can alternately can force SoundSource to use the “Light” or “Dark” theme, regardless of your system-wide settings.


SoundSource's Light theme


SoundSource's Dark theme

While this manual uses the Light theme throughout, you can easily try either theme. SoundSource will update immediately when you adjust this setting.

The “Match System” option will follow settings found in the General System Preference. On MacOS 10.14 (Mojave) and higher, it follows the “Appearance” setting for Light or Dark Mode. On MacOS 10.13 and lower, it follows the “Use dark menu bar and Dock” setting.

Show output volume in menu bar: When turned on, SoundSource's default menu bar icon will be replaced with a volume indicator. This icon helpfully displays a simplified approximation of the current output volume, and even indicates when your output device is entirely muted. Now, you can easily see your Mac's volume level at a glance



SoundSource's menu bar output volume indicator

Show output activity in menu bar: When turned on, a small output meter will display next to the SoundSource icon in the menu bar, visually showing audio output as it plays through the default output device.



SoundSource's menu bar output activity indicator

Purchasing SoundSource

Quick Link: Visit our online store to buy a license key for SoundSource.

Why should I buy SoundSource?

Put simply, you should buy SoundSource because it isn't free. We provide a free trial, so you can test out the program and all its features before you buy it. It's like test driving a car, for as long as it takes you to decide.

During the trial, all of SoundSource's features are available to try, but it won't work for full-time use. While in trial mode, the quality of audio adjusted by SoundSource will be degraded after 20 minutes per launch.

If you use SoundSource and find you like it, please purchase a license key - support the software you use and love!

To purchase your license key, just visit https://rogueamoeba.com/store/.

Am I eligible for a discounted upgrade?

If you purchased a license for SoundSource before February 1st, 2019 (your license key will start with SSLI-), you're eligible for a discounted upgrade to version 4.

Read about what's new in SoundSource 4 on our site, then purchase a discounted upgrade.

Note: If your license key starts with TCAT-, you already own SoundSource 4 - enjoy!

After Purchase

How do I unlock the full version?

The download of SoundSource from our site contains both a free trial of the software and the full version. To unlock the full, unlimited version, you just need a valid license key. When you purchase through our store, you'll immediately receive a license key in your browser as well as via email. Simply enter this key into SoundSource to unlock it.

What's your upgrade policy?

While we don't have a hard and fast upgrade policy, our philosophy regarding paid upgrades is simple: We try to do what's right for you and what's right for us. We've got a great track record, with many years of very satisfied customers.

For more details on free updates and paid upgrades, please see this page.

What's your refund policy?

All Rogue Amoeba products are available to try before you buy. We believe that no customer should have to buy software in order to find out how well it works. Our software can be fully evaluated with no limitations in capabilities, prior to purchase. Customers are strongly encouraged to take advantage of these trials prior to purchase. You may also seek any needed technical support from us - we answer support emails rapidly and responsively for current and potential customers alike.

If you would like a refund, please contact hello@rogueamoeba.com within 14 days of your purchase. Because we cannot recover the license key that was sold, refunds are issued on a case-by-case basis.

Installing & Uninstalling SoundSource

Installing SoundSource

As you're reading this manual, it's likely you've already successfully installed SoundSource. Still, in the interest of being comprehensive, the following is the entirety of the installation procedure for SoundSource.

Drag SoundSource from your download folder to the Applications folder then double-click its icon to begin using it. SoundSource will then walk you through the necessary process to install the ACE (Audio Capture Engine) backend, which is required for the application to function.

Uninstalling SoundSource

If you wish to remove SoundSource, we'd certainly like to know why! You can contact us directly to provide feedback. We're always working to improve our products, so don't hesitate to tell us what was missing or didn't work for you.

To remove SoundSource, first select Uninstall ACE from the Options (Gear) menu. You'll be walked through the process to remove SoundSource's ACE (Audio Capture Engine) backend from the system.

Once that process is complete, you can quit SoundSource and drag the application to the Trash.

 

SoundSource Rights and Restrictions

Distribution

Unless explicitly stated in writing, Rogue Amoeba Software does not grant permission to sell SoundSource ("The Software"). Non-profit distribution of The Software in its trial form is acceptable provided that The Software is not modified in any way, and the complete works of The Software are included in the distribution package. If The Software is to be included in a distribution package, Rogue Amoeba requests but does not require that one complimentary copy of said package be sent to the snail mail address found on our site.

What that said:

Don't sell this software directly for profit. If you want to distribute it, great! Just make sure it's unmodified from the download from our site. If you create a distribution package, it'd be cool if you sent a copy to the address above, though this is not required.

Disclaimer

SoundSource ("The Software") is provided as is. Rogue Amoeba Software ("The Author") is not responsible for any damage to the user's computer system or data and in no event will The Author, its officers, directors, employees or agents be responsible to the user for any consequential, incidental, or indirect damages (including damages for loss of business profits, business interruption, loss of business information, and the like) arising out of the use or inability to use the The Software, even if The Author has been advised of the possibility of such damages. Because some states do not allow the exclusion or limitation of liability for consequential or incidental damages, the above limitations may not apply to you. Further, the consumer agrees that using this software in any way illegal, or even for the purposes of assessing its viability for illegal usage, is prohibited.

What that said:

Be safe when you use the software. Be aware that it's simply a tool designed to make your life better. Don't use it to do illegal or evil things. If you do, be ready to take responsibility for your own actions.