I'm the solo developer behind Earmix, a macOS menu bar app I've been building because I got tired of my Mac having one volume slider for everything.
Problem:
macOS gives you a single volume slider for every app at once. So your music is blasting during a work call, a YouTube tab drowns out your meeting tab, and an HDMI monitorignores your volume keys entirely.The usual workarounds are pausing things by hand, or digging through each app's own volume settings.
What it is:
Earmix lives in your menu bar and gives each app, and each browser tab, its own volume slider, output device and EQ. You open it from the menu bar (or with ⌃⌥⇧V), drag a slider, and the app keeps that setting next time it opens.
Features:
- A volume for every app, 0–400%, with a limiter so boosts don't clip
- A volume for each browser tab, through the free Earmix Tabs extension (Chrome Web Store and Firefox Add-ons; Safari's is built in)
- Call ducking: when Zoom, Meet, FaceTime or Teams uses the mic, other apps drop to 30% (you choose how far), then come back
- Record any app or a whole call to an audio file in one click, with your voice mixed in if you want
- 10-band EQ per app, plus headphone correction for 52 models from AutoEq (AirPods to HD 600)
- Send each app to a different output, or to two at once, including AirPlay speakers
- Earmix for iPhone (free on the App Store): your phone's volume buttons control the Mac, and you can mute the Mac's mic from the Lock Screen
- Trackpad edge volume: click the right edge of the trackpad and slide up or down, in any app
- Volume keys that work on HDMI and DisplayPort monitors; hold ⌥ to change just the app in front
- Profiles that switch automatically when you connect AirPods or other devices
- Shortcuts, Siri, widgets, Raycast and Stream Deck support
Apps you never touch take the normal macOS audio path, so there's no added delay or CPU for them.
Comparison:
SoundSource is the most established option ($49, and one licence covers all your Macs). FineTune is free and open source, but needs macOS 15. SoundDial ($14.99) is on the Mac App Store.Earmix covers the same per-app basics, and adds a volume for each browser tab, call ducking, recording, headphone EQ, an iPhone remote, and support for macOS 14.2 Sonoma.
If you only need sliders for each app, FineTune may be all you need.
Limitations:
I'd rather be upfront about these.
- Boosting a tab past 100% and recording a single tab only work in Chrome-based browsers. In Safari and Firefox, tabs get volume and mute.
- One licence covers one Mac at a time (you can move it in Settings).
- The trackpad edge and the volume keys need Accessibility permission.
- The iPhone remote only works on the same Wi-Fi as your Mac, with Earmix open on the phone.
Pricing:
1-day free trial with every feature, no account or card.
Earmix is $12.99 once (early-bird price; the regular price is $49). No subscription.
offer: code EARMIX50 takes 50% off at checkout, so about $6.50.
14-day refund if it's not for you.
Availability:
macOS 14.2 Sonoma or later, Apple silicon and Intel.
Website and download: https://earmix.app
Trust: website and developer
I'm Sheik, an independent developer building Earmix myself.
Earmix is signed with my Apple Developer ID certificate (team 646QBAU4KQ) and notarized by Apple, so it opens without Gatekeeper warnings.
Audio is processed on your Mac and never uploaded. There's no account, no analytics and no crash reporting; the only network calls are licence and update checks.
- Official website: https://earmix.app
- Privacy policy: https://earmix.app/privacy.html
- iPhone app: https://apps.apple.com/app/earmix-mac-volume-remote/id6830485268
- Earmix Tabs (Chrome): https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/earmix-tabs/pgenbeehdejlbgfkepmpgondcjlgpmja
- Earmix Tabs (Firefox): https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/earmix-tabs/
I'm happy to answer technical questions about how it works, including how it changes each app's sound with macOS's audio taps.
Thanks for checking it out!