Dec 13, 2017  Sound Control enables application-specific volume sliders on the Mac. In addition to Menu Bar controls, Sound Control can also be configured with user-defined keyboard shortcuts to adjust the level of a foreground app, or mute any background app. Using Sound Control is dead simple.

One area where Windows has been leaps and bounds ahead of the Mac for years, if not decades, is volume control. Quite simply, sometimes you need to control volume on a finer level than OS X allows. Windows lets you adjust output volume for each individual application, but this isn’t possible natively on a Mac.

1. Clicking on any of these will provide a list of quick access settings. For instance, clicking on the volume icon will provide you with a slider to fine-tune the volume level.
2. Apr 21, 2020  Sound Control lets users use a software volume mixer. Sound Control enables users to easily and quickly change app volumes as well as selectively apply a system-wide EQ to app audio. Sound Control does this by adding a software mixer to the menu bar of your Mac.

So we have to turn to third-party apps to grant us this ability. Both apps on this list offer the feature of adjusting volume by app. However, the apps each bring something different to the table, so explore the options and decide for yourself which is best.

Volume Mixer

Volume Mixer is the first Mac app on the list and it allows you to control system volume by application. The app sits in your menu bar so you can call it up as needed. Each app, much like on Windows, is accompanied by its own volume slider. Adjust it as you’d like, mute individual apps entirely or click Refresh to bring an app on par with the master volume.

Over in the Preferences, you can choose your default output source or just quickly change sources on the fly. You can also set highly convenient keyboard shortcuts for specific actions revolving around volume control. These include increasing the volume of an active app, decreasing the volume of an active app, toggling mute for an active app, increasing/decreasing/muting background sound and increasing/decreasing/muting notifications. If you want full control over your output audio, it doesn’t get much better than this.

Volume Mixer comes with a free seven day trial after which it’s $9.99 for two copies or $14.99 for lifetime updates. It’s fairly steep pricing, but if you need the features, it works great.

Background Music

Background Music is a simpler app that does much of the same thing as Volume Mixer. From your menu bar, you can adjust volume for individual applications. But in Background Music, the volume sliders aren’t relative to your master volume. Each slider by default is set to the middle and doesn’t change when you raise or lower your volume. That means that technically, if you have your volume all the way up, you could still give some apps a slight boost.

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It also has a phenomenal feature that auto-pauses your music when another source of audio starts playing, then automatically continues playback when the other audio stops. It’s much like how music stops and resumes when you get a phone call on your iPhone. The auto-pause feature supports iTunes, Spotify, VOX and VLC.

Background Music is free, unlike Volume Mixer, but since the developer hasn’t officially published it anywhere, it must be installed from GitHub.

Note: The guide to installing Background Music is right on the GitHub page. If you have Xcode installed, just copy and paste the provided prompt into Terminal.

To manually install, download the ZIP file and unzip it. In Terminal, type cd followed by the path to where you unzipped the folder. Then install by typing /bin/bash build_and_install.sh.

ALSO SEE:How to Live Monitor Your Microphone Input on Mac

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Boom 3D is a popular volume booster and equalizer app for Mac that offers fine-grained control over volume and audio output settings either system-wide or on a per app basis.

9to5 readers can currently get 30% off Boom3D for Mac w/ code 9TO5BOOM to celebrate the 1 year anniversary. Or start with a 7-day free trial.

In addition to customization over your audio output system-wide, Boom3D includes a patent-pending 3D Surround Sound technology that creates an immersive virtual surround sound experience that works with any existing headphones. The app also optionally includes a built-in audio player so you can use it for your audio library and a companion iOS app to continue the experience on your iPhone. Here’s how it works.

Volume Booster, Equalizer, Effects, and Presets

If you’re trying to squeeze more out of your speakers or headphones, Boom3D gives Mac users control over much more than macOS does natively. You can manually adjust your audio on a per-app basis or system-wide, or just stick to the app’s presets to quickly get more punch, a deeper or richer sound, or just more bass.

For users that want to manually fine-tune their audio, the app allows you to craft your own EQ settings and apply them on a per app basis or system-wide. The ability to apply to just some apps can come in handy if, for example, you want a bass-heavy experience in music apps but not on the rest of your system.

Mac Audio App Control Audio Volume 2

But you can just as easily apply presets, audio effects and manual tuning system-wide to improve your sound for all audio output on your Mac.

Also included in Boom3D is an intuitive Intensity Slider that makes it easy for anyone with or without experience to fine-tune EQ presets and audio effects to their personal taste.

Starting with OS X 10.10.3 and later, Boom3D has a self-calibration feature that tunes audio specifically for your model of Mac, which allows it to offer an even better experience as opposed to applying the same settings for everyone.

3D Surround Sound

The app’s 3D Surround Sound technology is a setting you can enable separate from the EQ controls and other presets and effects.

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The feature replicates a surround sound experience when listening with headphones and it truly is an impressive and fun way to hear your music. There are other apps that have tried to do virtual surround sound with software and some that require special headsets, but Boom3D has managed to impress with how well it works on a wide variety of audio sources and genres of music with just your existing headphones. Of course, it’s something you have to try and hear for yourself.

Built-in mini audio player & Boom Remote

Mac Audio App Control Audio Volume 2

In addition to using Boom3D for fine-tuning audio system-wide or on a per app basis, the app also includes a built-in mini audio player so you can also use it to store your library of music and audio files. And with a companion iOS music player app you can have a seamless experience with all of your music playing from Boom3D across your devices.

Boom for iOS & Boom Remote

Audio App Free Download

Mac Audio App Control Audio Volume System

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