Guide

A volume mixer for Mac, like the one in Windows

On Windows you right-click the speaker and get a slider for every app. On a Mac you look for it and it isn't there.

What the Mac has instead

• One volume per output. The volume keys, Control Center and System Settings › Sound all change the same level, for every app at once.
• Each app's own controls. Music, Spotify, video players and call apps have their own volume, each in a different place. Many apps have none.
• Alert volume. System Settings › Sound has a separate slider for alert sounds, and that's the only per-sound control macOS gives you.

Volume mixer apps for Mac

There's a longer, fair comparison in Sordina, SoundSource, Background Music and eqMac compared.

Setting it up with Sordina

1. Open Sordina from the menu bar. Every app that's making sound appears with its own slider, like the Windows mixer.
2. Drag a slider to set that app's level, or click its mute button.
3. Pin the apps you change most so they stay at the top, even when they're quiet.

macOS asks for System Audio Recording permission the first time you change an app, because Sordina passes that app's sound through itself to set its level. Nothing is recorded or sent anywhere. Sordina installs no audio driver: apps you don't touch play straight through, and if Sordina quits, everything returns to its normal volume.

With Sordina Pro there's also a mixer layout with vertical faders side by side, and you can scroll on the menu bar icon to change the volume, or middle-click it to mute.

Common questions

Does the Mac's volume still work?

Yes. The volume keys still set the overall level, and each app's slider sits within it, the same way the Windows mixer works under the master volume.

Can each app play through a different speaker?

Not with macOS alone, and not with Sordina. SoundSource can send each app to its own output.