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SoundSource4.2.4

Name: SoundSource
Price: 29.00 $
Rating: 5 (10 reviews)

01 July 2020

Switch your audio input sources easily.

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Overview

SounceSource lets you adjust your input, output, and sound-effects devices and volume settings in mere moments, right from the menu bar. Enable soft play-thru of input devices to your desired output, so you can hear sound coming in through any microphone or other source. With SoundSource, you get fast access to your Mac's most important audio settings.

Instant Audio-Device Switching - With just two clicks, you can switch the audio devices your Mac is using for input, output, and even sound effects.
Fast Volume Control - SoundSource provides easy access to the volume controls for your audio devices as well.
Audio Play-Thru, Too - SoundSource's Play-Thru window makes it easy to monitor the audio coming from any input device.
Comprehensive - SoundSource gives you one place to go for all Mac's most important audio controls.
At Your Fingertips - With SoundSource running in your menu bar, your audio controls are always available.
Lightweight - When you don't need SoundSource, it stays out of your way.

What's new in SoundSource

Version 4.2.4:

Audio Capture Improvements and Fixes With ACE 11.1.5 - The Audio Capture Engine (ACE), has been updated to 11.1.5. This update offers fixes for capturing audio from Google Chrome's Progressive Web Apps, as well as many backend enhancements including additional fixes for device tracking, and work arounds for issues with Bluetooth.
Optional Generic Interfaces for Audio Unit Effects - Audio Unit plugins can now be forced to use a generic interface, making it possible to avoid issues with buggy custom interfaces, as well as helping VoiceOver users. To toggle between the generic and custom interfaces, right-click on the effect and select "Use Generic Audio Unit Interface" or "Use Custom Audio Unit Interface". To load the generic interface by default, hold the Shift key when adding the effect.
Upon dismissing SoundSource, focus now returns to the front-most window in all cases.
A visual glitch where white boxes could appear behind app icons has been fixed. It was very hard to spot even when wrong, but now it's corrected completely.
The Output Volume icon will now correctly update on all menu bars, when using mirrored menu bars on multi-display setups.
SoundSource should now correctly restore its position in the menu bar across all launches and reboots.
A rare memory leak has been plugged.
Audio Unit effects can now open file browsers without breaking window focus.

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69 Reviews of SoundSource

Finally! A menu bar app that lets me not only control and route individual application audio to various outputs, but an app that also lets me use Audio Unit plugins. I've used Audio Hijack for that purpose for years (same developer), but this is a lot handier. There's at least one competitor whom I've asked for years to allow AU plugins, but that never happened. Glad to see this come to fruition here.

(1)

A major fonction is missing : the ability to appliing an effet on a specific output would be very useful !

(0)

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Fariborz

21 May 2019

Version: 4.0.2

I’ve just upgraded to this software from its previous version and can’t therefore write a concrete review for it. It’s simply impossible to evaluate a program after a few hours of usage. However, computer applications are like shoes. They either fit instantly, and you feel comfortable wearing them from the very beginning or you might just break them in for months and end up with a pair of awkward shoes! Having said that, I’m very pleased with the performance of this new version of SoundSource. Compared to the previous version it now has everything I ever dreamt of to organize my audio sources. The interface is intuitive and very well structured. All commands are where they are supposed to be, and this means a lot to me when switching audio sources continuously. The sound is great and contrary to its competitors it’s rock-solid and doesn’t quit unexpectedly every now and then. As I mentioned before, it’s hard to evaluate all its functions in such a short time therefore, trying is believing! Fariborz AMIRSHAHI - Verona (Italy)

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RavenNevermore

15 February 2017

Version: 3.0.0

Or, select "Show volume in menu bar" in the Sound preference pane. Then Option-Click on that menubar item. You can see all your input and output sources and change them there. It's always compatible, and saves you $10.

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Jimw

29 October 2014

Version: 2.5.1

This product does not work in OS X 10.10 (Yosemite)

(0)

Kill-gore

08 December 2013

Version: 2.5.1

2.5 was working fine with mavericks.. stupid me decided to upgrade and now it doesn't work.. wtf?

(1)

Working great on 10.6.8! ;-) I've tried Soundflower before this and had strange behaviour (digital buzz, larsen stutter type — you know, when a digital interface crashes), until now, no problem! And the "Auto-Switch To Headphones" features is great for computers that have not the line output device paired with the headphone output. Actually, that's just what I needed it for, so now I just miss a pref to cancel it from my menubar, to have it running in the background... ;-)

(0)

SMcCandlish

08 April 2013

Version: 2.5.1

PTHvolume (also free) does all of this and considerably more than option-click on the built-in Volume menu bar icon in Lion and Mountain Lion. There's no need for this app at all any longer (or its various clones). PTHvolume gives you some extras, however, including keyboard shortcuts that work on non-Apple keyboards, different shortcuts for controlling volume of different devices, and ability to exclude devices from the menu if you don't use them.

(0)

a4ex

06 February 2013

Version: 2.5.1

SoundSource or any other similar application is not required in ML. Just hold down the Option key while pressing the Speaker icon in the menu bar!!! It's built into ML!!!

(5)

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I sure wish SoundSource supported volume control in the Focusrite Pro 24DSP FW audio interface, but I guess I can understand why it would be unmanageable to support the dozens (hundreds?) of interfaces by different manufacturers...especially for a free app. Nevertheless, kudos to Rogue Amoeba for still supporting Snow Leopard, and thanks for this handy little app.

(0)

Drdul

08 November 2012

Version: 2.5.1

FYI: The current version (2.5.1) won't launch in OS X 10.8.2.

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Sgginc

31 July 2012

Version: 2.5.1

You can get older versions here: http://www.rogueamoeba.com/legacy/ What version is working with ML?

(2)

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hwgray

06 July 2012

Version: 2.5.1

When I tried use the version with OS X 10.8DP Mountain Lion, I got an Incompatible error. So, I got the '09 edition out of the Trash and it worked exactly as it always has! The three-year-old version still works, but the three-day-old update doesn't?!!! WTF?!!!

(0)

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I use this little great app since it was published years ago. It is very import for me because I had to change often between different outputs and some inputs too. Especially the switching between digital and analog signals is solved so great that I never will miss this utility. A big thanks to the developers...

(0)

Does exactly what I needed. Lets me quickly choose input and output audio sources.

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Thank you Rogue Ameoba, I was driving myself crazy switching back/forth before I found this little gem! (Apple should take note).

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Love it. I often switching between speakers and headphones. and this is just great! Only feature I would like is to be able to choose how many or what devices to show. I have many speakers and headphones inputs and so on so my list is getting over the whole screen. But this saves me tun of time anyway

(1)

Great App, really simple and fast to use, very reliable, missed it almost as soon as I formatted my machine and just had to re-install it straight away!

(2)

Thanks for the tip below but the fact of the matter is that under Snow Leopard SoundSource does not save your settings. This means every time you boot it defaults back to internal inputs and the user needs to reset everything. What is worse is that the authors of the program refuse to answer email complaints about this problem. I suppose since it's a freebie you get what you pay for.

(0)

Soundsource does not work with Snow Leopard and the developers refuse to answer any email asking for support. Guess you get what you pay for.

(0)

Just a note. On 10.5.6 PPC I was able to simply copy SoundSource.menu from inside the installer package, double-click it, and it installed in my menubar without the need for the Menu Extra Enabled hack that the installer also places in the system. I noticed no functional difference vs. when the input manager hack was installed. SoundSource won't let me switch between line in and mic. I have Soundflower installed, and it lets me select the two Soundflower sources as inputs. That's my only real problem with SoundSource.

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The sliders are only available on Leopard. From http://www.rogueamoeba.com/freebies/ "New in 2.0 - Volume sliders for all devices, right in SoundSource! (Mac OS X 10.5 only)"

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yes, the sliders aren't there because it's installing the old version. same thing happens when you download this from their website, too.

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I've just installed SoundSource 2.0 on my iBook G4 with 10.4.11, but those new volume sliders are nowhere to be seen. Things look just the same as on the previous version. (Of course I have uninstalled the previous version first before installing v2.0, so there cannot have been some sort of interference).

(0)

This is one of my favorite utilities, and this looks like a great update. If you use USB or Bluetooth audio output devices (in addition to the built-in audio), you'll wonder why this isn't part of OS X to begin with.

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I had no problem installing SoundSource on my iBook G4 10.4.11. At first, the icon did not appear, so I went to Library/Bundles/SoundSource.menu and clicked on it, the icon appeared immédiately. I often switch between USB headset and internal speakers, mainly with Skype. I am very pleased with the result. Thank you, rosau

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SoundSource is a small application but works great on my Mac Pro. The Auto-switch option is better. Thank you very much DNoel Montreal, Qc

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NOTE: I love this utility, I just think the developer should note that this version is ONLY for Leopard. I think this one may be Leopard only, since on my system (10.4.10), it crashed the WindowServer process, then caused the WindowServer process and mds process to utilize 70-80% of the processor. It also prevented me from opening OS X Archive (.zip) files. Removing the software eliminated these problems. Thanks, -- Michael Frankel Certified FileMaker Developer & Apple Help Desk Specialist Wizard Consulting Group Office (818) 706-8877 / Cell (310) 291-3419

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What happened to the install for current user only option? In this latest version of the installer it defaults to install for all users.

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Menu item appears as a black square. G5 Power Mac 1.8, 10.4.9.

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Two problems with v1.2: 1) Wouldn't install properly unless installer was on the boot volume. 2) Can't select alternate i/o devices on eMac; input is stuck on Internal Microphone, Output and System on Headphones. Output still plays from internal speakers.

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Still going strong, this app still have a permanent seat up among my menu bar items. With this update, I'm finally being able to open the Audio/MIDI prefs! Thanks a lot!!

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Well I got it to show up after repairing permissions but it does not do anything, if I set both outputs to soundsticks it continues to play out the digital out. A bit more work to do me thinks.

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Does not work which is a real shame as I dearly want it to work. On the first attempted install it said in console that access was denied. I then tried installing for all user, to which I was offered to put my password. I did and still nothing. 2006-03-23 20:42:47.181 SecurityFixer[224] No insecure startup items found! DeviceAddedCallback(): iterator=2303, retain count=2 device 463b (IOAppleBluetoothHIDDriver) found. cp: /Users/garethirwin/Library/Bundles/SoundSource.menu: Permission denied 2006-03-23 20:44:00.127 SystemUIServer[262] lang is:en 2006-03-23 20:44:07.982 Unsanity Installer[257] LSOpenFromURLSpec() returned -43 for application (null) path /Users/garethirwin/Library/Bundles/SoundSource.menu. Mar 23 20:44:32 themac authexec: executing /bin/mkdir Mar 23 20:44:32 themac authexec: executing /usr/sbin/chown Mar 23 20:44:32 themac authexec: executing /bin/cp Mar 23 20:44:32 themac authexec: executing /usr/sbin/chown Mar 23 20:44:32 themac authexec: executing /bin/cp Mar 23 20:44:33 themac authexec: executing /usr/sbin/chown 2006-03-23 20:44:33.514 SystemUIServer[276] lang is:en Some stuff from the log

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Useful tool. Only complaint (and it may not be with this ap) is that it sometimes does not load now that I've upgraded to Tiger. Very useful. Helpful when switching quickly between headphones for Skype call, for example, for other combinations of inputs and outputs. I can't speak to the bugs reported below, but so far it is a useful tool.

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Many many bugs in this menu: - use obsolete function in Tiger: CGSGetElementForCStringKey CGSDictionaryObjectForKey CGSSetGStateAttribute CGSCreateDictionary CGSReadObjectFromCString .... - doesn't desactivate invalid sound output and input (4/5 input on a powermac are invalid...) headphone are in the menu and I don't have it on the mini jack... the same for Extern Speaker, Line-out...)

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Doesn't recognize my Digidesign mBox so it doesn't help me out at all...

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ahh how do i uninstall this! i can't stand software that doesn't let you uninstall easily...

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BUG REPORT - I noticed a strange bug with SoudSource 1.0.4 - for some reason with SoundSource install Entourage 2004 will not quit - I have to force quit to be able to shut down. Deinstalling SoudSource settle the problem, reinstalling it bring it back. I am on a G5 running Mac OS 10.3.6 Otherwise SoundSource is very usefull especialy for IP telephony.

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it should have: Input listed as "internal microphone" and "line in", output and system should both have "built-in audio" listed. which is exactly the same as how it appears in system preferences.

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I have a new 15" Powerbook G4. Under output and input it only has Built-In Audio. Not sure if there is a way to fix this. could be a potentially great program.

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For some reason, this only appeared in the menu on a second attempt. OSX10.3.5. But this is great! Now I can leave a headphone extension lead plugged into the iMac so I don't have to reach around the back to plug 'em in; and switch output between headphones and SoundSticks without having to open System Prefs! Neat.

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"And with the System setting, you can transfer system beeps to a secondary audio source so you won't be disturbed." That was so: in v1.0.2 i could select Headphones, Insternal Speakers and Speakers. Not so in v1.0.3 I'm using Mac OS 10.3.5 Peace JB

(0)

I am unable to get my sound output to work in iChat. It defaults to my USB SoundSticks and I cannot change it. SoundSource was recommended. It did not solve my problem but I do like the fact that I can now set my input/output for sound from the menu bar. A great app. Thank you.

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Running 10.2.8 on a Powerbook G3/500 Pismo. SoundSource shows only 'Built-in Audio Controller' under Input, Output, and System. I would expect to see all the possible input options listed in the Sound PrefPane, but I don't. Not too useful.

(0)

I never rated earlier versions even though it never worked for me, because it is free, and I thought the developers shouldn't be jumped on and would eventually work out the bugs, but now I see so many 5 star reviews, and this product has never seen my Digi 001 audio interface, for either audio out, or audio in. Under "input devices" it says "none", under "output devices" it says "built-in audio controller", however if I go to my Sound Prefs in OS 10.2.8, the Digi 001 clearly shows up for input and output. It is for this reason, I finally will review it with a 1 star poor. It definitely doesn't work for everybody, and if it works for you, great, it deserves a 5 star review, and if it doesn't, how can you give it any more than a 1 star, for effort?

(0)

GREAT little app !! absolutely useful when you have, like me, to switch from the Soundsticks to the internal speakers saves me time and hassle

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As soon as you are running more than one audio interface, Sound Source is THE little thing you always were looking for, even when you didn't know... No nonsense, everything you need is there, specially the ability to assign the system sound independently makes work a lot easier.

(0)

Seamless. Great little app for when you want to watch a DVD in a mixed environment like an airplane, without disturbing the rest of the group. Switching back from headphones to external speakers is a breeze.

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The reviewer below is entirely incorrect (at least ssince 10.2). This DOES install the MenuExtraEnabler, which is needed to let this little guy work. It doesn't install APE (something I use anyway without issue), watch the Installation log. This is an easy, cool piece of freeware that I use daily.

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THIS INSTALLER INSTALLS UNSANITY'S APPLICATION ENHANCER (POS), MENUEXTRAENABLER AND APE PREF PANE. THERE IS NO DOCUMENTATION INDICATING ANY OF THIS. IT IS ALL ABSOLUTELY UNNECESSARY AND APE IS INHERENTLY UNSTABLE. YOU WILL NEED TO USE THE TERMINAL OR LOG IN AS ROOT TO REMOVE MOST OF THESE. if you like this software, complain to the developer and open the package contents to find the .menu bit you need to use it.

(0)

I'm totally impressed and satisfied with this little tool. I hope the rogue amoeba has earned itself a wad of good karma for creating this elegant freeware.

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This is badass! I've been trying to figure out an applescript to do the same thing, but this is even better! Mad props to the creator! You've just made my list of Gods!

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