pavucontrol-inspired audio routing for macOS

Xavucontrol

Xavucontrol brings the Linux pavucontrol idea to Core Audio: per-application playback routing, multi-output fan-out, a virtual audio cable, a virtual microphone mixer, input monitoring, and a live patchbay view for macOS.

Download See the app

Native SwiftUI app. Source-available. Experimental beta.

Xavucontrol Patchbay tab showing app audio routes, microphones, and output devices.

Why pavucontrol for Mac?

Core Audio is powerful. Most app UIs are not.

macOS gives developers audio APIs, but users only get the controls an app chooses to expose. If a browser, music player, meeting tool, or small utility does not include an output selector, it follows the system default. Xavucontrol is built for people searching for a pavucontrol-like Mac app: one place to inspect streams, route app audio, and monitor what Core Audio is doing.

What it does

One control room for macOS app audio.

Per-app audio routing

Move browser audio to speakers, send a player to headphones, and keep each app on the output that makes sense.

Multi-output fan-out

Duplicate one app's playback stream to two or more hardware output devices at the same time.

Virtual microphone mixer

Mix selected microphones and selected playback streams into Xavucontrol Virtual Mic for calls, recording, and tests.

Input monitoring

Use Listen On to check a microphone through a chosen output before joining a call or starting a recording.

Patchbay visibility

See active applications, devices, virtual routes, monitor links, and microphone sources in one readonly graph.

Menu bar routing

Close the main window while the routing process keeps running in the background.

Audio pipeline

Virtual devices outside, routing engine inside.

Apps
Browser, player, DAW

Virtual Cable
Core Audio HAL device

Routing Engine
Routes, volume, fan-out

Outputs
Speakers, headphones, USB

Virtual Mic
Mics + playback mix

Screenshots

A practical interface, not a toy demo.

Playback tab with per-application routing controls. — **Playback**Route apps, control routed volume, mute streams, and send playback into Virtual Mic.

Patchbay tab with nodes and route lines. — **Patchbay**Readonly Helvum-inspired graph for live routes and devices.

Input Devices tab with microphones and Listen On controls. — **Input Devices**Choose Virtual Mic sources and monitor hardware inputs.

Output Devices tab with device volume and default controls. — **Output Devices**Manage hardware outputs, system defaults, and the app default route.

Recording tab showing applications currently using microphone input. — **Recording**Readonly visibility into apps currently asking for microphone input.

Setup tab with virtual driver and diagnostics controls. — **Setup**Install the driver, request permissions, set defaults, and inspect diagnostics.

Download

Get the latest release.

Xavucontrol is distributed through GitHub releases. The project is still early beta and uses a bundled Core Audio HAL driver, so read the release notes before installing and expect changes while the audio pipeline matures.

Download View on GitHub