SoundControl-iconSometimes you want to listen to your iTunes at a low volume (mostly as background noise), but that means you can’t hear System Alerts, app sound effects and web audio/video files very well. The macOS’ volume is all-or-nothing by default.

Enter SoundControl, a nifty $10 utility by Static Z Software.

SoundControl allows you to control you Mac’s audio on a per-app-basis in three different ways.

SoundControl-volumeVolume: The menubar app affords you the luxury of setting your iTunes volume at a different setting than say, Safari, Chrome and the version of Windows you’re running in a Virtual Machine.

SoundControl-EQEQ:And if that weren’t enough, you can adjust the EQ settings of your apps individually as well. Maybe you like System Alerts to have a little more treble, your iTunes have a little more bass and the Podcast you’re listening to in Safari to boost the voice track. No problem with SoundControl

SoundControl-routingAudio Routing:To top it off, you can have SoundControl send the audio from iTunes to your external speakers, System Alerts to internal speakers, and other apps to any other audio output device you may have—including external DisplayPort monitors.

Keyboard shortcuts allow you to control the volume of the foreground app, and mute background apps at will—which is a critical component of this type of utility, if you ask me.

SoundControl works with macOS 10.10 up to 10.13 High Sierra and costs only $10. A 14-day demo is available.