Control DAW Volume Separately From System Audio on Mac

macOS has no built-in per-app volume mixer, so your DAW and everything else share one system volume. When you're producing, that's a problem: a reference track plays in a browser, Slack pings, a tutorial runs on a second screen, and all of it moves together when you touch the volume keys.

Why one volume hurts your monitoring

You dial in a comfortable monitoring level in Logic, and then a notification comes through at the same level. Or you turn the Mac down during a loud passage, and now your reference track is too quiet to compare against. Monitoring at a consistent level is one of the most useful mixing habits, and a shared system volume keeps breaking it.

Two different volumes

Producers often mix these up:

• Interface or monitor level: the hardware knob on your audio interface or monitor controller. It sets how loud you actually hear things and should stay put once you're happy with it.
• Per-app level: how loud each application is before it reaches that output. This is what macOS is missing.

The goal isn't to turn your DAW down. It's to turn everything else down relative to it, so the DAW stays your main, consistent source.

Native options first

Send the DAW to your interface, everything else elsewhere

Most DAWs let you choose their output device in their own audio preferences, separate from the macOS system output. If you set the DAW to your audio interface and set the Mac's system output (in System Settings > Sound > Output) to your built-in speakers or another device, the DAW and the rest of the Mac no longer share a knob. This works well if you have a second output to use.

Silence notification sounds

In System Settings > Notifications, turn off Play sound for notification for chatty apps, or turn on Do Not Disturb or a Focus while you mix. That takes care of pings, though not of browser or music audio.

Quiet the alert sound

In System Settings > Sound, the alert volume slider controls system alert sounds separately from everything else. Turn it down so a beep doesn't jump out over your mix.

Per-app levels with a menu-bar mixer

If your DAW and your browser both use the same interface, you need a level for each app. SoundDial lists every running app in the menu bar and gives each one its own slider and mute button.

A producer workflow:

1. Set your interface once. Pick a comfortable, repeatable monitoring level on your interface or monitor controller and leave it.
2. Leave the DAW at 100%. Logic, Ableton or GarageBand plays as it normally would; your DAW's master fader still does the actual mixing.
3. Pull everything else down. Drop Chrome, Safari, Music and Slack lower so reference tracks and messages sit under your mix.
4. Mute the noisy stuff. One click silences a browser or chat app while the DAW keeps playing.

Because the DAW's slider never moves, your monitoring level stays steady through a session. You can turn a reference track up for a quick A/B, then mute it, without touching the DAW.

Boosting a quiet app instead

Sometimes it runs the other way: a rough demo, a voice memo or a quiet reference plays far below your session level. Turning the interface up makes everything else too loud. Per-app sliders go up to 200%, so you can raise just that one app to match your working level. See boosting a quiet app on Mac.

You can save this setup as a profile and apply it with one click next session (profiles store volume and mute, and apply to apps that are running). SoundDial works per app, not per browser tab. One thing to know while producing: its auto-ducking (on by default) lowers other apps, your DAW included, while a call app such as Zoom or a browser is using the microphone. Turn it off in Settings > Auto-Duck if that gets in the way.

Summary

• Give the DAW its own output in its audio preferences if you have a second device
• Turn off notification sounds and the alert volume while you work
• For separate levels on the same output, use a per-app mixer

SoundDial is a per-app volume mixer for Mac, €14.99 one-time purchase on the Mac App Store with no subscription, and needs macOS 14.2 or later. More on general setup: Mac audio for music production and per-app volume control on Mac.

Get SoundDial on the Mac App Store.