Master Audio Hijack & Loopback: A Mac Audio Routing Guide

Are you looking to take full control of your Mac's audio? Whether you're a podcaster, streamer, musician, or just someone who wants finer control over sound, understanding audio routing is essential. This article will show you how to master Audio Hijack and Loopback, two powerful tools for routing and manipulating audio on your Mac, allowing you to customize your audio setup, add voice effects, and more! Get ready to unlock a whole new level of audio control.

What is Audio Hijack?

Audio Hijack, developed by Rogue Amoeba,

is a versatile audio recording and manipulation tool for macOS. Unlike traditional audio recording software, it allows you to capture audio from any application, system audio, or input device connected to your Mac. Its block-based interface lets you easily chain together audio effects, filters, and routing options to create custom audio processing pipelines. This makes it perfect for tasks like podcasting, Recording Skype calls, adding effects to your microphone, or creating custom audio setups for live streaming. With features like volume control, equalization, and audio unit support, Audio Hijack gives you granular control over your Mac's audio.

Audio Hijack serves as a central control panel for all your audio needs. You can set up custom recording Sessions tailored to specific applications or use cases. The audio manipulation can be used when you need to get a better audio from an audio input into ecamm. You can also use these audio inputs in ms teams, zoom, and other applications.

What is Loopback?

Loopback, also by Rogue Amoeba, is a complementary tool designed for cable-free audio routing on macOS. It lets you create virtual audio devices that can be used to route audio between different applications. Think of it as a software-based patchbay for your Mac's audio. With Loopback, you can create virtual microphones and outputs, then route audio from one application to another with ease. For example, you can create a virtual microphone that combines audio from your microphone and Music playback software, then use that virtual microphone as the input for your streaming software. Loopback allows flexibility to audio routing, with each application can send audio to other applications.

This capability is useful for recording specific combinations of audio sources or sending audio to multiple destinations simultaneously.

Without loopback it can be difficult or even impossible to achieve. It is an important aspect to add to applications such as Skype, Zoom, eCamm, OBS, and others that you may use for audio output.

Fission

Fission is a rapid & lossless audio editor. Edit audio files without any quality loss! Trim and join audio, remove commercials, or split up recordings. Fission is fast, accurate, and easy to use. Fission is streamlined for quick trimming and joining. It's perfect for editing podcasts, radio shows, or just your favorite songs!

SoundSource

A powerful audio control. Get truly powerful control over all the audio on your Mac. SoundSource lets you adjust the volume of your individual applications, apply effects to any audio, route audio to different devices, and so much more!

Farrago

Robust, rapid-fire soundboards. Farrago provides the best way to quickly play sound effects, audio snippets, and music clips on your Mac. Podcasters, radio theater performers, and other live audio producers can use Farrago to enhance their shows with musical accompaniment and sound effects.

Step 1: Download and Install Audio Hijack and Loopback

Begin by downloading the latest versions of Audio Hijack and Loopback from Rogue Amoeba's website (rogueamoeba.com). Follow the installation instructions for each application.

Step 2: Configure Audio Hijack Session

Open Audio Hijack and create a new session. Choose 'New Blank Session' for maximum control. Then configure the source from the Audio Hijack.

1. Add an Input Device block and select your microphone or audio interface as the input source. Set Advanced options on the Channel.
2. Add any desired audio effects, such as equalization, compression, or noise reduction, by dragging them from the Block Library into the session.
3. Add an Output Device block and select your desired output device (e.g., headphones or speakers). The output device and input device can be selected by clicking the mic and device on the audio hijack source.

After the setting up process is completed, the audio can be heard through the output channels.

Step 3: Create Virtual Devices in Loopback

Open Loopback and create a new virtual device by clicking the '+' button. Add sources to the virtual device by clicking the '+' button under the 'Sources' column and selecting the applications or input devices you want to include. Configure the output channels for the virtual device. Typically, you'll want to use Channels 1 & 2 for stereo output.

Step 4: Route Audio from Audio Hijack to Loopback

Back in Audio Hijack, change the output device in your session to the virtual device you created in Loopback. This routes the audio processed by Audio Hijack to the Loopback virtual device.

Step 5: Use the Virtual Device in Other Applications

In applications like Zoom, Skype, OBS Studio, or eCamm, select the Loopback virtual device as your audio input source. This allows you to use the audio processed by Audio Hijack in these applications.

Congratulations! You've now successfully routed audio using Audio Hijack and Loopback. Experiment with different effect chains and routing configurations to create custom audio setups that suit your specific needs.

Individual and Bundle Pricing

Audio Hijack comes at $59(USD) and requires purchasing a license key for the software application to work.

Loopback comes at a slightly more expensive price, both of these software application can be used together as well as in a bundle. You can also buy multiple licenses to be installed into more Macs, or used for commercial services. This provides more flexible usage of the software application.

Here is a table listing the pricing.

Audio Hijack's Powerful Capabilities

Audio Hijack boasts a rich feature set that allows you to manipulate audio in countless ways:

• Application Audio Capture: Record audio from any application, including web browsers, media players, and communication apps.
• Device Audio Capture: Record audio from microphones, USB audio interfaces, and other input devices.
• System Audio Capture: Capture all audio played on your Mac, including sound effects and alerts.
• Real-time Effects: Add audio effects like equalization, compression, reverb, and more in real-time.
• Audio Unit Support: Use third-party Audio Unit plugins to expand your audio processing capabilities.
• Flexible Routing: Route audio to multiple outputs simultaneously, such as speakers, headphones, and recording devices.
• Recording Options: Choose from various audio formats, bit rates, and sample rates for your recordings.
• Scheduling: Schedule recordings to start and stop automatically at specific times.
• Easy to use interface: Audio Hijack is designed so that it is easy to use, this makes audio configuration more easier and streamlined.

Loopback's Virtual Audio Device Magic

Loopback's core strength lies in its ability to create virtual audio devices, offering unparalleled routing flexibility:

• Virtual Input and Output Devices: Create virtual microphones and outputs that can be used by any application on your Mac.
• Application to Application Routing: Route audio from one application to another without needing physical cables.
• Combine Audio Sources: Combine audio from multiple applications and input devices into a single virtual device.
• Multi-Destination Output: Send audio to multiple outputs simultaneously, such as speakers, headphones, and recording devices.
• Simple Configuration: Loopback's visual interface makes it easy to set up complex audio routing scenarios.

Together, both Audio Hijack and Loopback empower you to create professional-grade audio setups directly on your Mac. They are also compatible with various devices to be used for audio or virtual audio.