It’s free, it’s open-source, and it works. Rogue Amoeba’s LoopBack does routing and far more, but might be overkill for many users. SoundSource, from Rogue Amoeba, does something similar, but it doesn’t add a virtual output. But they don’t offer as many options - or they cost a lot of money. So you can use it to do much more than record YouTube audio. And as you also can see, BlackHole offers 16 channels of audio, so you can route audio to and from up to 16 different places. Ableton Live, connected to BlackHole.Īs you can see, this is powerful stuff, especially when combined with other apps and tools. You would set Ableton Live’s input to BlackHole, and then set Ableton Live’s output to your Mac’s speakers. For instance, you could send that YouTube video to BlackHole, as above, and then open up an app like Ableton Live or GarageBand. If you want to monitor the audio, you’re going to need a fancier setup.

Note: At this point, you won’t be able to hear anything, because no audio is being sent to your speakers. Since there was no 64ch uninstallation package at the very first page of this github/blackhole, I used 16ch one, but apparently it didnt work out (I can still see the bh 64ch in my audio.

Open a new audio recording window, and in the pop-open menu, choose BlackHole 16ch as the “microphone.” Hit record, and you’re recording YouTube! Set BlackHole as the input source for your recording app. So I want to delete BH 64ch and reinstall 16ch or 2ch to see if it works to record internal audio from my macbook (m1) while using airpods (2nd generation). Now, open up a recording app, like QuickTime Player, which comes built-in with your Mac. Now, any audio you play on your Mac will go to BlackHole instead of out the speakers. (Most likely, the only other option you will see will be for the computer’s built-in speakers.) BlackHole as main output. With BlackHole installed, simply open up the System Preferences on your Mac, then click on the Sound pane. For instance, we’ll go back to that hypothetical YouTube video playing in Safari. Once you send audio to BlackHole, you can then route it anywhere else. It shows up as a hardware input and output, fooling your Mac into letting you route audio to it. BlackHole is essentially a virtual audio device. But if you install Existential Audio‘s app BlackHole, you will gain a lot more flexibility. You can choose input and output devices either in System Preferences, or by option-clicking the volume icon in the Mac’s menu bar. The Mac packs some powerful built-in audio options, but they only let you route audio out through hardware devices - the built-in speakers, connected headphones, AirPlay speakers, and so on.

Blackhole 2ch vs 16ch vs 64ch