BlackHole
BlackHole is a virtual audio loopback driver for macOS that lets apps pass audio directly to other apps with no added latency. It suits streamers, podcasters, online instructors, and anyone else who needs to route audio between apps.
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BlackHole is a virtual audio loopback driver for macOS. It creates a virtual audio device on your system. One app can send its sound to this device, and another app can use it as an input device to record or process that audio. This removes the need for extra hardware cables and adds no extra latency.
Key features
- Audio passing between apps: Send the output of one app directly to the input of another, for internal audio routing.
- Zero additional latency: The official website stresses that audio passes between apps without added latency.
- Multiple channel versions: The website offers 2-channel and 16-channel versions, and Homebrew also provides 2ch, 16ch, and 64ch packages.
- Standard sample rates supported: Including 44.1kHz, 48kHz, 88.2kHz, 96kHz, 176.4kHz, and 192kHz.
- Compatibility: Supports macOS Mavericks (10.10) and later, on both Intel and Apple Silicon.
Target users and use cases
The website is aimed at streamers, instructors, podcasters, music producers, audio engineers, and composers. Typical uses include:
- Mixing music or system sound into a live stream or video conference.
- Sending the output of one app into recording software or a DAW.
- Sending presentation audio to conferencing software during online teaching.
Getting and installing
- Install with Homebrew:
brew install blackhole-2ch,brew install blackhole-16ch, orbrew install blackhole-64ch. - Download from the website: The website offers a download after a $10 donation. It also recommends joining the Discord community and using the #blackhole-download channel for the latest versions, updates, and support.
- The website also links to a related app on the Mac App Store.
Notes
- BlackHole supports macOS only. The website has a page about Windows support, but I haven't confirmed how far along it is.
- It only provides the virtual device and has no mixing interface. If you need to mix multiple sources, you will usually need to use it together with macOS's built-in "Audio MIDI Setup" (to create an aggregate device or multi-output device) or other audio software.
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