Mac Audio Balance Per App: Control Left/Right Audio for Individual Apps

Why macOS Audio Balance Controls Are Limited

macOS has a system-wide audio balance slider in System Settings, but it affects all apps equally. If you want to adjust audio balance for individual apps — maybe route a podcast to your left ear while keeping music centered, or compensate for hearing differences on a per-app basis — you'll quickly discover that Apple doesn't provide this granular control.

This limitation becomes particularly frustrating when you're using multiple audio apps simultaneously or have specific accessibility needs that require different balance settings for different types of content.

Understanding Audio Balance vs Audio Routing

Before diving into solutions, it's important to understand the difference between audio balance and audio routing:

• Audio balance adjusts the left/right channel mix within a single output device
• Audio routing sends different apps to completely different output devices

While true per-app balance control is technically complex, you can achieve similar results through creative audio routing and output management.

Method 1: Use Per-App Audio Routing for Balance Control

The most practical solution is to route different apps to different audio outputs, which gives you granular control over how you hear each app.

What you'll need:

• Multiple audio output devices (built-in speakers + headphones, or different headphone sets)
• Per-app audio routing software

Steps:

1. Connect multiple audio outputs (headphones, speakers, USB audio interface)
2. Use audio routing software to send different apps to different outputs
3. Adjust the physical balance or positioning of each output device
4. Fine-tune volume levels per app as needed

This approach works well for scenarios like:

• Sending music to speakers while routing calls to headphones
• Keeping focused work audio (like brown noise) separate from communication apps
• Isolating gaming audio from streaming or recording audio

Method 2: System Audio Balance with App Volume Control

For a simpler approach, you can combine macOS's built-in balance control with per-app volume management:

Steps:

1. Go to System Settings > Sound > Output
2. Adjust the overall balance slider for your primary output
3. Use per-app volume controls to compensate for apps that need different treatment
4. Lower the volume of apps that don't benefit from the balance adjustment

This method works best when you have one primary app that needs balance adjustment and others that you can simply turn down.

Method 3: Use Multiple Audio Profiles

If your balance needs change throughout the day, you can create different audio configurations:

Morning Setup:

• Music app routed to speakers (balanced normally)
• News/podcast apps routed to left headphone channel
• Work communication apps routed to right channel

Focus Work Setup:

• All communication apps muted or routed away
• Background music at low volume through speakers
• Important notifications through headphones

Tools That Make Per-App Audio Control Possible

While macOS doesn't include a volume mixer like Windows, several apps fill this gap:

Soundish provides per-app volume control and audio routing at a fraction of the cost of premium alternatives. You can route different apps to different outputs, adjust volume levels per app (including boosting quiet apps up to 200%), and save different configurations. It's particularly useful for the routing approach mentioned above.

SoundSource offers more advanced features including per-app EQ and audio units, but costs significantly more.

Audio MIDI Setup (built into macOS) can create aggregate devices and multi-output devices for complex routing scenarios, though it requires more technical knowledge.

Accessibility Considerations

If you need per-app balance control for accessibility reasons:

1. Hearing differences: Route critical apps (calls, alerts) to your better ear while keeping background audio balanced
2. Attention management: Use spatial separation to reduce cognitive load
3. Sensory processing: Keep overwhelming audio separate from essential communications

Limitations to Keep in Mind

True per-app audio balance (adjusting left/right mix within each app individually) isn't possible with standard macOS tools. The routing approach is a workaround that achieves similar practical results.

Some apps may reset their audio output when restarted, requiring you to reconfigure routing settings.

DRM-protected content from some streaming services may have limitations on audio routing.

Setting Up Your Ideal Audio Balance System

1. Identify your needs: What apps need different balance treatment?
2. Map your outputs: What audio devices do you have available?
3. Plan your routing: Which apps should go where?
4. Test and adjust: Fine-tune volume levels and routing as needed
5. Save configurations: Use audio management software to remember your preferred setups

While macOS doesn't offer per-app balance controls out of the box, combining intelligent audio routing with per-app volume control gives you the granular audio management you need. The key is thinking creatively about how to use multiple outputs and routing to achieve the spatial audio separation you're looking for.