Best volume mixer for Mac for students
Lecture recordings too quiet, Discord too loud, study music somewhere in between. You don't need a $49 app to fix that, and you may not need to pay anything.
Short answer
- Best overall: FineTune. Free, open source, per-app volume, boost and EQ. Needs macOS 15 Sequoia.
- Best cheap paid pick: Faders. $5.99 at launch, works on macOS 14.2, and adds call ducking and AirPods fixes for online classes.
- Best free on older Macs: Background Music. Free and runs on macOS 10.13+, but older tech with known rough edges.
What students actually need
- Separate volumes for lectures, Discord and music.
- A boost for quiet lecture recordings and videos.
- Something light that doesn't drain a MacBook battery in the library.
- A low price, ideally zero.
The picks
FineTune
Free, open source · macOS 15+ · brew install --cask finetune · GitHub
If your Mac runs macOS 15 or later, start here. FineTune gives every app its own volume and mute, boosts quiet apps up to 4x, and has a 10-band EQ, AutoEQ headphone profiles and per-app routing. It uses the same modern Apple audio APIs as Faders, with no driver. It's a community project, so there's no paid support.
Good
- Free
- Boost and EQ
- No driver
Not so good
- Needs macOS 15
- Call ducking: not listed
Faders
$5.99 once at launch ($15.99 regular) · macOS 14.2+ · No trial (browser demo) · fadersmac.com
Faders is worth paying for if you're still on macOS 14 Sonoma, or you take a lot of classes over Zoom or Teams. It turns other apps down while you're in a call and keeps AirPods in high quality instead of muffled call mode. It boosts quiet apps to 200 % and uses 0.0 % CPU when nothing is playing. It has no EQ, and at its $15.99 regular price FineTune is better value if your Mac can run it.
Good
- Works on macOS 14.2
- Call ducking for online classes
- AirPods stay high-quality
Not so good
- Not free
- No EQ
- No refunds
Background Music
Free, open source · macOS 10.13+ · GitHub
Background Music has per-app volume and mute, and pauses your music player when something else starts playing. It installs a virtual audio driver, has no boost, and its own README warns that app volumes above 50 % can clip. It got a new release in June 2026 after two years without one. If your Mac can't run anything newer, it's the free option.
Good
- Free
- Very old macOS support
- Auto-pauses music
Not so good
- Virtual driver
- No boost, can clip
Side by side
| FineTune | Faders | Background Music | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | $5.99 launch, $15.99 regular | Free |
| macOS | 15+ | 14.2+ | 10.13+ |
| Per-app volume | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Boost | ✓ up to 4x | ✓ to 200 % | — |
| EQ | ✓ | — | — |
| Call ducking | Not listed | ✓ | Pauses music instead |
| Needs a driver | No | No | Yes |
Free things to try first
- Use each app's own volume. Spotify, Music, Discord, YouTube and Zoom all have their own volume control. It's clunky, but free.
- Check the player's own settings. Some video players have a volume boost or audio normalization option that can help with quiet lecture recordings.
- Pick your Mac's mic with AirPods. In System Settings → Sound → Input, choose the built-in mic to stop AirPods sounding muffled in online classes.
Questions
Is there a student discount for Faders?
No, but the launch price is the cheapest it will be. It goes up as each batch sells out.
How do I check my macOS version?
Apple menu → About This Mac. Sequoia is 15, Sonoma is 14.
On Sonoma, or living in Zoom classes?
Faders is $5.99 once at launch. Try the live demo first.
Related
Sources
- FineTune on GitHub (free, GPL v3, macOS 15, features)
- Background Music on GitHub (driver, macOS 10.13, clipping note) and releases