Effects Overview

SoundSource makes it easy to apply audio effects to any audio playing on your Mac. SoundSource includes several built-in audio effects, and includes support for Audio Unit plugins made by other developers.

On this page, you can get details on several facets of effects in SoundSource. The following two pages provide information on those audio effects.

Audio Effects Indicator

To see which of your audio sources are being adjusted through the use of audio effects, look for the helpful FX indicator on the Hide/Show Effects button:

FX indicator on Hide/Show Effects button

In the example screenshot below, audio effects are being applied to the System Output device, and to Safari’s audio, while audio from Music is not being adjusted.

Audio effects applied to sources

Effect Nicknames

Effect nickname editing

In each audio effect’s popover, you’ll see the effect’s default name. Next to that name is an Edit pencil. When you click this, you’ll be able to modify the name of the effect.

Renamed effects

In the image above, two identical effects have each been given nicknames, to help distinguish them from one another. Effect nicknames are very useful for keeping track of what each effect is doing.

Presets

Presets section in effects popover

At the bottom of effects popovers in SoundSource, you’ll see a section called Presets. Presets are a way to save settings for a particular effect, for later use. Presets are saved at the application level, which means they can be used in any instance of the effect in SoundSource.

A simple example of presets can be found in the 10-Band EQ. It comes with built-in presets for genres like “Rock” or “Jazz”, but you can also save custom presets. Tweak the settings to your liking, then select Save as Preset from the Presets menu. You’ll be able to name your preset, and even set an icon. It will remain accessible from the Presets menu.

Custom preset options

In addition to the 10-Band EQ, Audio Unit effects also support saving presets. Once you configure presets, they’ll save you a tremendous amount of time.

Bypassing Effects

When the Bypass Effects option is enabled, effects processing will be disabled for the specified application or output device. This makes it possible to quickly toggle between an active or disabled effects configuration. Note that the On/Off state of each individual plugin will remain unchanged.

When Bypass Effects is turned on, a warning indicator will be shown to indicate that effects processing is disabled.

Effects bypass indicator

To access the Bypass Effects setting, expand the Advanced settings in the Options menu. The resulting contextual menu will include a Bypass Effects option which you can toggle on or off. In addition, when an application or the system’s output device is selected in SoundSource, pressing Option-Command-B will toggle this option.

Quick ConfigsBuilt-In Effects