Xavucontrol — macOS Audio Routing Control Center
Native macOS audio routing and monitoring app inspired by pavucontrol, with per-app playback routing, virtual devices, input monitoring, and a patchbay-style view.
Technologies Used
About This Project
Xavucontrol is a native macOS product built for a problem that advanced users, streamers, developers, and audio-heavy workflows run into often: many macOS apps do not expose their own audio device selector. When that happens, even a powerful Core Audio system leaves the user stuck with the global system default.
The project brings a pavucontrol-inspired experience to macOS while respecting the realities of Core Audio. It combines a SwiftUI desktop application, device and process discovery, a bundled Core Audio HAL driver, virtual cable and virtual microphone devices, real-time routing logic, stream volume and mute controls, and a read-only patchbay view for understanding live audio topology.
As a case study, Xavucontrol is interesting because it is not just a frontend around an API. It required product design, native macOS engineering, low-level audio infrastructure, driver packaging, permission flows, diagnostics, and a public release path. The result is an indie desktop utility that turns a technically demanding audio pipeline into a practical control surface.
Key Features
Native SwiftUI macOS application focused on practical audio routing workflows
Per-application playback discovery and routing through Xavucontrol Virtual Cable
Independent app default output preference separate from the macOS system default
Per-stream volume and mute controls for routed playback streams
Multi-output fan-out for sending one app stream to multiple hardware outputs
Virtual microphone mixer that can combine selected microphones and playback streams
Input monitoring through Listen On for checking microphones before calls or recording
Read-only patchbay graph for active apps, devices, virtual routes, and monitor links
Setup and diagnostics area for driver install, permissions, defaults, and backend health
Gallery
Impact & Results
Xavucontrol demonstrates the kind of product engineering that sits between user-facing UX and systems-level work. It shows the ability to identify a real platform gap, design a focused tool around it, and ship a native desktop product that touches Core Audio, virtual devices and real-time processing.