Welcome to our Soundflower installation guide. Installing Soundflower on modern macOS versions can be a little complicated as kernel extensions need now to be given permissions before being loaded for the first time. So the Soundflower installer will error out on macOS High Sierra and Mojave. But this is easy to fix.
macOS 10.13 High Sierra and macOS 10.14 Mojave Soundflower Install
Soundflower presents itself as one of two audio devices (2ch / 16ch). The 2-channel device is sufficient for most situations. To send the output of one application to another, select Soundflower as the output device in the first application and Soundflower as the input device within the second application. On your Mac, search for ‘ Audio MIDI setup ‘. Then, on the window, click the “ + ” icon to add an ‘ Aggregate Device ‘. Check the Built-in Microphone and Soundflower (2ch) from the Audio Device tab. Next, click the ‘ + ‘ icon again and create a ‘ Multi-Output Device ‘. Soundflower for Mac and Best Alternative to Capture Audio Files. Soundflower 2.0b2 - Download for Mac Free. Someone finally came up with a Soundflower replacement,. Soundflower Extension, is, as its name implies, an extension for Mac operating systems. It is not an audio recorder in itself. The extension allows you to create a virtual audio output device that works as an input as well. Again, any sound your Mac makes will be channeled through Soundflower so you’ll want to disable alert sounds or quit those applications that make them. Additionally, if you change your Mac’s volume, that change will be captured by the application that’s recording Soundflower’s sound. So, lay off the volume and mute controls.
- Download the installer: soundflower_2.0b2.zip.
- Run it and perform the install
- The installer will tell you that it failed. This is completely normal.
- Open the System Preferences and go to the “Security & Privacy” settings.
- Click on the “Allow” button next to “MATT INGALS”.(This has to be a physical hardware click. Remote desktop connections or even local software tools like “Better Touch Tool” won’t work!)
- Run the installer again. This time it will run through without any problems.
Click 'Open Security Preferences'
Click on the Allow button and run the installer again.
IMPORTANT: If you can’t record from Soundflower under Mojave (the device is there but only silence is being recorded) make sure that you have given microphone access permissions to your recording app! macOS treats Soundflower like a microphone in this regard. Go to system preferences -> Privacy & Security -> Privacy -> Microphone -> [check mark next to your recording app]
See our blog post about this issue: https://www.fluxforge.com/blog/recording-problems-on-mojave/
macOS 10.10 - 10.12 Soundflower Install
Because we’re getting this asked a lot: Here’s how you get Soundflower to work with macOS 10.12 Sierra and OS X 10.10 and 10.11…
As you know, since 10.10, OS X requires kernel extensions to be signed. Sadly the officially available version of Soundflower isn’t signed because it’s an open source project and - as far as we know - no one has volunteered to do the work and pay the $99 fee to obtain a signing certificate.
That’s why we have built a signed version of Soundflower which will work on OS X 10.10, 10.11 and the new macOS 10.12 Sierra.
Here is the direct download link: soundflower_2.0b2.zip.
Download the zip and run the contained installer. Even though not required you probably should restart your Mac to make sure everything got installed properly.
Enjoy!
Please note that we can’t offer direct support for Soundflower. We just built a version you can install on macOS 10.11 and 10.12. If you encounter any problems please contact Soundflower’s developer! You can find their project page here: https://github.com/Soundflower-Original
Shameless self promotion: Have you tried Vector yet? Vector is an audio editor for OS X that is designed to fit into the space between simple audio apps and full blown studio production tools. (Kinda like Cool Edit Pro for the Mac - if you are that old school).
Soundflower
Free Inter-application Audio Routing Utility for macOS
Record any sounds coming from your Mac -- for free
Your Mac is capable of producing sound as well as playing sound channeled from outside sources—devices plugged into the Mac’s USB- and sound input ports as well as audio streamed from the Internet. Wouldn’t it be great if you could captures some of those sounds for later listening? You can. And you can for free with Soundflower. Here’s how it works.
Step 1: Download Soundflower
Download: Soundflower 1.6.6 Installer (includes SoundflowerBed) -- Use this for OS 10.6 - OS 10.8 - 179.75KB
Soundflower-1.6.6b.dmg
The first step involves finding a way to grab audio playing in one application—a Web browser, for example—and route it to an application that can capture that audio. Cycling ’74’s free Soundflower is that way. Soundflower is a system extension that lets you channel audio from one application to another. For example, you can take the audio playing from a movie in your Web browser and channel it into QuickTime Player’s audio input where you then record it.
Step 2: Configure Soundflower
How To Download Soundflower For Mac 2020
After you’ve installed Soundflower launch the Sound system preference and you’ll see evidence of Soundflower in the Output and Input tabs. Select the Output tab and choose Soundflower (2ch). Do this and any sound that would normally come out of your Mac’s speakers is now routed through Soundflower. Any is the key word here. If your Mac makes any sound—not just the sound you’re trying to capture but also e-mail and Twitter alerts, for example—it will route that too.
Step 3: Configure your capture application
You have a couple of applications on your Mac that can capture Soundflower’s audio—QuickTime Player and GarageBand. To configure QuickTime Player choose File -> New Audio Recording. In the Audio Recording window that appears click on the downward-pointing triangle to the right of the Record button. From the menu that appears choose Soundflower (2ch). When you’re ready to begin your capture, just click Record.
You set up GarageBand by launching the application and in the New Project window that appears choosing Acoustic Instrument. This creates a GarageBand project that contains a single digital audio track. Use the default tempo and time- and key-signature settings that appear in the New Project Template window and click the Create button. Open GarageBand's preferences, select the Audio/MIDI tab and from the Audio Output and Audio Input pop-up menus choose Soundflower (2ch). Close the Preferences window. If the Info pane for the track doesn’t appear, choose Track -> Show Track Info. In the Browse tab of the Info pane choose Stereo 1/2 Soundflower (2ch) from the Input source pop-up menu. When your Mac makes sound you should see it register in the track’s meters. Click Record to capture the audio.
Step 4: Monitor the Mac’s sound
Soundflower Software
When you choose Soundflower as your Mac’s audio output you can no longer hear it through attached speakers or headphones. In order for you to monitor what’s happening, launch the Soundflowerbed application (found in /Applications/Soundflower). Click the Soundflowerbed menu bar item that appears and choose your speakers or headphones from the menu. Now, not only will your audio application capture what your Mac plays, but you’ll be able to listen to the source audio as well. (You may want to do this before setting up QuickTime or GarageBand to capture your audio, but that's up to you.)
Again, any sound your Mac makes will be channeled through Soundflower so you’ll want to disable alert sounds or quit those applications that make them. Additionally, if you change your Mac’s volume, that change will be captured by the application that’s recording Soundflower’s sound. So, lay off the volume and mute controls.
Special Thanks to: Christopher Breen (Macworld).