'monitoring system audio output like wire tap' 'Capturing currently played audio using CoreAudio on Mac' 'Another question on capturing audio played back by a software' 'WireTap, CoreAudio's API, and system capture, and kexts.' If you want to read more on the subject, check out these threads on the CoreAudio API mailing list: So, we have opted for better performance at the cost of not being able to provide this feature.' This lead us to a design where it is not easy to support the functionality you want without imposing performance penalties. The fact is, Mac OS X's audio system was designed first and foremost for performance. There's nothing stopping you from doing the same thing except how willing you are to get your hands dirty. isn't supported by the System and those folks had to be clever.

'There are no APIs on the system that will give you the output of any specific app or the whole mix going to the hardware. ScreenFlow: Captures the system sound without changing the current default output device and without publishing the virtual audio driver as a deviceĪ quote from Jeff Moore, a CoreAudio Apple engineer, in reference to applications such as WireTap and Audio Hijack Pro: WavTap: Adds a sound device to the list upon installation auto-selects the device when the WavTap application is started auto-deselects the device when the application is shutdown and reselects the previous deviceĪudio Hijack Pro: Adds a sound device only when audio capture of the default system sound is selected removes the sound device when audio capture is no longer selected and reselects the previous device SoundFlower: Adds a sound device to the list upon installation kextĪfter reading the author's comments, it appears the underlying goal is to be able to capture the system sound without publishing the virtual audio driver as a device (that would appear in the System Preference's list) and without changing the current default output device (or at least the appearance that the device has changed). Captures system audio using the SoundFlower. (Version 2.x uses varaudio.kext Version 3.x uses TelestreamAudio.kext) Captures system audio via an in-house developed. Captures system audio and application audio via an in-house developed. These features are branded as their 'Instant On' feature (InstantOn.kext). Captures an already-running application's audio with the help of the haxie 'Application Enhancer' (APE) from Unsanity

Captures an application's audio by substituting a 'patch' framework for the normal amework when launching the application Captures system audio via code based off of the open-source SoundFlower. kext that I believe does substantially what you want.įor reference, here is how some popular commercial closed-source options work: Take a look at the open-source WavTap, which is a simplified fork of the open-source SoundFlower virtual sound card driver.

How to record audio output on mac