At FilesCEO we aim to bring you useful tools that fill a gap you didn’t know you had. One such tool for Mac users is Loopback — a powerful application that allows you to route and combine audio from different sources on your Mac, giving you studio-level control with ease.
About Loopback
Loopback falls in the audio utilities category. On macOS, it enables you to create virtual audio devices that gather sound from apps (like media players), physical input devices (microphones, mixers), or both — then output that combined audio to another app or output device. You might use it to send your voice and music together into a video call, or to record both a podcast interview and system sounds at the same time. The interface uses a visual wiring-style layout where you add “sources” and “output channels” and route audio exactly how you need. It supports very flexible configurations including multiple channels, custom mappings, and nested virtual devices.
Key features of Loopback
• Create virtual audio devices combining apps and hardware input sources
• Full routing control: pick output channels, set listening devices, map channels manually
• Combine software and physical devices for complex setups (e.g., mic + media player)
• Works system-wide: any app on Mac can use the created virtual device as input or output
• Supports many channels (up to 64) and advanced configurations for professionals
FAQs about Loopback
Yes. Although it offers advanced options, you can set up a virtual device combining your mic and a music app, and then select that device in Zoom, making it quite usable even for basic needs.
Not really. While Loopback can support studio-level setups, you can also use it with typical USB mics, headphones and apps. The benefit is more in combining and routing audio than in needing high-end hardware.
Loopback supports many recent versions of macOS and is maintained to remain compatible. If you run an older Mac OS version you might need a legacy version or specific setup, so checking compatibility is wise.
