Hi everyone,
I'm the developer of MixDesk X, a free menu bar / tray app for macOS and Windows that treats your computer's audio like a small mixing console instead of a settings panel.
Some of you may know my multi-device BlackHole installer from an earlier thread here — MixDesk X is the mixer that grew around it.
It started on the Mac: I wanted my mic, system audio and line-in on real channel strips — with faders, EQ and effects — routed to several outputs at once (wired speakers plus a Bluetooth speaker without the echo). Audio MIDI Setup's Multi-Output Device gets you halfway there, but there's no per-device EQ, no effects, and no way to delay one output so devices with different latency stay in sync.
So the UI is literally a console: input strips on the left, output buses on the right.
The Windows version exists for a selfish reason: I wanted the same thing on my Windows machine. This app runs 24/7 on both of my systems — every sound I hear goes through it — and I'm very picky about sound. That's why the engine is float32 end to end with maximum-quality sample-rate conversion, and why devices keep their native rates instead of being forced around. If it colored the sound, I'd be the first to notice.
Routing & mixing
- Route any input (mic, audio interface, loopback device) to up to 4 output buses, any combination
- Per input strip: gain, pan, 2/3/11-band graphic EQ, mute/solo, fader, VU meter
- Per output bus: its own device, EQ, 0–1000 ms delay — this is how you line up a Bluetooth speaker with wired speakers playing the same source — plus a transparent safety limiter with gain-reduction meter
- Presets for complete mixer setups; the last one loads automatically at startup
- Float32 engine, selectable buffer 128–2048 frames, automatic stream recovery when a device disappears or glitches
Effects: a real CLAP plugin host in every strip
Every input strip and every output bus has an insert chain for CLAP plugins — the modern open plugin standard. Stack as many as you like (each slot is its own instance), open the plugin's native GUI, or use the built-in generic parameter editor. Plugin state is saved with your preset, so a tuned vocal chain comes back exactly as you left it.If you don't own any CLAP plugins: one click inside MixDesk X installs the free Airwindows Consolidated pack — roughly 400 effects (EQs, compressors, tape, reverbs, weirdness) by Chris Johnson. That alone turns the mixer into a small mastering rig.
System audio capture
- macOS: one click on "System audio via driver" routes your system output through my free multi-device BlackHole installer — an installer built on the excellent open-source BlackHole that sets up multiple stereo loopback devices in one go (plain BlackHole gives you one; multi-bus routing usually needs more). A userspace Core Audio plugin — no kernel or system extension. Free as well.
- Windows: captures all system audio or a single app cable-free (the same WASAPI Process Loopback API OBS uses) — no driver, no virtual cable needed at all.
MixDesk X is freeware — everything included, no account, no ads, no Pro tier. The macOS build is signed and notarized, the Windows build is signed.
Requirements and current limitations, to be upfront
- macOS 13+ (Apple Silicon) · Windows 10/11 (x64 and ARM64)
- Maximum of 4 output buses
- Per-app capture is currently Windows-only. On macOS my bigger app MixDesk EQ already does exactly that via ScreenCaptureKit — individual app audio, mic, webcam and line-in simultaneously. Per-app capture is planned for the Mac version of MixDesk X too, and once it lands, MixDesk X will likely supersede MixDesk EQ entirely — one free app, both platforms.
- Feeding processed audio INTO another app (EQ'd mic → Discord/Zoom/OBS) needs a free virtual device once — the BlackHole-based driver on macOS, VB-Cable on Windows
Two things I'd genuinely like to hear from you:
- What does your setup look like — built-in speakers plus display, several Bluetooth speakers, USB DACs, headphone combos? And which matters most to you: multi-device sync, per-device EQ, or routing?
- MixDesk X deliberately looks like a mixing console, because that's the mental model I want — you can see the whole signal path at once. But I keep seeing beautiful phone-style panel UIs for this category. Would a second, compact panel view (quick volume/routing from the menu bar, console one click away) be worth adding, or does the console cover it for you?
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