Chorus

Chorus is a menu-bar app that gives you real control over your Mac's audio. Group several output devices so they play as one, with a proper volume slider (something macOS's own multi-output tool cannot do). Pick your microphone, send individual apps to specific speakers, switch automatically when a device connects, and trigger any of it with a keyboard shortcut. Built for setups like two Studio Displays that should just work together as one sound.

Just download and open it. Every feature works immediately for 30 days, with no account, no card details, and nothing to fill in. If you decide to keep it, it is a one-time purchase of $4.99 with no subscription. If you don't, the trial simply ends and nothing is charged. There is no separate "demo mode" to worry about; the trial is the full app.

Download the DMG from theodorehq.com/chorus, open it, and drag Chorus into your Applications folder. When you open it for the first time, a small speaker icon appears in your menu bar. That icon is Chorus: click it to see the panel with your outputs, input and playing apps. There is nothing else to set up, and no restart is needed.

Chorus lives entirely in the menu bar, so it never appears in the Dock or in Cmd-Tab. This is intentional: it is a quick-access audio control, not a document window you switch between. Look for a small speaker icon in the menu bar at the top of your screen, usually near the clock. Clicking it opens the panel; right-clicking it opens Settings and other options.

Right-click (or Control-click) the Chorus icon in your menu bar and choose "Settings…" from the menu that appears. The same menu also has "Open Chorus" for the main panel, a Support submenu, "Check for Updates," and Quit. Settings itself is a separate window with tabs for General, Outputs, Inputs, Auto-Switch, Volume & Keys, Shortcuts, Automation and About.

Chorus needs macOS 13 (Ventura) or later and runs natively on both Apple Silicon and Intel Macs, since it ships as a single universal app. Two features need a slightly newer system: per-app volume and routing, and the live level meters in the panel, both need macOS 14.4 or later, because they use a newer part of macOS's audio system. Everything else works from macOS 13 onward.

Chorus checks for updates automatically, roughly once an hour, and again shortly after it starts up. When one is found you'll see a Sparkle update prompt with what's new; approving it downloads and installs the new version for you. To check right away, right-click the menu-bar icon and choose "Check for Updates." Every future update is included at no extra cost, whether you're on the trial or have bought a licence.

Right-click the menu-bar icon, choose Settings, and open the General tab. Turn on "Launch at Login" and Chorus will start quietly in the menu bar every time you sign in, with no window popping up. This uses Apple's standard Login Items system, so you can also switch it off from System Settings, General, Login Items if you ever prefer to start Chorus manually.

Right-click the menu-bar icon and choose Quit, then drag Chorus from your Applications folder to the Trash. Chorus doesn't install a driver, a kernel extension, or anything else outside the app itself, so nothing is left behind that changes how your Mac's audio works; it goes straight back to exactly how it was before. If you turned on Launch at Login, that setting is removed automatically when you delete the app.

Open the panel and click the "New Group" button in the Output card (the small icon in its top-right corner). Choose the devices you want to play together, such as two Studio Displays, give the group a name, and save it. The group then appears in your Output list alongside your single devices, and selecting it sends audio to every device in it at once, in sync.

Yes. Once a group is selected, the panel shows a master volume slider for it, and your Mac's volume keys and menu-bar scroll both control that group directly. This is the main thing Chorus adds over macOS's built-in multi-output device, which plays to several speakers at once but gives you no way to control their combined volume at all.

Yes. Open the group in the panel and you'll see a separate slider for each device inside it, shown as a percentage, alongside the group's overall master volume. If one Studio Display naturally plays louder than the other, pull its slider down until they sound even, then leave the master slider for your everyday volume control. Balance settings are saved with the group.

Double-click the group's name in the Output card and it turns into an editable text field. Type the new name and press Return to save it. There's no separate rename menu to hunt for; the name itself is what you click. This works for any group at any time, whether or not it's currently active.

Yes. Open the panel and every app currently playing audio appears in the Apps section with its own volume slider, going up to 400% for a real boost, plus a mute button. Changing one app's volume has no effect on anything else playing. This needs macOS 14.4 or later; on 13 or 14.3 the Apps section simply doesn't appear, since the underlying system support isn't there yet.

Yes, this is one of Chorus's core features. In the Apps section, click an app's device menu and choose where it should play, separately from everything else. Music can stay on your desk speakers while a call goes to your headphones, each at its own volume. Chorus remembers each app's chosen device, so it keeps routing there the next time that app plays sound.

Open the panel and the Input card shows your available microphones. Click the one you want, and it becomes your Mac's system default input straight away, the same as changing it in System Settings, only faster. If you don't see a microphone you expect, check Settings, Inputs to make sure it hasn't been hidden.

Yes. Turn on Auto-Switch in Settings, then build a priority list: a rule that activates a specific group or device once its hardware is connected, and a fallback order for everything else. When your devices disconnect, Chorus falls back down that list on its own. The same engine works for your microphone too, with its own separate priority list, so plugging in a headset can switch your input automatically as well.

Yes. Open Settings and go to the Shortcuts tab, where you'll find every group, every output device, and every input device listed with a field next to it. Click a field and press the key combination you want; it works from any app, system-wide. You can also assign shortcuts for two general actions: showing or hiding the panel, and toggling mute.

Yes. Your Mac's regular F11/F12 volume keys and mute key control whichever group is currently active, showing the same on-screen feedback you'd expect. This needs Accessibility permission, since that's how macOS lets any app listen for those keys. Settings, Volume & Keys shows whether it's granted, with an Enable button if it isn't yet.

Two handy ones. Scroll up or down while your pointer is over the Chorus menu-bar icon to adjust the volume of the active group (or your default output, if no group is on) without opening the panel at all. Hold Option and click the icon to instantly toggle mute. Both are quicker than opening the panel for a small adjustment.

Yes. Open Settings, go to Outputs or Inputs, and switch off any device you don't want cluttering the panel or the New Group picker, such as a hub output you never actually listen through. A hidden device already inside a group keeps working normally, and a hidden input can still be used by an Auto-Switch rule; hiding it only tidies what you see day to day.

Yes, both are optional and live in Settings, Volume & Keys. "Show Volume HUD" displays a small on-screen overlay when the volume keys change a group, and you can choose where it appears from a 3x3 position grid. "Confirmation Sound" plays a short tick through a device the moment you select it, so you can hear which one you've just switched to. Turn either off if you'd rather have silence.

Yes. Chorus responds to a handful of chorus:// links that any launcher, automation app or Stream Deck can open: activate a named group, deactivate the active one, switch to a single device, set the volume, or toggle mute. Settings, Automation lists each command with an example, ready to paste into whatever tool you're wiring it up in.

Chorus is a one-time purchase of $4.99. There's no subscription, no recurring charge, and no separate fee for future updates; every version you'll ever get is included in that single price. A licence covers up to three Macs, and you get a full 30-day trial first, so you can try everything before deciding.

After buying, Polar shows your key straight away and emails it to you too. Open Chorus, and when the trial screen or paywall appears, paste the key in and it activates immediately, right down to the last day of your trial if you buy early. Keys look like CHORUS- followed by a string of letters and numbers, so paste rather than retype it to avoid a mistyped character.

Sign in to your Polar account with the email address you used to buy Chorus, and your key is right there. If you can't find your purchase confirmation email or the portal doesn't recognise your address, email support@theodorehq.com and we'll look it up and get it back to you.

One Chorus licence activates on up to three Macs at once, for your own personal use. If you regularly work between a desktop and a laptop, or have a home and an office setup, that's usually plenty. If you ever need a fourth, deactivating an old Mac you no longer use frees up its slot straight away.

Before you reinstall macOS or reset the Mac, open Chorus, right-click the menu-bar icon, choose Settings, and go to About. Click Deactivate This Mac and confirm. That frees the slot straight away, because a fresh install otherwise claims a new one even on the same physical machine.

Already wiped it without deactivating first? The slot is still yours to reclaim. Sign in to your Polar account with your purchase email and you'll see your licence key and every Mac it's active on; deactivating the old entry there frees it immediately. If you can't access the portal or something doesn't look right, email support@theodorehq.com from your purchase email address and we'll sort it for you.

Yes. Grouping, routing, auto-switch, shortcuts and every audio feature run entirely on your Mac and need no internet connection at all. The only time Chorus needs to be online is to activate a licence key the first time, and to occasionally revalidate it, which it does automatically. If you're offline when that happens, a bought licence keeps working for 7 days before it needs to check in again.

Once the 30 days are up, opening Chorus shows a simple screen with the price and a Buy button instead of the panel. Nothing is deleted or reset: your groups, shortcuts and settings are all still there, waiting for a licence key. Buy whenever you're ready and everything picks up exactly where you left it, right down to your custom groups and shortcuts.

Because Chorus is digital and your key is handed over the moment you buy, checkout asks you to agree to that immediate delivery, which is standard for software sold this way. That said, your rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 are always protected: if Chorus genuinely doesn't work as described, you're entitled to a repair, a replacement, or a refund by law. Email support@theodorehq.com explaining what's happened and we'll take it from there.

Open the panel and check which output or group has the tick next to it; that's what your Mac is currently playing through. If it's a group, make sure every device in it is switched on and connected. It's also worth checking that individual app hasn't been muted or routed elsewhere in the Apps section, since a per-app route overrides the system default for that one app only.

Open the group in the panel and check each device's own balance slider; if one has been pulled right down, it will sound silent even though the group is active and working correctly. If the sliders look fine, check the quiet device is still properly connected: a Thunderbolt or USB hub that briefly drops a connection is the most common cause. Reconnecting it and re-selecting the group usually brings it straight back.

If a device is missing, check it's genuinely connected and check Settings, Outputs or Inputs to make sure you haven't hidden it there by mistake; hidden devices are switched off from that same screen. If instead a device you hid keeps reappearing, it's usually a USB or Thunderbolt hub reassigning that device a slightly different internal identifier on reconnect; Chorus recognises this and re-applies your setting automatically, but it can take one more reconnect to catch up.

The physical F11/F12 volume keys need Accessibility permission to work with any app, not just Chorus. Open Settings, Volume & Keys, and check whether it shows as granted; if not, click Enable and approve the system prompt. If you've reinstalled or updated Chorus and it was working before, macOS sometimes needs the permission granted again: open System Settings, Privacy & Security, Accessibility, and toggle Chorus off and back on.

If you've purchased Chorus, your licence key is stored in your Mac's Keychain rather than in a plain settings file, since that's the properly secure place for it. macOS asks you to confirm this the first time, and choosing "Always Allow" means you won't be asked again. During the free trial, nothing licence-related touches the Keychain at all, so trial users shouldn't see this prompt.

Per-app control needs macOS 14.4 or later; on 13 or 14.3 the Apps section doesn't appear at all, so check Settings, About for your macOS version first. If you're on 14.4+, an app only shows up while it's actually producing sound, so check something is actually playing. If it's still not appearing, quit and reopen the app in question: Chorus picks up newly launched apps as soon as they start playing audio.

Call apps like FaceTime, Zoom and Teams always play through a single real device tied to whichever microphone is currently selected, never a combined group; this is how macOS itself handles call audio, to keep echo cancellation working properly. So a call plays through whichever device your input is set to. If you want a call to come from a particular screen, switch your input to the microphone on that device in the panel first.

Yes, this is what macOS calls its audio-capture permission, and Chorus asks for it the first time you use per-app volume, routing, or the live level meters. It sounds bigger than it is: Chorus reads live audio only to measure its level or send it to a different device, and nothing is ever recorded, saved, or sent anywhere. You can see exactly this described in our privacy policy at theodorehq.com/chorus/privacy.html.

Yes. Accessibility is the standard macOS permission any app needs to respond to the physical volume keys, and it's the only reason Chorus asks for it. If you'd rather not grant it, that's fine: every other feature works exactly the same, you'll just use the panel, the menu-bar scroll, or your own custom shortcuts to adjust volume instead of the physical keys.

First check Auto-Switch is actually turned on in Settings, for the Outputs or Inputs scope you're expecting it to affect. Then check the rule itself: it only fires when every device it lists is connected at once, so if a rule needs two speakers and only one is plugged in, it won't trigger. Auto-Switch also won't override a device you've just chosen manually, until something about your connected devices actually changes.

Right-click the menu-bar icon, open Settings, and go to About, where you'll find direct links to Report a Bug, Request a Feature, and our full FAQ and roadmap. You can also go straight to support.theodorehq.com/chorus, or email support@theodorehq.com. We read every report and reply from a real person, not a form letter.

Chorus makes exactly three kinds of network request, and none of them is personal data collection: a check for app updates, licence activation and validation with our payment provider Polar (so we can enforce the three-Mac limit), and a small number of anonymous usage counts sent to a server we run ourselves. Nothing about what you listen to, your device names, or your identity is ever collected.

No. When Chorus reads audio, for per-app volume control, routing, or the live level meters, it's only ever measuring the signal or sending it to a different device in real time. Nothing is ever written to disk, saved, or transmitted anywhere. This is the same for both the free trial and a purchased licence; the behaviour never changes.

Two, and both are optional. Accessibility lets your physical volume keys control an active group; without it, everything else still works, you just adjust volume from the panel or a shortcut instead. The audio permission lets Chorus read levels for per-app control and the live meters, and re-route audio between devices; it never records or saves anything. Chorus explains each one in the app the moment it asks for it.

Everything lives on your own Mac. Your groups, shortcuts, hidden devices and other preferences are stored in your Mac's local settings, and your licence key (if you've bought one) is kept securely in the macOS Keychain rather than a plain file. Nothing is backed up to a Chorus account or server, because there is no account; it's all local to the machine it's installed on.

No, and there never will be. You don't create an account to use the trial, and you don't create one after buying either; your licence key is all that's needed. The only email Chorus ever knows about is the one you used to check out with Polar, used purely to send your receipt and key, never for anything else.