Game in the headphones, music on the speakers on Mac

How do you send the game to your headphones and the music to your speakers on Mac?

macOS only plays through one output at a time: nothing built in sends two different streams to two devices. The Multi-Output Device in Audio MIDI Setup copies the same sound everywhere, without separating it. To split the game from the music, you need a per-app tool such as SoundSource, or a per-bus tool such as Morendo, which sends one bus to the headphones and another to the speakers.

What macOS allows on its own

macOS only plays through one output at a time, whichever is chosen in the Sound menu or Control Center. Switching from headphones to speakers flips everything at once, the game along with the music.

Audio MIDI Setup, the utility that ships with macOS, lets you build a Multi-Output Device: several hardware outputs combined into one, which takes a single stream and plays it everywhere at once. Handy for duplicating sound across two rooms, useless for separating the game from the music: it has no system volume of its own, the keyboard volume keys no longer control it normally, and no app picks its own output there. It is the same mix, sent everywhere at the same level.

Per-app options

Three tools let each app pick its own output. SoundSource assigns an output to each app, headphones for the game, speakers for the music, with an equalizer and AirPlay on top; it installs the ACE extension and costs $49. FineTune does the same for free, with no driver, routing each app to one of several outputs. Submix also routes per app, with no equalizer, for $7.99 on one Mac.

The idea is the same everywhere: you pick the output app by app. A new app shows up, or you change your mind about who goes where, and you do it again, one app at a time.

The per-bus option, with Morendo

Morendo, which we make, thinks in buses rather than apps. The Game bus goes to the headphones, the Media bus to the speakers, or the same bus to both at different levels, the game loud in the headphones and quiet in the room, say. Each output keeps its own level.

An output's slider is that output's system volume, the same one the keyboard volume keys control: raising or lowering it in Morendo actually changes that device's volume. The exception is an output with no software volume of its own: the slider then only doses what Morendo sends it, since there is no system volume on that device to reach.

The limit is plain: Morendo does not handle AirPlay, only the outputs that show up in the Mac's Sound settings. And a Bluetooth headset adds its own transmission delay, independent of whichever app is playing: no software mixer removes that.

Wave Link 3 and its mixes

Wave Link 3, from Elgato, has been free since March 2026 and no longer needs Elgato hardware. It organizes sound into channels and up to five mixes, each sent to a different output: a game mix to the headphones, a music mix to the speakers. It installs an audio driver and, on Apple Silicon, a system extension to authorize; the window has to stay open, and users report CPU usage of 10 to 30%.

	SoundSource	FineTune	Submix	Morendo	Wave Link 3
Price	$49	Free, open source	$7.99 for one Mac	19 € once	Free
No driver	No, ACE extension	Yes	Yes	Yes	No, driver and system extension
Output is chosen	Per app	Per app	Per app	Per bus	Per mix, up to 5
One source to two outputs at once, at different levels	No	Several outputs, per-app routing	Not advertised	Yes, one level per output	Yes, per mix
Equalizer	10 bands, Audio Units	10 bands per app	No	10 bands per bus	Audio Units

Checked on September 10, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us, we fix it.

Setting up two outputs with Morendo, in three steps

Download Morendo, drag it to Applications, launch it. macOS asks for a single permission, system audio recording.
Open the Game bus and add the headphones as an output, then the Media bus and add the speakers. Set each output's level on its own.
Want the game in both the headphones and the room? Add both outputs to the same Game bus, each at its own level.

The trial lasts 14 days with every feature, no card. Then 19 € for one Mac, no subscription.

Frequently asked questions

Can Morendo send sound to AirPlay or a HomePod?

No. Morendo sends sound to the outputs that show up in the Mac's Sound settings: headphones, speakers, an audio interface. AirPlay is not one of them.

Does a Bluetooth headset add delay?

Yes, and it has nothing to do with the app or the mixer in use. Bluetooth transmission carries its own delay, usually higher than a wired connection. Morendo changes nothing about it, either way.

Is an output's slider always the system volume?

No. That is true for most outputs: Morendo's slider is then the device's system volume, synced with the keyboard keys. For an output with no software volume of its own, the slider only doses what Morendo sends it.

Isn't the Multi-Output Device in macOS enough?

It sends the same sound everywhere without separating it: the game and the music would come out together on the headphones and the speakers, at the same level. For one bus to the headphones and another to the speakers, each at its own level, you need a tool like Morendo.

Download Morendo, 14-day trial See the comparison

Game in the headphones, music on the speakers: two outputs at once on Mac