existentialaudio/blackhole

Analysis updated 2026-06-21

★ 18,977CAudience · generalComplexity · 1/5Setup · easy

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((BlackHole))
    What it does
      Virtual audio driver
      Routes audio between apps
      Zero added delay
    Use Cases
      Stream music to calls
      Record system audio
      Podcast production
    Supported Apps
      Logic Pro
      GarageBand
      Zoom and Skype
    Audience
      Musicians
      Podcasters
      Streamers

mindmap root((BlackHole)) What it does Virtual audio driver Routes audio between apps Zero added delay Use Cases Stream music to calls Record system audio Podcast production Supported Apps Logic Pro GarageBand Zoom and Skype Audience Musicians Podcasters Streamers

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What do people build with it?

USE CASE 1

Route Logic Pro or GarageBand audio output into a Zoom or Skype call so the other side hears your music.

USE CASE 2

Record your Mac's system audio in Audacity or GarageBand by selecting BlackHole as the input source.

USE CASE 3

Set up a multi-channel podcast rig by connecting professional audio apps together through BlackHole.

What is it built with?

CmacOS

How does it compare?

	existentialaudio/blackhole	karpathy/llama2.c	videolan/vlc
Stars	18,977	19,500	18,351
Language	C	C	C
Setup difficulty	easy	moderate	hard
Complexity	1/5	3/5	5/5
Audience	general	researcher	developer

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you get it running?

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 5min

The explanation does not specify the license terms.

In plain English

BlackHole solves a problem that macOS users constantly run into: there is no built-in way to take audio playing on your computer and send it to another app. For example, if you want to stream your Logic Pro session through Zoom, or record your system's audio output in GarageBand, the sound has nowhere to go, macOS doesn't provide a "cable" to connect apps together. BlackHole is that cable. It works by installing a virtual audio device driver on your Mac. Once installed, BlackHole appears in your system's audio settings just like a real microphone or speaker. You set one app to output audio to BlackHole, and another app to take its input from BlackHole. Audio flows between them with no added delay. It supports up to 256 channels and a wide range of sample rates, works on both Intel and Apple Silicon Macs (macOS 10.10 and newer), and requires no changes to your system's security settings. Podcasters, musicians, streamers, and anyone doing remote recording would use this to route audio from professional tools like Logic Pro X, GarageBand, Audacity, or Reaper into video call software like Zoom, Skype, or Google Meet. It is written in C and available via installer or Homebrew.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1

I installed BlackHole on my Mac. Walk me through setting up Logic Pro to send its audio into Zoom so my call sounds professional.

Prompt 2

How do I use BlackHole to record my Mac's system audio in Audacity, what settings do I change?

Prompt 3

How do I route audio from Spotify or any Mac app into OBS for streaming using BlackHole as a virtual cable?

Prompt 4

What is the difference between BlackHole 2ch and BlackHole 16ch, and which one should I install for podcasting?

Prompt 5

How do I create a multi-output device on macOS so I can hear audio through my speakers and simultaneously route it through BlackHole?

Frequently asked questions

What is blackhole?

BlackHole is a free virtual audio cable for Mac that routes audio between apps, send sound from a music app into Zoom or a screen recorder with zero added delay, up to 256 channels.

What language is blackhole written in?

Mainly C. The stack also includes C, macOS.

What license does blackhole use?

The explanation does not specify the license terms.

How hard is blackhole to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated easy, with roughly 5min to a first successful run.

Who is blackhole for?

Mainly general.

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