Support → Audio Hijack

Understanding and adjusting app-level audio capture

In Audio Hijack 4.4 and higher, the Application source block can be configured to capture audio based on the device to which it’s being played. This is helpful for apps which send audio to more than one place. You’ll find the relevant settings in the Audio Device Selection section:

Audio Device Selection basics

Three options are available for handling audio from an application source.

Capture audio played to the default output device

Audio Hijack will capture only the audio the selected source plays to your Mac’s current system output device, as configured in the Sound section of System Settings.

Capture audio played to all output devices

Audio Hijack will capture audio from the preferred stereo channels (usually channels 1 & 2) of every device to which the selected source is playing.

Capture audio played to the specified devices

Audio Hijack will capture audio from the specific devices you choose, on the channels you choose. The Default System Output is included to start; select Add Device to add others, and set the channels for each.

Default behaviors

The default setting will depend on the app you’re capturing. For standard applications, Audio Hijack uses the Capture audio played to the default output device setting. For apps Audio Hijack recognizes as Voice Chat (VoIP) apps, the Capture audio played to all output devices setting is used.

An example audio channel capture scenario

You may wish to capture different channel pairs on different devices, or even from the same output device. For example, with DJ apps, you may want to isolate the Main and Pre-cue outputs into separate audio paths.

In the example below, Audio Hijack has two Application source blocks, both set to capture audio from “djay Pro”.

The Application 1 source will capture audio “djay Pro” plays to channels 1 and 2 of the USB Interface, while Application 2 will capture what’s played to channels 3 and 4 of the USB Interface. Each audio stream is then recorded to a separate file.