Guide

A BlackHole alternative for grabbing sounds on a Mac

BlackHole is a great free tool for routing. If you only want a clip of what your Mac plays, there's a shorter way.

By the KIBA team · Updated 30 September 2026

BlackHole is a virtual audio cable: it adds an audio device your apps can send sound into and record from. It's free and reliable. It replaced Soundflower, which Rogue Amoeba stopped maintaining in 2015.

A cable needs plumbing, though. To record with it, you set up a Multi-Output Device so you can still hear, change your Mac's sound output, pick BlackHole as the input in your recording app, and switch everything back afterwards.

KIBA is not a routing tool. It doesn't send audio from one app into another live. It records a clip and hands you a file.

The same job, both ways

When BlackHole is still the better tool

• Processing a source through plugins live while it plays.
• Routing audio between apps for streaming, calls or multichannel work.
• You don't want to spend anything.

Plenty of people keep both: BlackHole for routing, KIBA for grabbing clips.

How KIBA works without a driver

On macOS 14.4 and later, KIBA uses the system audio capture built into Core Audio, so macOS only asks for System Audio Recording: no screen access, and no screen-sharing icon while you record. On older macOS it uses ScreenCaptureKit, the same system screen recorders use, which is why macOS calls the permission Screen & System Audio Recording there. Either way KIBA only records sound and never changes your sound settings.

1. Pick the source. By default KIBA records everything your Mac plays. To record one app only, right-click the ring in the menu bar › Record From and pick it.
2. Click the ring (or press ⌥⌘R anywhere) and play the sound. A timer runs next to the icon.
3. Click again to stop. The trimmer drops down with the silence at both ends already cut and the level set to peak at −0.3 dB.
4. Trim. Drag the edges, press Space to play, L to loop the selection. Pinch or scroll to zoom.
5. Keep it. Press Return to save it to your sample folder, or drag the waveform straight into another app or the Finder.

You get a WAV file (uncompressed audio that every editor opens): 48 kHz, 24-bit by default, named like KIBA_260930-141203.wav. 16-bit and 32-bit float are in Settings.