🎚️ MixDesk X — Free · macOS, Windows & Linux (beta)

The mixing console for your computer's audio. Free.

An audio-grade signal path with only what belongs in it — 32-bit float, cable-free capture, up to 16 outputs. The whole rack, built in: DriveRack-style X-over, CLAP effects, RTA, auto 31-band EQ, automatic delay line, feedback destroyer, rumble filter.

Free — no account macOS, Windows & Linux (beta) 48 kHz float32 128–2048 buffer Up to 16 stereo outs PFL & cue out CLAP host RTA + 31-band Auto-EQ Auto delay align (X-over) Feedback destroyer Low-cut / rumble filter Hotkeys · HTTP · Stream Deck Network audio (Pro)
⬇ macOS ⬇ Windows ⬇ Windows ARM ⬇ Linux (.deb, beta)
📖 Manual ⧉ GitHub How It Works ↓
MixDesk X mixer on macOS — the source menu of an input lists system audio, single apps without a cable, network streams from other MixDesk X computers and audio devices; four inputs, three buses and the orange CUE strip
$0
Forever — Pro only for network audio
16
Stereo Outputs (max)
31
EQ Bands (max)
~400
Free CLAP Effects
9
UI Languages
Capture — no cable needed

System audio. Single apps. No virtual cable, no driver.

Grab everything your computer plays — or just one app — as its own channel strip. MixDesk X excludes its own output automatically, so capturing can never feed back.

🖥️

All System Audio cable-free

One click captures everything playing on your machine — minus MixDesk X itself. Windows 10 2004+ via WASAPI Process Loopback (the same API OBS uses), macOS 13+ via ScreenCaptureKit.

🎵

Single Apps cable-free

Spotify, a browser, a game, Discord — each app becomes its own channel with EQ and effects. Mute the game, EQ the music, keep the call clean.

🎙️

Any Device

Mics, USB interfaces, webcam audio, line-in, loopback devices — everything CoreAudio or WASAPI can see becomes an input strip.

MixDesk X input picker — all system audio no cable needed, per-app capture, classic devices
The input picker on Windows: system audio and per-app capture without any virtual cable — real devices below
Output Buses

Up to 16 stereo outputs. Each with EQ, delay & limiter.

Every bus drives its own device. Every input routes to any combination of buses with one click. Each bus has its own EQ, CLAP effect chain, 0–1000 ms delay, and a transparent safety limiter with gain-reduction metering.

Bus 1
Main speakers, studio monitors — your primary output
Bus 2
Bluetooth speaker — delayed to stay in sync with the wired pair
Bus 3
Virtual cable → Discord, Zoom, OBS pick it up as a mic
Bus 4
Recording, headphones, confidence feed
MixDesk X on macOS — Bluetooth speaker and wired speakers synced with 230 ms bus delay MixDesk X 11-band graphic EQ editor
Bluetooth + wired speakers playing in sync via 230 ms bus delay — 11-band graphic EQ editor
Effects

A real CLAP plugin host in every strip.

Every input and every bus has an insert chain for CLAP plugins — the modern open plugin standard. Stack as many as you like, open the plugin's native GUI, and your tuned chains come back with every preset.

🎛️ Effect Chains

Multiple slots per strip, each its own plugin instance. Native plugin GUIs or the built-in generic parameter editor. Plugin state is saved inside your presets.

🎁 ~400 Free Effects

No plugins installed? One click inside MixDesk X installs the free Airwindows Consolidated pack — EQs, compressors, tape, reverbs and more by Chris Johnson.

📊 Per-Strip Processing

Gain, constant-power pan, 2/3/11/31-band EQ, mute/solo, precision faders with VU metering — on every input. EQ, delay and safety limiter on every bus.

Airwindows Consolidated CLAP plugin with native GUI open on a MixDesk X bus
Airwindows Consolidated running on Bus 1 with its native GUI — one click installs the whole pack
MixDesk X 31-band EQ with the live RTA spectrum behind the bands and an Auto-EQ measurement running
31-band EQ with the live RTA spectrum behind the bands — one-click Auto-EQ measures the room through a mic and corrects it
Software system processor

A DriveRack in software — measure, align, tame feedback

MixDesk X isn't just a mixer. It measures your room and PA, aligns multi-speaker rigs, and keeps mics from howling — the processing a hardware system processor does, built in.

MixDesk X feedback destroyer — automatic notch filters on a mic channel
Feedback destroyer — automatic notch filters catch ringing before it howls, per mic channel.
MixDesk X automatic delay measurement between speakers for PA alignment
Automatic delay measurement — align a multi-speaker PA and crossover runtimes for a stadium-grade, echo-free field (X-OVER / ALIGN).
MixDesk X alignment result applied per output bus
The measured alignment applied per output — one click from measurement to a time-aligned system.
MixDesk X per-mic low-cut / rumble filter
Per-mic low-cut / rumble filter — clean up stage rumble and handling noise on every input.
Remote control

Hotkeys, HTTP and Stream Deck — control it without looking

Suggested on GitHub. Mute, louder and quieter for every input and output, from anywhere: global keyboard shortcuts, a local HTTP interface for scripts and Touch Portal, and a one-click export for Bitfocus Companion with live level meters on the keys. Everything sits behind the small ⌨ button left of + INPUT.

Global shortcuts

Your own combination per channel for mute, louder and quieter — like in OBS. Works while MixDesk X is in the background; hold for a smooth fade. No Accessibility permission on macOS.

HTTP control

Off by default and local only. Plain GET requests: /api/ch/System/mute, /api/ch/System/up, /api/bus/1/volume?db=-10. Optionally reachable from other devices on your network.

Stream Deck via Companion

A ready-made page for Stream Deck Mini, 15, XL, + and + XL. The keys show name, dB and level with peak hold and turn red when muted — like the vMix module. On the Stream Deck + every dial is a channel: turn for level, press to mute.

Names are the address

Click a channel name such as “CH 1” and rename it — “Mic”, “Spotify”, “System”. The HTTP interface and Companion use exactly that name. Rename first, then export.

Network audio · MixDesk X Pro

Send any bus to another computer — over your network

Send a bus over the network and pick it as an input on another MixDesk X computer — Mac, Windows and Linux, in any direction, also several computers in a chain. Everything sits behind the 🌐 button in the toolbar. Off by default: MixDesk X opens no network ports until you switch it on.

PRO $19 one-time · 2 computers · 14-day free trial Buy MixDesk X Pro

The trial starts only when you click “Try 14 days free” in the 🌐 dialog. Buy and activate right there — paste your MDXP key. Everything else in MixDesk X stays free.

MixDesk X Network audio dialog: MixDesk X Pro license box, network audio ON with keep-awake option, SEND per bus with stream name and Direct or Multicast (AES67) mode, and the streams found in the network

Send and receive

Switch SEND on in the 🌐 dialog to send a bus in addition to its sound card, or choose “🌐 Network only” as the bus output. Streams find each other automatically and appear in the input menu under “Network” — receivers follow a sender by name, even after a restart.

Direct or multicast

Direct (default): every receiver gets its own packets — robust over cable, Wi-Fi and mesh. Multicast (AES67 format): one stream for the whole network, only after a confirmation — on networks with simple switches it can slow down everything else.

Buffer and clock

Network buffer per input: 20 / 50 / 100 / 200 ms. New network inputs start at 200 ms (safe on Wi-Fi); 50 ms for wired networks and lip-sync work. Clock drift between computers is compensated — no clicks, no slowly growing delay.

Light on the network

About 2.3 Mbit/s per stereo stream (48 kHz, 24 bit). ☕ While network audio runs, MixDesk X keeps the computer and display from sleeping — on by default, can be switched off.

AES67 and Dante hardware

Multicast in AES67 format runs between MixDesk X computers. It has not been tested with AES67 or Dante hardware yet. Feedback or loan hardware welcome: hello@adelvo.io

Mac, Windows and Linux

Tested live between Mac, Windows and Linux in every direction — for example Linux receiving multicast from Windows and passing it on via Direct to the Mac. A cheap Linux mini PC with a USB sound card makes a fine receiver.

Use Cases

Built for real workflows. Runs 24/7.

MixDesk X is the app its developer runs around the clock on both platforms — float32 end to end, maximum-quality sample-rate conversion, automatic stream recovery when devices vanish or glitch.

🔊

EQ Your Whole System

Capture all system audio cable-free, EQ it, and play it to your speakers — laptop speakers suddenly sound like they should. Per-bus EQ tailors every output device separately.

🎧

Bluetooth + Wired in Sync

Per-bus delay (0–1000 ms) lines up a Bluetooth speaker with wired speakers playing the same source — multi-room sound without the echo.

🎙️

Studio Mic for Calls

EQ and compress your mic with CLAP effects, send the bus to a free virtual cable, and Discord, Zoom or OBS pick it up as a microphone.

🎬

Streaming Submixes

Game, music, voice — each on its own channel. Send a clean submix to the encoder while monitoring a different mix in your headphones.

Download

Everything included. Actually free.

MixDesk X

macOS (Apple Silicon) · Windows 10/11 (x64 & ARM64) · Linux (amd64, beta)
Free no account · no ads · Pro only for network audio
  • Cable-free system & per-app audio capture (both platforms)
  • Unlimited input channels → up to 16 stereo output buses
  • 2/3/11/31-band EQ on every input & output
  • Live RTA spectrum behind the EQ + one-click Auto-EQ (pink noise + measurement mic)
  • CLAP effect chains with native plugin GUIs + free Airwindows pack
  • Per-bus delay 0–1000 ms (Bluetooth sync) & safety limiter
  • Gain, pan, faders, mute/solo, VU metering
  • Presets — the last one loads automatically at startup
  • 48 kHz / float32 engine · buffer 128–2048 · auto stream recovery
  • Tray / menu bar app · 9 UI languages · in-app update check
  • Signed & notarized (macOS) · signed (Windows)
⬇ macOSApple Silicon ⬇ Windowsx64 Installer ⬇ WindowsARM64 Installer ⬇ Linux.deb amd64 · beta

Version – — hosted on GitHub · portable Windows EXEs on the release page

Linux (beta): .deb for amd64, built and tested on Zorin OS. It needs libwebkit2gtk-4.0, so it targets Ubuntu 22.04-based systems (Zorin OS 17, Linux Mint 21, Ubuntu 22.04). Install: sudo apt install ./mixdesk-x-1.42.041-amd64.deb

Virtual audio devices

MixDesk X routes between real devices out of the box and captures system/app audio natively on both platforms (see above — no device needed). A virtual device is only needed to feed MixDesk X's output into another app (mic → Discord/Zoom/OBS), or for the driver-based macOS system route that silences the direct playback path. It works without one — but it gets really good with the multi-stereo loopback installer.

Recommended — an installer built on the excellent open-source BlackHole (GPL-3.0) that sets up multiple stereo loopback devices in one go. Plain BlackHole gives you a single stereo device; multi-bus routing usually needs two or more. The built-in "System audio via driver" input option auto-routes your system output through it, one click. Free. Version 1.1.0 is signed with our Developer ID and notarized by Apple, so it installs without warnings; macOS asks for a restart afterwards so the new devices appear.

The underlying loopback driver — fine if one stereo loop is all you need.

Free version = one cable (enough for mic → Discord). CABLE Input = MixDesk X output bus, CABLE Output = mic in Discord/OBS. The "System audio via VB-Cable (auto-route)" input option routes your Windows default output through it, one click.

Need more loops (e.g. mic → Discord and a parking spot for the default output)? A+B/C+D are donationware add-on cables; VoiceMeeter (free) also adds multiple virtual devices. VB-Audio's license does not allow bundling, so these are separate installs.

🎚️ Mini how-to: routing audio between apps (Mac & Windows)

Grab app audio — no cable: MixDesk X captures the sound of one or more apps (or the whole system output) directly — macOS via ScreenCaptureKit, Windows via WASAPI Process Loopback — and turns each into its own channel. Per-app splitting is built in; no virtual device needed.

Avoiding double sound / echo: the captured audio still plays on the normal output too. Point the system output at an unused device — then only MixDesk X plays (processed) to your real speakers. (macOS can also route alert sounds to a separate output.)

Pro routing — this is where virtual devices come in: to pull individual outputs/buses separately into the mixer (e.g. vMix Master + Bus A/B/C) and build a whole rack — active crossover, effects per output or input, EQ, measuring the PA, back out to your interface — you need clean virtual audio devices:

  • macOS — free: virtual drivers run in userspace (just signed, not certified) → our own free multi-device drivers (BlackHole-based), several separate buses ready to go.
  • Windows — costs money: a virtual device is a kernel driver requiring paid Microsoft certification (WHQL/attestation + EV certificate). Yes, you could build one yourself — but that certification costs, which is exactly why the ready-made solution costs too.
    • VB-Cable: a transparent cable, low latency — for 1–2 clean paths.
    • Voicemeeter (donationware): several buses in one, cheap for many paths — but its engine adds a scoop of latency; use it purely as a pass-through router, do the processing in MixDesk X.

Both run internally in 32-bit float at a selectable sample rate (typically 48 kHz) — sonically transparent.

Coming from MDE — Mix Desk EQ? MixDesk X is its successor and does everything it did — plus per-app capture on both platforms, CLAP effects and a Windows version. MDE keeps working; its downloads remain in the changelog.

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macOS, Windows & Linux (beta) · cable-free capture · CLAP effects · no account

⬇ macOSApple Silicon ⬇ Windowsx64 / ARM64 ⬇ Linux.deb amd64 · beta
Version – · GitHub