GroundControl could be a major win for audio routing on the Mac: the most elegant free Soundflower replacement yet?

(Image credit: Ginger Audio)

Routing audio between applications sounds like a simple thing, but it’s not always that straightforward.

Since the demise of Soundflower, Mac users have been looking for alternative options for doing this - Existential Audio’s Blackhole stepped into the breach in 2019, for example - and now there’s a new, rather attractive-looking one in the form of GroundControl.

Install the GroundControl virtual audio drivers and you get three audio routing options: standard two-channel stereo and 16 or 64 multichannel. You can route audio up to 192kHz, and we’re told that there’s zero latency.

In addition, there’s the GroundControl Cube, which enables you to monitor the GroundControl driver’s output through your computer’s internal speakers or headphone output.

Developer Ginger Audio says that GroundControl has potential uses for audio engineers, podcasters, streamers, instructors and educators, and we’re inclined to agree.

Further bonuses come in the form of M1 Mac and Big Sur support, and the news that GroundControl is free to download.

There’s no Windows version at the moment, but we’re told that there’s one in development.

Find out more and grab it on the Ginger Audio website.

I’m the Deputy Editor of MusicRadar, having worked on the site since its launch in 2007. I previously spent eight years working on our sister magazine, Computer Music. I’ve been playing the piano, gigging in bands and failing to finish tracks at home for more than 30 years, 24 of which I’ve also spent writing about music and the ever-changing technology used to make it.