Per application volume settings: possible on Mac OS X Snow Leopard?

Question

Is it possible to set per-application volume levels under Mac OS X?

I would like to be able to turn the volume down on Entourage for new emails, but leave everything else at a pleasant level, adjusting media playback volumes via iTunes or the DVD app.

Answer 1

This is not possible (like linux does) under OS X. However, there are a few alternatives you can try. One would be to reroute certain apps to “null” so you don’t hear them, or another sound output that has a lower level. All this is possible with Jack, a small free utility.

What I did was basically open the New Mail sound file with an audio editor, and drastically lower its level. :) (Yeah, it’s lame but it works!)

Answer 2

Although it's no longer in development, Detour may still work with Entourage in Snow Leopard and is available freely.

http://www.rogueamoeba.com/detour/

Answer 3

You can do this with Hear. Its not free but it does have a demo. Flip over to the Equilizer tab and you can use a slider to tame the volume per-application.

Answer 4

Sound Bunny (Prosoft, $10) will do it. Unfortunately it does not allow you to select the output interface per application, like Detour did; only the volume. Detour does not work on Intel Macs.