MacFormat UK – June 2019

$119 (about £90) FROM Rogue Amoeba, rogueamoeba.com NEEDS OS X 10.11 or later

Loopback 2 makes

audio routing between

apps easy.

+++++

Simple to use

Very flexible

Enormously powerful

Priced for pros

VERDICT

Loopback 2

Loopback 2

is very clever

and makes

inputs and apps

‘just work’

You can pull audio from many sources simultaneously,

including system processes such as Siri or Text to Speech.

Combine sound sources in a snap

The new interface is easy to use and

it’s a vast improvement over version 1.

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macformat.com @macformat JUNE 2019 | MACFORMAT | 95

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oopback makes it easy to

bring audio from anything into

anything else. For example, you

can use it to pull the audio from something

playing in Safari so that you can record it in

GarageBand. You can use multiple USB mics

in a FaceTime call where you need to mic

up more than just you. Or you can use it

in podcasting, combining audio from multiple

sources such as iTunes, FaceTime, and Skype.

In addition to getting audio in, you can also

get audio out again by using the Pass-Thru

feature. This enables you to use the audio

in another app; recording your podcast in

GarageBand, for example, or sharing audio

from a Skype call with people on FaceTime.

Loopback 2 is very clever and makes inputs

and apps ‘just work’. With version 2, it just

works even better than before. The interface

has been improved to make it much more

straightforward, and it now has volume

controls at each step so it’s easy to, say, turn

down Skype without also turning down

iTunes. You can create better audio monitoring

too, with the option to monitor all or just some

of the audio. Channel support has doubled to

64 (32 if stereo) and you can capture hidden

sources such as Siri, Text to Speech, or any

other running process.

Mixing desk

Loopback is from the same stable as Audio

Hijack, but the two apps are designed to do

different things. Audio Hijack is for capturing

audio, whereas Loopback 2 is designed to route

it. Think of Audio Hijack as a tape machine

and Loopback as a mixing desk; they’re

compatible rather than competing, and they’re

available together for $156 (about £119).

There’s also a $210 (about £160) bundle that

adds Farrago, which is great for triggering

jingles, effects and clips, and Fission, which

almost makes audio editing fun.

Loopback 2 on its own may sound

expensive at about £90, but compared to

the price of a less flexible hardware mixer,

it’s a real bargain. It’s a pro-level app rather

than one for amateurs or hobbyists, and in a

production environment its speed, flexibility

and simplicity will pay for itself in no time.

CARRIE MARSHALL