Chorus vs FineTune: which one do you need?

The short version

This is the closest comparison on this list, and it deserves an honest answer rather than a sales pitch. Both apps live in the menu bar, both group outputs and give you control app by app, and FineTune does one real thing that Chorus does not: it shapes the sound itself, with a proper equaliser and headphone correction, for free. The two facts worth knowing before anything else are the macOS version each one needs, and which one actually touches the sound.

Chorus vs FineTune at a glance

What Chorus is

Chorus is a native macOS menu-bar app for the devices already attached to your Mac. It groups outputs so several of them play as one, with a single volume that actually moves the sound rather than a slider that has quietly stopped working, and balance between the devices in the group so a quiet speaker can be brought up to meet a loud one.

Around that sits the rest of the job. You choose your input in the same panel. You send individual apps to different outputs, so a call can stay on your headphones while music plays across the room. You save the arrangements you use and switch between them with a keyboard shortcut, and your volume keys drive a whole group instead of one device. Chorus notices devices as they connect and disconnect and adjusts, which matters if you unplug a display at the end of the day. If you want to drive it from elsewhere, it automates through Raycast, Shortcuts or Stream Deck.

There is no driver and no kernel extension. Chorus uses the audio grouping macOS already has, so nothing is installed into the system and dragging the app to the Trash leaves your Mac as it was. It is $4.99 once, free for 30 days with no account and no card details, and one licence covers up to three Macs. It needs macOS 13 or later and runs on both Intel and Apple Silicon.

What FineTune is

FineTune is a free, open-source menu-bar app built by developer Ronit Singh, described by its own project as a free and open-source alternative to SoundSource. It gives you per-app volume control and multi-device output, plus a 10-band equaliser with 20 presets spread across five categories, and AutoEQ headphone correction for tuning a specific pair of headphones properly.

Around that core sits a genuinely broad feature set. It monitors input device levels, so you can check a microphone is actually picking up sound before a call. It can boost quiet audio sources by up to 4x, or 400%, which matters for a source that never gets loud enough on its own. An auto-restore feature returns apps to their previous device with their saved volume and EQ settings when that device reconnects, apps can be pinned so they stay visible even when silent, and specific apps can be ignored entirely. The interface itself offers three density options, Compact, Comfortable and Spacious, in both light and dark themes, along with keyboard shortcuts for volume control and Bluetooth device management.

The one hard requirement is macOS 15 Sequoia or later. FineTune is, by its own description, free and open source forever, but it will not run on a Mac still on macOS 13 or 14.

Where Chorus wins

• macOS 13 and 14 support. FineTune requires macOS 15 Sequoia or later, so a Mac still on an older but currently-supported release cannot run it at all. Chorus works on macOS 13 or later, on both Intel and Apple Silicon.
• Whole setups on one keyboard shortcut. Chorus lets you save an arrangement of outputs, inputs and routing and switch the entire thing with a single shortcut. FineTune's shortcuts are for volume control specifically.
• A commercially maintained product. $4.99 once, from Theodore HQ, with the update and support expectations of a paid app, as distinct from a free, volunteer-maintained open-source project.
• Nothing installed into the system. No driver, no kernel extension, and no trace left behind when it goes.
• Three Macs on one licence, and 30 days to try every feature before paying anything.

Where FineTune is the better choice

• It costs nothing, forever. No purchase, no upgrade fee, no trial to run out.
• A real equaliser. A 10-band EQ with 20 presets across five categories, plus AutoEQ headphone correction. Chorus has none of this.
• Deeper volume tools. Boost for quiet sources up to 4x, input level monitoring for checking a microphone, and auto-restore of a device's saved volume and EQ settings when it reconnects.
• Open source. The code is public, which some people prefer to a closed commercial app.
• A more tunable interface. Three density options and Bluetooth device management, if you like to shape how the app itself looks and behaves.

So which should you pick?

If you are on macOS 15 Sequoia or later and want to shape the sound itself, an equaliser and AutoEQ correction, FineTune does that for nothing and is worth trying first. It is a genuinely capable free tool, not a stripped-down one.

If you are on macOS 13 or 14, the decision largely makes itself: FineTune will not run, so Chorus is the option that actually works on your Mac. And if you are on Sequoia but have no interest in EQ, just the practical job of grouping outputs, routing individual apps and switching whole setups on a shortcut, Chorus is $4.99, does that one job, and is free to try for 30 days first.

Worth remembering too: FineTune is a free, community-maintained open-source project, while Chorus is a paid product from a single commercial developer. Neither model is better on its own, but they carry different expectations for updates and support, and that is fair to weigh alongside the feature list.

For its full feature list and macOS 15 Sequoia requirement, see FineTune's own GitHub repository.

Frequently asked questions