BlackHole
An open-source virtual audio driver that routes Mac audio between apps. The old answer to capturing system audio, largely replaced by ScreenCaptureKit.
BlackHole is a free virtual audio driver (formerly known as SoundFlower's spiritual successor) that exposes itself to macOS as both an input and an output device. You point an app's audio output at BlackHole, point your recorder's input at the same BlackHole device, and you can capture system audio. It works, but it requires installing a kernel-adjacent driver, swapping the output device every meeting, and dealing with the fact that you cannot hear the meeting while recording it without a second multi-output device.
In 2026 BlackHole is not the recommended path on macOS 13+. ScreenCaptureKit captures system audio at the OS layer without a driver install or output-routing dance. Mac Note Taker does not require or use BlackHole.
Related terms
- ScreenCaptureKit ↗Apple's modern macOS API for capturing screen video and system audio without a kernel extension or a virtual audio cable.
- Loopback ↗Rogue Amoeba's paid virtual audio routing app. Powerful, but for meeting transcription it is overkill compared to ScreenCaptureKit.
- Core Audio process tap ↗The macOS 14.2+ API that lets an app subscribe to another running app's audio output stream, with user permission.