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Duckproof icon: a yellow duck with a slash

Stop FaceTime from lowering your music on Mac

Duckproof is a free, open-source menu bar app that turns off FaceTime audio ducking, so music, videos and games keep their volume during calls.

Download for macOS
Free · Open source · Notarized by Apple · macOS 14.2+ · Apple Silicon & Intel · Source on GitHub

🔊 Turn the sound on: hear the music get ducked when the call starts, then come back with Duckproof.

Sound familiar?

Every time I start a FaceTime call, my music gets super quiet.
YouTube is almost silent while I'm on FaceTime, and there's no setting to stop it.

That's audio ducking: during a FaceTime call, macOS automatically lowers the volume of every other app. Apple gives you no way to turn it off. Duckproof does.

What you get

🦆 No more duckingOther apps keep their volume during FaceTime calls.
🎵 Hands off your musicYour music never goes through Duckproof: full quality, Spatial Audio & Atmos preserved, zero added latency. Only the call takes a detour.
🎚 Your own ducking levelOff by default, or lower other apps by 6 to 30 dB during calls.
🔊 FaceTime volume boostUp to 300%, with a soft limiter so voices stay clean.
🎧 Works with AirPodsAnd any headphones, speakers or audio interface.
🪶 Zero CPU between callsNo background polling: Duckproof sleeps until a call starts. Menu bar only, no Dock icon.
🔓 Free & open sourceGPL-3.0. No account, no tracking.

How it works

During a call, macOS lowers everything that plays on the same audio output as FaceTime.

So Duckproof gives FaceTime its own virtual audio output, also called Duckproof. FaceTime plays into it, and macOS lowers that output… where FaceTime is the only thing playing. Duckproof then forwards the call to your headphones, while your other apps keep playing there at full volume. In short, macOS ducks into the void.

Before:  FaceTime ──► AirPods ◄── Music   (Music gets lowered)
After:   FaceTime ──► Duckproof ──► AirPods ◄── Music   (nothing is lowered)

Why it works this way

Another way to beat ducking is to capture every app's audio and re-play it at full volume. That puts your music, videos and games through a third-party app: possible delay, clipping, and Spatial Audio folded down to stereo. Duckproof only touches the call, only while it's on, and doesn't rely on any undocumented macOS trick.

Install in a minute

  1. Download Duckproof-x.y.z.pkg from the latest release and open it. It's signed and notarized by Apple.
  2. Duckproof installs its audio driver (no restart needed) and opens.
  3. In FaceTime, choose Video › Audio Output › Duckproof. Done.

FAQ

Audio sounds muffled or like a phone call?

You're probably using your headphones' microphone over Bluetooth. When an app uses the mic of Bluetooth headphones (AirPods included), they have to switch to a "headset" mode that uses a low-quality codec, and all your audio goes mono and compressed, not just the call.

Fix: in FaceTime, open the Video menu › Microphone and pick another mic, such as your Mac's built-in microphone or your iPhone. Your headphones then stay in high-quality mode. FaceTime remembers this choice.

Why does Duckproof ask for microphone access?

Duckproof reads the virtual audio channel FaceTime plays into, and macOS counts reading any audio channel as "using the microphone". Duckproof never listens to your real microphone; the orange indicator only shows during calls.

Does it work with Zoom, Discord, Teams or WhatsApp?

Yes, if the app lets you choose a speaker: pick Duckproof in its audio settings. If Zoom, Teams, Discord, Slack, WhatsApp, Webex or a browser call is still lowering your other apps, Duckproof sends a notification telling you where to change it.

Is it safe?

Yes. It's open source, signed and notarized by Apple. The admin password is only used to copy the audio driver, which runs isolated from the rest of macOS and is signature-checked before it's loaded. Nothing is collected. Security details.

Does it add latency?

About 20 ms on the call only, unnoticeable next to Bluetooth's own latency. Your music and videos are never delayed.