Jocala eqVol
HDMI Volume for the Mac
macOS treats most HDMI displays as fixed-volume audio outputs: the volume
keys do nothing, and there is no CEC to bridge the gap. eqVol publishes a
virtual audio device, routes it through a small clock-locked engine, and
mirrors macOS volume into your display over HDMI — so the keyboard
volume keys, a menu-bar slider, and osascript all just work.
Free, notarized, and universal (Apple Silicon + Intel). No ads, no
tracking, nothing leaves your Mac.
Features
Working HDMI Volume
F-keys, the menu-bar slider, and osascript control your display's audio.
Virtual Audio Device
A CoreAudio device (e.g. “DELL U3818DW (eqVol)”) appears as a real output; apps just play to it.
Clock-Locked Engine
PID-controlled varispeed keeps the display's clock locked to the Mac's — no drift, no crackle.
Boost up to 16×
Digital gain for quiet sources, persisted across launches. Ceiling kept sane.
Menu-Bar Control
Speaker icon with slider, Boost, and Mute; starts at login. No Dock icon, no window.
Private & Silent
Captures its own output mix only — no microphone use, no orange mic indicator, no network.
Get eqVol
macOS 14.2 or newer, Apple Silicon or Intel. The download is a signed and notarized disk image; the installer inside asks for your administrator password once (the virtual audio driver installs system-wide), and macOS may ask to allow audio capture — click Allow.
How it works
eqVol installs a virtual audio driver, makes it the default output, and taps the device's output mix (never a microphone). A varispeed engine compensates for clock drift between your Mac and the display, then writes volume and mute changes straight into the signal path — giving any HDMI monitor the volume control it never had.