You're editing in DaVinci Resolve, Premiere Pro, or Final Cut. You scrub through the timeline and need to hear dialogue levels precisely. But Slack keeps pinging, a browser tab with reference footage is playing, and Apple Music is running in the background. You can't judge your edit's audio when three other apps are bleeding into the mix at unpredictable volumes.
Why video editors need isolated audio
Audio mixing in a video editor requires accurate monitoring. If Slack's notification sound plays at the same level as your timeline's dialogue, you can't tell whether that dialogue is actually mixed properly. If background music from Spotify leaks into your monitoring, your ears compensate and you end up setting levels wrong. Professional editors work in treated rooms with controlled monitoring chains — but even at the software level, macOS gives you no way to separate your NLE's audio from everything else.
The workaround most editors use: quit everything else before editing. Close Slack, pause Music, shut browser tabs. It works, but it means you can't reference a YouTube tutorial, keep a client chat open, or listen to a reference track without polluting your monitoring environment.
Per-app control for editing sessions
SoundDial lets you keep everything open but control what you hear and at what level.
Editing profile
- DaVinci / Premiere / Final Cut: 100% — accurate timeline monitoring
- Browser: muted (unmute briefly to check a reference clip, then mute again)
- Slack / Messages: muted — no sounds in your monitoring chain
- Music: muted — no competing audio
- Mail / Calendar: muted
Review profile
- NLE: 80% — comfortable review level
- Slack: 20% — catch messages during render waits
- Browser: 50% — reference material accessible
Switch between profiles as your workflow demands. During critical audio mixing, everything is silenced except your timeline. During a render, bring notifications back so you're reachable. Two clicks, two completely different monitoring environments.
Get SoundDial on the Mac App Store — €14.99 one-time purchase, no subscription, macOS 14.2+.