macOS makes it surprisingly hard to record system audio and your microphone at the same time. The built-in screen recorder captures one or the other, and the classic workaround is installing a virtual audio driver and routing everything by hand.

The fastest fix for screen recordings is a recorder that captures both natively - turn on Mic, hit record, no drivers. The full manual BlackHole route is below too, for the cases where a specific app forces it, and for when you genuinely need the two sources on separate faders.

Capturing system audio alongside your mic is a Mac job, but Zella itself is not Mac-only: the Mac app is on its way to the Mac App Store, and Zella for iPhone is coming to the App Store, with one Pro purchase covering both.

A screen recording with the camera in a corner bubble, both captured at once.

The easy way to capture both (no drivers)

  1. Open Zella and start a recording.
  2. In the Setup panel, turn on Screen and Mic. There is no second switch to hunt for: your computer's own audio rides along with the Mic source automatically.
  3. Record.

No Soundflower, no BlackHole, no Audio MIDI Setup gymnastics. Zella runs 100% on your device - no cloud, no account - and the recording itself is free with no watermark. See capture.

What you capture with both sources on:

  • System audio - app sounds, music, video playback, and every participant on a call.
  • Microphone - your voice, narration, or commentary.

They arrive mixed into one track, not as two faders you can rebalance later, stamped against the same clock so nothing drifts. For most screen recordings that is exactly what you want. If you specifically need to ride the two levels independently in the edit, that is the one reason the BlackHole route below still exists. To also pull in your face, see how to record your screen and webcam at the same time.

For the underlying concepts, Apple's audio fundamentals is a clear primer on levels, headroom and why a mix that peaks correctly can still sound wrong.

The Mac side of this runs on ScreenCaptureKit, which captures cursor and click events with the frames rather than reconstructing them afterwards.

Why the built-in recorder and QuickTime fall short

QuickTime and the macOS screen-recording shortcut can capture your mic or system audio, but not both together without extra software. macOS, by design, doesn't let apps freely capture system output the way it captures a microphone - that single restriction is the entire reason this is a question at all. A purpose-built recorder captures both natively and, crucially, keeps them in sync by stamping frames with real wall-clock timing so they don't drift over a long take.

Method System audio Mic Drivers needed Stays in sync
QuickTime Player No (mic only) Yes - N/A
QuickTime + BlackHole Yes Yes (aggregate device) Yes Needs drift correction
Audacity + BlackHole Yes Yes (aggregate device) Yes Needs drift correction
Zella Yes Yes No Yes (wall-clock)

The manual method: BlackHole, Multi-Output, and an Aggregate Device

If you can't use a dedicated recorder - for example you're capturing into Audacity or QuickTime specifically - the long-standing route is a free virtual audio driver. Here's the full setup so you don't have to hunt it down:

  1. Install BlackHole. Download the free BlackHole 2ch driver from Existential Audio. It creates a virtual audio device your Mac can record from.
  2. Create a Multi-Output Device. Open Audio MIDI Setup, click the + at the bottom left, choose Multi-Output Device, and check both your real output (Built-in Output or your speakers) and BlackHole 2ch. Enable Drift Correction on BlackHole - without it, longer recordings slowly slip out of sync.
  3. Create an Aggregate Device. Click + again, choose Aggregate Device, and check both your microphone and BlackHole 2ch. This merges them into one input your recorder can read.
  4. Route system sound. In System Settings → Sound → Output, select the Multi-Output Device so your Mac's audio flows to both your speakers and BlackHole.
  5. Record. In your app, set the Aggregate Device as the audio input and start recording.
  6. Switch back when done. Set your output back to your normal speakers or headphones - easy to forget, and a common reason audio "stops working" afterward.

It works, but it's brittle. The driver sits between you and your speakers, so a botched setup means you hear nothing, levels drift, and every macOS update risks breaking the routing. You also often end up monitoring through the aggregate device, which adds latency and makes hearing yourself naturally harder. A recorder that captures system audio natively skips all of that - nothing to maintain, reroute, or uninstall later when it conflicts with another app.

Keep music under your voice with Auto-Duck

Worth knowing before you go looking for it, because the names sound related: Auto-Duck does not apply to captured system audio. It works on a music bed you add to the timeline yourself - run it without one and Zella answers "Add music first". What it does do is dip that music by about 13 dB whenever it hears you speaking, then bring it back up in the gaps.

So if your recording already has app sound in it and you want it sitting quieter under your voice, that is a decision you make before you hit record, by turning the app's own volume down. It is not something to fix afterwards.

For the voice itself, Polish Voice normalises narration to about -14 LUFS, the loudness YouTube and the social platforms expect, after a high-pass filter, a de-esser and a compressor. Its noise gate and a 15.5 kHz roll-off deliberately run after the loudness stage, so turning your voice up does not turn the hiss up with it. More in AI cleanup.

Getting clean levels on both sources

Because both sources stay synced, you can record first and balance later without anything drifting out of alignment. Afterward, run Polish Voice and noise reduction so your voice sits cleanly over the system audio, normalized to a consistent loudness. This matters most for tutorials with sound effects, reaction videos, and anything playing media under narration.

Auto-Duck, Polish Voice, captions, and auto-zoom are all in Zella's free plan. The optional one-time $89 Pro unlock adds 4K export and the pro-depth toolset - 4K/8K export, motion keyframes, Color Match and scopes, effect masks, speed ramps and per-drum Beat Sync.

Why sync is the hidden hard part

Capturing both sources is one thing; keeping them aligned over a long take is another. Cheap setups drift - the mic and system audio slowly slip until a clap or a sound effect lands visibly late. That's exactly why the BlackHole route needs drift correction, and exactly the moment you can least afford to re-record.

Zella timestamps frames against the wall clock so audio and video stay aligned across a long recording. For meetings specifically, see how to record a Zoom meeting.

What you can capture once both sources work

Recording system audio and mic together unlocks a whole category of content that's awkward otherwise:

  • Reaction videos - the thing you're reacting to (system) plus your commentary (mic).
  • Software tutorials - app sound effects or video playback (system) under your narration (mic). See how to make a software tutorial video.
  • Call and meeting recordings - every participant (system) plus you (mic).
  • Music or media reviews - the track (system) while you talk over it; respect copyright when publishing.

In every case, missing one source means re-recording, so getting both right the first time matters.

A quick pre-flight to avoid silent regret

The worst outcome is finishing a great take and discovering a source was off. Avoid it with a ten-second ritual before you start:

  1. Mute notifications so random dings don't land in the system track.
  2. Confirm both System audio and Microphone are enabled.
  3. Record five seconds, then play it back on headphones and listen for both.
  4. Check that your mic isn't clipping on the loud moments and that system audio is present without drowning you out.

The ritual costs almost nothing and protects the one thing you can't get back - a take you can't redo.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need extra drivers? Not with Zella - it captures system audio natively. The manual BlackHole + aggregate-device route is only necessary when you're recording into an app that can't capture system output on its own.

Can I record system audio only? Yes - enable just the system source and leave the microphone off for clean app-sound or media-only recordings.

Will they stay in sync over a long recording? Yes - Zella stamps frames with wall-clock timing to prevent drift. With the BlackHole method, you must enable Drift Correction or the two sources slowly slip apart.

Does this work for capturing a video call? Yes - system audio captures the call participants and your mic captures you, all in one synced recording.

The bottom line

To record system audio and your mic at the same time on a Mac, use a recorder that captures both natively, enable System audio and Microphone, lean on Auto-Duck to keep music under your voice, and rely on wall-clock sync so the two don't drift over long takes. The BlackHole + aggregate-device route still works if you need it, but it's a maintenance burden the native path avoids entirely.

Download Zella and record both sources at once.