Cycling through all six. Tap any point to stop.

Measured on six things

Build custom audio chains for your Mac

Security

HTTPS and HSTS are in place, but missing CSP, frame protection, and several security headers. No public security page or audit; open-source code is the main trust signal.

Screenshots

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Sonexis

About this app

Sonexis is a free, open-source macOS app for system-wide audio processing. Its visual node editor lets you build custom effect chains instead of being limited to a fixed EQ or simple effect stack. Create independent chains for individual apps, branch audio into parallel paths, process left and right channels separately, and combine built-in EQ, compression, reverb, delay, pitch, modulation, saturation, and more. Sonexis also supports third-party Audio Units. Presets, automatic workspace saving, processed-audio recording, tutorials, and menu-bar controls make it easy to use day to day. Sonexis uses Apple’s Process Taps directly, so there is no virtual audio device or additional driver to install.

Key features

1Visual node editor for building custom audio effect chains
2Independent per-app audio chains with parallel routing and L/R channel processing
3Built-in EQ, compression, reverb, delay, pitch, modulation, saturation, and Audio Unit support

Target customer profile

Drawn from the product itself, not from a survey.

Demographic

Mac users who care about music, movies, and audio quality

Pain points

macOS offers very limited system-wide audio customization

Primary needs

Easy system-wide EQ, effects, and per-app audio control

Demographic

Power users, gamers, streamers, and remote workers

Pain points

Different apps need different audio settings and existing tools can be cumbersome

Primary needs

Independent per-app audio chains with quick menu-bar control

Demographic

Audio enthusiasts, musicians, and creative tinkerers

Pain points

Traditional DAWs are overkill for simply experimenting with system audio

Primary needs

Flexible node-based routing, parallel processing, and Audio Unit support

Scout Review

Written by AI from measured evidence, scored out of 100.

Sonexis is a free, open-source macOS app that lets you build custom audio effect chains with a visual node editor. It targets Mac users who want system-wide EQ, per-app audio control, and flexible routing without a virtual audio driver. The site is fast and well-designed, with Lighthouse scores of 97 mobile and 100 desktop. Accessibility is strong at 96/100. Security is basic: HTTPS and HSTS are present, but most security headers are missing and there's no public security documentation. Usability is decent but lacks a live demo or deep docs. Growth potential is real but niche, competing with Boom 3D, eqMac, and SoundSource. The product is clearly built by someone who understands the problem, and the open-source model is a genuine differentiator. It's not for everyone, but for Mac audio tinkerers, it's worth a look.

Measure by measure

Usability

Clear value proposition and diagrams explain the node concept well, but there's no live demo or interactive trial, and documentation is thin beyond a tutorials section.

Design

Polished dark-themed site with clear node-editor visuals and consistent branding. The product UI looks modern and intentional, though the site leans on mockups rather than live screenshots.

Speed

Lighthouse mobile 97/100 with 2.1s LCP and zero CLS; desktop hits 100/100. The site is genuinely fast and lightweight, with no reported lag issues.

Security

HTTPS and HSTS are in place, but missing CSP, frame protection, and several security headers. No public security page or audit; open-source code is the main trust signal.

Accessibility

Lighthouse accessibility 96/100 with only a missing main landmark failing. No a11y statement or WCAG claim, but the site is responsive and keyboard-navigable.

Growth

Real problem, specific wedge: free, open-source, node-based routing with per-app chains. Competes with Boom 3D, eqMac, and SoundSource, but the flexibility and price point give it room.

Improvement areas

No live demo or interactive trial; users must download to evaluate
Thin documentation beyond a tutorials section; no searchable help center
Missing security headers (CSP, frame protection, DMARC) and no public security page

Design & Usability

Sonexis presents a clean, modern dark-themed landing page that effectively communicates its core value: a visual node editor for system-wide audio processing on macOS. The design is consistent and the node-graph screenshots do the heavy lifting, though they're mockups rather than live captures. Usability is where things get thinner. The site explains the concept well with diagrams, but there's no live demo, interactive trial, or searchable help center. Documentation appears limited to a tutorials section, which means users are expected to download the app and figure it out. For a power-user tool, that's a reasonable bet, but it raises the barrier for the curious. The onboarding flow is essentially 'download and explore,' which works for tinkerers but not for someone who just wants a quick EQ. The menu-bar controls and presets are mentioned as day-to-day conveniences, which helps, but the site doesn't show them in action. Overall, the design is above average for an indie Mac app, while usability is competent but unremarkable.

Speed & Security

Speed is Sonexis's strongest measured dimension. Lighthouse mobile performance scores 97/100 with an LCP of 2.1s, zero CLS, and zero TBT; desktop hits a perfect 100/100. The site is lightweight and snappy, with no user complaints about lag. That's genuinely excellent and puts it ahead of many indie SaaS landing pages. Security is a different story. The HTTP probe shows HTTPS enforced with HSTS and SPF records, but missing CSP, frame protection, X-Content-Type-Options, Referrer-Policy, and Permissions-Policy. DMARC is also absent. The checklist score is 5/12. There's no public security page, no SOC 2 or ISO claims, and no bug bounty. For an open-source app, the code itself is the transparency mechanism, but the website doesn't surface any of that. The security posture is adequate for a free utility but not impressive. No breach history was found, but that's an absence of evidence, not a clean bill of health. The score reflects a product that gets the basics right and stops there.

Accessibility & Growth

Accessibility scores well on automated checks: Lighthouse gives 96/100, with the only failing audit being a missing main landmark. The site is responsive and keyboard-navigable in basic testing, and there's no evidence of contrast or alt-text problems. However, there's no accessibility statement, no WCAG conformance claim, and no multi-language support. For a Mac-only app, platform coverage is inherently limited, but the site itself is accessible. Growth potential is a judgment call. Sonexis names a real, specific pain: macOS offers almost no system-wide audio customization. Its differentiator is a node-based routing system with per-app chains, parallel paths, and Audio Unit support, all free and open-source. That's a concrete wedge against Boom 3D (paid, simpler), eqMac (free, less flexible), and SoundSource (paid, powerful). The category has room, but it's niche and the competition is established. The domain is only 0.7 years old, so traction is minimal, but that's context, not a score driver. The idea can grow if the dev keeps shipping and builds a community around the open-source angle. Score reflects a competent, differentiated product in a small but real market.

Conclusion

If you're a Mac user who has ever wished you could route Spotify through a reverb while keeping Zoom clean, Sonexis is aimed squarely at you. The node editor is a genuinely different approach from the fixed EQ stacks of Boom 3D or the simpler parametric EQ of eqMac. The free and open-source angle removes the price barrier that SoundSource carries. But the lack of a live demo, thin documentation, and basic security headers mean you're taking a bit of a leap. The app is young, the domain is less than a year old, and the community is unproven. Still, the core idea is sound and the execution on the website is polished. If you're comfortable with a bit of tinkering and want more control than the incumbents offer, download it and see. If you need hand-holding or enterprise-grade compliance, look elsewhere.

Suggestions for improvement

Add an interactive demo or video walkthrough so users can see the node editor in action before downloading.
Publish a proper documentation site with search, examples, and troubleshooting instead of just a tutorials section.
Add security headers (CSP, X-Content-Type-Options, Referrer-Policy) and a basic security page to build trust.
Include an accessibility statement and fix the missing main landmark to push Lighthouse a11y to 100.

How we score

Alternatives comparison

Named competitors, point by point. Nobody paid to appear here or to be left out.

	Sonexis	Boom 3D	eqMac	SoundSource
Price	Free, open-source	Paid (one-time or subscription)	Free, open-source	Paid (one-time license)
Per-app audio control	Yes, independent chains per app	Yes, per-app volume control	Yes, per-app volume mixing	Yes, per-app effects and routing
Node-based routing	Yes, visual node editor	No	No	No (fixed effect stack)
Audio Unit support	Yes, third-party Audio Units	No	No	Yes, Audio Unit support
Open source	Yes	No	Yes	No

Boom 3D

A popular Mac audio enhancer offering 3D surround, EQ, and per-app volume control, with a broader feature set than a simple bass boost tool.

eqMac

A free, open-source system-wide audio equalizer for macOS that provides parametric EQ and volume mixing, but is less focused on simple one-click bass boosting.

SoundSource

A macOS audio control utility from Rogue Amoeba that lets you apply effects and adjust per-app audio, offering more advanced routing and processing for power users.

Comparing options? See Sonexis alternatives, scored side by side

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