menuBUS is a lightweight menu bar application designed to capture your Macs system audio, host realtime AudioUnit effects, and pass the processed audio to your choice of output.

Until now applying effects to the system audio has involved the use of multiple apps, audio drivers and aggregate devices, and in the case of paid apps that can solve this problem (many of which are fantastic applications) the user is still left with a lot of prep work and time spent managing another apps clutter.

Now, with menuBUS you can do away with all that overhead.

Simply launch menuBUS, apply the Audio Unit processing desired (In my case room/headphone correction equalisation), tweak the plugin parameters and you are done. menuBUS is then hidden away in the menubar and can be totally forgotten about! Whether mixing in your DAW or listening to reference tracks in iTunes or Spotify, you can be sure that you are listening to your music with exactly the processing intended.
menuBUS remembers your previous settings and presets too, so the next time the app is launched or you restart your mac, you are right back where you left off with no tweaking required. You can even change presets with customisable global keyboard shortcuts!

To purchase your copy of menuBUS at the discounted price of $19.50 (Offer valid until 28th March 2017) or to download a free trial then visit www.menubus.audio

Use cases:

- Apply room processing and EQ globally to all sound outputs.
- Add native macOS keyboard volume control to any audio interface.
- EQ your headphones as close to flat as possible.
- Monitor levels with professional grade metering software system wide.


Features:

- System wide keyboard volume control for any interface (Like you get when using the built in output on your Mac)
- Easy drag and drop plugin rearrangement/removal
- Unlimited presets, with customisable keyboard shortcuts for easy recalling.
- Unlimited plugin slots
- Unlimited Channel strip presets
- Minimal CPU overhead (2-3% of single core on modern i5 with no plugins loaded)
- Optional permanent floating plugin windows (awesome for metering!)

It sounds fantastic. What about the latency in case of using Master Bus for room eq calibration(ARC2 etc)?

Just signed up. This will work well with sonarwoks reference 3 software. Will report back...now work time

Good question. I've tried to keep the buffer as low as is reasonable without incurring buffer overruns. So currently the only time there will be noticeable delay to the audio when using menuBUS is if the plugins you are using are high in latency themselves. Latency for MenuBUS is sitting around 20ms.

20ms makes it a no-go for playing virtual instruments.

Im always curious what things cost. And more and more companys seem to burry the price as far in as they can.
I had to install it, and then register, and click buy now in order to see what this program cost! Why not put it out front?

Anyway, for those curious about that stuff, its 39 dollars. Early adopters fee doesnt seem to exist. At this point this program is a "beta version".

Its a neat program and i can see the use for it now and then, compensating for the room and such.
It got some quirks, like once you put in a plugin, u cant a/b it if the plugin doesnt have an on off button.
Found out now, that it should work with Option + command. It doesnt for now, but bugs are getting ironed out it seems.

Plugins that can change size depending on u want more knobs or not, half of the plugin goes away and you will need to close the plugin and open it again to see the whole thing.

Just dived into it a little, so few cents so far.
Neat nevertheless!

Yes, totally agree w/you re: not being upfront about disclosing cost. I can't think of any reason not to just state it in the original post -- other than an intent to apply some psychological sales strategy to get you a little "pregnant" first and/or to harvest as many Email addresses as possible for marketing purposes.

In this case, the absence of any stated price led me to assume it was a free beta for now.

So, GregerLinderberg, thank you for clarifying this -- and also thanks for your other info.

Menubus -- what will the price be after the beta period? Also...just so I understand -- it applies to audio being routed and monitored through a 3rd party interface software (in my case MOTU) but it has no impact any audio bounced or burned to CD within a DAW (in my case Logic or DSP Quattro).

Is that right?

39 is not expensive but considering the alternative is free (AU Lab + Soundflower), not that cheap either. An introductory price wouldn't hurt, although it should work as expected, right now it fails to see many plugins and doesn't offer control over latency.

Yeah, it feels shady not showing what they want for it untill you are deep into it.

For now it is free, im running on trial, but u have to install it and give out your email and all that, and inside the plugin, u click help, then click register, and then click buy now, then you will see price.

My pleasure..
And after the beta, dont know if it goes up or down or stays the same.

It seem to work on the output, so rendering stuff in the day, sov i dont think that it will be affected. But im no pro, so just guessing a little!

RRP will be $39, like some people here have seen. But I will be giving a special discount to all the beta testers.
FWIW - That app right now is totally free to anyone who wants to click the link. At no point am I asking for money. Just getting an email address. Anyone is welcome to buy a licence at any point if they feel like it though!

Also, you are correct - menuBUS runs over the DAW, so any effects you add to menuBUS, aren't going to end up on the final bounce.

This is a GREAT idea!! Hopefully it works perfectly.

Okay, that makes more sense. Thanks for the info and the free beta.

Do you know what the discount will be for beta testers?

If I install the beta -- will it be somehow be disabled once you start to charge?

Haven't decided on exact discount yet, but will be in the ballpark of 50%

Beta is set to expire on 4th of March, but I may extend that if needed.

Well although a great concept, I've had nothing but issues with menuBUS.

First of all the installation didn't go too well. Once installed and moved to the Applications folder, I tried opening the menuBUS app and nothing happened. I then started getting pop up windows asking me to activate plugins such as Soundtoys etc. which has never happened before. The app was clearly interfering with something.

The app eventually opened and appeared in my menu bar. I loaded the Sonarworks Reference 3 plugin and all worked fine for about 3 minutes. I then started to get noise interference which was quite loud and this only went away once I removed the plugin. I tried a different plugin and menuBUS crashed.

I can't even open the app anymore. Each time I try to open the app, a pop up window appears for 1 second and then disappears. The window looks like a message stating that menuBUS unexpectedly quit and to submit details. I would but the window vanishes in a flash.

I would have submitted my feedback within the app but it won't longer open. I even restarted my Mac.

How do I go about uninstalling the app?

I'm on OS 10.12.1

Sorry to hear you're having troubles!
you can uninstall by right clicking on the menubus app -> show package contents -> contents -> resources -> menuBUS Uninstaller

Check back in a couple of days and hopefully I'll have something working on your system!

Thanks. If the issues get resolved, I will purchase the app.

Hi,
looks like a great implementation! Specially like that you can make presets and select them via key commands.
Unfortunately the app doesn't open here either on OSX 10.11.6. Looking forward to a fix!

Edit>
Im sorry i spoke too soon. The app opens, it just takes a while.
But I can't get it capture the audio stream here. I have Audio Hijack installed, could that be a problem..
Also after instilling a black rooster audio plugin the app hangs asking for an aut of the new plugin, which is already authorised. So menuBus won't start at all.
But looking forward to try a later release!

I love the idea. For now it is still fairly buggy.

It takes a long time to start. The first time not all plugins displayed. After reloading the plugin they do.
I had to switch a few times back and forth between internal speakers and my interface (Presonus S192) before getting any output.

Also it has issues showing the plugin interfaces. Some don't show at all, some are tiny and at times opening a plugin completely hangs the menuBuss interface.

Looking forward to an updated version.

Yes. There's still some work to do on this one to be usable.

Yes same experience here. Not usable atm. Let us know when you have a working version and I'll gladly test out.

audiohijack can do the same and way more for 49 bucks...but this one looks more convenient, will wait for a working version

I use hijack for these duties, but this one looks more comfortable and "set up and forget". Only problem ... no vst support. Add it and I'm in.

Thanks to everyone so far who has tried menuBUS! I've been overwhelmed the last few days with great feedback, suggestions for features and healthy dose of fair criticism too.
I've just released a new build that I hope will solve some of the core issues people are facing and hopefully more people can simply just getting the dang app to run!

The new build can be downloaded through the website, or by clicking "check for updates" in the settings menu (I realise you have to actually be able to get the app to open to even click that button )

Could be possible to downgrade compatibility down to Mavericks?

It's possible, but not a priority at the moment. I'll definitely try and have it ready by launch if I get more people asking for it!

+ 1 for Mavericks. The concept is brilliant, show some love for us cavemen here.

Ill check this space again in two months

Alright had a few moments to try out the latest and so far no problems...running fine while adding plugins, switching on/off. No Crashes so far. Wish it would stay open though...as soon as you move over to start playback on another program menuBUS minimizes. Same with whatever plugin you have open.

Good to hear it's working for you!
It won't completely solve your complaint, but if you want a plugin to stay visible all the time you can command click on the insert and the plugin view will float. Once I've got the main bugs sorted out I will make a guide listing all the features of menuBUS!

This will probably work better with Sonarworks

What is Sonarworks Systemwide?