EarTrumpet: a per-app volume mixer for Windows

What EarTrumpet changes about Windows audio

Windows ships a volume flyout that controls one output level and, in recent builds, a per-app slider that is awkward to reach. EarTrumpet replaces that with a system tray icon that opens a mixer listing every application currently producing audio, each with its own level and its own playback device. The README lists the feature set plainly: multi-channel aware peaking, a standalone volume mixer, moving apps between playback devices, default playback device management, configurable hotkeys, and modern context menus. It also supports light and dark mode and all accent colors.

The audience is narrower than "all Windows users". If you only ever adjust the master volume, the built-in flyout is enough. EarTrumpet matters when you keep a browser, a game, a voice chat client and a music player running at once and want them on different levels, or when you want one app on headphones and everything else on speakers. The README's own media quotes describe it as an alternative to the default Windows audio management; that framing is accurate, and it is the reason the project exists.

How the tray icon, mixer and device routing fit together

The repository is a C# solution, EarTrumpet.vs15.sln, with the application code in the EarTrumpet/ directory and packaging assets in EarTrumpet.Package/ and Packaging/. The topics list names WPF, which matches the tray icon and flyout UI: this is a desktop .NET application, not a service or a driver. That distinction matters, because EarTrumpet does not add an audio engine. It reads and writes the session and device state that Windows already exposes, then presents it in a different surface.

That is why the feature list reads the way it does. Per-app levels, moving an app between playback devices, and changing the default playback device are all operations on existing Windows audio sessions and endpoints. The multi-channel aware peaking display is a visualization of the same signal. Because EarTrumpet sits on top of the platform rather than inside the audio path, it inherits the platform's limits: an application that does not register a Windows audio session will not appear in the mixer, and the utility cannot give it one.

The README does not document the internal API calls, the Windows version floor, or how session enumeration is implemented. Those details are not in the README, so treat them as something to confirm in the source before depending on a specific behaviour.

Installing EarTrumpet and mixing your first two apps

The README points at two distribution routes. The Microsoft Store is the primary one, and the feature list includes automatic updates through it. The Chocolatey badge in the README indicates a package named eartrumpet. If you prefer Chocolatey, the install command is:

choco install eartrumpet

Chocolatey will resolve the package and run its install script; the README does not describe what that script does, so if you need to know exactly what lands on disk, check the package page before running it.

After installation, launch EarTrumpet. It places an icon in the system tray; the README's screenshot shows the mixer opened from that icon. Start two audio sources, for example a browser tab and a music player, then open the mixer. You should see one row per active session. Drag a slider to change that app's level independently of the master. To send one app to a different output, use the context menu on its row and pick the playback device; the README lists "move apps between playback devices" as a feature, and the same menu is where default playback device management lives.

Hotkeys are configurable, so if you change levels often, bind the mixer to a key combination rather than hunting for the tray icon.

Where EarTrumpet stops being the right tool

The clearest limitation is platform. This is a Windows application built on WPF and Windows audio sessions. There is no macOS or Linux build in the repository, and nothing in the README suggests one is planned. If you work across operating systems, EarTrumpet solves a problem on exactly one of them.

A second limitation is architectural. Because EarTrumpet is a UI over existing Windows audio sessions, it cannot fix what the platform does not expose. Apps that bypass the normal session model, or audio that never registers a session, will not show up with a slider. The README does not claim otherwise, and no workaround is documented.

A third point is the release history. The repository's most recent listed release is 1.3.2.0 from 2016-06-23, while the last push to master was on 2026-09-20. Those two facts sit awkwardly together, and the README does not explain the gap. The practical reading is that the GitHub releases page in this repository is not the place to check what you are running; the Microsoft Store listing and the Chocolatey package are the distribution channels the README actually points to. Anyone who needs a documented changelog per shipped build should verify that before standardizing on it.

EarTrumpet compared with the Windows 11 volume mixer

The obvious alternative is the mixer Microsoft ships. Windows 11 includes per-app volume controls in its sound settings, so the question is not whether per-app control exists but how quickly you can reach it. The built-in route goes through Settings or the quick settings panel; EarTrumpet puts the same class of control behind a tray icon and a configurable hotkey. The Verge quote in the README makes the same argument, calling the built-in Windows 11 audio management inadequate and EarTrumpet a utility that gives every app its own volume and custom inputs and outputs.

There is also a class of third-party audio tools that install a virtual audio device and route applications through it. That approach can do things session control cannot, such as per-app processing chains, but it inserts itself into the audio path. EarTrumpet does not: it manipulates the sessions Windows already created. For someone who wants levels and device routing without a virtual driver, that is the meaningful difference, and it is the reason the tool stays small. For someone who needs to capture or process audio, it is the reason EarTrumpet is the wrong pick.

Updates, licence and what maintaining a fork costs

Updates are handled by the distribution channel. The README lists automatic updates via the Microsoft Store as a feature, which means the Store build does not require you to watch a releases page. Chocolatey users get whatever the package maintainer publishes. Neither channel is described in detail in the README.

For anyone building from source, the repository includes COMPILING.md, CONTRIBUTING.md, GitVersion.yml, and an .azure-pipelines.yml file, so there is a documented build path and a CI configuration in the tree. The solution is EarTrumpet.vs15.sln, which signals a Visual Studio era toolchain; the README does not state which SDKs or workloads are required, so read COMPILING.md before assuming a current Visual Studio install will open it cleanly.

The licence is recorded as NOASSERTION, which means the repository's LICENSE file does not map to a standard SPDX identifier that the tooling could detect. That is not the same as "no licence", and it is not the same as a permissive one. If you intend to redistribute a modified build, read LICENSE and PRIVACY.md yourself; nothing in the README summarizes the terms, and this article cannot substitute for that reading.

Editorial conclusion

Adopt EarTrumpet if you run Windows 10 or 11 and want per-application volume and device routing without extra configuration, and if you are willing to install it from the Microsoft Store or Chocolatey. Skip it if you need a mixer on macOS or Linux, or if you want a command-line interface, since the README documents neither. Before relying on it, check the Microsoft Store listing for your Windows version and confirm the current release there, because the newest GitHub release listed in the repository is 1.3.2.0 from 2016-06-23, while the last push to master was on 2026-09-20.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

1. File-New-Project/EarTrumpet on GitHub
2. Issues
3. Project website
4. README
5. Releases