Boom Makes Your Mac Speakers Go Up To 11

The sound booster Mac App called Boom will be releasing its Mountain Lion version on the Apple Store tomorrow. If you have ever wished you could raise the volume on your speakers higher than the maximum level that Apple allows (or to 11), you should check out the low-cost app Boom.

The app boosts the volume of Skype chats, Netflix movies, badly recorded YouTube videos, music, or any sound that comes out of your Mac speakers. It’s also useful in loud environments or when you want to just pump up the volume.

Boom, made by India-based Global Delight, already has a 4 rating on the Apple’s App Store for its earlier versions. The software was first released at Macworld 2011 and won a Best of Show Award. An earlier version of the software was Mountain Lion compatible, but some bugs have been fixed, and a notification feature added.

The app is very simple to install and use. Boom adds an extra volume control slider to the menu bar. The software also lets users create custom equalizer settings or use built-in presets, which helps with different kinds of source audio.

Boom uses a proprietary algorithm to boost quiet sounds up to 400% without apparent distortion. In addition to working on the system audio coming out of your Mac, you can also drop an audio file into the app to get a louder version.

Guruprasad Kamath, a manager at Boom, tells TechCrunch they would like to make a version for the Windows platform and work with OEMs. They also want to make an iOS version, but Kamath says they cannot capture system level audio on iOS yet. They are hoping Apple builds some frameworks to make it possible.

A Retina version is expected in 2 to 3 weeks.

There are some other apps, like Hear, which also boost audio levels, but Boom is cheaper at $6.99.

Boom is made by a team of 8 at Global Delight, a self-funded India-based developer. They also make the popular iPhone app Camera Plus, which has 18 million downloads. Camera Plus is different than the also popular Camera+, made by TapTapTap.

Boom is one way to make your Mac go to 11, by making 10 louder.

As Nigel Tufnel famously said in “This Is Spinal Tap,” when asked why his amps go to eleven, “You see, most blokes, you know, will be playing at ten. You’re on ten here, all the way up, all the way up, all the way up, you’re on ten on your guitar. Where can you go from there?” Marty DiBergi replies “Put it up to eleven” but asks “Why don’t you just make ten louder and make ten be the top number and make that a little louder?” Nigel doesn’t seem to get it and replies “These go to eleven.”

So does Boom.