Professional DMX lighting control for macOS - Apple Silicon and Intel
DMXDesktop is professional DMX lighting control software for macOS that runs natively on Apple Silicon (M1 and newer) and Intel Macs.
Built for DJs, small venues, bands, and lighting enthusiasts, DMXDesktop turns your Mac into a complete DMX control surface - no expensive console required. Automatic, audio-synced light shows via DJ Mode, plus full manual control when you need it.
Works with standard USB DMX interfaces, Art-Net, and sACN, so you can use the DMX hardware you already own.
DMXDesktop works with USB DMX interfaces, Art-Net, and sACN over standard Ethernet.
FTDI-based Enttec Open Cable chipsets and similar widely-available USB DMX adapters work natively on macOS. Entry-level interfaces start around $15.
Industry-standard network DMX protocol. Works with any Art-Net node, switch, or compatible fixture on your local network.
Modern streaming ACN protocol used by professional lighting consoles and stage hardware. Multi-universe over a single Ethernet connection.
You can broadcast the same universe over multiple protocols simultaneously - useful if part of your rig is USB and part is Art-Net.
Automatic audio-synced light shows. Integrates with VirtualDJ, Traktor Pro 3/4, the built-in music player, or any audio source.
Save bundles of movement, colour, beam, and strobe effects across multiple fixture groups, and recall them in sync at any time.
Up to unlimited universes on the Pro plan. Broadcast to USB DMX, Art-Net, and sACN simultaneously from the same Mac.
Direct Audio Detection analyses incoming audio in real time to drive beat-responsive light shows automatically.
Thousands of pre-built fixture profiles for moving heads, pars, bars, and strobes - searchable from inside the app.
Real-time 3D preview of your rig. See beam colours, gobos, and movement patterns before going live (available from v1.0.49).
On macOS 14.2 and later, DMXDesktop captures your Mac's own audio directly, with no extra driver to install.
Choose Default Output (Loopback) as the input in DMXDesktop's Audio Settings and Direct Audio Detection analyses whatever your Mac is playing, in real time. This is the same system audio capture Windows has had for about a year, so the two platforms now behave the same way.
It needs macOS 14.2 or later. DMXDesktop itself runs on macOS 14.0, so on 14.0 or 14.1 the option will not appear and you should use BlackHole as described below.
On macOS 14.0 or 14.1, or if you would rather route the audio yourself, install BlackHole, a free virtual audio driver. It is available at existential.audio/blackhole, or via Homebrew with brew install blackhole-2ch.
Once installed, create an aggregate device in Audio MIDI Setup (Applications → Utilities) combining BlackHole with your normal output. Select that device as the input in DMXDesktop's Audio Settings, and Direct Audio Detection will analyse anything playing on your Mac in real time.
Choosing your input device works properly from v1.0.52. Before that, the device you picked in Settings was stored but never bound to the capture, so audio detection always listened to whatever macOS had set as the system default input. If you concluded a particular interface did not work on your Mac, it is worth trying again.
macOS input devices also now offer the same left and right channel selection that ASIO has on Windows, set per device, so a multi-channel interface no longer has to send you its first two channels.
While Live Wire is running, DMXDesktop can identify the track playing in the room and show it on the tab, artwork and all. This is the one genuine macOS exclusive: it is built on Apple's own music recognition, Shazam, which has no Windows equivalent.
Two things to know before you look for it. It needs Live Wire, which is a Standard or Pro feature, so it is not available on the Free plan. And it is early: treat it as something to try rather than something to rely on.
Updating is safer. An update could previously leave the app unopenable. It now replaces the installed app in one move that cannot half complete, keeps the previous version until the new one is confirmed working, and rolls back if anything goes wrong.
Running from a disk image now explains itself. If you run DMXDesktop straight from its disk image or from your Downloads folder, macOS is running a throwaway copy that cannot be updated in place. You now get the manual download and an explanation instead of a silent failure. Drag the app into Applications and updates work normally.
Your licence lives in the keychain. On macOS your licence is now held in the system keychain rather than in a file.
Fixed: the DJ Mode file browser could be missing. An occasional fault while the app was built left one audio component unable to load, which took the file browser down with it and gave no visible reason.
Grab the Apple Silicon or Intel installer from the download page.
Plug in your USB DMX adapter, or connect to an Art-Net / sACN node on your local network.
Pick fixtures from the Profile Library, set DMX start addresses, and group them in the Arrangement tab.
Hit play on a pre-built Effect Cue, or enable DJ Mode and play music. Lights respond automatically.
DMXDesktop has three plans: Free, Standard, and Pro - each available on monthly subscription, annual subscription (discounted), or Version Lifetime one-time purchase.
For current prices in your local currency, visit our pricing page.
Yes - DMXDesktop runs natively on Apple Silicon (M1, M2, M3, M4 and newer) as well as Intel Macs. Apple Silicon offers the best performance: in our testing, an M2 MacBook Pro ran 100 universes at under 10% CPU.
macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later is required. Earlier macOS versions are not supported.
DMXDesktop works with widely-available USB DMX interfaces, including FTDI-based Enttec Open Cable chipsets. Most generic USB DMX adapters costing from around $15 are supported. Art-Net and sACN over Ethernet are also fully supported.
Yes. On macOS 14.2 or later, select Default Output (Loopback) as the input in DMXDesktop's Audio Settings and Direct Audio Detection analyses whatever your Mac is playing, with no extra driver. On macOS 14.0 or 14.1, install BlackHole (a free virtual audio driver), create an aggregate device in Audio MIDI Setup combining BlackHole with your output, and select that device instead.
Free plan available - no card required. Apple Silicon and Intel both supported.
Music in. Lightshows out.
Intelligent lighting that follows whatever's playing - no DJ software, no pre-programmed tracks. Point it at your sound and the whole rig performs itself.