Your music,
exactly as it was recorded.
Sonora is a native music player for macOS. It sends every sample of your files to the DAC untouched: bit-perfect, gapless between tracks and at the right sample rate for every song.
A player made for listening, not for subscribing.
Sonora starts from a simple idea: if you’ve built a collection of music in good quality, the player shouldn’t spoil it. Most apps route audio through the system mixer, which converts it to a fixed sample rate. Sonora talks directly to your output device and hands it the file exactly as it is.
It’s designed for people who keep their music on drives or in folders: FLAC, ALAC, WAV, DSD… Sonora sorts it, tags it, finds the lyrics and the story behind each record, and plays it with the highest fidelity on whatever speakers, headphones or DAC you have.
No accounts, no ads, no mandatory cloud. Your library lives on your Mac.
Audiophile-grade playback
Its own audio engine on Core Audio, with exclusive mode, automatic sample-rate switching and sample-accurate gapless.
Built around your library
Scans your folders, watches for changes and organizes albums, artists, artwork, duplicates and smart lists.
Made for Apple silicon
A native app: light and fast. It integrates with Control Center, the menu bar and your headphones.
With an analog soul
Real analog VU meters, a cassette that spins on your desktop and a design that invites you to listen to whole records.
From file to DAC, no detours.
Sonora always shows the path your signal takes. If nothing alters it, you’ll see it: bit-perfect.
Everything your music deserves.
Sonora grows every week. This is what you can use today.
Its own audio engine
Playback in shared or exclusive mode, automatic sample rate, sample-accurate gapless, crossfade and format changes between tracks without clicks. Optional DSP, configured separately for each output device.
Linked credits
Who plays, writes, produces and mixes every record. Click a name and see which other records in your library they appear on.
Hi-Fi Tower
Seven stacked components in one window: streamer, CD, preamp, 10-band graphic equalizer, cassette deck, DAC and power amp. Volume, bass, treble, balance and the equalizer really shape the sound, with 11 presets and your own curves. With the equalizer flat (DIR/FLAT), the signal is bit-perfect again.
⌥⌘TOrganize your library
Tag editor with backup, editions of the same record grouped together, and your own notes on every album and artist.
Home
What you’ve recently added and played, your listening time week by week, your most-played artists and albums, and “Listen later”.
High resolution over the network
Send music to the UPnP/DLNA and Chromecast speakers and receivers in your home. They get the original file: up to 24 bit / 192 kHz over UPnP/DLNA and up to 24/96 over Chromecast.
Radio
When your queue ends, Sonora keeps going with similar music from your library: nearby artists, same genres and era, without repeating records.
Playlists
Create and arrange your lists, and bring the ones you already had: import M3U files and spreadsheets exported from other players.
One library, all your Macs
Your other Macs use the main one’s library: the same favorites, lists and history, and the music plays wherever you are.
Smart library
Instantly detects changes in your folders. Artwork, smart lists, duplicates, a sample-rate census and instant search.
Synced lyrics
They follow the song line by line. Click a phrase and Sonora jumps to that moment. Uses the lyrics in the file, an .lrc file or an online service.
⌥⌘LArtist and album pages
The band’s story, members and instruments, label and release date, with data from MusicBrainz and Wikipedia, plus what you already own by that artist.
⌥⌘IAirPlay 2 multiroom
Send music to one or several AirPlay speakers at once, and switch back to the local output without losing your track or position.
Remote from your phone
Control Sonora from the browser on your iPhone or any device on your network. Pair with a code or QR, with live status.
Cassette on your desktop
A transparent tape with the artist and title that spins with inertia on your desktop. Double-click to play or pause.
⌥⌘KAnalog VU meters
VU meters with real ballistics, like the ones on an ’80s tape deck. Also in the full player, Sonora Player.
Tags with a safety net
Fix tags with MusicBrainz. A backup is saved before every change, and you can restore or undo it whenever you like.
Integrated with macOS
Control Center with artwork, a menu bar icon and a queue that’s remembered when you quit. If you take off your headphones it pauses; put them back on and it resumes.
Claude connector
Optional: ask in plain language “play some quiet jazz” and Claude searches your library and plays it. With volume protection.
Room correction
Load an impulse-response filter (WAV, AIFF or FLAC) from your room-measurement software and Sonora applies it in the DSP rack, with its response curve on view and level trim.
Your library, away from home
From another Mac running Sonora, play your library wherever you are. The audio travels directly and encrypted; only a small link service knows your Mac’s address. Requires opening a port on your router.
English and Spanish
Sonora’s interface appears in your Mac’s language. Change it any time in Settings ▸ Appearance ▸ Language.
Sonora 0.8.6
Free preview release. Updated often with new features.
- Mac with Apple silicon (M1 or later)
- macOS 14 Sonoma or later
- .dmg installer · 9.8 MB
Open the .dmg and drag Sonora to the Applications folder.
The first time, macOS will say it can’t verify the developer: this preview release isn’t notarized by Apple yet.
Go to System Settings ▸ Privacy & Security, scroll down to “Sonora was blocked…” and click Open Anyway. Only once per Mac.
Open Sonora, click Choose Folder… and select your music. Done.
Every version, one step further.
Hi-Fi Tower, credits and an organized library
The new Hi-Fi Tower window (⌥⌘T): seven stacked components with a 10-band equalizer, bass, treble, balance and 11 presets that really shape the sound. Interface in English and Spanish. Linked credits for every record, redesigned artist and album pages, a tag editor, grouped editions and personal notes. In the player: repeat, shuffle, ±15 s and each song’s waveform; and an output panel with your speakers as cards. Convolution for room correction and access to your library away from home, direct and encrypted. New in Help: “About the Creator”.
Home, playlists, radio and network
New Home section with your listening stats, playlists (with import), radio, high resolution to UPnP/DLNA and Chromecast speakers, and one library for several Macs. Sonora also no longer loses your library if the network drive isn’t connected when it opens.
Full manual and updates
A 20-chapter guide in Help ▸ Sonora Manual (⌘?), with every button explained. And Sonora now checks for new versions when it opens and updates itself.
macOS, persistent queue and headphones
Control Center with artwork, a menu bar icon, a queue that’s remembered and automatic pause when you take off your headphones.
Cassette on your desktop
An animated tape on your desktop and a lyrics panel in Sonora Player.
Lyrics and artist pages
Synced lyrics and artist and album pages.
AirPlay 2
One or several speakers at once, without losing your position.
Remote from your phone
Remote control from the browser with secure pairing.
Frequently asked questions
What does “bit-perfect” mean?
That the data reaching your DAC is exactly the data in the file: no resampling, no mixing with other sounds and no digital volume changes. Sonora shows it in the signal path.
When is it really bit-perfect?
With a DAC or speakers over USB or Thunderbolt (the Mac’s own output also works), exclusive mode and automatic sample rate turned on, device volume or fixed at 100 %, and DSP, ReplayGain and crossfade turned off. Over Bluetooth it never is, and AirPlay goes up to CD quality. If you turn on the Hi-Fi Tower equalizer, convolution or digital volume, Sonora marks it as “Processing”.
Do I need a special DAC or speakers?
No. Sonora works with the Mac’s output, headphones, USB speakers, AirPlay, Chromecast and UPnP/DLNA speakers. The better your equipment, the more you’ll notice the difference.
Is it a streaming service?
No. Sonora plays the music you already have on your Mac or on your drives. It needs no account or connection to work.
Does it work on Intel Macs?
Not for now: this version is for Apple silicon only (M1 or later).
Which languages does it come in?
English and Spanish. By default it uses your Mac’s language; change it in Settings ▸ Appearance ▸ Language and restart Sonora.
Why does macOS warn me when I open it?
Because this preview release is signed locally and hasn’t gone through Apple’s notarization yet. It’s safe to open by following the installation steps; you only need to do it once.
Where is my data stored?
On your Mac. Your library and settings never leave your computer; online services (lyrics and artist pages) can be turned off in Settings ▸ Information.