The relationship, without the weirdness
BetterTrumpet began as a fork of EarTrumpet by David Golden, Rafael Rivera, and Dave Amenta. The original credit stays visible in the repository because it should. Both projects are free and open source under the MIT License.
So this is not an attempt to pretend two unrelated apps happen to do the same thing. They share the same useful foundation: a compact tray mixer for Windows audio. BetterTrumpet then took that base in a more personal, more configurable direction.
The short version
EarTrumpet set a genuinely high bar: a compact tray mixer, sensible Windows integration, and an interface that made per-app audio easier to live with. Its broad translation coverage and Microsoft Store history still deserve credit.
But the last public EarTrumpet release was 6 August 2023. BetterTrumpet is what I would install today. It works if you only need sliders, and it has room to grow when you want the mix to remember itself, a media popup in the tray, or audio controls from PowerShell, a launcher, Stream Deck, or an agent.
| Thing that matters | EarTrumpet | BetterTrumpet |
|---|---|---|
| Core mixer | Per-app volume, meters, device switching, routing, tray flyout | The same foundation, with extra session controls and profile-aware routing |
| Everyday feel | Focused, compact, close to the official Windows ecosystem | Dark-first, more configurable, built around repeatable audio setups |
| Profiles & automation | Interactive controls and shortcuts | QuickTrumpet profiles, per-profile hotkeys, JSON named-pipe CLI, rules and aliases |
| Media | No comparable tray media popup in the compared source tree | Artwork, seek, playback, shuffle/repeat when supported, and per-app media volume |
| Current releases | Last public release: 6 August 2023 | Actively released from GitHub, with installer, portable zip, Winget, Chocolatey, and a separate Store path |
| Language coverage | More than twenty languages through an established community | The inherited UI is broadly translated; new fork-specific work is primarily English and French |
What BetterTrumpet adds when audio gets complicated
The idea was never to add features just to make a longer checklist. The useful changes are the ones that remember intent: keep Discord at this level, keep that app silent, put Spotify back on the speakers, bring the whole call setup back with one shortcut.
- Persistent hard mute, hiding, solo, undo, and redo for active audio sessions
- QuickTrumpet profiles that restore volumes, mutes, devices, and routing together
- An Acrylic tray media popup with artwork, seeking, playback controls, and media-app volume
- Thirty built-in themes, custom themes, album-art colour mode, meter styles, and an Eco mode
- A five-step onboarding flow for audio, appearance, privacy, readiness, and tray pinning
- Rotating logs, health checks, support bundles, crash reporting with consent, and a doctor command
- A JSON CLI for scripts, hotkeys, launchers, Stream Deck-style workflows, and automation
| Feature | EarTrumpet | BetterTrumpet |
|---|---|---|
| Per-app volume | Yes | Yes |
| Master volume per device | Yes | Yes |
| Peak meters | Yes | Yes. Configurable styles and FPS. |
| Tray mixer & standalone mixer | Yes | Yes |
| Default output switching | Yes | Yes |
| Per-app output routing | Yes | Yes. Also in profiles and the CLI. |
| Keyboard shortcuts | Yes | Yes. Plus profile shortcuts. |
| Light/dark theme & Windows accent | Yes | Yes |
| Add-on system | Yes | Yes. Inherited. |
| Persistent app/device hiding | No | Yes |
| Persistent hard mute by executable | No | Yes |
| Solo an app | No | Yes |
| Undo / redo volume and mute | No | Yes |
| Pin the mixer open | No | Yes |
| Reusable audio profiles | No | Yes. Volumes, mute, devices, routing. |
| Tray media popup | No | Yes. Artwork, seek, controls, media-app volume. |
| Built-in themes | No | Yes. 30 built-in plus custom import/export. |
| Command palette | No | Yes |
| First-run onboarding | No | Yes |
| CLI with JSON output | No comparable server | Yes. Named pipe, aliases, batch and watch. |
| Portable mode | No | Yes. Local JSON settings and logs. |
| Settings / theme / profile export | Diagnostics only | Yes |
| Update flow outside the Store | No comparable flow | Yes. GitHub releases, Winget, Chocolatey. |
| Consent-gated crash reporting | Yes. Bugsnag. | Yes. Sentry. |
| Rotating disk logs & health monitor | No | Yes |
| ZIP support bundle | Diagnostic export | Yes. Logs and diagnostic snapshot. |
| Eco mode | No | Yes. Lower meter refresh and reduced motion. |
| Volume tick & unlockable alternate tick | No | Yes |
.NET 8, GPU rendering, and the part you actually feel
BetterTrumpet moved from EarTrumpet’s .NET Framework 4.6.2 project to a modern SDK-style net8.0-windows build. It keeps the public x86 architecture for compatibility, but ships as a self-contained desktop app rather than asking for a separate .NET Desktop runtime.
The most visible gap is not a magic benchmark number; it is the way the app stays composed while doing more. BetterTrumpet re-enabled WPF GPU acceleration, starts in Core, UI, then optional feature phases, and moves media artwork decoding, colour extraction, update checks, monitoring, and CLI setup away from the critical UI path.
That makes the difference especially noticeable around the tray flyout, animated rows, media artwork, and theme changes: transitions stay short, meter refresh can be capped at 5, 20, 30, or 60 FPS, and rendering unsubscribes when nothing needs to move. Eco mode can reduce that work further, including automatically on battery.
There is still no reproducible repository benchmark proving a universal CPU or memory win over EarTrumpet. BetterTrumpet has more optional services. The honest claim is smoother, more deliberate behaviour with a larger feature set. I am not going to make up a percentage.
| Area | EarTrumpet snapshot | BetterTrumpet |
|---|---|---|
| Runtime | .NET Framework 4.6.2 | net8.0-windows10.0.19041.0, SDK-style project |
| Public package | Framework/system or package runtime model | Self-contained Release x86 build |
| Rendering work | Core mixer implementation | WPF GPU acceleration re-enabled; meters can be capped and stop rendering at rest |
| Startup | Focused mixer startup | Phased Core → UI → optional features startup, with non-critical work deferred |
| Media artwork | No comparable media popup | LRU cache, background decode, cancellation of stale loads, UI-thread-safe frozen images |
| Motion controls | System theme and focused UI | Short flyout and row transitions, configurable animations, Eco mode and battery-aware Eco mode |
The trade-offs are real
BetterTrumpet does more, so it has more code, more settings, and optional background services for things like media, updates, monitoring, and the CLI. It is not honest to claim that a larger app is always lighter just because it has performance work in it.
There is no reproducible benchmark in the repository proving BetterTrumpet always uses less CPU or memory than EarTrumpet. The fair version is simpler: EarTrumpet has a smaller scope. BetterTrumpet has targeted optimisations and an Eco mode to keep its broader scope responsive.
| Question | EarTrumpet | BetterTrumpet |
|---|---|---|
| Windows baseline | Its compared manifest targets an older Windows 10 baseline | Windows 10 version 1803 or newer, and Windows 11 |
| Portable use | No portable mode in the compared tree | Portable mode with local JSON settings and logs |
| Updates | Store-led distribution and trust model | GitHub release updater and package-manager paths; public binaries are not yet Authenticode-signed |
| Diagnostics | In-memory tracing and diagnostic export | Consent-gated Sentry, rotating local logs, health monitoring, and ZIP support bundles |
| Complexity | A smaller, focused surface | More features and maintenance paths; media behaviour still depends on Windows and each app's SMTC support |
What I would install today
If you are choosing an app today, install BetterTrumpet. It keeps the fast per-app Windows audio control EarTrumpet got right, then continues to fix, package, and extend it.
That recommendation does not erase EarTrumpet’s place in the story. BetterTrumpet exists because the original project proved this kind of mixer was worth having. It simply takes the next step: current releases, profiles, persistent behaviour, media controls, a portable build, diagnostics, and automation when you need them.
BetterTrumpet is free and open source. Try it, keep the workflow that makes your audio setup less annoying, and inspect the source if you want the full picture.
How this comparison was made
This is a snapshot comparison, not a commit-count contest. It was checked against BetterTrumpet master at commit 0492ac40, including the post-release UTF-8 CLI fix, and EarTrumpet upstream/master at commit 7eee80e3 on 13 July 2026.
The two histories no longer have a reliable merge base after upstream rewrites. Line counts would only describe the chosen snapshots, not quality, performance, or the amount of work that matters. The source document remains the detailed technical record behind this page.
Quick answers
Common questions
Is BetterTrumpet a fork of EarTrumpet?
Yes. BetterTrumpet is a fork of EarTrumpet and publicly credits the original EarTrumpet authors in its repository.
Does BetterTrumpet still provide per-app volume control?
Yes. Per-app Windows audio control remains central to BetterTrumpet, alongside routing, profiles, media controls, persistent mute, and automation.
Is BetterTrumpet open source too?
Yes. BetterTrumpet publishes its source on GitHub under the MIT License.
Which project should I install today?
BetterTrumpet is the recommended choice for a new install. It carries EarTrumpet’s per-app mixer foundation forward with active releases and adds profiles, persistent controls, media features, portable use, diagnostics, and automation.