OS X 10.7: properVOLUME adds more robust sound controls to your menu bar in OS X Mountain Lion, allowing you to switch input and output sources, control volume, and check your levels, all from one simple drop-down.
In essence, it provides quick access to most of the worthwhile features in the Sound Preferences, just integrated into your menu bar. The app is $2.99 in the App Store (though blog One Thing Well has some promo codes you may want to try out). If you don't feel like dropping, you may alternately want to familiarize yourself with this built-in shortcut: Option-Click OS X's default Sound icon in your menu bar to view an alternate menu from which you can switch input and output devices or open the Sound preferences. It's not quite as handy, but it's also 100% free.
properVOLUME | Mac App Store via One Thing Well
Mac: If your Mac's menu bar is getting a little out of hand with apps it might be time to reorganize, hide away, and clean them up a little. Broomstick is an app that can hide a number of popular apps as well as reorganize your menu bar to help you find what you're looking for fast.
Mac only: If you have an especially large monitor, multiple monitors, or are just used to the Windows way of doing things, free app MenuEverywhere makes the menu bar drop-down menus accessible from any window on the desktop.
There's a lot to like about the 
