2 to 32 channels, selectable
Pick the width the show needs: 2, 8, 16 or 32 channels. The virtual device republishes at the new width in about a second, on every Mac in the rig.
Network audio for show rigs · macOS
The Ethernet cable is the snake.
Audioduct™ streams 2 to 32 channels of audio between Macs over the network you already have, with Primary/Backup failover that snaps in milliseconds, a hardware watchdog, and per-channel gain with live meters. Playback to FOH, main to broadcast, timecode to everywhere: press Receive on the Mac that wants it.
macOS 14+ · wired gigabit recommended
Available now · macOSUp to 32 channels
The problem
Getting many channels of clean audio from one Mac to another still means a snake and an interface on both ends, a Dante design, or software that falls over the moment the show depends on it. And when the playback rig dies mid-song, nothing consumer-grade knows how to fail over.
How it works
From installer to on-air in minutes
Install on every Mac
One notarized installer per machine: virtual audio device, background service, and the app. No kernel extensions.
Play into Audioduct™
On the sending Mac, pick Audioduct™ as the output device in your DAW or playback rig and press Start Sending.
Press Receive anywhere
On any other Mac, the sender appears by name. Press Receive and its audio arrives on the Audioduct™ input device: into your DAW, LiveTC™, or anything else.
Add a Backup when it matters
Run a second sender as Backup. Receivers arm both automatically and snap over the moment the Primary goes quiet.
Senders send. Receivers choose. Nothing else to configure.
What it does
Everything between the DAW and the far Mac
One job: audio leaves a Mac and arrives at another, on time, at width, and with a plan B.
Primary/Backup failover
Two sender rigs run the whole show. Every receiver plays the Primary and snaps to the Backup the moment it goes silent, in milliseconds, with no auto-failback surprises.
Receiver-driven routing
Senders just send. Any Mac on the network presses Receive and pulls the stream. No address books, no port forwarding, no configuration on the sending side.
Hardware watchdog
Point it at your real interface. If that hardware disappears mid-show, the sender takes itself off air so receivers snap to Backup instead of playing silence.
Per-channel gain, everywhere
A real volume control per channel per direction, in the app and as native sliders in Audio MIDI Setup. Live meters on every channel, in the main window.
Timecode-clean
Built by timecode people: LTC survives the trip bit-clean, with a buffer small enough that timecode consumers never notice, and plain-language delay and dropout readouts instead of counter soup.
Same resilience at any width
The stream is shaped so that going from stereo to 32 channels never makes it more fragile. Packet loss does not multiply with channel count.
44.1 / 48 / 88.2 / 96 kHz
Both rate families, with clean conversion when a device runs doubled. Mismatched rigs are named in plain words, never silent.
Auto-updates, show-safe
Signed, notarized updates keep every Mac current, and an update never interrupts a running stream. Updates wait politely until you are off air.
Failover
Two rigs. One show. Zero drama.
Run your playback on two Macs, Primary and Backup, both sending the whole show. Every receiver plays the Primary and watches it like a hawk: the moment it goes silent past your threshold, the receiver is already playing the Backup. When the Primary comes back, returning to it is a button, never an automatic surprise mid-chorus.
- Switchover in milliseconds, tight enough that timecode consumers never unlock.
- The hardware watchdog takes a sender off air the instant its interface vanishes.
- Liveness for both rigs on screen, always: P and B, green or red.
Why Audioduct™
Built for the rig, not the demo
- The Ethernet cable is the snake: multichannel audio between Macs with nothing but the network you already have.
- Failover is built in, not bolted on: both rigs send, receivers pick, and the switch takes milliseconds.
- Receiver-driven: the sending Mac needs zero configuration to serve a new listener. Press Receive on the Mac that wants audio.
- Honest telemetry: delay and dropouts in words a stage tech reads at a glance, and every mismatch (rate, width, version) is named on screen.
- Runs on ordinary gigabit switches: no jumbo frames, no special network design, no switch shopping list.
- Themeable like the rest of the Gainware™ family, including your own palettes, shared as files between operators.
Specifications
The details that matter on a show day
Numbers chosen for wired rigs and long nights, and shown honestly in the app while you run.
Specifications
- Platform
- macOS 14+ · Apple silicon & Intel
- Channels
- 2 / 8 / 16 / 32 · selectable
- Sample rates
- 44.1 / 48 / 88.2 / 96 kHz
- Network
- Ordinary gigabit Ethernet · wired recommended
- Bandwidth
- A fraction of a gigabit link, even at 32 channels
- Buffer
- Operator-selectable · tight, default, or rough-network
- Failover
- Primary/Backup · adjustable threshold
- Discovery
- Automatic · manual address fallback
- Gain
- Per-channel, per-direction
- Updates
- Signed & notarized · never mid-show
Questions
Asked by people with a show tomorrow
What do I need to run it?
Two or more Macs on the same network and the installer on each. Wired gigabit Ethernet is the intended home; that is where the tightest buffer and the failover thresholds are tuned. Wi-Fi works as a rehearsal convenience with a bigger buffer, not as the show contract.
How is this different from Dante Virtual Soundcard?
Audioduct™ is Mac-to-Mac, not a Dante endpoint, so it will not talk to Dante hardware. If your rig is Macs feeding Macs (playback to FOH, main to broadcast rig, timecode distribution), you get selectable channel count, built-in Primary/Backup failover, and per-channel gain without per-seat Dante licensing or a Dante network design.
What does failover actually do?
Both sender rigs transmit the whole show continuously. Every receiver plays the Primary and watches it; if the Primary goes silent past your threshold, the receiver snaps to the Backup stream. There is no auto-failback. The switch back to Primary is a button, pressed when you decide the Primary is trustworthy again.
Can it carry timecode?
Yes, that is the house specialty. LTC arrives bit-clean and steady; pair it with LiveTC™ on the receiving Mac and Ableton locks to the same timecode the FOH rig hears.
What is the real latency?
The buffer you choose, plus the wire. On wired gigabit the tightest setting is dependable, the default is comfortable, and the largest rides through rough networks. The app shows the delay it is actually holding, in milliseconds, at all times.
Does an update ever interrupt audio?
No. The updater is session-aware: while you are sending or receiving, update checks stand down and any downloaded update waits until you are off air before it even offers to install.
Get Audioduct™
Put the snake in the switch.
Up to 32 channels of float audio between Macs, failover included, over the Ethernet you already own.
macOS 14+ · wired gigabit recommended