Audio Input

Audio reactivity needs the sound you are performing to routed into RENDERWAVE. This page covers picking an input device, turning reactivity on, and confirming that signal is arriving.

Where audio settings live

Open Settings and select the Audio tab. Everything on this page lives there.

Audio reactivity stays off until you turn it on. It does not start on its own when you launch the app.

Choose an input device

Under Audio Input, the Input Device menu lists System Default plus every audio input the app can see on your Mac. RENDERWAVE shows input-capable devices only, sorted by name, so playback-only devices do not clutter the list. If you plug in or create a device while the app is running, use Refresh Devices to rescan.

• System Default follows whatever input macOS is currently using. On most Macs that is the built-in microphone, so the visuals react to room sound, including crowd noise and speaker bleed.
• Picking a specific input pins RENDERWAVE to that device regardless of the system default.

Note

Choosing a non-default input temporarily makes that device the Mac’s input while RENDERWAVE runs. It’s restored the moment you turn reactivity off or switch devices; if you quit while still capturing on a non-default device, RENDERWAVE restores it the next time it launches instead. The app tells you this under the device menu: “Selecting a non-default input temporarily routes macOS to that device. Restored on quit.”

The device menu needs macOS 15 or later. On older systems the menu is replaced with a note that device selection requires macOS 15+, and the app uses the system default input.

Getting DJ or system audio in

RENDERWAVE listens to an audio input. A microphone hears the room, which works for a quick reaction but picks up everything in the space. To react to the exact signal you are playing, select the input that carries it: a line input from a mixer, or an audio interface channel fed from your DJ setup.

macOS keeps system output and input separate, so music playing on the Mac itself is not an input by default. To feed that signal in, route it to an input device the app can select, such as a virtual loopback or aggregate input. Once that device appears in the Input Device menu, pick it like any other input.

Turn reactivity on

Switch Enable Reactivity on to start listening. This is the master on/off for audio. Turning it off stops capture. Audio-driven movement goes to zero rather than freezing at its last value, so modulation stays inert until you turn reactivity back on.

The first time you enable reactivity, macOS asks for microphone permission. If you decline, the app cannot hear anything and shows a failure message that includes “Microphone access denied. Enable in System Settings > Privacy & Security > Microphone”. Grant access there and enable reactivity again.

If capture fails to start on the chosen device (a disconnected interface, for instance), RENDERWAVE shows the reason and offers Use System Default & Retry so you can get running again without hunting through the menu.

Confirm signal is arriving

With reactivity on, a Levels section appears showing three live meters (Bass, Mid, and High) that rise and fall with the incoming sound. Meters that move with the music mean the app is hearing it. If they sit flat while music plays, the app is not getting that signal: check that the right device is selected and that it is receiving audio.

Watch these meters to confirm the input is healthy before you start assigning audio to parameters.

Next steps

• How audio reactivity works: the mental model behind sound driving your visuals.
• Bands and modes: what each frequency band hears and how each modulation mode moves.
• Per-parameter modulation: assign audio to a specific control.
• Tuning audio response: fix reactions that feel too twitchy or too flat.