Getting Started with AnalogDAW Strips
AnalogDAW Strips requires macOS 15 or later, or iOS/iPadOS 18 or later. To process tracks in another app, use a host that supports AUv3 audio effects. The standalone app is an audition player; recording, track routing and exporting belong to your host.
Insert an effect in your host
- Install AnalogDAW Strips and launch its containing app once.
- Open your audio host. If it was already running, restart it or refresh its Audio Unit list using that host's instructions.
- Insert AnalogDAW Channel on a track, AnalogDAW Bus on a subgroup or return, or AnalogDAW Master near the end of your mix chain.
- Play audio through the insert. Start with a modest listening level and open the effect's editor.
- Choose Default or a source-specific factory preset, then tune it while listening in context.
Hosts organize their effect browsers differently. These are AUv3 effects, so a host that only supports other plug-in formats will not list them. On Mac, keep one installed copy of the app to avoid duplicate Audio Unit registrations.
Audition without a host
Open the AnalogDAW Strips app and select Channel, Bus or Master. Choose Audio Source ▸ Built-in Signal and press Audition. Press Stop to end playback.
To hear your own material, choose Audio Source ▸ Choose Audio File…, select a readable audio file in the system picker, and press Audition. The file is opened locally for playback; Strips does not overwrite it. This player does not record or export a processed copy. Use your host for those tasks.
The standalone player uses a conservative listening trim after the effect. Plug-in meters measure the signal before that trim, so their readings need not match the level you hear from the app's output. The standalone player does not provide external sidechain routing.
Switching strips stops auditioning. On iPhone and iPad, leaving the app or an audio interruption also stops playback. Serious thermal pressure can prevent playback until the device cools.
What Default sounds like
- Channel: Preamp starts enabled, including its attached Warm tone. Color Drive starts at zero; other processor modules start bypassed.
- Bus: starts in Bus role with fixed Warm output coloration. Other processor modules start bypassed.
- Master: Tape and Limiter start enabled, with a −0.3 dB ceiling. Other processor modules start bypassed.
Output gain starts at unity. Choosing Default restores the strip's starting settings and processor order. Flat EQ or zero Drive does not remove every source of coloration: see Channel, Bus & Aux, and Master.
Save your work
Save the project in your host to retain plug-in settings and processor order. For reusable starting points, use Save New Preset… in the editor. The standalone app and hosted extensions have separate local user preset libraries; a preset saved in the audition app does not automatically appear in your host.
Continue with Controls, Presets & Automation, or return to the guide overview.