2 · Sessions & Saving

A session is your whole project: tracks, clips, takes, mixer settings, buses, the master chain, markers, the loop, tempo, snapshots — everything. This chapter explains how sessions are stored and the many ways AnalogDAW protects your work.

What a session is on disk

AnalogDAW saves each project as a .analog project. This is a self- contained package that holds:

• the session document (all your settings and the arrangement), and
• an Assets folder with copies of every audio file the session uses — recordings, imported files, and rendered takes.

Because the audio is copied into the project, a .analog project is portable: you can move it to another drive, hand it to a collaborator, or open it on a different device, and the audio comes with it.

Imported files are copied in. When you import or drag in an audio file, a copy is placed in the project's Assets folder. Your original file is never moved or changed.

Automatic saving

You don't have to remember to save. AnalogDAW continuously autosaves:

• After any change, the session is written to disk automatically (on a short delay, so rapid edits are batched together).
• When the app moves to the background or is about to quit, it saves immediately.
• A separate crash-recovery copy of your latest edits is also kept continuously, in a protected location apart from your project, as a safety net between autosaves.

In practice this means that closing the app, switching apps on iOS, or an unexpected crash will not lose your work.

Saving manually

You can still save on demand from the main menu (☰):

AnalogDAW autosaves continuously, so there is no dedicated Save keyboard shortcut — you rarely need to invoke Save by hand.

The first time you save a never-named session, AnalogDAW asks where to put it and what to call it.

Crash recovery

If the app ever closes unexpectedly with unsaved changes, the next launch shows a "Restore Unsaved Changes?" prompt naming the session and the time the changes were captured. You can:

• Restore — reopen the session exactly as it was, including the unsaved edits.
• Discard — throw away the unsaved edits and start from the last saved version.

The recovery copy is kept until your next clean save, so even a second crash before saving can still be recovered.

Relinking missing audio

If you open a project whose audio files can't be found (for example, the project was copied without its Assets, or files were deleted), AnalogDAW shows a Missing Audio Files prompt listing what's missing. You can:

• Locate Files… — choose a folder, and AnalogDAW searches it (and subfolders) to reconnect the missing files automatically.
• Ignore — open the session anyway; tracks with missing audio appear empty but everything else (your mixer, automation, etc.) is intact, and you can relink later.

Snapshots — recall mixer states

A snapshot is a saved photograph of your mix and routing state (no audio files). Use snapshots to A/B different mixes, store a "safe" version before a big change, or compare alternate balances.

A snapshot captures all track strips and their order, every bus, aux return, cue bus, the master, VCA groups, edit groups, tempo, time signature, the loop, and markers.

Snapshots do not store or restore the clip arrangement itself. Your clips, takes, and audio files stay as they are; the snapshot recalls the console and session-state layer around them.

To use snapshots (main menu ☰ ▸ Snapshots):

• Save Snapshot… — name and store the current state.
• Pick any saved snapshot to Restore it or Delete it.

Snapshots live inside the session, so they travel with it.

Templates — reusable starting points

A template is a saved session configuration with no audio content — your tracks, channel strips, buses, master chain, tempo, and quality settings, but with all clips cleared. Templates are perfect for a repeatable starting point, like a "Band Tracking" or "Podcast" setup.

To use templates (main menu ☰ ▸ Templates):

• Save as Template… — name and store the current setup.
• Pick a template name, then choose New Session from Template to create a new .analog project from it. AnalogDAW asks where to save that new project, just like a blank New Session.
• Use Delete on a template you no longer need.

When a template is saved, AnalogDAW clears clips and takes, removes imported audio-file and instrument input sources, and leaves hardware input assignments intact. It also leaves out session snapshots, markers, and live instrument instances. Templates are stored in the app's Templates folder as app-level starting points, not inside any one .analog project, so they are available across your sessions on that device/account.

Session Settings

Open ☰ ▸ Session Settings… to set the recording quality for this project:

Bit depth applies to new recordings and exports — existing audio files keep the quality they were recorded at. FLAC export is always capped at 24-bit.

The sample rate is authoritative: AnalogDAW sets your audio interface to the rate you choose here, the way a pro console expects the session to drive the hardware. Change it and the engine retunes the interface to match.

If the selected interface can't run the chosen rate (for example, a 96 kHz project on an interface that only does 44.1/48 kHz), AnalogDAW warns you and offers a one-click switch to the nearest supported rate. Playback keeps working in the meantime (older clips are resampled to fit), but recording and hardware input monitoring are disabled until the project and interface rates match — so you can never capture a take at the wrong rate without realizing it. The same check runs if you plug in or switch to an interface that doesn't support the project's rate.

Bit depth and sample rate are project settings (what to record/export at). The playback buffer and hardware device are set separately in Audio Settings.

Next: The Interface →