18 · Support & Known Limitations

This chapter tells you what AnalogDAW deliberately does not do, what currently depends on your platform or hardware, and what to collect when something goes wrong. Start here before moving or deleting session files.

Protect the session first

If a session behaves unexpectedly, stop recording and make a portable copy with Save a Copy… before troubleshooting. The copy consolidates referenced audio into a new .analog package without changing the session you are working in. Do not edit Session.json or move individual files inside an .analog package.

AnalogDAW also keeps two recovery layers:

• Each successful save keeps a last-known-good document backup. If the main document is incomplete or corrupt, AnalogDAW attempts to recover the backup and tells you what happened.
• Recent unsaved edits are stored separately. After an unexpected exit, choose Restore at the Restore Unsaved Changes? prompt. Choose Discard only when you are certain the on-disk session is the version you want.

See Sessions & Saving for the full crash recovery workflow.

Missing audio

When a session reports missing audio, choose Locate Files… and select the folder that contains the original recordings. AnalogDAW searches that folder, relinks matching files, and copies recovered assets into the session package. Use Ignore only when you intentionally want to open the session without those files. Never rename recordings inside the package in Finder or Files.

Third-party plug-in compatibility

AnalogDAW hosts Audio Units on macOS and AUv3 extensions on iPhone and iPad. Plug-ins vary by vendor, version, operating system, copy-protection method, and editor implementation, so compatibility with every plug-in cannot be guaranteed.

If a loaded plug-in stops responding or its editor fails:

1. Save a copy of the session.
2. Close the plug-in editor and stop transport.
3. Use the insert-slot Reload Plugin action when it is available.
4. If the problem returns, bypass that insert, restart AnalogDAW, and include a Diagnostic Bundle in the report.

Keep installers and licenses for every plug-in used by an important project. When moving a session to another device, install compatible versions there before opening it. Instrument plug-ins expose their primary stereo output only; multi-output instrument routing is not supported.

ARA is not supported. Pitch and timing editors that offer an ARA mode (where the plug-in reads the whole region from the project the moment you insert it) run here in their ordinary plug-in mode instead: you play the part through the plug-in once so it can capture and analyse it — its Transfer workflow. AnalogDAW gives those plug-ins everything that workflow needs — tempo, time signature, play state, and the exact timeline position of the audio — so the captured material lands in the right place, and the plug-in's own previews are audible while its editor is open. What you do not get is ARA's instant, transport-free access to the audio.

Platform and product limits

• Sessions support up to 32 tracks, 8 mix buses, 6 aux returns, and 4 cue buses.
• AnalogDAW does not provide MIDI clips or a piano roll, automatic pitch correction, quantization, or time-stretching. Instrument performances are recorded as audio.
• The master always uses output channels 1–2. Cue buses begin at outputs 3–4, so the connected interface must expose additional output pairs.
• Hold Shift while dragging a fader for quarter-speed fine adjustment. On iPhone and iPad, connect a hardware keyboard and hold Shift while dragging with touch, a mouse, or a trackpad.
• Available audio devices, buffer sizes, and Audio Units differ between macOS and iOS. iPhone and iPad routing also changes when a USB interface is connected or disconnected; verify inputs, outputs, monitoring, and sample rate before recording.
• Sessions can move between Mac, iPad, and iPhone, but plug-ins must exist in a compatible form on the destination device. Bypass or replace unavailable plug-ins before a critical handoff.

Export a Diagnostic Bundle

A Diagnostic Bundle contains app, system, audio-device, session-structure, and recent diagnostic information needed to investigate a problem. Sensitive file paths are redacted; the bundle does not include your recorded audio.

• macOS: choose Support ▸ Export Diagnostic Bundle… or press ⌘⌥D.
• iPhone/iPad: open the main ☰ menu and choose Export Diagnostic Bundle….

Save the generated bundle somewhere you can attach to your support report.

What to include in a useful report

Include all of the following so the problem can be reproduced:

• AnalogDAW version, device model, and operating-system version.
• Audio interface, connection type, sample rate, buffer size, and input/output route.
• Exact steps starting from app launch, plus what you expected and what happened.
• Whether playback or recording was active and whether the issue repeats in a new empty session.
• Names and versions of involved plug-ins and control surfaces.
• The smallest safe session copy that reproduces the issue, when practical.
• The Diagnostic Bundle and the approximate local time the problem occurred.

Do not send account passwords, license keys, or unrelated recordings. Use the support channel supplied with the build or purchase source, and keep the original session until the issue is resolved.

← Back to the User Guide index