Plug-ins
Two different things. DarkStage Capture (Audio Unit, VST3 and AAX) is a plug-in you put in your DAW to send audio to DarkStage. Plugin Meters shows third-party meter plug-ins inside a DarkStage overlay.
DarkStage Capture
A plug-in in three formats: Audio Unit (AU), VST3 and AAX. It passes your audio through unchanged, with zero added latency, and sends a copy to DarkStage. DarkStage then meters exactly the point in your session where you inserted it.
Which format does my DAW use?
| Format | For |
|---|---|
| Audio Unit (AU) | Logic Pro, GarageBand and other Audio Unit hosts |
| VST3 | Cubase, REAPER, Studio One, Ableton Live and other VST3 hosts |
| AAX | Pro Tools |
Each format installs to the system-wide folder your DAW scans:
- AU:
/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components - VST3:
/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3 - AAX:
/Library/Application Support/Avid/Audio/Plug-Ins
Many DAWs load more than one format. If yours does, it doesn't matter which one you insert — they send the same audio to DarkStage.
Do I need it?
Often you don't. Mac System Sound meters everything the Mac plays, with nothing to install. Use Capture when what the Mac plays isn't what you want to measure:
| Situation | Why Capture helps |
|---|---|
| Room correction or speaker calibration (SoundID, ARC, Trinnov…) on your monitor output | Mac System Sound hears the corrected signal. Capture, inserted before the correction, meters your actual mix. |
| Monitor controller plug-ins, headphone simulation or a reference-level trim on the master | Same reason: meter before the monitor processing. |
| You want to meter one point, such as the vocal bus, the pre-limiter mix or a stem | Insert Capture exactly there. |
| Other apps are making sound (browser, video call, notifications) | Capture hears only your DAW, so other apps never touch your LUFS readings. |
Not sure? Choose Automatic. DarkStage uses Capture while your DAW is playing through it and falls back to Mac System Sound when it isn't. You get the right source without switching by hand.
Install
- In DarkStage, go to Settings ▸ Capture Plug-ins and click Install Capture Plug-ins (or Update).
- The macOS Installer opens. On the Installation Type page it lists the formats, all ticked. Untick any you don't need (see below), then continue.
- The macOS Installer asks for your password. The plug-ins are installed for all users of this Mac.
- Restart your DAW, or rescan plug-ins, so it finds DarkStage Capture.
Choosing formats
The current Capture installer is DarkStage Capture 0.10.3: one macOS installer containing all three formats, each at version 0.10.3. It always shows the format list on its Installation Type page, so you choose before anything is installed. Each format is its own choice, and every choice starts ticked:
- DarkStage Capture — Audio Unit (AU)
- DarkStage Capture — VST3
- DarkStage Capture — AAX
Untick any format you don't need. Unticking a format only skips it: it is not installed and not overwritten, and a copy that is already installed is never removed. Running the installer again replaces the formats you leave ticked with the version in that installer.
Use it
- Insert DarkStage Capture on your master or mix bus, after your mix processing and before any monitor or room-correction plug-in.
- In Settings ▸ Stereo Audio, choose Automatic or DarkStage Capture Plug-in.
- Press play. The plug-in's panel reads Capture active and the Stereo Audio page shows it as the live source.
Where to put it
| You want to meter | Insert Capture |
|---|---|
| The final mix, as delivered | Last on the master bus, after the limiter, before monitor correction |
| How hard the mix hits the limiter | On the master, just before the limiter |
| A single bus or stem | Last on that bus |
| Two things at once | Assign a second source to Stereo Input B, then set each widget to Input A or B |
Earlier installer (beta 0.10.5): the beta 0.10.5 download carried DarkStage Capture 0.10.2 in the Audio Unit and VST3 formats only, and its installer installed both unless you clicked Customize on the Installation Type page. The AAX format for Pro Tools was added with the DarkStage Capture 0.10.3 installer described above.
DarkStage Capture for Pro Tools (AAX)
The AAX format is included in the DarkStage Capture 0.10.3 installer as its third choice, DarkStage Capture — AAX, and installs to /Library/Application Support/Avid/Audio/Plug-Ins, where Pro Tools finds it. Restart Pro Tools after installing.
The AAX plug-in is called DarkStage Capture. It is a Pro Tools insert that does two jobs at once: it carries your monitor path, and it feeds DarkStage from inside Pro Tools — so DarkStage meters exactly what Pro Tools is playing, with no loopback device and no Mac System Sound in the way. That matters most on HDX, where the audio never reaches the Mac’s own audio path at all.
Two sources, one insert
The plug-in handles two signals independently: PT (the Pro Tools audio passing through the insert) and System (the Mac’s own audio). Each has the same four controls:
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| PT Gain / System Gain | Level for that source, in dB. |
| PT Mute / System Mute | Mutes that source. |
| PT Send to DarkStage / System Send to DarkStage | Whether that source is fed to DarkStage at all. Both are on in a new instance. |
| CAPTURE TRIM and CAPTURE MUTE (automation: DarkStage Fader Tap, DarkStage Mute Tap) | Whether DarkStage hears that source PRE or POST its own fader and mute. Both default to POST, and they are independent — you can take the signal after the fader but ignore the mute, so a muted monitor still meters. The two rows sit under SEND TO DARKSTAGE, and are named for the capture path so they are not mistaken for the Pro Tools channel's own fader and mute. |
The send controls are deliberately separate from the listening path, so changing what DarkStage meters never disturbs what you are hearing. Pro Tools’ own Master Bypass button works as usual.
A new instance starts the same in both sections: Send on, CAPTURE TRIM POST, CAPTURE MUTE POST, gain 0.0 dB. A saved session always recalls the settings it was saved with.
How to use it
- Insert DarkStage Capture on the path you want DarkStage to meter — usually the monitor or master path.
- Leave PT Send to DarkStage on. DarkStage now meters Pro Tools.
- Under SEND TO DARKSTAGE, choose PRE or POST for CAPTURE TRIM and CAPTURE MUTE, depending on whether you want to meter what is being sent or what is being heard.
- System Send to DarkStage is also on in a new instance, so the Mac’s own audio — a reference track from a browser, say — is in the same picture. Turn it off if you want DarkStage to meter Pro Tools alone.
The plug-in passes audio through; it is a monitor insert, not a processor.
Availability
DarkStage Capture AAX is available for Pro Tools in the DarkStage Capture 0.10.3 installer, alongside the Audio Unit and VST3 formats. It loads in the standard release of Pro Tools.
If your DarkStage’s Capture installer does not yet offer the AAX choice, use Mac System Sound or an audio device as DarkStage’s source in Pro Tools — on HDX, the Pro Tools Audio Bridge.
Plugin Meters (beta)
Already own a favourite meter plug-in? Plugin Meters loads an Audio Unit meter and shows its own window on a DarkStage overlay, fed from the same source as DarkStage's meters.
Plugin meters are listen-only. They never process or change the audio you hear.
Load a meter
- Open Wired Displays and select the display. In the sidebar, under AU Plugins, click Plugin Meters.
- Click Scan Plugins. Type in Filter… to narrow the list.
- Double-click a plug-in to load it into Slot 1. Its interface appears on that display's overlay.
- Adjust Scale, Opacity and position, or recall one of its own Plugin Presets.
Controls
- Show Native Plugin UI / Show Plugin Window: switch between the embedded view and a separate window.
- Bypass pauses the meter. Reset to 1.0× restores its size and Recenter Plugin brings it back on screen.
- Engine: Stop, Refresh or Restart if a plug-in stops responding.
- Unload Plugin removes it.
Hold Shift to stop Mouse Peek hiding the overlay, so you can click the plug-in's own buttons.
Type meter in Filter… after scanning. The full list includes every effect on your Mac.
Leave Scale at 1.0× if you need to click the plug-in's controls. Scaling a native interface can put its buttons out of line with the mouse.
Beta limits
- One plugin meter, on one display at a time.
- Audio Unit meters only, shown with their own interface.
- If you change input device, the meter may pause for a moment, then reload by itself.
Use cases
- Keep the loudness meter your clients' delivery specs name in view on the overlay, without it taking a slot in your session.
- Put a phase or stereo analyser you already know on the producer's screen.
If a meter plug-in misbehaves, please tell us which one at support@mydarkstage.com.