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Setup

Install DarkStage, work through setup once, then show your first overlay.

1. Install

  1. Open the DarkStage disk image and drag DarkStage into Applications.
  2. Launch it from Applications. DarkStage appears in the menu bar, top right. It has no Dock icon unless you turn one on.

Everything DarkStage needs is inside the app. The small DAW integrations and the Capture plug-ins are installed from inside DarkStage when you need them.

2. The setup window

The first launch opens a setup window. You can quit at any time; setup picks up where you left off next time.

Welcome

Lists what setup will ask for. Click Get Started.

Microphone Access

Lets DarkStage analyse an audio interface or loopback input. It never records. Click Grant Microphone Access.

System Audio Recording

Needed only for the Mac System Sound source, which meters whatever your Mac is playing. macOS files this permission under Screen & System Audio Recording, but DarkStage does not record your screen. Click Grant System Audio Access. If macOS asks, click Relaunch DarkStage.

Accessibility

Required for global keyboard shortcuts. Click Open Accessibility Settings and switch DarkStage on.

macOS may add DarkStage to the Accessibility list with its switch turned off. Being listed isn't enough: turn the switch on, come back and press Check Again.

Show / Hide Overlay Shortcut

Choose the key that blacks out your first display. F16 is recommended on a full-size keyboard. Press it when asked, to confirm it works. On a laptop, choose Record a Different Shortcut.

Audio Source Setup

Pick what DarkStage listens to. You can change this later in Settings ▸ Stereo Audio.

To check everything works before touching your DAW, choose Mac System Sound and play some music. The meters move straight away.

SourceChoose it when
Automatic
recommended		You aren't sure. DarkStage follows the DarkStage Capture plug-in while your DAW is playing through it, and falls back to Mac System Sound otherwise. It's also the best choice if you use room correction.
Mac System SoundYou want to meter everything the Mac plays: DAW, browser, streaming apps. Nothing to patch.
Audio Device InputYou want to meter a specific interface input or loopback device, such as the Pro Tools Audio Bridge on an HDX system, or a feed taken before your final limiter.
DarkStage Capture Plug-inYou want to meter exactly what your DAW sends, before any monitor or room-correction processing. See Plug-ins.

DAW Sync Setup

Choose the DAW you use. If it needs an integration, install it from this row. You can also pick None / Set Up Later. The DAW-side steps are listed below.

Finish Setup

Shows a summary of your choices and the shortcut that opens Settings. Click Finish Setup. Five short Getting Started pages follow. Read them once, then click Done.

3. Connect your DAW

Your DAW sends its transport, counter and timecode to DarkStage. In DarkStage, go to Settings ▸ DAW Sync and choose your DAW. The same steps as below are shown there, with an Install button if an integration is needed.

Changing the DAW restarts DarkStage so its MIDI ports are rebuilt correctly.

Pro Tools — HUI + MTC
  1. Confirm DAW Sync shows as running in the DarkStage menu.
  2. Setup ▸ MIDI ▸ MIDI Input Devices: enable DarkStage HUI 1 In. Add ports 2–4 if you use more than 8 channels.
  3. Setup ▸ Peripherals ▸ MIDI Controllers: add a HUI. Set Receive From to DarkStage HUI 1 In and Send To to DarkStage HUI 1 Out.
  4. Synchronization tab: set MTC Generator Port to DarkStage MTC Receive.
  5. Machine Control tab: enable MMC, set its output to DarkStage MTC Receive, then click OK.
  6. Window ▸ Transport: turn on Synchronization in the Transport menu, then click GEN MTC.
  7. Press Play. DarkStage follows.

If you relaunch DarkStage in the middle of a Pro Tools session, open Setup ▸ Peripherals and click OK so Pro Tools reconnects.

Logic Pro — HUI + MTC
  1. Control Surfaces ▸ Setup ▸ New ▸ Install: add Mackie Designs | HUI.
  2. Set Output Port to DarkStage HUI 1 In and Input Port to DarkStage HUI 1 Out.
  3. In the Control Surface Group, set Clock Display to Beats.
  4. File ▸ Project Settings ▸ Synchronization ▸ MIDI: choose DarkStage MTC Receive as a destination, then enable both MTC and MMC.
Cubase / Nuendo — Steinberg MIDI Remote
  1. In DarkStage, click Install Cubase / Nuendo Integration.
  2. In Cubase, open MIDI Remote and confirm a device named DarkStage is listed. If you just installed or updated the integration, open the Script Console and click Reload Scripts.
  3. After a fresh launch, move the playhead once so the counter updates.

Changes to Cubase's counter format are picked up automatically. Timecode for the SMPTE widget comes separately over MTC; the extra card on the DAW Sync page shows how.

Ableton Live — Remote Script
  1. In DarkStage, click Install Ableton Live Integration.
  2. Quit Live completely and start it again. Live only looks for new scripts at startup.
  3. Settings ▸ Link, Tempo & MIDI: set Control Surface to DarkStage. Leave Input and Output set to None.
  4. Choose Bars + Beats or Min:Sec on the Counter widget, under Counter Format.
FL Studio — Controller script + MIDI service
  1. Quit FL Studio first. Then, in DarkStage, click Install FL Studio MIDI Service. It keeps DarkStage's MIDI ports available even while DarkStage is closed, so FL doesn't jump back to the start of the song.
  2. Click Install FL Studio Controller Script.
  3. In FL, open Options ▸ MIDI settings. Under Input, select DarkStage FL In, turn Enable on, set Port to 250 and set Controller type to DarkStage.
  4. Under Output, select DarkStage FL Out and set Port to 250. Leave Send master sync off.
REAPER — OSC
  1. In DarkStage, click Install REAPER Integration. It adds one pattern file to REAPER.
  2. Options ▸ Preferences ▸ Control/OSC/web ▸ Add. Set the mode to OSC (Open Sound Control).
  3. Set Mode to Device IP/port [send only], Device IP to 127.0.0.1 and Device port to 19848.
  4. Set Pattern config to DarkStage and leave “Allow binding messages…” unticked. Click OK.
  5. REAPER sends three counters at once. Choose which one to show on the Counter widget, under Counter Format.

For the SMPTE widget, add REAPER's own SMPTE LTC/MTC Timecode Generator item, set it to send MIDI (MTC) and route it to DarkStage MTC Receive. It follows playback only, not the parked edit cursor. That's expected.

4. Your first overlay

  1. Press F13 and open the Wired Displays tab.
  2. In the display list under the canvas, select the screen you want to use.
  3. In the sidebar, click a widget, for example PPM / VU Meters, and switch it on.
  4. Press your overlay shortcut (F16). The display blacks out and shows your widgets.
  5. Drag widgets into place on the overlay, then press F16 again to hide it.

Short on time? In Settings ▸ Presets ▸ Factory Presets, choose the display, select The Essentials and click Apply. You get a working meter strip instantly, which you can then build on.

Pointer hidden while you arrange? Hold Control. It shows the pointer and stops anything you click from firing.

Typical first layouts

  • Mix screen: PPM / VU Meters, LUFS Meter and Counter on a second monitor above the desk.
  • Tracking room TV: a large Counter and Transport Status with a red record Border.
  • Mastering: LUFS Meter, Spectrum RTA and Correlation Meter.
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