The honest answers.

A paid audio plug-in (AU on Mac, VST3 on Mac and Windows) plus a free phone app for iPhone and Android. The plug-in sits on your DAW's master bus and streams that audio over your local Wi‑Fi to your phone, so you hear your mix on a phone speaker, the way a lot of people will hear it.

Yes. The plug-in captures audio inside the DAW; the phone app plays it back. The plug-in alone has nowhere to send the sound. The phone app alone has nothing to play.

A Mac running macOS 12 or later, or a 64-bit Windows 10 or 11 PC (installing needs admin rights). A supported DAW, listed below. A phone: an iPhone with iOS 16 or later, or an Android phone with Android 8.0 or later. Your computer and your phone must be on the same Wi‑Fi.

Your computer and your phone must be on the same Wi‑Fi network. Either 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz works, but 5 GHz is strongly preferred. On good Wi‑Fi the delay is short and steady. Stream quality starts on Auto, which adjusts to your Wi‑Fi. On crowded 2.4 GHz, pick Balanced or Stable in Settings to ride out the interference. A change takes effect right away.

Eight DAWs: Logic Pro, REAPER, Cubase, Studio One (now Fender Studio Pro), FL Studio, GarageBand, Ableton Live, and Bitwig Studio. In each one the plug-in goes on the master bus as an AU or VST3 and sends that audio to your phone, with the same features everywhere. Logic Pro and GarageBand are Mac-only; the rest run on Mac and Windows. The matrix on the features page lays it out.

Not yet, but it's coming. Pro Tools only loads plug-ins in Avid's AAX format, and mixaphone is AU and VST3 today. AAX is the next thing we're building. If you want a note when it's out, email support.

Yes. The setup is signed, but Windows SmartScreen warns about new downloads until enough people have run them. Click "More info", then "Run anyway". Not sure? Email support@humpbackaudio.com before you run it.

Mac: double-click "Uninstall Mixaphone" in the disk image. Windows: open Settings, then Apps, then Installed apps, and choose Uninstall next to Mixaphone. Both offer to free your activation slot first. Full instructions, including how to remove it by hand: humpbackaudio.com/setup#uninstall

Your DAW is showing the list it saved before. Quit the DAW and open it again. In Logic Pro you can also open Logic Pro, Settings, Plug-in Manager and click Reset & Rescan Selection. Still there on a Mac? Restart the Mac. If you're comfortable with Terminal, this does the same without a restart: killall -9 AudioComponentRegistrar, then open your DAW again.

That copy was installed for every user of the Mac, usually by hand, in the main Library folder. In Finder, choose Go, then Go to Folder, paste /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components and drag Mixaphone.component to the Trash. Do the same in /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3 with Mixaphone.vst3. Your Mac asks for its password. Then quit your DAW and open it again.

On the old computer, run the uninstaller and choose "Free the slot first". Then install mixaphone on the new computer and activate it with the same license key. If the old computer is already gone, email support@humpbackaudio.com with your order number and we'll free the slot by hand.

$14 USD, one-time. The iPhone and Android apps are free on the App Store and Play Store.

Up to three computers per license. Your phone doesn't count. To free a slot, open the plug-in on the computer you want to free, click the gear to open About, then Manage license, then Deactivate this computer. If a computer is gone, email support@humpbackaudio.com with your order number and we'll free the slot by hand.

No, and this one catches people out. Deleting the plug-in leaves the activation sitting there, just unreachable. Before you wipe, sell, or reinstall a computer, deactivate it from inside the plug-in: click the gear to open About, then Manage license, then Deactivate this computer. If it is already too late, email support@humpbackaudio.com with your order number and we will free the slot by hand.

No, all sales are final. At $14 mixaphone is already priced low, and your license key arrives the moment you pay. If something doesn't work, email support@humpbackaudio.com and we'll help you get it running.

Yes, through v2.x. If we eventually ship a major paid upgrade, existing buyers get a meaningful discount, and we'll publish the policy at least a month before the upgrade lands. No surprises.

No. One-time purchase, no account. When the plug-in loads and its last license check is more than 24 hours old, it checks again. If it can't get online, it keeps working for up to 7 days after the last successful check. After that it opens on the license screen until it can check again.

Very little. The plug-in and phone apps send no analytics, and your audio never leaves your local Wi‑Fi. Two small checks do go out from them. The iPhone app asks Apple if an update is out, sending only the app's ID (Android uses Google Play's own update check). The plug-in sends Lemon Squeezy your license key to check it, plus your computer's name when you activate. The website sets no cookie and loads no tracking script; Cloudflare, which hosts it, keeps aggregate request counts from its own server logs. If you arrive from one of our ads, the ad's tag goes to Lemon Squeezy with your order. The support form sends us your message with your IP address and browser.

Yes, once it is activated. Audio streams locally over Wi‑Fi, never the internet. Activating a license needs internet. After that the plug-in checks your license when it loads, if the last check is more than 24 hours old. If it can't get online, it keeps working for up to 7 days after the last successful check. After that it opens on the license screen until it can check again. Plenty of room for a basement studio with no internet.