Live Rack

Getting started

Live Rack has no login of its own. Harmovant Audio Hub installs it, activates your Mac and keeps the license renewed.

1. Go to harmovant.com/downloads and sign in with your Harmovant account. Download Harmovant Audio Hub.
2. Open the Hub and sign in with the same e-mail and password. A 6-digit code arrives by e-mail to confirm it is you.
3. In the Hub, install Live Rack. The Hub checks the file before installing and asks for the Mac administrator password once. Live Rack goes to the Applications folder.
4. Start the 14-day trial or use your subscription or lifetime license. The Hub activates this Mac.
5. Open Live Rack. If macOS asks for microphone (audio input) or local network access, allow it.
6. Choose your audio interface and buffer size. For live use, start at 32 to 128 samples at 48 kHz.
7. Open a saved show or start from scratch.

Safe startup: Live Rack opens muted. The sound comes back with a smooth fade-in once everything has loaded, with no pops in the PA.

Plugins are not included. Live Rack uses the AU and VST3 plugins already installed and licensed on your Mac.

The screen

The screen has three fixed areas: the top bar, the sidebar on the left and the bank bar at the bottom. The center changes with the page you pick in the sidebar.

In CONSOLE, the VIEW buttons change what the strips show: HOME (inserts, pan, mute, solo and fader), FX (sends to the effects), INPUT and ROUTE. On the right, MIXER 1 and MIXER 2 switch between the two consoles of the show.

Each strip in HOME shows, from top to bottom: a color bar, the name, the input source (for example In 3, In 10/11 ST), INSERT 1 to 8, the pan knob with its value (C, L40, R70), MUTE and SOLO, the fader value and the peak value, the fader with its meter, and the channel number. The LR master sits on the right.

The status bar shows the real total latency in the Latency field.

USER KEYS: 16 keys are always at hand in the left column. Each key runs one action (clear solo, a mute group, next or previous scene, TAP tempo, FX sends on faders, switching page or layer and more) with its own name and color. Your user keys are saved with the show.

Channels, banks and layers

The console has up to 64 input channels, 16 subgroups, 8 FX returns, 6 matrices, 10 DCAs, 8 mute groups, LR and CUE. Channels can be mono or stereo; a stereo channel takes two inputs (L/R).

The bank bar at the bottom picks what the faders show. Each bank button has small live meters, so you see activity in banks that are not on screen.

LR Remote shows the same FULL and CUSTOM layers you set up on the Mac.

Channel screen (STRIP)

STRIP shows the selected channel with input, rack and output together, and the plugin open in the middle. Use the arrows next to the channel name in the top bar to move between channels.

Racks, inserts and plugins

Every channel has 8 insert slots for AU or VST3 plugins. Names are large and readable from across the room. In HOME, the inserts of all strips show as INSERT 1 to 8; a lit dot marks an active plugin.

1. Open the channel in STRIP.
2. Click an empty slot (Add Plugin) and search the plugin by name.
3. The plugin opens inside the console, in the middle of the channel screen.
4. Drag a plugin to another slot to move it, or to copy it.

Processing is spread across all processor cores. Live Rack compensates plugin latency per path: at each summing point, only the signals that sum together wait for the slowest one. A heavy plugin on one channel does not delay the whole console.

For live use, prefer zero or very low latency plugins: EQs, compressors, gates, de-essers, reverbs and delays made for live mixing. Avoid linear-phase, restoration or noise-cleanup plugins, and high-latency (look-ahead) tuning plugins: they delay the sound.

FX sends, matrices and Sends on Faders

Each channel sends to the 8 FX returns and to the 6 matrices. Every send has On, PRE (pre-fader) and a level. Set them in STRIP, or for all strips at once in the FX view.

1. In CONSOLE, click FX in the VIEW row. Each strip shows its 8 FX sends (ON/OFF and level).
2. Pick an FX in the list on the left (1 to 8).
3. Sends on Faders: the faders now set each channel's send to that FX, with ON and PRE above each fader. Build a monitor or effect mix as fast as on a hardware console.
4. Click HOME to bring the faders back to channel levels.

Mark FX reverbs and delays to stay out of latency compensation. The console then doesn't wait for them.

Groups, DCAs, mute groups and solo

• Subgroups: 16. Assign a channel in STRIP › Output › GROUP. Bank: GROUPS.
• DCAs: 10. Assign in STRIP › Output › DCA. Bank: DCA. DCAs can also go into CUSTOM layers.
• Mute groups: 8. Choose membership in STRIP › Output › MUTE 1–8. Turn each group on or off with MUTE GROUPS 1–8 in the top bar.
• Matrices: 6. Feed them with the Mtx sends or the MTX 1–6 assignment in STRIP.
• Solo goes to the CUE bus. CLR SOLO in the top bar lights while any solo is on; click it to clear all.

Scenes and shows

A show file stores everything: patch, routing, plugins, audio device and user keys. Inside the show, scenes store the mix for each moment of the set.

• Open the SCENES page from the sidebar.
• Scope: choose what each scene recalls.
• Recall safe: protect items that a scene recall must not change.
• GO recalls the next scene of the list.
• The current scene number and name stay visible in the top bar.

Scenes with GO are also available on LR Remote.

Routing, patch and audio devices

ROUTING shows the patch as a grid: channels in rows (with color, name and M or ST format) and device inputs or outputs in columns. The current input and output devices show at the top right.

1. Pick Input A, Input B or Output under Select Patch View.
2. Click the cell where the channel row meets the device column. Click again to clear.
3. To use more devices, click Input 2: + add, or Output 2, 3 or 4: + add, and choose the device.

Live Rack uses up to 2 input devices and 4 output devices at the same time, for example the stage interface, a recording interface and headphones. Clock differences between devices are corrected automatically. It also works together with AudiFlux, the Harmovant audio router for Mac.

Two mixers and several screens

A show has two consoles, MIXER 1 and MIXER 2. Each one keeps its own bank and its own view. Switch with the MIXER 1 and MIXER 2 buttons at the top right of CONSOLE.

Use both on one screen, or spread them across two or more screens. For example, keep the input channels on one mixer and the FX view or DCAs on the other.

Meters, peak hold and channel colors

• Each strip shows the fader value and, next to it, the peak value.
• The peak holds until you click the value.
• Option-click a peak value to clear every channel.
• Peaks keep counting even with the channel off screen.

Channel colors: the whole strip takes a light tint of its color and the name display lights up in it. Pick a color from the swatches, or Default to go back to the original. The color also marks the channel in ROUTING.

Latency and Safety buffer

With low-latency plugins, the path from input to LR output stays between 5 and 14 ms, with the Safety buffer at stage 1 and a buffer of 32 to 128 samples at 48 kHz. Linear-phase or look-ahead plugins add latency.

The Safety buffer protects against dropouts when macOS spikes, for example when you switch apps or record in another program. Each stage holds one more buffer, and the time it adds is included in the total latency.

FX reverbs and delays marked out of compensation don't make the console wait. A heavy plugin on one channel only delays the signals that sum with it.

LR Remote (iPhone and iPad)

LR Remote controls Live Rack from an iPhone or iPad over the local network. Walk the room, hear the PA from any seat and adjust the mix and plugins on the iPad. It is free for every Live Rack subscriber and needs iOS 17 or later.

1. Connect the iPhone or iPad to the same network as the Mac running Live Rack.
2. Open LR Remote and pick your Live Rack.
3. Type the 4-digit code shown next to the clock in Live Rack. A new code is created every time Live Rack opens.
4. The app reconnects by itself until Live Rack is opened again.

• Full mixer: faders, pan, mute, solo and live meters, with the same FULL and CUSTOM layers as the Mac.
• Plugins: touch controls for every parameter, plus the real plugin window mirrored on screen. Tap and drag as if you were at the Mac. A plugin opened from the iPad does not appear on the Mac screen.
• Racks and inserts: insert, remove, move and bypass plugins on any channel.
• Show and tempo: scenes with GO, TAP tempo always in reach, DCAs and mute groups.
• Several devices: connect more than one iPhone or iPad at once; every device follows the changes.

The network never touches audio processing. Every remote command goes through the same path as a click on the Mac.

LR Remote is coming soon to the App Store.

License

• Plans: monthly or annual subscription, or lifetime license. Every plan includes every feature.
• 14-day free trial with every feature.
• 1 Mac at a time per license.
• Activation and renewal happen only through Harmovant Audio Hub. There is no login inside Live Rack.
• Works offline: once activated, Live Rack needs no internet during the show. It works until the date shown in Setup › License.
• The Hub renews the license in the background whenever the Mac is online. Connect the Mac to the internet now and then.

Audio is never cut. If the license or subscription expires mid-show, Live Rack keeps running until you close it and only shows a notice.

New Mac: in My account on harmovant.com, deactivate the old Mac, then sign in to the Hub on the new one. You can also sign in to the Hub on the new Mac directly: the license moves to it.

Troubleshooting

• No sound right after opening: normal. Live Rack opens muted and fades in once everything has loaded.
• Clicks or dropouts: keep the Safety buffer at stage 1 or raise it to 2 or 3, or raise the buffer size. Avoid other heavy work on the Mac during the show.
• Latency higher than expected: check the Latency field in the status bar and CHANNEL LATENCY in STRIP › Rack. Replace linear-phase or look-ahead plugins, and mark FX reverbs and delays out of compensation.
• High CPU: usage depends on the plugins you load. Heavy plugins, such as real-time pitch correction, may need a more powerful Mac.
• A plugin is missing from the search: it must be installed on the Mac as AU or VST3 and licensed.
• A channel has no signal: check the cell in ROUTING › Input A (or Input B if B is selected in STRIP) and that the input device is not "none".
• LR Remote does not connect: put the iPhone or iPad on the same network as the Mac, allow local network access for Live Rack in macOS, and type the current code. The code changes every time Live Rack opens.
• Need help: sign in at harmovant.com/support and send a message. We reply by e-mail on business days.

Mouse actions and shortcuts

Specifications