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System Audio Capture

Requires macOS 14.4 or later. Windows support uses WASAPI.

System Audio Capture lets OmniScope monitor your computer's audio output without any external cabling. Audio from any application — DAW, NLE, media player — is captured directly and fed into OmniScope's Audio Meter and Goniometer scopes for real-time analysis.

System Audio Capture window

How It Works

OmniScope taps into the system's audio output device using platform-native APIs:

Platform
Technology
Minimum Version

macOS

Core Audio Tap (ScreenCaptureKit)

macOS 14.4

Windows

WASAPI loopback capture

Windows 10

The captured audio is delivered as 32-bit float samples at 48 kHz stereo and routed to OmniScope's audio pipeline — the same path used by hardware audio sources.

Opening System Audio Capture

Open the window from the Options menu or the toolbar:

Options > System Audio Capture

Controls

Control
Description

Start / Stop Capture

Begin or end system audio capture. On macOS, the first start may trigger a permission prompt.

Output Device

Select which audio output device to tap. Defaults to the system's current output device.

Audio Meter & Statistics

While capturing, the window displays:

  • Audio meter — real-time L/R peak meters with hold indicators and dB readout

  • Audio format — sample rate and channel count

  • Statistics — frames captured, buffer overruns, capture latency, and processing load

macOS Permissions

On macOS 14.4+, system audio capture requires Screen & System Audio Recording permission. If permission has not been granted:

  1. Click Start Capture — macOS will prompt you to allow access

  2. If previously denied, click Open System Settings and enable OmniScope under Privacy & Security > Screen & System Audio Recording

WAV Dump (Debug)

For diagnostic purposes, you can record captured audio to a WAV file:

  1. Enter a file path in the WAV Dump section

  2. Set the Max Seconds limit (1–120 seconds)

  3. Click Start WAV Dump to begin recording

The output is a 32-bit float PCM WAV file.

Use Cases

  • Audio QC without hardware routing — monitor loudness, stereo imaging, and phase directly from your NLE or DAW output

  • Remote review sessions — combine system audio capture with NDI output to stream both video scopes and audio analysis to a remote client

  • Quick A/V sync checks — pair system audio with a video source to verify lip sync without dedicated audio I/O

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