System Audio Capture
BETA — Available in 1.11.x releases. 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.
How It Works
OmniScope taps into the system's audio output device using platform-native APIs:
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
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:
Click Start Capture — macOS will prompt you to allow access
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:
Enter a file path in the WAV Dump section
Set the Max Seconds limit (1–120 seconds)
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
Related
Last updated