No Input Mixer Standalone App

s3g No Input Mixer runs the same No Input Mixer DSP outside a plugin host and adds Stereo Autogain, Quad Autogain, and direct eight-channel Core Audio output. The app embeds its processors: REAPER and the separately distributed s3g-dsp CLAP package are not required.

One Instrument, Two Ways to Run It

The app and s3g Processor No Input Mixer 8ch share the matrix, feedback network, lanes, effects, movement, behavior, presets, randomization, safety processing, and processor state format. Their storage remains separate: the app saves preferences locally, while a host saves the CLAP state in its project. Use the No Input Mixer processor guide for the common controls.

The standalone opens no hardware audio inputs. The no-input feedback network generates its signal internally, just as the CLAP instrument does.

This page covers the standalone layer: installation, Core Audio devices, hardware-output modes, Safe Mute, CoreMIDI routing, embedded gesture sessions, remembered settings, and diagnostics. The No Input Mixer MIDI Control page remains the reference for the MIDI protocol and E16, BU16, and DIY controller mappings.

Download and Install

1. Download s3g-no-input-mixer-app-macos-arm64-0.6.0-pre.zip from the GitHub releases page, unzip it, and quit s3g No Input Mixer if an earlier copy is running.
2. Double-click Install s3g No Input Mixer.command.
3. If macOS blocks it, click OK, open System Settings > Privacy & Security, and choose Open Anyway. Confirm Open and authenticate if asked. This option remains available for about one hour after the blocked launch.
4. If prompted, allow Terminal to access the downloaded folder and wait for the installer to finish.
5. Open s3g No Input Mixer from the current user's Applications folder. The installer deliberately does not launch an audio application automatically.

See Apple's Open a Mac app from an unknown developer for the same approval process.

Install Location and Update Safety

~/Applications/s3g No Input Mixer.app

The installer validates the app's identity, executable, architecture, and signature before changing the destination. It stages and verifies the complete new copy first, removes only com.apple.quarantine from that staged app, then moves an identity-verified previous version to:

~/Library/Application Support/s3g-dsp/No Input Mixer Backups/

An unrelated app, ordinary file, or symlink at the destination is never replaced. The installer writes only inside the current user's folders, never uses sudo, never changes global Gatekeeper settings, and does not touch the CLAP collection, application preferences, or user-saved .nimgesture files.

To validate the source and preview the exact destination and backup operation without writing anything, run this from the unzipped package folder:

./Install\ s3g\ No\ Input\ Mixer.command --dry-run

First Launch and Audio Safety

1. Begin with interface, amplifier, and monitor levels low.
2. The app opens its selected Core Audio device on launch but starts signal-muted. Confirm that the status strip reads SAFE MUTED.
3. In the persistent ROUTE strip, choose STEREO · 2CH, QUAD · 4CH, or DIRECT · 8CH. Select the intended device and OUT channel bank. A mode is disabled when the device does not provide enough outputs.
4. Keep the No Input Mixer's ceiling limiter enabled while establishing the feedback patch. Select AUDIO ON only after checking the entire hardware route.
5. PANIC remains available in the output strip on every processor page. EDIT OUTPUT opens the Stereo or Quad Autogain controls; Direct 8 sends the eight NIM lanes directly to the selected hardware bank.

Output Modes and Hardware Routing

The persistent ROUTE strip sits above every No Input Mixer page. It contains the output mode, Core Audio device, hardware bank, output editor, Safe Mute control, Panic, tempo, MIDI setup, and a status line. Changing the NIM page never hides these controls.

In either Output Editor, leave IN at 8 so all eight NIM lanes reach the fold-down. A lower value deliberately omits higher-numbered lanes; a value above eight cannot add sources because the embedded NIM chain supplies exactly eight. See Output Autogain Stereo and Output Autogain Quad for the shared layout and gain controls.

A mode is available only when the selected device has enough outputs. The OUT menu lists complete, non-overlapping banks for that mode: for example, an eight-output device offers four stereo banks, two quad banks, or one direct eight-channel bank. Check the device and displayed channel numbers before selecting AUDIO ON.

The app follows the selected Core Audio device's current sample rate and hardware buffer size; it does not add a separate buffer setting. Configure those values in the device's control software when available, then reselect the device or relaunch the app after a hardware configuration change. The status line reports the active sample rate, and Realtime Diagnostics adds buffer and timing details.

AUDIO ON opens the final monitoring gate; selecting it changes the status from SAFE MUTED to LIVE. Selecting AUDIO OFF closes that gate without changing the patch. Choosing another Core Audio device also returns the app to Safe Mute. PANIC invokes the NIM emergency fade/reset and returns the app to Safe Mute. After a panic, inspect or reseed the network before turning audio on again.

MIDI and Gesture Sessions

MIDI is optional. Select MIDI in the output strip and use INPUT SOURCES to enable only the CoreMIDI devices that should control NIM. Before the first selection is configured, all connected sources are enabled; review this menu when first setting up the app. The list is rescanned whenever the MIDI window opens and includes ENABLE ALL and DISABLE ALL. Unlike the CLAP processor, the app opens these hardware sources itself rather than receiving whatever a host routes to a track.

GRID FEEDBACK selects the destination for BU16 colors, and NRPN FEEDBACK selects the destination for E16 ring and state updates. Either destination can be set to FEEDBACK OFF. Turn E16 USB Thru off whenever returned NRPN feedback is enabled, or the controller can send the returned state back into the app.

The app uses the same E16, BU16, NRPN, note/velocity, polarity, and LED-feedback protocol as the CLAP processor. See No Input Mixer MIDI Control for the supplied controller setup and complete DIY mapping specification.

Embedded NIM Gesture recordings are deliberately transient. Unsaved loops are cleared when the app quits, Play is not restored on launch, and the last session is never reopened automatically. Use SAVE SESSION to export a .nimgesture file and LOAD SESSION to load one deliberately. A loaded session remains paused until Play is turned on.

What the App Remembers

When the app quits normally, it remembers the No Input Mixer processor state, Stereo and Quad Autogain settings, selected output mode and bank, tempo, Core Audio device, enabled MIDI input sources, and E16/Grid feedback destinations. It restores the saved audio device when available and otherwise uses the current default output device.

For safety, the final audio gate always starts muted. Gesture recordings, Gesture Play, realtime diagnostic counters, and an exported session's file location are not restored automatically. This separates a reusable processor setup from a deliberate performance recording.

Manual Installation

Use this only for a fresh install. Quit the app, open Terminal in the unzipped package folder, and run:

mkdir -p "$HOME/Applications"
/usr/bin/ditto --noqtn "./s3g No Input Mixer.app" \
  "$HOME/Applications/s3g No Input Mixer.app"
/usr/bin/xattr -drs com.apple.quarantine \
  "$HOME/Applications/s3g No Input Mixer.app"

The included installer is preferred for an update because it verifies and backs up the prior application before replacement.

Uninstall

1. Quit s3g No Input Mixer.
2. Move ~/Applications/s3g No Input Mixer.app to Trash.
3. Optionally reset its saved DSP, MIDI-source, device, and output-routing preferences with defaults delete org.s3g.s3g-dsp.no-input-mixer-standalone.
4. Optionally remove no-longer-needed copies from the backup folder above.

Removing the app does not remove separately installed s3g-dsp CLAP plugins or user-saved .nimgesture sessions.

Troubleshooting and Diagnostics

• If the installer is blocked, repeat the Open Anyway sequence within one hour of the attempted launch.
• If a route mode is unavailable, select a Core Audio device with the required two, four, or eight hardware outputs.
• If the strip shows AUDIO ERROR, confirm that the selected device is connected and not exclusively held by another application, then select another device if necessary.
• Restart the app after connecting a new audio interface or a new E16/Grid feedback destination. Audio devices and MIDI feedback destinations are listed at launch; MIDI input sources alone are rescanned while the app is running.
• If audio crackles and the diagnostics report overloads or late callbacks, increase the hardware buffer in the device's control software, reselect the device or restart the app, reset the diagnostic counters, and test again.
• Choose Show Realtime Diagnostics from the application menu to observe callback timing, Core Audio overloads and discontinuities, embedded processing errors, non-finite output, and MIDI drops. Reset Realtime Diagnostics starts a fresh observation and Copy Realtime Diagnostics Report copies the current configuration and counters.