Support

Installing, activating, and what to do when something misbehaves. If none of this covers it, email me.

Installing

One download, free or full - a licence key unlocks the rest in place. Updating is the same: run the new installer over the top. Your licence, saved references and settings are kept.

macOS

  1. Double-click the .pkg installer.
  2. Follow the instructions.

Windows

  1. Double-click the .exe. A blue “Windows protected your PC” screen appears.
  2. Click More info, then Run anyway.
  3. Follow the steps.

If Windows Defender removes the file instead of warning: Windows Security → Virus & threat protection → Manage settings → turn off Real-time protection, install, then turn it back on.

Activating your licence

Spanner, License, Activate

Click the spanner in the top-right corner of the plugin, choose License, paste your key and press Activate.

A licence covers 2 machines; press Deactivate on one you no longer use to free the slot. Activating needs an internet connection. After that the plugin checks in quietly in the background, and keeps working for up to 72 hours offline.

On macOS, activating also asks for the audio permission the meters need - see Screen Recording below.

No audio on B?

B silent in the meters, no LUFS readings, no tonal balance line, or Auto-Match failing? Start here.

Repair audio access (macOS)

  1. In the plugin, click the spanner and choose Repair audio access. It shows whether reference audio is coming through.
  2. Press Reconnect. This restarts the audio helper and, if the permission is missing, asks for it again.
  3. Still blocked? Choose Still blocked? Reset access… and confirm. This clears Stream AB’s Screen Recording permission - and nothing else’s - so macOS asks afresh. Allow it, and press Quit & Reopen if macOS offers.
  4. Select B and play a reference. The status should read “Connected. Receiving reference audio.”

If that still doesn’t bring it back, work through the Screen Recording permission below in detail.

On Windows there is no permission involved. Make sure the reference is actually playing and audible, then close and reopen the plugin window.

The macOS permissions

Up to three kinds of prompt, each once, full version only. Windows asks for nothing.

None of them affect A/B switching or the gain trim - denying one only costs you the feature it is for.

Controlling Spotify and Music

macOS asks whether an app may control Spotify, and again for Music. Allow both - that is what shows the track name, artwork and scrub bar. Some DAWs, like Ableton Live, ask in their own name; in others a small bundled helper, Stream AB Helper, asks instead. Same permission either way.

macOS: Ableton Live 12 Suite wants access to control Spotify
Some DAWs ask in their own name…
macOS: Ableton Live 12 Suite wants access to control Music
…once for Spotify, once for Music.
macOS: Stream AB Helper wants access to control Spotify
In other DAWs, Stream AB Helper asks…
macOS: Stream AB Helper wants access to control Music
…with the same two prompts.

Dismissed one? Re-enable it at System Settings → Privacy & Security → Automation, under your DAW or “Stream AB Helper”.

Screen Recording, for the reference audio

Measuring the reference means capturing system audio, and macOS keeps system-audio capture behind the Screen Recording permission - there is no audio-only permission to ask for instead. Nothing is recorded and no screen is read. The helper takes audio only and produces numbers; nothing is stored or sent anywhere.

The prompt comes from Stream AB Audio Helper, once, when you activate your licence. Needs macOS 13 or later.

macOS: Stream AB Audio Helper would like to record this computer's screen and audio
1. Click Open System Settings.
System Settings with Stream AB Audio Helper switched on
2. Switch Stream AB Audio Helper on.
macOS: Stream AB Audio Helper may not be able to record until it is quit
3. Click Quit & Reopen.

Quit & Reopen is normal: a new grant only applies to a freshly started helper. It doesn’t touch your DAW, and “Later” works too - the helper restarts itself shortly.

Never saw a prompt? It may have opened behind your DAW window - minimise the DAW and look. Or switch Stream AB Audio Helper on yourself at System Settings → Privacy & Security → Screen & System Audio Recording, then use Repair audio access.

On macOS 26 the prompt is worded more alarmingly - “bypass the system private window picker”. It is the same permission: a request for system audio has no window to pick, so macOS describes the widest thing that permission could cover. The helper still takes audio only.

Device Control and Data Access

To play the exact song you picked in Apple Music or TIDAL, the plugin selects it inside that app for you, which macOS only allows with this permission. It is asked for in your DAW’s name, the first time you play an Apple Music or TIDAL result. Before macOS 27 it is called Accessibility.

macOS: Ableton Live 12 Suite would like to control this Mac and access your data
Asked in your DAW's name - here, Ableton Live…
macOS: FL Studio 2026 would like to control this Mac and access your data
…or FL Studio.

Click Open System Settings, switch your DAW on under Privacy & Security → Device Control and Data Access (or Accessibility), then go back to the plugin and select the song again. Spotify and YouTube never need it.

Search problems

When a search result doesn't play the way it should.

Nothing plays, or it says to install the app

Search hands the song to that service’s desktop app - Spotify, Music or TIDAL - or to your browser for YouTube. The app needs to be installed and signed in. Apple Music and TIDAL also need a subscription of their own to play full songs.

Apple Music or TIDAL opens but doesn't play (macOS)

To pick the exact song in those apps, your DAW needs the Device Control and Data Access permission (called Accessibility before macOS 27). Allow it, then select the song again from search.

“Search unavailable”, “No connection” or “Search limit reached”

Search runs through the internet and needs an activated licence. Check your connection and try again. If you hit the limit, wait the few seconds it tells you - it resets quickly.

It played a different version of the song

Services often list several versions - remasters, live takes, edits. Pick the exact result you want from the list; the plugin plays that one, not the closest match.

“Playback is busy” or “Selection changed”

A newer selection took over while the last one was still starting. Wait a moment and pick the song again.

Save asks “Where is this audio playing from?”

It could not tell which service is playing - common with a browser tab. Choose the service and it will find the song there to save it.

Compatibility

macOS

  • macOS 13 or later
  • Intel and Apple silicon
  • AU, VST3 and native AAX
  • Tested: Pro Tools, Logic Pro, Ableton Live, FL Studio, Cubase, Reaper, GarageBand

Windows

  • Windows 10 (1809) or later, 64-bit
  • VST3 and native AAX (AAX not yet tested in Pro Tools)
  • Tested: FL Studio, Ableton Live, Reason, Cubase, Reaper

A/B, play, pause, skip and gain matching work everywhere, with every source. What varies is the track display and the meters.

On Windows both are uniform - the OS publishes a media API browsers report to, and audio loopback is built in.

On macOS, Apple restricted now-playing information in 15.4. Stream AB works around it and currently shows everything, everywhere tested. If a future update closes the route, the display narrows to Spotify and Apple Music - the switching is untouched, and the meters keep working since they measure audio rather than reading track data.

Whether a source honours a seek is up to that app - a browser tab’s scrub support depends on the page.

Pro Tools

macOS

Native AAX, included in the installer alongside AU and VST3. Tested and confirmed working in Pro Tools.

Windows

Native AAX, included alongside VST3, built and signed the same way. It should work fine but has not been tested in Pro Tools on Windows yet - if you run into anything, tell me.

No wrapper needed, and your Stream AB licence works as normal - there is no separate iLok licence.

Questions

A/B switching, play and pause, the manual gain trim, MIDI and keybind mapping, interface scaling and a guided tutorial - every DAW, both operating systems, no account, and it never expires. The locked full-version panels stay visible with a padlock, so you can see what is there.
No. It is one installer - activate your key in the copy you have and it unlocks in place.
No, and nobody signs into Spotify. The plugin asks the Spotify desktop app on your machine to play the track.
No. Anything your computer plays works with A/B, the transport and the meters - start it yourself and Stream AB picks it up. Search covers Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and TIDAL.
No. It mutes, unmutes, and applies the gain trim. The meters read audio as it plays and produce numbers; nothing is stored or sent anywhere. Codec preview only changes what you hear while it is switched on.
It measures the passage that plays while it listens - at least six seconds, up to fifteen if the level keeps moving - so a verse and a chorus genuinely give different answers. Run it over the part you are working on. If the level never settles it says “Approximate”; trim the rest by ear.
Streaming services normalise playback, so a track can play quieter than it was mastered. B’s meters calibrate to each track’s loudest peak, so your app’s volume slider doesn’t skew them - press B’s Reset if you change it mid-track. Auto gain match deliberately works from what you actually hear, because the job is a fair A/B.
The plugin can control playback but not read what it is. On macOS, re-enable the Automation permission. On Windows the source app probably doesn’t report to the system media controls.
Check the ear button. Streaming codec preview encodes A while it is on, so an export made with it on is encoded too, and it adds about a quarter of a second of latency that your DAW compensates for. Turn it off before you bounce.
Two machines per licence. Deactivate in the settings on an old machine to free a slot.
That can happen when updating from an older version. Allow them again - the permissions guide shows each one.

Still stuck

Email support@stream-ab.com. Your OS version, your DAW and what you were playing gets to an answer fastest.