One file, looped forever, bit for bit.
ShowLoop plays a single reference file on an endless, gapless loop inside your Audio Unit host. It's built for main/backup rigs, where a backup system can watch a reference signal to decide whether the main is alive, and it counts three kinds of error: loop seam, dropout and missing file. This guide covers ShowLoop 1.0: setup, running a show, and what every status means.
What ShowLoop does
ShowLoop is an Audio Unit plugin with one job: play one WAV file on a loop that never gaps, clicks or drifts. On a main/backup rig it plays your reference file, which carries the reference signal (often called a pilot tone) a backup system can listen for. Any break in that signal can trigger a switch to backup, so ShowLoop counts loop-seam errors, dropouts and missing files.
Bit-exact, by design
The output is a straight copy of your file's samples. No gain, no dither, no resampling, no interpolation. What's in the file is exactly what leaves the plugin.
Gapless at the loop point
The whole file is held in memory. When playback reaches the end, the next sample is the file's first, inside the same audio block, with nothing in between.
Checked as it plays
Every loop point is checked against the file itself, the host's timeline is watched for gaps, and a missing file on reload is flagged. Loop-seam errors, dropouts and missing files are counted and kept on screen.
Hard to stop by accident
One tap starts it. Stopping takes a five-second hold. While it plays, Add File and Remove File are locked.
Requirements
- An Apple Silicon Mac. ShowLoop is built for Apple Silicon only. macOS 12 Monterey or later. ShowLoop has so far been tested on macOS 26 Tahoe.
- An Audio Unit host. ShowLoop is an Audio Unit plugin for macOS.
- A reference file: a WAV at your session's sample rate, 16- or 24-bit PCM or 32-bit float.
- Passes Audio Unit validation (auval) on macOS.
ShowLoop adds no latency.
Quick start
If you just want to get running, this is the short path. Each step is expanded later in the guide.
- Install ShowLoop. Download the installer and open it, then follow its steps. It shows the license agreement, then installs ShowLoop for your user account only, in ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components. It appears in your host's Audio Unit effects as ShowLoop by RememberLive.
- Insert ShowLoop on its own channel, the one you have set your backup system to watch. Do this on both the Main and the Backup rig.
- Click Add File and choose your reference file.
- Tap Play. The meter shows a level and the error row reads 0 errors.
- Save your show. ShowLoop remembers its file. After a reload, tap Play again; it never starts by itself.
Adding ShowLoop to your show
ShowLoop is an Audio Unit effect. Insert it on a dedicated channel, the one that carries the reference signal to your backup system.
ShowLoop replaces whatever audio reaches that channel. While it plays, the channel carries your file. While it's stopped, or has no file, the channel is silent. Don't insert it on a channel that carries anything else.
Channels: a mono file plays on every output channel. A multichannel file plays output channel 1 from file channel 1, channel 2 from channel 2 and so on, wrapping round if the file has fewer channels than the output.
Adding a file
Click Add File and choose a WAV file. The dialog only offers WAV files. ShowLoop checks the file, then copies it into its own private storage and loads it into memory. From then on it plays that copy, never your original, so moving or deleting the original changes nothing.
What it accepts:
- WAV only, at 16- or 24-bit PCM, or 32-bit float. These all play bit-exact. Wider formats are refused rather than rounded.
- The session's sample rate. A file at any other rate is refused, never resampled.
- One file per ShowLoop. Adding a new file replaces the one you had.
A refused file never replaces the file you already have: you keep playing what was there. The reason appears in red under the file name (see Troubleshooting).
Add File is locked while ShowLoop is playing. Stop first (a five-second hold), then add.
The Add File dialog doesn't freeze anything else. Other ShowLoop windows, and the rest of your host, keep working while it's open.
Removing a file
Click Remove File to delete the file from ShowLoop's storage. The file name reads No file, and Play is unavailable until you add another.
Remove File is locked while playing.
Where your file lives
ShowLoop keeps its copies in ~/Library/Application Support/ShowLoop/. The file is copied in on Add and deleted on Remove. Your original is never touched.
Every ShowLoop on the Mac shares this one folder. If two ShowLoops hold the same file name, Remove File in one deletes it for both. The other keeps playing until the show is reloaded, then reports File Missing. Remove a file only when no other ShowLoop is using it.
Play and hold to stop
ShowLoop has one round button.
- Tap to play. Playback starts straight away, always from the first sample of the file. The button turns green with a white stop square.
- A quick tap while playing does nothing. That's deliberate, so a stray click can't stop your signal.
- Press and hold for five seconds to stop. An amber ring fills around the button as you hold. When it's full, playback stops.
- Let go early and nothing changes. The ring disappears and the loop carries on, uninterrupted.
The button is dimmed and does nothing when there's no file, or when the file's sample rate doesn't match the session.
Reading the level meter
A thin bar under the controls shows ShowLoop's output level, with the number beside it.
- Scale: 0 dBFS at the right, −90 dBFS at the left, each dB the same width. Faint marks sit at −60 and −30.
- Readout: the level to a tenth of a dB, for example −67.4 dB. A dash (—) means silence.
- Movement: the bar jumps straight up to a new peak and falls back at about 20 dB a second. It shows the most recent audio, checked about 30 times a second.
The meter reads down to −90 dBFS, so it shows even very quiet reference signals. A dash while playing means nothing is coming out, and is worth checking.
Errors
The error counter
The error row is always on screen, below the meter.
| Dot | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Grey | 0 errors. Nothing has gone wrong since the last Reset. |
| Red | One or more errors. The count shows how many, and Last shows the date and time of the most recent. |
The count never clears by itself. It stays red until you press Reset, which clears the count, the time and the Error Details list in one tap. Reset is only available when there's something to clear.
Errors are kept for as long as ShowLoop is loaded. Closing and reopening its window keeps them, but they aren't saved with your show, so quitting the host clears them. Read them before you quit.
Error Details
Click Error Details below the error row to open the list. It's collapsed by default, and opening it makes the window taller.
- Each line shows the error's type and its date and time to the millisecond, newest at the top.
- It keeps the latest 100. Older ones drop off, but the count above still shows the true total, and the header says, for example, Latest 100 of 145.
- A red dot on the Error Details header means the list has entries. With none, it reads No errors logged.
- The list scrolls.
On a long run, check the list partway through as well as at the end, in case it passes 100. Look at the times as well as the types: a cluster of dropouts at one moment usually lines up with something else happening on the Mac.
The three error types
ShowLoop counts exactly three things.
Dropout
The host skipped some of ShowLoop's audio: there was a gap in what reached the output. ShowLoop can't see the audio interface itself. It watches the host's timeline, and counts a dropout when audio it produced never made it out. Typical causes are the Mac being too busy at that moment, such as a heavy app, a software build or a very small buffer size. A dropout breaks the reference signal, which a backup system may read as a failure.
Loop Seam
The loop point, where the file loops back to its start, didn't come out exactly as the file says it should. ShowLoop checks the samples either side of every loop point, bit for bit, against the file's own last and first samples. This should never appear. If it does, stop and investigate before trusting the loop.
File Missing
A show was reloaded, but ShowLoop's copy of its file had gone from storage. ShowLoop shows "The saved file is missing from storage:" with the file name, holds no file, and counts the error. This only happens when a show loads, never during playback. Add the file again to continue.
Saving and reloading a show
ShowLoop saves which file it holds with your host's show file. When you reopen the show, it reloads that file from its storage.
- It never starts by itself. After a reload, ShowLoop waits, stopped, until you tap Play.
- If the file has gone from storage, you'll see File Missing (see above).
- If the session's sample rate now differs from the file's, playback stops, Play is dimmed, and a sample-rate message explains why. It clears once the rates match again.
Controls reference
ShowLoop has no settings. Everything is on its one window.
| Control | What it does | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Add File | Copies a WAV into storage and loads it | Locked while playing. Replaces the current file. |
| Remove File | Deletes the file from storage | Locked while playing. |
| Play / Stop | Tap to play; hold 5 s to stop | A quick tap while playing does nothing. Green while playing; amber ring while holding. |
| File name | The current file, or No file | Messages appear in red underneath. |
| Level meter | Output level, 0 to −90 dBFS | A dash means silence. |
| Error row | Status dot, count, time of last error, Reset | Grey at 0, red with errors. |
| Error Details | The latest 100 errors with type and time | Collapsed by default. |
| About | Version and credits | Collapsed by default. |
About
Open About at the bottom of the window to see:
- Version: the plugin's version and build number
- © RememberLive 2026
- Designed and Programmed by Remember Chaitezvi
- rememberlive.africa
Trial & license
ShowLoop needs a license key or a free 14-day trial before its controls open. Until then, its window shows the license screen: "Enter your license key, or start a free 14-day trial."
Start a free trial
Click Start Free Trial. ShowLoop shows Starting your trial… while it connects, then opens its controls. The trial is for the Mac you start it on. While it runs, a line at the top of the window reads Trial — 14 days left and counts down the days.
Enter a license key
On the license screen, type or paste your key into the License key field and click Activate. ShowLoop shows Activating… while it connects. During a trial, click Enter License on the trial line instead, enter your key and click Activate; Cancel closes the field.
A license is activated on the Mac you enter it on, and saved on that Mac. One license covers 2 machines.
When the trial ends
The next time the window opens, the license screen reads "Your 14-day trial has ended. Enter your license key to continue."
Internet and offline use
Starting the trial and activating a key need an internet connection. They are the only things ShowLoop does over the internet. After that, ShowLoop checks the license on the Mac itself each time its window opens, with no connection needed.
License messages
- "Enter a license key first."
Activate was clicked with the key field empty. - "Couldn't reach the licensing server. Check the internet connection and try again."
There's no internet connection, or the licensing server didn't answer. - "A free trial isn't available right now. Enter a license key instead."
The trial couldn't be started for this Mac. - "That isn't a ShowLoop license key. Check it and try again."
The key isn't a ShowLoop key. Check it for typing mistakes. - "That trial has ended. Enter a license key to continue."
The key is a trial key, and its trial is over. - "This license key is already in use on as many Macs as it allows."
The key is already in use on its full number of Macs. - "That license key isn't recognised. It may have been revoked."
The licensing server doesn't know this key. - "That license key has been suspended."
The key can't be used while it's suspended. - "This license is registered to a different Mac. Enter a license key to use ShowLoop on this Mac."
Shown when the window opens: the saved license was activated on a different Mac.
Troubleshooting
Play is dimmed and does nothing
There's no file (the name reads No file), or the file's sample rate doesn't match the session. Add a file, or match the session rate to the file.
A tap doesn't stop playback
That's by design. Press and hold for five seconds until the amber ring is full.
Add File and Remove File don't respond
They're locked while ShowLoop plays. Stop first (a five-second hold).
"Sample rate mismatch: the file is 48 kHz, the session is 44.1 kHz."
The file and the session run at different rates, and ShowLoop never resamples. When adding a file, the message ends "File not loaded." and your previous file stays. If the session rate changes while a file is loaded, playback stops. Set the session to the file's rate, or use a file made at the session's rate.
"The saved file is missing from storage: [name]"
The show expected a file that's no longer in ShowLoop's storage, perhaps removed from another ShowLoop, or deleted by hand. It's counted as File Missing. Add the file again.
"Only WAV files can be added."
ShowLoop plays WAV files only. Convert the file to WAV first.
"This isn't a readable WAV file."
The file isn't a valid WAV, or it's damaged. Re-export it.
"Unsupported WAV format (…). Use 16 or 24-bit PCM, or 32-bit float."
The file uses a format ShowLoop can't play bit-exact, such as 32-bit integer or 64-bit float. Export it as 16- or 24-bit PCM, or 32-bit float.
"The WAV file contains no audio."
The file has no samples. Check the export.
"This WAV file is shorter than its header says. It may be damaged or incomplete."
The file was cut short, for example by an interrupted copy or download. Copy or export it again.
"The WAV file is too long." / "There isn't enough memory to load this WAV file."
ShowLoop holds the whole file in memory. Use a shorter file.
"Couldn't read the audio in this WAV file."
The audio data couldn't be read. Re-export the file.
"Couldn't create the storage folder." / "Couldn't copy the file into storage." / "Couldn't save the file into storage." / "Couldn't delete the file from storage."
ShowLoop couldn't write to its storage folder, ~/Library/Application Support/ShowLoop/. Check the disk has space and that your user account can write there.
"Stop playback before adding a file."
A new file was sent while playing. Stop first, then add.
The meter shows a dash while playing
Nothing is coming out. Check that a file is loaded and that it isn't silent.
The error count keeps rising with Dropout
The Mac is struggling to keep up at those moments. Look at the times in Error Details and compare them with what else was running: heavy apps, software builds, very small buffer sizes. Close what you can, or try a larger buffer.
A Loop Seam error appears
This shouldn't happen. Stop, note the time, and contact Remember Live before relying on the loop.