Technical Specifications
The numbers behind CueSync — for production managers, network techs, and anyone speccing a show around it.
Platforms
| macOS | An Apple Silicon Mac running macOS 12 Monterey or later; Intel Macs are not supported. Distributed as a signed and notarized DMG. |
| Windows | In development. No Windows release is available yet. cuesync.live/download always reflects what is actually downloadable. |
| Installation | Self-contained app — nothing else to install. |
Timing
CueSync is designed for live production: cue decisions are beat-aligned and made on a dedicated path, so nothing you do in the interface can delay a cue, and each send reports back where the transport allows.
What can delay a cue is the machine. On a machine that is busy with a backup, a file sync, an antivirus scan or a browser, the operating system can hold every process off the CPU for tens of milliseconds, which can be longer than CueSync takes to decide a cue. That is the dominant real-world risk to cue timing, and it is the one thing the app cannot engineer around. See Preparing the Show Machine.
Network requirements
Plan your show network (and firewall rules) around these:
| Traffic | Direction | Transport / ports |
|---|---|---|
| Pioneer PRO DJ LINK | in/out | UDP 50000–50002 (CueSync joins as a virtual CDJ). Don't run rekordbox on the same machine during a show — it claims these ports exclusively. |
| OSC input (triggers, GMA3 bridge) | in | UDP, off by default — Settings → Advanced ships the port at 0; 9001 is the conventional value once enabled. Binds loopback-only; turn on "Allow other devices on the network" deliberately, and name the desk under Accept from. |
| Output protocols | out | Per protocol — see the Protocol Reference port table (OSC/UDP, TCP, Telnet, HTTP). |
| Device discovery | in/out | Multicast (mDNS) plus per-protocol subnet probes. |
| License & updates | out | HTTPS to api.cuesync.live (licence and update checks); update installers download from downloads.cuesync.live. Activation works offline after the first check-in; a paid licence runs offline for 7 days between checks (30 days on a lifetime licence), and a running show never needs a connection. |
Best practice: keep show control (consoles, media servers) and audience/guest Wi-Fi on separate networks. CueSync lets you pick the network interface per subsystem (Pioneer, outputs, Show Companion) so the traffic stays where you put it.
Timecode
| Input sources | CDJ position, MIDI Time Code (quarter-frame and full-frame SysEx), LTC (decoded from an audio input), TCNet, Art-Net timecode (UDP 6454, optionally pinned to one stream) — with priority-based source selection and per-source offsets. |
| Output | MTC, LTC, Art-Net timecode, TCNet. LTC is written as 48 kHz, 16-bit, mono audio to the audio device you name (never the system default), at 100 % = about −6 dBFS. |
| Frame rates | 23.976 · 24 · 25 · 29.97 drop-frame · 29.97 non-drop · 30 · 48 · 50 · 59.94 drop-frame · 60 fps. The first five plus 30 are quick-chips on the transport bar; the four HD rates are in Settings → Timecode. |
| Loss handling | Freewheel — after a dropout the clock coasts on from the last good frame for the Freewheel Duration (5 s by default, 1–30 s), badged in Run Mode; then it fails over to the next live source, or stops with a red Timecode lost alarm. Silence means stopped (per source: MTC, LTC, Art-Net; on by default for Art-Net) holds the clock on silence instead of freewheeling, so nothing fires until the stream returns. |
Audio
| Local playback formats | WAV, AIFF, MP3, FLAC, OGG, and M4A holding AAC-LC. HE-AAC, ALAC, Opus and WMA are refused with a message telling you to convert. An M4A or MP4 whose container is malformed is refused as an unsupported file, with a message that names it, and the window stays responsive. An M4A made with an encoder setting the built-in AAC player does not reproduce faithfully (common with video-editor exports and ffmpeg's default AAC) still plays, but can sound dull or hissy; CueSync tells you when it loads one — re-export it as WAV or FLAC. The decoders are built in; CueSync does not use FFmpeg. |
| Output devices | One stereo output device for the master and, optionally, one for the cue/headphone bus. CueSync plays through the operating system's standard audio path: there is no output-pair or multichannel selection, and no ASIO or exclusive mode. |
| Analysis | Beat grid, phrase structure, energy curve, key, integrated LUFS + loudness range — all computed on-device. |
| Loudness matching | Optional (Production edition): attenuate-only toward a −23…−9 LUFS target — quieter tracks are left as they are, never boosted. |
| Optional ML analysis | Vocal Detection (off until you switch it on) uses a small open-source speech model, Silero VAD, about 2.3 MB, downloaded once from GitHub the first time it runs. Audio never leaves the machine. |
Editions
All editions include all 15 output protocols and the same automatic connection recovery. Editions gate workflows:
| Workflow | DJ | Theatre | Production |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pioneer PRO DJ LINK, Track Prep, Auto Pilot, DJ analysis | ✓ | — | ✓ |
| Show Editor, Run Mode, timecode input (source mux, Timecode triggers) | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Cues, Cue Pads, Palette (looks), MIDI, venue profiles, timecode output (MTC, LTC, Art-Net, TCNet), Show Companion (surfaces vary by edition) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Loudness automation (matching + Loudness Transition trigger) | — | — | ✓ |
| Venue profile slots | 3 | 25 | unlimited |
The per-trigger edition matrix is in the Trigger Reference.
Show files & data safety
- Show files always open — CueSync migrates show files saved by any earlier release automatically, writing a backup first.
- Atomic saves — a save either completes fully or leaves the previous file untouched.
- A show remembers which computer saved it. One saved on another computer opens with its network outputs held until you press Connect (MIDI outputs are not held), and a file that cannot be read as a show, bundle or template is refused with a message instead of failing the import.
- Automatic dated backups plus a periodic recovery snapshot restored via the Recovery dialog after an unclean exit.
- Crash reports and product analytics are asked about once, at first run, with "Yes, send" pre-selected. Nothing is sent until you answer, "No thanks" is honoured per question, and either can be switched off at any time (Settings → Advanced). Licence checks and update checks run either way.
Related
- Protocol Reference — transports and default ports per output
- Timecode — configuring sources and output
- Diagnostics — the connection event log and diagnostic bundle export
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