Compare the whole recorder.

The short answer

Matari Audio makes BUFFR. Polarity Recorder v0.2.2 and Sift were reviewed on October 7, 2026. The earlier comparison uses vendor sources reviewed on August 15, 2026. We reread the linked product pages on October 7. Rewind’s old manual link now opens its store page. “Not documented” means the source does not answer the question. It does not prove that a feature is absent.

BUFFR is the only compared recorder that keeps DAW audio, a separate System Audio lane, and DAW or direct-device MIDI in one loaded plug-in. Rewind is the closest broad alternative, but its built-in System mode is explicitly standalone-only. Rolling Sampler and Fine Classics Capture retain audio; MIDI Cap and Mucap retain MIDI; AudioRoute and System Audio Bridge route live system audio rather than keeping a retrospective history.

A DAW is the app you use to make music. MIDI stores notes and controller movements. MPE stores expression for each note.

BUFFR vs Polarity Recorder

Polarity Recorder is free and has a waveform editor. Its published features include:

• One to 20 minutes of mono or stereo history, record hold, view hold and unchanged audio passthrough.
• Standalone desktop, microphone or interface capture on Windows, macOS and Linux, with feedback prevention.
• Frequency colors, host markers, tempo and time grids, snapping and manual override.
• Selection preview, a separate editor, clipboard edits, crop, trim, silence, delete, reverse, rotate and wrap.
• Fades, gain, peak and loudness normalization, hard clipping, undo, redo, playback, loops and host-synced preview.
• WAV import and export, structured filenames, a searchable clip browser, preview, rename and delete.
• CLAP, VST3, LV2 and standalone builds, plus AUv2 on macOS. No account or telemetry. Its source is private.

Linux gets a Save button. BUFFR lets you drag the take back into your project. Polarity’s desktop capture needs its standalone app. BUFFR keeps desktop sound beside the mix inside the plug-in. BUFFR also keeps controller notes, separate audio lanes, frequency selections and local recovery checkpoints.Read Polarity’s feature list and Linux export limit.

Polarity is a strong free choice for audio editing and loop preparation. It also includes LV2, which BUFFR does not list. Its saved editor state is not a saved recording history. The vendor says recorded audio is not stored in the DAW project.

BUFFR vs Sift

Sift’s Gumroad listing describes these features and limits:

• Audio recording and import.
• Selection preview, local sample extraction and drag-out to a DAW.
• VST3 for Apple silicon Macs and Windows x64. The short summary mentions only macOS, but the attributes list Windows too.
• A 14-day evaluation after verified registration. Paid access starts at US$9.99 for two active devices.
• Account-based activation and device removal. Offline access lasts up to 40 days after a successful online license check.

BUFFR gives you a 28-day trial, three licensed computers and offline use without repeated license checks. It also publishes Linux builds, controller capture, desktop capture, crash recovery and frequency editing. Sift’s listing does not document those features or a rolling-history limit.Read Sift’s listing and license terms.

Every feature, every product

Compare shipped features, known limits and future plans. Search by name or choose a group. Scroll across for all products and down for all rows. Click a BUFFR feature name to try its demo.

All published BUFFR features

These are the shipped features listed on the BUFFR page. Future plans are excluded.

Read the BUFFR manual for setup, controls and limits.

Linux drag-and-drop on Wayland compositors

BUFFR is the only recorder in this comparison with apublished open-source Linux drag backendthat explicitly handles XDND/XWayland and adds a Hyprland-specific native-Wayland handoff. BUFFR has worked on every Linux desktop Matari has tested:Hyprland, niri,KDE Plasma/KWin, GNOME/Mutter, andXfce.

Void Linux and NixOS are also tested, but they are distributions rather than compositors. BUFFR’s Linux file dialogs normally use the desktop portal/native picker; on Xfce it prefers Zenity and falls back to the native picker. Sway, River, Wayfire, labwc, and COSMIC are additional compositor families covered by the same standard Linux protocol paths, although Matari has not yet listed those combinations as tested.

This distinction matters because Rolling Sampler also publishes Linux drag-out support, while its vendor warns that some Linux distribution and DAW combinations may fail. BUFFR’s unique documented advantage is the open, Wayland/XWayland-aware implementation, not a blanket claim that every other recorder fails on Wayland.

BUFFR vs MonkeyC Rewind

Rewind’s normal plug-in records the audio and MIDI delivered at its DAW insertion point. Its manual labels the External/System control“standalone only.” Switching between External and System mode clears its current memory; on macOS, standalone temporarily routes system output through Rewind, while Windows asks which application to monitor.Read the Rewind 2.2.2 manual.

Rewind also has more setup surfaces: always-on use keeps its standalone app running at login or a plug-in in a DAW template; Windows controller sharing can require its SharedMIDI extension and switching the DAW to a cloned port. Rewind remains the better fit when AAX support is required or its source-switching standalone workflow is preferred; BUFFR includes standalone packages and AUv2 on macOS.

Rolling Sampler alternative

Searching for a Rolling Sampler alternative usually means you want retrospective audio without being limited to a 10-minute audio-only loop. Rolling Sampler keeps 15 seconds to 10 minutes of the audio that reaches the plug-in, at $19, and stays the shorter tool when that is the whole job.

BUFFR is the alternative when you also need MIDI and MPE, a separate System Audio lane, up to two hours of history, and macOS, Windows, and Linux in one plug-in. It is $89 with a perpetual license. It is not a drop-in clone: Rolling Sampler does not keep MIDI, and BUFFR is not trying to be a $19 audio-only loop.

BUFFR vs Rolling Sampler and MIDI Cap

Stable Rolling Sampler keeps 15 seconds to 10 minutes of the audio reaching its plug-in. Stable System Audio needs loopback/virtual routing or Bird’s separate System Audio Bridge. Its optional 1.4 beta adds experimental Windows System Audio to the standalone app and a Bridge plug-in that streams a DAW master to standalone; that bridge requires both ends and matching sample rates.Read the stable product/FAQ andthe 1.4 beta workflow.

MIDI Cap is a separate MIDI-only plug-in with up to one hour of history. Its typical setup is a record-armed, always-monitored MIDI track, and its manual says MPE support is unfinished. BUFFR covers both audio and MIDI in one instance and can listen to a selected controller from the master or a bus. If you are comparing Rolling Sampler alternatives, BUFFR is the fit when linked MIDI/MPE or a separate System Audio history matters; Rolling Sampler remains a focused choice for audio-only retrospective capture.

BUFFR vs System Audio Bridge and AudioRoute

Bird’s System Audio Bridge is a Windows CLAP/VST3 WASAPI-loopback input. It has no retrospective buffer: record the result normally in the DAW. AudioRoute installs a background capture daemon and exposes live system audio through VST3, AU, and AAX plug-ins, direct WAV recording, and a virtual input on macOS and Windows. It does not publish Linux support, MIDI capture, or a retrospective history. Choose either tool when live routing is the whole job. Choose BUFFR when System Audio must already be waiting in a separate look-back lane beside DAW audio and MIDI. See theSystem Audio guide,System Audio Bridge, andAudioRoute’s architecture.

BUFFR vs a conventional audio recorder VST

Utilities such as Voxengo Recorderand MRecorder write the audio reaching a track or bus to a file after you start recording. That is the shorter tool when you already know the take and input you want to record. BUFFR instead keeps a rolling history, so you can choose audio and MIDI after the performance has happened.

BUFFR vs built-in DAW capture

Built-in capture is the shortest path when it already covers the source you need.Logic Pro Flashback Capturecaptures up to one minute of recent track-input audio during playback plus recent MIDI.FL Studio 2026keeps up to 10 minutes of master audio and 30 minutes of MIDI for the current session.Ableton Live Capture MIDIand Cubase Retrospective Recordingrecover MIDI inside their respective hosts.

Choose BUFFR when you want the same recorder across DAWs. In Bitwig, it complements transport-independent Master Recording; see theBitwig retrospective recording guide.

Primary sources

The earlier manual research dates to August 15, 2026. Polarity and Sift were added on October 7, 2026. The table links each product directly. The detailed setup claims also come fromPolarity’s product page,Polarity’s own walkthrough,Sift’s listing,Rewind’s manual,Rolling Sampler’s product and FAQ,MIDI Cap’s product/manual,Mucap’s source repository,System Audio Bridge, and AudioRoute’s published architecture. BUFFR claims were checked against the current product and manual; see thecomplete BUFFR manual.