First, the honest boundary
BUFFR can recover a performance only when the plug-in was already loaded, capture was active, the source reached it, and the moment still fits inside the selected history length. It cannot reconstruct sound from before it was running.
Set the history from 1 to 120 minutes. Capture grows in one-second RAM pages rather than preallocating the maximum, and sealed pages discard silent channel planes. Active retained audio remains in RAM; crash-recovery checkpoints are a separate disk copy.
Recover the performance
- Find the moment in BUFFR’s audio or MIDI history.
- Drag across the lane to select it and adjust the selection edges.
- Preview it; process or normalize audio when needed.
- Drag the region into the DAW, another BUFFR, an accepting app, or a file manager.
Audio drags out as 24-bit FLAC by default, with WAV and other formats available. MIDI becomes a compatible Standard MIDI File. Richer MPE, UMP, identity, group, and port data is down-converted for SMF; BUFFR also writes a lossless companion that current DAWs do not normally import.
What BUFFR can remember
- Audio passing through the plug-in on a track, bus, or master.
- Main plus up to seven stereo aux inputs when the host supplies them.
- Computer output as a separate stereo System Audio source.
- Host MIDI with sample-accurate host timing.
- One selected hardware controller through Global MIDI, without requiring BUFFR on its armed track.
- All 16 MIDI channels, including CC, pitch bend, pressure, MPE, and host note expression.
Host MIDI and Global MIDI are different
Host MIDI reaches BUFFR through the DAW and follows the host timeline with sample-accurate timing. Global MIDI listens directly to a selected controller and preserves performance spacing with approximate DAW alignment.
Global MIDI is the useful safety net when BUFFR sits on a master or bus: the instrument track does not need to be armed for BUFFR to remember that controller. Host + Global can capture both routes and collapses exact matching events within 50 ms. Select one path if either route transforms or delays the MIDI enough that the events no longer match.
Recover more than a rectangular clip
Alt-drag in Spectral view to select by time and frequency. If the wanted sound overlaps other material, audition the isolated region and drag or save it with FFT, minimum-phase, or linear-phase reconstruction. The current version does not remove that band from the retained buffer.
Retrospective capture and crash recovery
These solve related but different failures. Retrospective capture handles “I forgot to press Record.” Crash recovery handles an unexpected host exit after BUFFR had already captured material.
BUFFR checkpoints audio, MIDI, and markers about every five seconds. Reopening the same saved plug-in instance or project state can restore its last complete checkpoint; a fresh unrelated instance cannot claim it. BUFFR still cannot save a source that never reached the plug-in.
Frequently asked questions
Can I recover audio after I close the DAW?
Crash recovery can restore checkpointed material after an unexpected exit. For a normal close, save or drag out anything you need before clearing the history.
Can I recover MIDI if the instrument track was not armed?
Yes, if Global MIDI was active and listening to that controller. Host MIDI still depends on routing from the DAW.
Can BUFFR recover System Audio too?
Yes. It retains computer output in a separate stereo lane when System Audio capture is enabled.
How far back can I recover?
Up to two hours, according to the history length you selected and the material still retained.