Answers about plugins, supported apps, latency, sound quality and licensing. Missing something? Let us know.
Two open-source plugins work with Patchcord: Noise Repellent and Noise Suppression for Voice (RNNoise), both with a ready-made Audio Unit installer. So far only Antinode Clear (paid, formerly Supertone Clear) has been tested with Patchcord specifically – the two free ones are technically compatible (standard Audio Unit effects) but not yet verified with Patchcord. See “Which plugin?” on the home page.
Zoom, Teams, Google Meet and Discord all work - just pick “Patchcord Mic” as your microphone. Patchcord Mic is a regular virtual microphone at the operating-system level, so it shows up in any app that lets you choose an input device, including OBS or anything else with a microphone picker.
Patchcord shows the actual total latency live in the menu (device + plugin + buffer). It depends on the plugin and its block size. Antinode Clear, for example, self-reports about 49 ms; measured offline it ranges from roughly 31 ms (small blocks) to 111 ms (large blocks). Use “Measure latency…” to get the real number for your own microphone-and-plugin combination instead of trusting the plugin's self-report.
In call/voice mode, AirPods only deliver 16 or 24 kHz instead of full bandwidth. Patchcord upsamples that to 48 kHz before the plugin so any plugin can process it – but the plugin can't add detail the AirPods never captured. A headset or external mic will do more for quality than any plugin.
Yes. Audio processing runs in real time on your own Mac; nothing is sent anywhere. License checks are also offline. Patchcord checks for a new version daily against the update server; like any web request that transmits your IP address and app version, used only as anonymous statistics. “Measure latency…” briefly records 4 seconds of your own voice – that stays entirely in the app's memory.
Patchcord is free to use, indefinitely. A Patchcord Pro license (one-time purchase) covers one person on all of their own Macs, with no device counting and no online activation, and includes every update for Patchcord 1.x. Details in the license terms.
No problem: we refund Patchcord Pro within 14 days of purchase, no questions asked. Just email lizenz@zielke.studio with your purchase date or receipt. The purchase runs through Stripe as the seller (Managed Payments); Stripe processes the refund.
Yes. In “Follow system default” mode, Patchcord automatically uses whatever macOS currently has as the default (e.g. connect a headset → it becomes active). Alternatively, set up a priority list: if the top device is connected it's used; if it disappears, the next one in the list takes over automatically.
Currently Audio Unit (AU) plugins only – most Mac plugins, including Antinode Clear, ship AU anyway. VST3 support is on the roadmap but not yet built.
Yes – the free trial of Antinode Clear briefly injects noise every 60 seconds to encourage a purchase. That goes away with the full version.