Frequently asked questions

No. Every license is perpetual — you pay once and own that version. There is no monthly fee and no cloud account to keep.

They are the same app with different limits. Studio unlocks 32 channels. Pro unlocks 64 channels plus UDP Match — connect two Macs over the internet by name, with no port forwarding or IP addresses to exchange: it works through most home and office routers automatically, and audio still travels directly between the Macs. Performance unlocks 128 channels, also with UDP Match.

One or two Macs, depending on the option you choose at checkout. Each tier is offered as a 1-Mac or a 2-Mac license.

Yes, as often as you like. Deactivate on the old Mac to free the seat, then activate with the same key on the new one. Machine transfers are unlimited.

Yes. Use Transfer in the License tab; a confirmation link goes to your current email. You can change the email owner up to three times over the life of a key; if you ever need more, you're welcome to purchase a new license.

Email support@odlink.app and we'll free the seat for you. This manual assistance is available up to three times over the life of your license; the self-service machine transfer covers everything while your old Mac still runs.

By email from support@odlink.app, right after purchase. Checkout itself is handled by Lemon Squeezy, our Merchant of Record.

The Demo is the full app with 32 channels. From time to time it briefly mutes the audio with a demo watermark, on both send and receive — enough to evaluate the real thing, but not for production use.

No time limit and no signup. Download it and run it for as long as you like to evaluate the real thing.

No. Audio is always direct, peer-to-peer UDP between your Macs. It is never relayed through us or any third party — that's lower latency, and your sound stays between your machines.

On a local network, no — it just works. For a direct IP link over the internet, each Mac enters the other's IP and both sides need a reachable UDP port (forward it on each router, or use a VPN).

With a Pro or Performance license, UDP Match discovers each Mac's public address and hole-punches through most home and office NATs, so usually no port forwarding is needed. Only strict (symmetric) NATs need a direct-IP link with forwarding or a VPN. Audio is always direct.

Turn it on for a connection (with a Pro or Performance license) and OD Link connects the two Macs by name instead of by IP. Each Mac discovers its own public address via a STUN server and registers it with our rendezvous service, which pairs the two by their crossed names — and a matching shared password, if you've set one.

The service only makes the introduction — once paired, the Macs hole-punch directly and the audio flows peer-to-peer. It is never relayed through us. While UDP Match is on, the row's IP and port are ignored but kept as a direct fallback.

You choose the outgoing packet latency: 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 ms. Total delay also depends on your audio hardware buffers and the receive jitter buffer you set for your network. A clean link can run very tight; size the receive buffer to the jitter you actually see.

Yes. On a local network it just works — point each Mac at the other's address and connect, with no port forwarding or extra setup. Over the internet you'll need a reachable UDP port on each side, or UDP Match (with a Pro or Performance license) to connect by name.

For dependable audio, use a wired connection — Ethernet on the LAN, or to your router for an internet link. A cable gives the steady latency and low jitter professional audio needs.

Wi-Fi and cellular can work, but treat them as a last resort. Their jitter and packet loss swing moment to moment with RF interference, channel congestion, roaming, and carrier load, and OD Link's loss recovery can't make an unstable radio link behave like a cable. The quality of a wireless or cellular link is yours to manage, not something the app can guarantee.

OD Link layers several defences. The Audio and Voice modes use the Opus codec, which carries forward error correction inside the stream, and OD Link re-requests lost packets when the latency budget allows — with the receive buffer adapting to your network's jitter on top. Voice mode adds DRED as well: a neural codec that can rebuild up to about half a second of lost speech, covering gaps deeper than FEC. At the tightest 2.5 ms setting — where there's no time to recover a packet — Audio mode instead sends each packet twice, so a dropped copy still gets through, turning about 5% random loss into roughly 0.25%. The uncompressed PCM modes carry no error correction, so keep them for clean wired links.

On a rough link, prefer Audio or Voice over the PCM modes and give the receive buffer headroom (or leave it on Auto); on a clean connection you can tighten everything down for minimal delay.

As many as you need — OD Link puts no fixed limit on the number of connections. One Mac can link to several others at the same time, each with its own mode, channels, and settings — though they all share one capture device and one playback device.

What you can run is bounded by your network bandwidth and your Mac's CPU, not the app. A rough guide per channel, one direction: Opus ~128 kbps at the default bitrate; PCM 24 at 48 kHz ~1.2 Mbps. A gigabit LAN carries hundreds of channels; a ~25 Mbps uplink fits about one 128-channel Opus link. Each connection goes up to your tier's channel count (32/64/128).

macOS 14 Sonoma or later, on both Apple Silicon and Intel. The download is a universal build.

OD Link doesn't speak the Dante protocol itself — but with Audinate's Dante Virtual Soundcard running, your Dante channels show up to OD Link as an ordinary Core Audio device, and it sends and receives them like any other input or output, up to 128 channels.

So you need Dante Virtual Soundcard (or Dante hardware that exposes a Core Audio interface) on each Mac. OD Link is an independent product — not affiliated with or endorsed by Audinate; Dante is their trademark.

Bluetooth speakers and microphones appear in the device pickers like any Core Audio device. AirPlay receivers aren't Core Audio devices, so you select System Default Output as the Receive device and choose your AirPlay speaker in macOS Sound settings — OD Link's audio then follows the system output to it.

Not at this time. OD Link is a native macOS application.

OD Link supports optional, opt-in encrypted connections (AES-256-GCM), with the key derived from a shared password or an ephemeral Curve25519 key exchange. Because audio is direct peer-to-peer, it never passes through a third party regardless.

The minimum to run licensing: your email, your order ID, and a minimal device identifier to count activations (never your raw hardware details). No audio ever leaves the direct path between your Macs, and the website needs no account.

Yes. OD Link is signed with an Apple Developer ID and notarized by Apple, so it installs cleanly and passes Gatekeeper without warnings.

Updates for the version you own are free. Use Check for Software Update in the app to install the latest build, or download it from the Download page at odlink.app.

No. Your license is stored on your Mac and tied to the machine, not to a particular build, so installing an update keeps it active automatically — no re-activation, no extra seat used, and no internet required.

Each license includes one year of support from activation — email help with setup and licensing. Your license is perpetual, so the app keeps working after that, and updates to the version you own stay free.