Download Synchain Bridge VST3 / AU plug-in

How it works

The plug-in encodes nothing of its own and changes nothing about the sound on your DAW track. It simply forwards the audio block by block, exactly as the DAW hands the buffers over, to a WebSocket service on your own machine; Creative Space in the browser connects to that local service and streams the audio on to everyone in the room.

DAW → Synchain Bridge → local WebSocket → browser → real-time audio server → collaborators

Requirements

• Windows x64 — 64-bit Windows 10 or 11. The plug-in interface is drawn with the WebView2 runtime: Windows 11 already ships with it; on Windows 10, install the Evergreen runtime if it is missing.
• Apple Silicon Mac — macOS 11.0 or later on an M-series chip (arm64 only; there is no Intel build). Your DAW must run natively on Apple Silicon — a host running under Rosetta cannot see the plug-in. The build is not signed or notarized, so a one-off xattr command is needed before the first load (see the macOS steps below).
• A VST3- or AU-capable DAW, such as Reaper, Ableton Live or Cubase. On macOS, Logic Pro loads the Audio Unit (AU) build instead. GarageBand only accepts sandbox-safe Audio Units and is not supported.
• A Synchain account that is an admin or a member of the project in question — viewers can only look, they cannot enter the room.

Installing on Windows

1. Download and unzip

   Unzip the archive and you get a folder named Synchain Bridge.vst3. Note that it is a bundle directory, not a single file.

2. Put it in the VST3 folder

   Copy the whole Synchain Bridge.vst3 folder into C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3\ (administrator rights required). If you would rather leave the system folder alone, keep it anywhere you like and add that location as a VST3 scan path in your DAW.

3. Make the DAW rescan

   Open your DAW and rescan its plug-ins. Synchain Bridge uses its own manufacturer code Snch and plug-in code Snb1, so the DAW picks it up as a brand-new plug-in.

4. Insert and connect

   Insert Synchain Bridge on a stereo track or bus that is carrying sound and click Start. Then open your project's Creative Space in the browser — normally it connects on its own. If it does not, type the port shown in the plug-in panel into the DAW audio bridge settings in the browser.

Installing on macOS

1. Download and unzip

   Unzip the archive and you get two bundle directories: Synchain Bridge.vst3 (the VST3) and Synchain Bridge.component (the Audio Unit). Both are folders, not single files.

2. Copy the bundles into your user plug-in folders

   Drag Synchain Bridge.vst3 into ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/ and Synchain Bridge.component into ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/. Both folders are user-level, so no administrator rights are needed (create them if they do not exist yet). If you prefer the Terminal, first cd into the folder you unzipped in step 1 (the two commands use relative paths), then ditto keeps the executable bits intact:

   ditto "Synchain Bridge.vst3" ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/"Synchain Bridge.vst3"
   ditto "Synchain Bridge.component" ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/"Synchain Bridge.component"

3. Remove the quarantine flag

   The build is not signed or notarized, so Gatekeeper blocks it on first load. Run these two commands once in the Terminal (the plug-in is then trusted for good):

   xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/"Synchain Bridge.vst3"
   xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/"Synchain Bridge.component"

4. Make the host rescan

   Open your DAW and rescan its plug-ins: Logic Pro picks up the Audio Unit, while Reaper, Live and Cubase use the VST3. The host must run natively on Apple Silicon — not under Rosetta, or it will not find the arm64 plug-in. To check the AU from the Terminal, run the validator; it should end with AU VALIDATION SUCCEEDED:

   auval -v aufx Snb1 Snch

5. Insert and connect

   Insert Synchain Bridge on a stereo track or bus that is carrying sound and click Start. Then open your project's Creative Space in the browser — normally it connects on its own. If it does not, type the port shown in the plug-in panel into the DAW audio bridge settings in the browser.

Good to know (both platforms)

The plug-in starts a local WebSocket service on 127.0.0.1:9420. If that port is taken it retries automatically across 9420–9429, and the panel tells you which port it ended up on.

Use Chrome, Edge or Firefox to open Creative Space. Safari blocks HTTPS pages from connecting to ws://127.0.0.1, so it cannot reach the plug-in on a Mac.

Nothing to install on the web side

Everything else in Synchain runs in the browser: sign in and you can enter a project, open Creative Space, browse files and check the calendar and discussion. A client or partner joining as a listener just opens the invite link — no software at all.