01 · Get started
Create and apply a profile
- Connect the physical audio interface before opening SIGNAL Monitor.
- Allow microphone access when macOS requests it.
- Name the profile and select the intended physical input and output devices.
- Select the sample rate, buffer, output format, and one output route.
- Add mono sources or adjacent stereo pairs without assigning the same hardware channel twice.
- Select Apply. Confirm the header shows the intended device and the state changes to Running.
Start with Master muted. Raise monitoring only after confirming the physical route cannot feed its own output back into its input.
02 · Controls
Monitor the route
Fader
Adjusts the channel or master monitoring level without changing the source device.
Mute
Silences the selected channel or the complete master output path.
Meters
RMS shows sustained level and Peak shows the highest recent level in dBFS.
Pan / balance
Positions a mono source or balances an adjacent stereo source inside the selected output.
Solo
Auditions one or more selected sources while preserving their routing and level settings.
Channel actions
Rename, duplicate, reorder, configure, or remove sources from the Channel menu or strip controls.
03 · Hard gate
Reduce unwanted noise
The gate is bypassed by default. Use the button beside its editor control to enable or disable it without opening the editor.
- Open sets the level that opens the gate.
- Close sets the lower level that closes it and helps prevent chatter.
- Attack, Hold, Decay, and Range shape how quickly and how far the signal is reduced.
Bypass the gate when diagnosing a missing or unexpectedly quiet source.
04 · Troubleshooting
Recover the exact route
- No input level
- Confirm microphone authorization, the selected hardware channel, cabling, device input gain, and channel mute.
- No monitored output
- Confirm the selected output route, Master mute, both faders, interface monitoring mode, and speaker/headphone path.
- Device disconnected
- Reconnect the same device, wait for macOS to enumerate it, then use Retry Exact Route. SIGNAL will not silently substitute a different device.
- Feedback or rapidly rising level
- Mute Master immediately and remove the physical or software feedback path before retrying.
- Quit the application
- Press Command-Q from any SIGNAL Monitor window or sheet.
05 · Diagnostics
Capture useful evidence
Open Settings, then Diagnostics. Record the product version, selected devices and route, active sample rate and buffers, estimated native latency, frame counters, and any underrun, overrun, render-error, drift-correction, or processor-overload count.
Do not post serial numbers, account information, private configuration files, or other sensitive data in public support requests.