TraxDeck

System Requirements

Stem Director is a real-time audio application. Meeting or exceeding the recommended specifications ensures reliable performance under live conditions. We strongly advise testing your rig at full load before a production.

macOS

| | Minimum | Recommended | |---|---|---| | OS | macOS 12 Monterey | macOS 14 Sonoma or later | | Architecture | Intel x86-64 | Apple Silicon (M1 or later) | | CPU | Quad-core 2.5 GHz | Apple M1 / Intel Core i7 8th gen+ | | RAM | 8 GB | 16 GB or more | | Storage | SSD (any) | NVMe SSD | | Audio API | Core Audio | Core Audio | | Display | 1280 × 800 | Retina 1440p+ |

Note for Apple Silicon users: Stem Director runs natively on Apple Silicon — no Rosetta required. Performance is significantly better than on equivalent Intel hardware.

Windows

| | Minimum | Recommended | |---|---|---| | OS | Windows 10 64-bit (21H2+) | Windows 11 64-bit | | Architecture | x86-64 | x86-64 | | CPU | Quad-core 2.5 GHz | Intel Core i7 8th gen+ / AMD Ryzen 5 3000+ | | RAM | 8 GB | 16 GB or more | | Storage | SSD | NVMe SSD | | Audio API | ASIO (required) | ASIO | | Display | 1280 × 800 | 1920 × 1080+ |

ASIO is required on Windows. Windows standard audio (WDM/WASAPI) does not provide the low enough latency needed for reliable live playback. Install the ASIO driver for your audio interface. If your interface does not include an ASIO driver, ASIO4ALL can be used in testing but is not recommended for production use.

Audio Interface

Stem Director works with any Core Audio (macOS) or ASIO (Windows) compatible audio interface.

Recommendations:

  • For basic use (stereo output + click): Any 2-output USB interface works
  • For multi-output routing (IEM mixes + FOH + recording): 8+ output interface recommended
  • For large productions: Interfaces with 16+ channels (Focusrite Red, Universal Audio, RME) are ideal

Tested and confirmed compatible interfaces:

  • Focusrite Scarlett, Clarett, and Red series
  • Universal Audio Apollo series
  • RME Fireface and Babyface series
  • MOTU 624, 828, and M series
  • Behringer XR series (via USB)
  • Audient iD series

Storage

Stems must reside on an SSD. Mechanical hard drives (HDD) are not supported for stem playback due to seek latency causing audio dropout. External SSDs connected via USB 3.1 Gen 2 or Thunderbolt are fully supported.

Typical stem file sizes:

  • 4-stem track at 48kHz/24-bit, 4 minutes: ~170 MB
  • 12-stem track at 48kHz/24-bit, 4 minutes: ~500 MB
  • A 20-track set list with 12 stems per track: ~10 GB

Plan for approximately 500 MB per track slot in your show file.

Network (for redundancy)

Redundancy mode requires a direct or switched Ethernet connection between the primary and secondary machine.

  • Cable: Cat5e or Cat6 (Cat7 or higher also works)
  • Speed: Gigabit (1 Gbps) required
  • Switch: Gigabit switch (unmanaged is fine) or direct crossover cable
  • Wi-Fi: Not supported for redundancy sync

See Redundancy for full setup instructions.