Asked most
Is DropWave free?
The beta is free, on Mac and Windows, with no key and no account. Pricing for the finished app hasn't been announced.
Does DropWave work on Windows?
Yes. DropWave for Windows runs on Windows 11 with key, tempo, tuning, loudness and true peak, and since 3.6.0 the studio tools too: loudness range, streaming, the delivery check and the new CSV columns. Only PDF reports are on the Mac for now. The download is one file that installs itself, and it opens straight away, no key needed.
Does DropWave upload my music?
No. Analysis happens entirely on your computer and your audio is never sent anywhere. There is no DropWave account and no analytics in the app. It only goes online for updates, its licence and feedback you choose to send.
How accurate is DropWave?
It tells you, track by track. Every key and tempo comes with a confidence, counted from how many sections of the song agreed, and when the call was close the runner-up is named. Then Click on beats and Hear key let you check both by ear in two seconds. There's no accuracy percentage on this site: one number can't tell you whether your track's answer is right, and the confidence and your ears can.
Is there a DropWave plugin?
Two, and DropWave for Mac installs them for you. DropWave Editor splits a song into stems on your Mac, then mixes, retunes and masters it live in your DAW. DropWave Tune is real-time pitch correction for a vocal. Both come as AU, VST3 and CLAP.
When is DropWave released, and what will it cost?
Neither is announced yet. The release date comes first in the app, here and in the Discord, and the prices appear on release day. Until then everything is free. Leave your email in the form at the bottom of this page for one email on release day, with the beta-tester discount.
Do I need a key?
Not during the beta: since 3.6.0, DropWave opens on a Mac or a PC with no key and no account. From release day, DropWave, DropWave Editor and DropWave Tune each need a licence key.
Does DropWave work offline?
Yes. Finding the key and BPM works with the Wi-Fi off. DropWave only goes online for updates and its licence, and keeps working offline for 14 days at a time (30 with a bought licence).
The product
What is DropWave?
DropWave is a native app for Mac and Windows that reads the key, Camelot code, tempo, tuning, loudness and true peak of any audio file or whole folder, shows where a song changes key, and tells you how sure it is of each reading. Everything is worked out on your own computer.
How do I get DropWave?
Download it from the beta page and open it. The beta is free and needs no key or account. Every build is posted in the Discord first, if you'd like to join.
What happens when the beta ends?
On the release date, announced in the app, here and in the Discord, DropWave, DropWave Editor and DropWave Tune each need a licence key. Buy the ones you use, and enter the key once per computer in DropWave Manager (up to 3 computers per key). Until then the app won't open and the plugins pass audio through unchanged.
What do I need?
macOS 14 Sonoma or later on a Mac with Apple silicon, or Windows 11. DropWave V2 doesn't run on Intel Macs.
The plugins
How do I get DropWave Editor and DropWave Tune?
From DropWave 3.5.0 and later for Mac, free during the beta. Update DropWave (DropWave → Check for Updates…), open DropWave Manager (Settings → Manager), click Install next to each one, and reopen your DAW. DropWave keeps them up to date from then on.
Which DAWs do the plugins work in?
They come as AU, VST3 and CLAP, the plugin formats Mac DAWs use. In Logic Pro they're under Audio FX → Audio Units → DropWave.
Does DropWave Editor upload my song to split it?
No. The split into vocals, drums, bass and other runs on your Mac, and nothing is uploaded.
Does DropWave Tune find the key by itself?
It suggests one. Press Detect and it listens to the vocal, and to the beat if it's on Tune's side chain, then offers the keys that fit. Nothing changes until you pick one.
The readings
How does DropWave find the key?
It listens for the notes actually being played, bass line included, and weighs them the way your ear does, instead of judging the overall colour of the sound. That makes it much less likely to land a fifth away from the real key.
What are key changes?
When a song modulates, for a last chorus or a bridge, DropWave shows each section's key and where it starts, on a strip under the waveform, instead of averaging them into one answer.
Can I check a reading by ear?
Yes. Click on beats plays a metronome along with the track, locked to the detected beat grid. Hear key plays the key's chord, tuned to the track. Two seconds and you know.
Why does it say the tempo could also be half or double?
Because both describe the same grid, counted at different levels: a drum & bass tune at 174 has a half-time feel at 87. Half / As detected / Double switches a track in one click, and the choice carries into the table, file names and export.
Does DropWave detect the key of detuned samples?
Yes. It measures the tuning rather than assuming A = 440, shows the offset in cents, and still reads the real key of material that sits off concert pitch.
What does the confidence mean?
How many sections of the song agreed with the reading. When two answers were close, the runner-up is named. Under about 30 seconds there aren't enough sections to compare, so short loops top out at Medium.
Does DropWave use AI?
No AI model is involved in the readings. The same file always gives the same answer, and nothing is sent anywhere to produce it. The one place a trained model is used is DropWave Editor's split into stems, and that runs on your Mac too.
Files
What formats does DropWave open?
WAV, AIFF, MP3, M4A / AAC / ALAC, FLAC, CAF, and the audio track of video files. What decodes decides what opens, not the file extension.
Can DropWave analyse a whole folder at once?
Yes. Drop a folder and every file is read into a table you can sort, search by name, key or Camelot code, and export as CSV.
Does DropWave change my files?
Never the audio. It only changes a file's name, and only when you use Tag Filenames, which shows you every change first, never overwrites a file, and can be undone (⌘Z on a Mac, Ctrl+Z on Windows).
Does it work with Logic Pro, FL Studio and Ableton Live?
DropWave works alongside any DAW: analyse the file, then copy the readings or tag the file names before you drag the file into your session. On a Mac, the plugins DropWave Editor and DropWave Tune, which DropWave installs for you, also work inside the DAW itself.
Privacy and updates
How do updates work?
DropWave checks when it starts and about twice a day. New versions download in the background and install when you click Restart; DropWave reopens with your files.
What is Dev Beta?
An update channel that gets new builds first, for testers who want them early. It needs a personal code from the team, entered in Settings → Updates.
Why does macOS say it can’t open DropWave?
It shouldn't any more: since 3.3, DropWave is notarised by Apple and opens straight away. A copy older than 3.3 needs System Settings → Privacy & Security → Open Anyway once, or simply download the current version.
Why does Windows say it protected my PC?
DropWave for Windows isn't code-signed yet, so the first time you open it Windows may warn you. Click More info, then Run anyway. You only do this once.