Hosting AU: the free Mac "MicroDAW"

If you're looking for a simple plugin host/recorder, Hosting AU could be worth a look.
If you're looking for a simple plugin host/recorder, Hosting AU could be worth a look.

When is a DAW not a DAW? When it's a microDAW, of course, and this is how Juno Ju-X is pitching Hosting AU, its new free Mac app.

Designed to host Audio Units effect and instrument plugins, this comes with a 4+1 channel mixer, an external audio input, a 24-bit recorder and a "music typing kind of feature" known as LazyKey. This is a lean software machine that the developer says can be used as you would an old 4-channel multitracker.

Compatible with Max OS X 10.6 or later, you can download Hosting AU from the Juno Ju-X website.

Ben Rogerson

I’m the Deputy Editor of MusicRadar, having worked on the site since its launch in 2007. I previously spent eight years working on our sister magazine, Computer Music. I’ve been playing the piano, gigging in bands and failing to finish tracks at home for more than 30 years, 24 of which I’ve also spent writing about music and the ever-changing technology used to make it.