Questions

Mixel helps you find the sound you’re thinking of. Add the folders where your sounds live, then describe what you want in words (“snare, not clap”, “pad in F minor”). Mixel searches every sound in those folders, on your Mac. It also has stars, your own tags, filters for key and tempo, and free apps that work on your sounds.

Yes. Everything that runs on your Mac is free, and it stays free: the Library, search in words, Find similar, and the apps from Mixel. You pay only for something we run for you. That’s Mixel Plus.

macOS 14 or later, on Apple silicon or Intel. Search in words, Find similar, De‑reverb and Vocal Extractor need a Mac with Apple silicon. On an Intel Mac, search by name, key and tempo works.

Room for the app, plus 416 MB for the sound model it downloads the first time. Mixel’s index of your sounds grows with your Library; the sounds themselves stay where they are. If your Mac gets down to less than 2 GB free, indexing pauses until there’s room again.

Yes, once it’s set up. The first setup downloads the sound model (416 MB). After that, searching your Library needs no connection.

Mac only for now.

This version of Mixel isn’t signed by Apple yet, so your Mac asks you to confirm it once for each version you download.

• macOS 15 or later: open Mixel and click Done. Then open System Settings › Privacy & Security, scroll down to Security, and click Open Anyway next to “Mixel” was blocked to protect your Mac. Click Open Anyway again, and enter your Mac’s password or use Touch ID.
• macOS 14: in Applications, Control-click (or right-click) Mixel and choose Open. When your Mac asks if you’re sure, click Open.

Don’t see Open Anyway? It shows for about an hour after you try to open Mixel. Open Mixel again, then go back to Privacy & Security.

Still stuck? Open Terminal, paste this line, press Return, then open Mixel:

xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Mixel.app

It removes the “downloaded from the internet” mark from Mixel, and from nothing else.

When there’s a new version, Mixel tells you. Download it from the download page and drag it into Applications over the old one. Your Library, your apps and your settings stay as they are. This version isn’t signed by Apple yet, so your Mac asks you to confirm each new version once, as it did the first time.

Quit Mixel and drag it from Applications to the Trash. That removes the app.

Mixel keeps everything else in one folder, ~/Library/Application Support/0x1audio: your Library’s index with your stars, tags and crates, the apps you installed, the sound model, your settings and your sign-in. Delete that folder to remove them too, and ~/Library/Logs/Mixel for its logs. In Finder, choose Go › Go to Folder… and paste the path.

That folder also holds the sounds Mixel saved for you, such as what its apps made, so move any you want to keep first. Your own sound folders aren’t touched. Your account, if you made one, stays until you delete it in your account.

Any folder on your Mac or on a drive: Splice downloads, a sample drive, your DAW’s user library. Mixel includes every folder inside it and keeps watching, so new, changed and deleted files show up in your Library within seconds. Add folders when Mixel first asks, or any time in Settings › Library.

No. Mixel indexes your folders where they are. It never copies, moves or renames your files, and your stars, tags and crates live in Mixel’s Library, not in the files. If you stop watching a folder, its sounds leave your Library, and the files stay where they are, untouched.

Audio files in common formats: WAV, AIFF, FLAC, ALAC, MP3, AAC and M4A, Ogg, Opus, CAF, WMA and others. MIDI files are listed too, under MIDI. When it reads a folder, Mixel leaves out video files, hidden files, and what’s inside app and plug-in bundles and Logic or GarageBand projects.

Yes. Add a folder on the drive like any other. The first time, macOS may ask whether Mixel can read files on removable volumes: click Allow.

When the drive is unplugged, its sounds stay in your Library with their stars and tags. You can still browse and search them, and you plug the drive in to play or drag one. Mixel notices the drive within a minute of plugging it back in. If you rename the drive or move the folder, choose Locate… next to it in Settings › Library.

It depends on how many sounds you have and on your Mac. A folder you add starts showing its sounds at once, and their names are searchable straight away. Then Mixel measures each sound’s key, tempo and length, and listens to it for search in words. Each sound is searchable in words as soon as it’s done, so you can start before Mixel finishes. Search in words and Find similar need a Mac with Apple silicon. On an Intel Mac, Mixel only measures.

On one Mac with an M4 chip, Mixel listened to 2,662 sounds a minute (how we measured). Older Macs are slower, and we haven’t measured them yet. Mixel also slows down on battery and while music plays, so the first time through a large Library can take a while. After that, only new and changed sounds are indexed.

No. Your sounds stay on your Mac. Mixel never uploads your audio, and search runs on your Mac. Mixel indexes your folders where they are and never copies, moves or renames your files.

Only what it needs, and never your audio or what you search for:

• the sound model, downloaded once from models.0x1audio.com;
• a check for a new version, at most every six hours, which sends nothing about you;
• the store’s list of apps, and a count each time you install one;
• apps, and the tools they run on, downloaded from GitHub;
• your sign-in, if you choose to sign in;
• feedback, when you choose Help › Send Feedback…;
• anonymous usage, only if you say yes.

An app you allow to use the internet can take what it works on off your Mac, so each one asks you first. Our privacy policy lists everything.

On your Mac, only if you say yes. Mixel asks once, and you can change your answer any time in Settings › Privacy. Until you say yes, nothing is sent. On our cloud’s public pages, such as sign-in, we count page views without cookies when that counting is switched on. We also count a few account events, such as a plan starting. Our privacy policy lists exactly what’s counted.

0x1audio.com sets no cookies and loads no scripts or content from other companies. It’s delivered by Cloudflare. If Cloudflare ever suspects an attack and shows a security check, it sets one cookie to remember that your browser passed it.

No. The Library, search and the four apps from Mixel work without one. You need an account to find other apps in the store and for Plus. Make a free account by 20 November, and you get the founding price when Plus opens.

In Mixel, choose Sign in, and our sign-in page opens in your browser. Sign in or make an account there, and when the page says you’re signed in, go back to Mixel. The first time, you agree to our Terms once; you need to be at least 14, or older where your country’s law says so. You can also make an account on the web.

Plus starts with Backup and isn’t on sale yet. Make a free account by 20 November, and you get the founding price when it opens: €8 a month or €80 a year, for as long as you stay on Plus.

Every account made by 20 November has a founding price for Plus: €8 a month or €80 a year ($8 or $80, plus tax where it applies). It stays the same for as long as you stay on Plus. Making an account is free, and you don’t need a card.

Plus isn’t on sale yet. When it opens, it’s €12 a month or €120 a year. In US dollars, $12 or $120, plus tax where it applies. Prices in euros include VAT. Accounts made by 20 November have a founding price: €8 a month or €80 a year.

There’s nothing to cancel or refund yet: nothing is on sale, and making an account is free and takes no card. You can delete your account any time, in Account › Delete account.

Yes, any time. In your account, Account › Your data › Export gives you a zip of plain JSON files with everything your account holds in our cloud.

Account › Delete account deletes your account. You’re signed out everywhere, including Mixel on your Mac. Your data leaves our database at once, and our database copies within 30 days.

Your Library isn’t in our cloud: it stays on your Mac, untouched.

On your Mac, in one file: ~/Library/Application Support/0x1audio/library/library.db. It’s a SQLite database, so you can read it with any SQLite tool; leave the writing to Mixel. We can’t see it, so only you can copy or delete it. To remove it with the rest of Mixel, see How do I remove Mixel completely?

Four free apps that work on your sounds: Audio Converter turns one file into many formats at once, Vocal Extractor pulls the vocals out of a song and keeps the music too, De‑reverb takes the reverb and echo out of a recording, and Pitch & Tempo changes pitch, formant and tempo, each on its own. Every app runs on your Mac. Vocal Extractor and De‑reverb need Apple silicon. You don’t need an account to install them, and what they make goes into your Library.

Other developers can publish apps in Mixel’s store. A person reviews every app, and every new version, before it’s listed, and you install exactly the version that was reviewed. Before an app opens, it shows what it needs, such as files you choose, your Library or the internet, and it needs your OK. Review lowers the risk a lot, but it can’t remove it, and each app’s developer is responsible for their app. Sign in to see the store’s other apps.

The four apps from Mixel, Audio Converter, Vocal Extractor, De‑reverb and Pitch & Tempo, are open source under the Apache 2.0 licence, each in its own repository on GitHub. The Mixel app and the cloud aren’t open source.