Matari Audio has released BUFFR 1.0, a retrospective audio and MIDI recorder for macOS, Windows, and Linux.
BUFFR is available for $49 until September 22nd at 17:00 UTC (normally $89). Enter the coupon code BPB at checkout to reduce the launch price by another $5, bringing it down to $44.
We featured BUFFR during its free public beta in July, and I really liked it.
Even after more than 20 years of producing music, I still tend to mess up any performance after I press the record button. BUFFR removes that pressure by continuously keeping what you play while the plugin is loaded.
You can go back through up to two hours of recent audio and MIDI, select the useful part, and drag it into your DAW. A single instance can retain its main input, seven stereo auxiliary inputs, a separate System Audio lane, and MIDI across all 16 channels.
The main addition for version 1.0 is audio-to-MIDI conversion. You can now right-click an audio selection to detect melodic or drum parts, or use Spectral Grab to isolate a narrower range by time and frequency before conversion. The MIDI retains the timing of the captured performance and can be dragged back into your project.
Smart Quantize lets you tighten a performance without automatically ironing out everything that made it interesting. Its triangular control blends Raw, Human, and Precision timing, and it can work on the complete take, a marker, or a smaller selection.
That said, there is quite a bit more to explore here than simple retrospective recording. Spectral Grab can extract or remove selected frequencies, while Center Align balances uneven waveform peaks and Ride creates an offline gain curve. The captured source remains untouched, and the processed result carries over when you preview, drag, or export it.
BUFFR also creates recovery checkpoints every five seconds, which may restore retained audio, MIDI, and markers after a DAW crash. However, it cannot recover anything from before the plugin was loaded, after its history was cleared, or beyond the selected history length.
The 28-day trial can be downloaded directly from the product page without registration. Purchases use Polar checkout, and activation requires the license key from your receipt. One perpetual license covers three computers, includes version 1.x updates, and supports online or offline activation.
BUFFR runs as a CLAP or VST3 plugin and standalone application on macOS, Windows, and Linux, with AUv2 also included for macOS. The macOS installer is signed and notarized, although the current AUv2 build requires macOS 15; users on macOS 13 or 14 should use CLAP or VST3.
More info: Matari Audio BUFFR ($44 with code BPB until September 22nd)
Last Updated on September 9, 2026 by Tomislav Zlatic.
