Retrocord

Retrocord is a retroactive multitrack audio recorder. It works like a tape that's always recording from your selected input, so when you play something worth keeping, you can save the last few minutes — after the fact.

How it works

Choose your audio input and a buffer length. Retrocord records silently in the background. When you want to keep what you just played, tap a duration to capture. The audio lands in your library as a recording you can play back, edit, organize, and export.

Multitrack support

Retrocord records every channel your audio input exposes, each as its own track. Connect a class-compliant multichannel USB audio interface — such as the Focusrite Scarlett series or similar — and capture individual inputs as separate stems. Mute and solo tracks during playback, then export them to your DAW to mix and arrange later.

Edit before you export

Retrocord lets you shape a capture without leaving the app:

- Trim — set start and end points against a recording to keep only the part that matters
- Split — cut a capture in two at the playhead to create separate recordings
- Gain — adjust level in 3 dB steps, up to ±24 dB

Your library, on every device

Recordings live in an organized library — sessions hold captures, captures hold tracks — with waveforms, names, and durations at a glance. Your library syncs privately across your iPhone, iPad, and Mac through your own iCloud account.

Lossless, and smaller

Captures are stored as Apple Lossless (ALAC) — full 24-bit, 48 kHz quality at roughly half the size of uncompressed WAV. When it's time to move audio out, export individual tracks or a flattened mix as ALAC or 24-bit WAV, with your trim and gain applied.

Use cases

- Capturing jams and improvisations without arming a DAW
- Recording stems from multichannel audio interfaces
- Field recording, where the moment you want has already passed by the time you'd hit record
- Interviews and spoken word, where restarting a conversation to get a clean take isn't an option
- Practice sessions, rehearsals, and songwriting where good ideas surface unpredictably

Details

- Works with any class-compliant USB audio interface
- Also supports the built-in microphone on iPhone and iPad
- Stereo pairing toggle for interleaved L/R channels
- Per-track mute and solo during playback
- Non-destructive trim, split, and gain
- Apple Lossless (ALAC) storage; export to ALAC or 24-bit/48 kHz WAV
- Private iCloud sync across your devices, through your own iCloud account
- No third-party account, no analytics — your recordings are yours