MainStage audio input patches not switching after update

Question

morisoba Author

Level 1

5 points

MainStage audio input patches not switching after update

I'm experiencing a strange issue after updating to the latest versions of MainStage and macOS.

Environment:

- MainStage 4.3

- macOS Tahoe 26.5.2

- Apple Silicon MacBook Pro M2 Pro

Issue:

Software Instrument patches switch perfectly.

However, Audio Input patches (guitar or even the built-in microphone) do not switch correctly.

When I change patches, the previous patch continues processing the live input for the full duration specified by "Silence Previous Patch" (currently set to 5 seconds). The new patch does not become active until those 5 seconds have passed.

During that time, the audio briefly becomes louder, as if the previous patch is still processing the live input.

Previously, with the exact same setup and setting, only the reverb and delay tails remained while the dry input switched immediately to the new patch. Now, the dry input also remains on the previous patch until the "Silence Previous Patch" timer expires.

Things I've already tested:

- Created a brand new macOS user account

- Tested with a default MainStage concert

- Used the built-in microphone instead of my guitar

- Used the built-in audio output

- Reinstalled MainStage

- Reset MainStage preferences

- Uninstalled BlackHole

- Tested patch switching using both my MIDI foot controller and my computer keyboard

The problem only affects Audio Input patches.

Software Instrument patches switch normally.

This issue did not exist before. I have been using the same Mac and the same MainStage setup successfully for live performances. The problem appeared after launching MainStage again about a month later, following recent software updates.

Has anyone experienced this on MainStage 4.3 or macOS Tahoe?

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Posted on Jul 18, 2026 7:16 AM

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Answer 1

Aug 23, 2026 5:46 AM in response to morisoba

MainStage 4.3.x appears to have introduced a serious regression when switching between patches that use live audio input.

When switching from Patch A to Patch B, Patch B becomes active immediately as expected. However, Patch A continues to process the live guitar input for approximately 5–6 seconds.

This means that both patches can be heard simultaneously for several seconds after the patch change.

The issue is therefore not slow loading of the new patch. The new patch is available immediately; the problem is that the previous patch continues receiving/processing live input.

“Instantly Silence Previous Patch” prevents the overlap, but this is not an acceptable workaround because it also immediately cuts off the previous patch rather than allowing effect tails to decay naturally.

This is particularly serious for MainStage because it makes patch switching unreliable for live guitar performance.

Expected behavior: After switching patches, new live input should immediately be routed only through the newly selected patch, while existing reverb/delay tails from the previous patch should be allowed to decay according to the Silence Previous Patch setting.

Actual behavior: New live input continues to be processed by both the previous and newly selected patches for approximately 5–6 seconds.

The problem has occurred with amp-modeling plugins including TONEX and NAM, suggesting that it is not specific to one Audio Unit plugin.

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