How to Share a Mix Without Bouncing (the Faster Workflow)
By David Payette · audio engineer, professional musician · About →
Every working mix engineer has done some version of this calculation: client wants to hear the latest. Should I bounce? It’s a 4‑minute song; the bounce will take 90 seconds. Then the upload. Then the email. By the time the client opens it I’ve burned 7 minutes and broken my flow. And they’ll probably want one small change, which means I do it all again.
The standard answer to “share my mix” is bouncing. It doesn’t have to be. There are two paths that skip the bounce entirely. One is a real‑time stream that lets the client hear the mix as you work on it. The other is a one‑tap recording on your phone that you text to them like any other message. Neither involves exporting audio from your DAW.
This page explains both paths, when each one makes sense, and what you’d still need to bounce for.
What “share without bouncing” actually means
Strictly: don’t trigger your DAW’s export / bounce / mixdown function. The mix exists as it plays out of your master bus. You can capture or transmit it as it plays, without ever rendering an offline export file.
Two ways to do that:
Path A — Real‑time stream. The mix bus audio travels over the internet to whoever is listening. They hear it as you do. No file is created anywhere. This is what Auxfeed has done since day one.
Path B — On‑phone recorder. The mix bus audio reaches the phone in real time, and the phone records the playback locally. When you stop, you have a recording on the phone that you can share via the share sheet — iMessage, AirDrop, email, Files. This is what’s coming with Build #1 (the recorder share flow currently scoped as AUX‑103). It exists in the iOS and Android apps as a primitive today; the share‑sheet polish lands with the build.
Both paths skip the DAW’s render entirely. Both reach the listener in seconds. Both leave your DAW in normal playback state, which means you can keep working while the listener listens.
Path A — real‑time stream
Best for: live review with the client present, when you and they have time set aside for a back‑and‑forth.
How it works:
- Auxfeed plugin on your master bus. AU, VST3, or AAX. Post‑fader.
- Tap “Get share link” in the plugin. Copies a
https://auxfeed.app/s/<code>URL to your clipboard, or shows a QR. - Send the link. iMessage, WhatsApp, email — whatever the client uses.
- They tap. iOS opens an App Clip and starts playing in seconds. Android opens Chrome with a “Listen in browser” or “Open in app” choice. Desktop opens the web player.
- You hit play in the DAW. They hear it within ~150 ms.
Free for both sides. No account on the listener side. Works whether you’re in the same room (Wi‑Fi) or different countries (relay).
When it shines:
- Mid‑session review. The mix is a moving target; the client wants to hear it now.
- Multi‑listener sessions. One link, multiple recipients, each on their own device.
- Voiceover spotting and direction. Director listens to existing takes, gives notes.
- Cross‑city writing sessions. Producer in another city follows along as the song develops.
When it doesn’t shine:
- Asynchronous review. Client is asleep, on a flight, doesn’t have time today. They want a file to listen to whenever. Use Path B (or, today, a quick bounce).
- Repeated re‑listening. Client wants to A/B today’s version against last week’s. Real‑time can’t substitute for a file they can scrub through.
- Anything mastering‑adjacent. Use a proper file delivery so they can listen on their own monitors.
Full walkthrough: how to share a live mix with a client →
Path B — on‑phone recorder
Best for: small, fast, async revisions. The 30‑second snippet that the client listens to in the car.
How it works (when Build #1 ships):
- Auxfeed plugin streaming to your phone (same setup as Path A, but you’re the listener on the phone side).
- Tap record in the Auxfeed app. Captures the live monitor stream as an audio file on the phone.
- Tap stop when the snippet is done.
- Tap share. iOS share sheet appears. Choose iMessage / Mail / AirDrop / Files / WhatsApp / Telegram / wherever.
- Recipient gets it like any other audio attachment. They tap to listen.
The snippet lives on the recipient’s phone (or their Files / iCloud / Drive / wherever the share sheet sent it). It doesn’t expire. It’s not behind a login. They can listen on AirPods on the train.
When it shines:
- “Just listen to this little change I made.” The 15–60 second snippet pattern.
- Communication with non‑technical clients. They get an audio message, not a tool to learn.
- Async work across time zones. You record now, they listen when they wake up.
- Documenting decisions. The snippet is its own archive — “here’s where we landed on the chorus” stays on their phone.
When it doesn’t shine:
- Full mix delivery. Use a proper bounce.
- Mastering proofs. Consumer phone recording isn’t the right format.
- High‑resolution / multi‑channel review. Phone playback is stereo and consumer‑grade.
Build #1 (AUX‑103) is the work to surface the recorder share flow in the app UI and wire it through the iOS / Android share sheets. The audio capture engine (RecordingManager in both apps) already exists.
When you still need to bounce
Be honest. Some things require a real export.
- Final delivery. Master file going to the artist, the label, the distributor. Use a real bounce.
- Mastering submission. Mastering engineer wants a high‑res file with the right sample rate, bit depth, and headroom. Real bounce.
- Print to a stem. Printing the mix bus to a track for archive or further processing. DAW’s bounce in place.
- Backups and archives. Long‑term storage of approved versions. Real bounce.
- Anything time‑stamped or contractual. “The version delivered on April 26 at 3pm” needs to be a stable file.
For everything else — the dozens of intermediate revisions, the “just to check” listens, the producer in another city following along, the snippet you want a friend’s opinion on — bouncing is overhead you can skip.
Per‑DAW notes
Both paths use the Auxfeed plugin on the master bus, so the workflow is identical across DAWs once the plugin is loaded. A few platform‑specific notes:
Logic Pro. Plugin loads as AU. Post‑fader on the Stereo Out bus. If you’re using Logic’s bounce‑in‑place workflow for stems, those happen separately and don’t conflict.
Pro Tools. Plugin loads as AAX. Auxfeed is the only free AAX plugin in this category — Mix to Mobile is the closest paid alternative. Drop it on the print bus or master fader.
Ableton Live. Plugin loads as VST3 or AU. Drop it on the Master track (post‑fader by default). If you’re using Live’s session view, the plugin streams whatever’s playing in either Session or Arrangement.
Cubase. Plugin loads as VST3. Drop it on the master output strip. Cubase Bluetooth headphones guide →
REAPER, FL Studio, Studio One, Bitwig, others. All supported via VST3 / AU. Drop on master.
What changes when you stop bouncing for review
A few things that aren’t obvious until you live with it.
You make more iterations, faster. When the cost of “let them hear it” drops from 7 minutes to 7 seconds, you do it more often. The conversation gets tighter.
Vague feedback gets less vague. When the client is hearing the same playback you are (Path A) or hearing your specific 30‑second highlight (Path B), they reference the same shared moment. “The kick is too loud” becomes “the kick on that hit at 1:42.”
The session feels more collaborative. Not because the tool magically improves communication — because you’re not waiting through bounces and uploads.
You bounce less. So you bounce when it matters. The bounces you do still need become the meaningful ones — final delivery, mastering, archive. Each one is a deliberate step rather than a routine cost.
Try Path A today
Download Auxfeed. Install the plugin. Open the app on your phone. The next time a client wants to hear something, send them a link instead of an email attachment. See how it feels.
Path B (the recorder share flow) ships with Build #1 — the iOS and Android apps already capture the audio; the share‑sheet wiring is the remaining piece of work, and Linear issue AUX‑103 tracks the timing. When it lands, you’ll be able to text mix snippets the same way you text everything else.
See also:
- Share a live mix with a client — Path A in detail.
- Phone as second meter screen — once the audio’s on your phone, the meters are too.
- How to check your mix on Bluetooth headphones — the consumer‑reference path.