From installation
to your first sound.

What you’ll need

• A Mac with your supported AU/VST3 instruments, effects, samples and authorizations installed locally.
• An MPC Live III running OS 3.10.0—the model and OS used in the owner’s tests.
• The Mac and MPC on the same trusted local network for Companion control.
• Your configured USB connection for MIDI and audio between the MPC and Mac.
• A prepared installer USB drive and the community Plugin Manager for the MPC plugin step.

The Companion does not carry audio or MIDI notes over its network connection. Do not expose its control port to the public internet.

Install RackSanity on the Mac

1. Save your rack and quit any running RackSanity app.
2. Open the RackSanity + MPC Companion .pkg and follow the installer screens.
3. Open /Applications/RackSanity Companion/RackSanity.app. Use this exact app if you also have an older public or debug build installed.
4. Scan the Mac’s installed plugins and choose its audio and MIDI devices. Start with one instrument to verify sound.

The installer includes the separate MPC ZIP at /Library/Application Support/RTW Audio/RackSanity Companion/Packages and an MPC Setup.html guide beside the app. It does not automatically install onto the MPC.

Use Power → Rack Check to review the active audio device, slot routes and unavailable instrument/FX warnings. Rack Check does not inspect sample libraries inside a plugin.

Prepare the MPC side

If the community Plugin Manager already opens on your MPC, keep that working setup and skip the first-use helper steps.

1. Prepare a USB using the reviewed Plugin Manager v1.3.0 bundle. Copy its contents to the USB root, including hidden .mpc-manager-id, rather than copying the enclosing folder. Preserve existing files when updating.
2. Copy the included RackSanity-Companion-0.0.8-mpc-aarch64.zip, still zipped, into the USB’s local-plugins folder.
3. Save your MPC project and insert the USB. On first use with OS 3.10, select Plugin Manager helper.xpa in the MPC Browser. Choose Load, select internal MPC Documents as the extraction destination, then Save. Allow extraction to finish.
4. Shut the MPC down normally and turn it back on to activate that helper. With the prepared USB inserted, hold Shift + Menu for two seconds to open the manager.
5. Choose Browse plugins → Local and select RackSanity Companion 0.0.8. Verify its version and destination before installing.
6. The owner’s tested destination is /nvme/Synths. If needed, use Setup → Plugin location to select it. A noexec, read-only or unavailable destination must be corrected by choosing a supported location; do not bypass mount restrictions.
7. Install/update the Companion and preserve existing user data, including its private pairing configuration. Choose Return to MPC and wait for MPC to finish reopening.

Opening Plugin Manager stops the MPC application. Returning can take 30 seconds or longer; let it finish. The upstream manager guide covers its installation and recovery behavior.

Connect the rack

1. On the Mac, open Power → MPC Companion Connection.
2. Choose the Mac address on the same network as your MPC, then click Enable on this Mac. If multiple adapters are listed, use the one connected to that network.
3. Save the MPC project, connect it to this Mac by USB, and enter Controller Mode so its storage mounts on the Mac.
4. In the same RackSanity dialog, choose Save pairing to MPC…. Select the installed RTW Audio - VST - RackSanity Companion folder—on the owner’s setup, under MPC User → Synths.
5. Eject all mounted MPC volumes in Finder. Return the MPC to Standalone and open one Companion instance on a plugin track.
6. Press Connect. Confirm your rack is visible and Live Edit is off. Arm Live Edit only when you want controls or confirmed loading actions to change the Mac rack.

After enabling it once, open the Mac app normally next time; Terminal is not required. If the Mac’s address changes, repeat the pairing export. Pairing is private: do not share your companion.conf or its token.

Keep instrument tracks independent

1. Load Hive or another supported instrument in RackSanity slot 1. Assign its MIDI input and receive channel, for example channel 1.
2. Use a native MPC MIDI track assigned to that channel and the Mac USB MIDI port. For another instrument, use another slot and channel, for example channel 2.
3. Select either rack in the Companion. That changes the control target; it does not change the native MIDI track assignments.
4. For audio capture, configure the Mac’s output to the MPC USB audio return and record it onto an MPC audio track. Stop recording, mute the instrument MIDI tracks, and play the recorded audio to verify the capture.

Save the Mac rack and MPC project separately. Load the saved Mac rack before connecting. Automatic Mac rack recall from an MPC project is not included.

For effects, choose FX → Add FX, select a scanned effect, arm Live Edit and press Add Selected FX. Existing rack limits and supported-effect policies still apply. Your plugin editor opens on the Mac.

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