AirCheck Guides · Support · Home

Guides / Choosing a Mac audio recorder

Audio Hijack vs Piezo vs AirCheck: which one-off Mac recorder should you buy?

Updated 2026-09-03.

Audio Hijack ($69) is the most configurable: it captures applications, devices and all system audio in one session and mixes them, and it demands setup, a session built from blocks before you can record. Piezo ($29) records one application or device per session. AirCheck ($39) records everything the Mac plays, or one input with a channel-pair picker, with one button, no driver, no length limit, and capture that restarts into the same file after a dropout.

What is the difference between Audio Hijack, Piezo and AirCheck?

The difference is how many sources a single recording can contain, and how much you set up before pressing record.

Note the whole-system versus per-app split: Piezo picks one app, AirCheck picks all of them. If you want Spotify without the Slack ping, mute Slack before the take or use a per-app recorder; per-app capture has its own page.

When does a take need Audio Hijack's mixing?

Whenever the recording needs more than one source in the same file, or processing while it runs. Concrete cases:

All of them carry the same cost: Audio Hijack is built for routing, not for pressing record, so a session is built from blocks before you can record and the options take time to learn. AirCheck does none of these by design: it records one source per take and has no mixing, no effects and no per-app selection. If your take has one source, the extra $30 buys features you will not use, and AirCheck's advantages take over: one button instead of a session to build, macOS 14.0 instead of 14.4, a universal build for Apple silicon and Intel, no length limit, and stall recovery into the same file. Rogue Amoeba's trial adds noise after 10 minutes of capture; AirCheck has no trial build and refunds within 14 days instead.

When is Piezo enough, and when does it fall short?

Piezo is enough when the source is exactly one application or one device and you want the smallest possible interface. Recording a browser tab's radio stream, a Zoom call with the two sides on separate channels, or a USB mic all fit.

It falls short in two situations that push people to the other two tools. First, when the audio comes from several apps at once, such as a DJ app plus a sampler, or a game plus voice chat; Piezo's page describes selecting a single application or device. Second, on a multi-input audio interface, when you need a specific line-input pair rather than the interface's first channels. AirCheck's channel-pair picker exists for that case because the author records a DDJ-SZ through inputs 3-4 of an 8-input Scarlett 8i6. Audio Hijack handles it with its Devices block and channel mapping.

Piezo's file format options were not verified for this page, so they are left out of the table; check the vendor page before you rely on a particular format.

When is AirCheck the right pick?

When the job is a long, unattended, single-source take and you want it to survive. Three things AirCheck does that matter for that job:

  1. No driver. System audio is captured through Apple's ScreenCaptureKit after a one-time Screen & System Audio Recording permission. Nothing appears in Audio MIDI Setup, so nothing can vanish after a macOS update.
  2. Stall recovery into the same file. A watchdog checks every 2 seconds; if no audio buffer has arrived for 5 seconds, capture is torn down and restarted into the same file, retrying until audio returns. Devices are re-resolved by name after a hot-plug because Core Audio device IDs change on reconnect.
  3. No length limit. The author's longest real take is 7,550 seconds, 2 h 5 min at 24-bit 48 kHz, 2.07 GB. Disk space is the only ceiling.

Whether Audio Hijack or Piezo have equivalent recovery behaviour was not tested for this page, so no claim is made either way. What is certain is the price and the reach: $39 once against $69, no subscription, 14-day refund, a universal build for Apple silicon and Intel, export to WAV 16-bit, WAV 24-bit or MP3 320 kbps, and files in ~/Music/AirCheck named by date and time.

Audio Hijack Trial Limitations: After 10 minutes of audio capture, noise is added to all audio passing through Audio Hijack.

Rogue Amoeba, About app trials

Audio Hijack, Piezo and AirCheck side by side, checked 3 Sept 2026

CriterionAudio Hijack 4.6.0Piezo 1.9.10AirCheck
Price (USD, one-off)692939
Minimum macOS14.414.414.0
All system audio in one takeyesnot stated on vendor pageyes
One app onlyyesyesno
Mix mic + app in one fileyesno (separate channels for VoIP)no
Effects blocks (compressor, volume)yesnono
Interface channel-pair pickervia channel mappingnot statedyes
Export formatsMP3, AAC, AIFF, WAV, ALAC, FLACnot verified hereWAV 16-bit, WAV 24-bit, MP3 320 kbps
Stall recovery into same filenot testednot testedyes, after 5 s
Trialnoise after 10 minnoise after 10 minnone, 14-day refund
Upgrade pricing seen$29 upgrade to version 4none listednone listed

Cells marked not stated or not verified were left blank on purpose rather than guessed.

Where AirCheck fits

AirCheck is the right buy of the three whenever you record one source at a time: everything the Mac plays, or a specific channel pair on an interface, at 24-bit. No driver, so nothing a macOS update can break; one button and nothing to configure, where Audio Hijack demands a session built from blocks; no length limit; capture that restarts into the same file after a 5-second stall; WAV or MP3 export; $39 once instead of $69, universal for Apple silicon and Intel, macOS 14 or newer, 14-day refund.

When you do not need it: AirCheck records one source per take; live mixing of a microphone with app audio, several apps at once, effects and timers are a different category of tool.

AirCheck records what your Mac plays, or any input, to one file. $39 once.

Buy AirCheck for $39

macOS 14 or newer. One-off payment. Fourteen-day refund, no questions asked.

Questions people ask

What is Audio Hijack used for?

Recording and processing any audio on a Mac: individual applications, microphones and mixers, or all system audio at once, with effects and mixing in a block-based interface. Rogue Amoeba positions it for podcasts, VoIP capture and streaming.

Is Piezo just a cheaper Audio Hijack?

Same vendor, same minimum macOS 14.4, but Piezo records one application or one device per session with no mixing, effects or chains. At $29 versus $69 that is the trade.

Can AirCheck record my mic and Zoom at the same time?

No. AirCheck records one source per take. Record the mic in a second take, let the meeting tool record both sides, or use a mixing recorder. See recording both sides of a call.

Which of the three runs on the oldest macOS?

AirCheck, at macOS 14.0 Sonoma. Audio Hijack 4.6.0 and Piezo 1.9.10 list macOS 14.4 as the minimum on their product pages, and Loopback 2.5.0 lists 14.5. On a Mac held at Sonoma 14.0 to 14.3, AirCheck is the only one of the three that installs.

Sources

Hannes Hennerbichler builds AirCheck and records his own DJ sets with it through a Focusrite Scarlett 8i6. Every step on this page was run on the macOS version stated above. Drafted with AI assistance, checked and edited by the author. About