Jacktrip on OS X

This page describes how to set up Jacktrip on your Mac OS X machine for network performances.

Get and Install Jack

Find out about what Jack is here [1]. It is essentially an application for connecting your sound card to 'Jack aware' audio programs like 'Jacktrip' with very low latency. Download it here http://www.jackosx.com. Unzip the download and install by clicking the Mac OS X installer package. Unless you know otherwise, just accept all the defaults for the install. You will be required to reboot your computer after the install.

jackd, the Jack application, will be installed here:

/usr/local/bin/jackd

Jack itself doesn't have a graphical user interface, so it can only be used from the command line. But, see Qjackctl below for an essential GUI. JackOSX comes with a GUI called JackPilot. Best to use Qjackctl instead.

Get and Install Qjackctl

Qjackctl is a front end GUI for Jack (jackd). It allows you to configure Jack parameters like sampling rate, buffer size, and to select an audio device. It also provides a means to start and stop Jack, monitor its status, and make connections between applications (like Jacktrip) and audio devices. A binary can be found here: [2]. Click on Qjackctl to download. Install the Qjackctl by dragging the icon into the Applications folder.

Get and Install Jacktrip

You can find Jacktrip's homepage with documentation here: [3]. Download the latest binary here: [4] by clicking on:

jacktrip-<latest version>-osx.zip

Jacktrip is a simple unix binary which needs to be installed from the Terminal.app program. The instructions can be found in the "INSTALL.txt" file, which comes with Jacktrip. They are quoted here (bin/ in the line "go to bin/" refers to the directory "bin" directory in the downloaded and unzipped file tree):

To install (using Terminal): go to bin/ directory and type:

   sudo cp jacktrip /usr/bin/
   (enter your password when prompted)

   sudo chmod 755 /usr/bin/jacktrip
   (now you can run jacktrip from any directory using Terminal)