App Capture and System Audio
Capture audio from one specific application, or from everything your PC plays, without a virtual cable.
These two nodes take audio that is already playing on your PC and bring it into Routling - no virtual cable, no changing the application's settings.
The App Capture submenu listing running applications.
app-capture-menuApp Capture - one application#
Captures a single running program. Chrome without Discord. Spotify without your game.
Adding one#
Right-click the canvas → App Capture. Routling scans for programs currently playing audio and lists them by name.
If nothing appears, the menu says "No apps playing audio" - start playback in the app first, then reopen the menu. Apps that have gone quiet are listed with (idle).
Pick the application. A node appears carrying only that app's audio.
Use it for#
- Game audio to your stream, keeping Discord out
- Music into a recording without system notification sounds
- One browser tab's audio processed separately
System Audio - everything#
Captures everything your PC plays, except Routling itself. That exclusion is deliberate: capturing your own output would create a feedback loop.
Right-click the canvas → System Audio.
Use it for#
- One node carrying all desktop audio to a stream
- Recording everything you hear
- Applying an EQ or limiter to all system output
Which one#
| You want | Use |
|---|---|
| Audio from one named program | App Capture |
| Everything, mixed | System Audio |
| Everything except a couple of apps | System Audio, then mute what you do not want at the source |
| An app deliberately sending to Routling | Routling I/O instead |
How apps are remembered#
App Capture records the application's executable name, not just the process ID. When you reload a session, Routling finds the app again even though Windows gave it a new PID.
If the app is not running when you restore a session, the node stays on the canvas as a placeholder and the log notes "App not running - keeping placeholder". Start the app and it reconnects.
Limits and gotchas#
- Captures are always stereo - one node with an
Land anRchannel. - The app must actually be playing audio to appear in the list.
- Some applications with their own exclusive audio handling may not appear. Those need Routling I/O instead.
- App Capture and System Audio attach as secondary devices, so they carry the secondary buffer's latency. See Latency and Buffers.
- Capturing an app and System Audio at once means that app arrives twice. Pick one.
Related#
- Routling I/O - when the app should send to Routling deliberately
- Per-Application Routing - a full per-application setup
- Primary and Secondary Devices - why this costs latency