Accounts & Premium

Aura Mixer comes in two flavours: a Free version that works fully on its own, and Premium, which lifts the limits and unlocks the creator/pro features. This page explains the difference and how to unlock Premium.

Free vs Premium — at a glance

Free — a complete mixer for everyday and gaming use:

• Up to 4 input channels, plus the Main L+R bus and 2 more output buses (the counters in the Channel Manager show your exact ceiling).
• The full core processing chain on every channel: input gain, noise gate, parametric EQ, compressor, fader.
• Stereo spatial tools and the Generic and Enhanced HRTF models for 3D-on-headphones — including folding a 5.1/7.1 source down to headphones.
• Output EQ, limiter and delay on your buses, and Recorder buses.
• Up to 4 hotkeys (Hotkeys).
• Everything else that makes the app tick: routing, monitoring, scenes, presets, the Workshop (browse, download, apply), themes, tray and auto-start.

Premium — adds the things power users reach for:

• No channel limits — inputs, output buses and VCA groups all open up (and unlimited hotkeys).
• The FX insert rack — reverb, delay, chorus, flanger, phaser, de-esser, noise suppressor, pitch shifter, loudness EQ and more.
• Advanced spatial — the Immersive (measured) HRTF model, Custom HRIR import (.wav / .sofa) and the Find my best profile listening test.
• Loudness metering & normalization (LUFS) — hold an output bus to a target loudness for streaming or broadcast.
• Player, Soundboard and Generator channels.
• Automation rules and the Open API for external tools.

Wherever a Premium-only control appears in the app, it's marked so you know what an upgrade would unlock — and locked channels carry a 🔒 Premium badge (what that means). Player, Soundboard, Generator and the FX rack can be built and configured on Free; they stay silent until you upgrade.

In Simple mode, the same gating shows up as a 🔒 Premium badge on locked cards and controls — a 5th sound, the Effects rack, an output's auto-level. Click the badge to find out more.

The Account button

The Account button sits at the far right of the menu bar:

• Free — it reads Account.
• Premium active — it shows the name on the license (or just "Premium") with a Premium tag.

Click it to open the account window.

Unlocking Premium — the license key

After buying — or signing up for the free beta — you get a key like AURA-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX.

1. Click Account in the menu bar.
2. Paste the key into License key (press Enter or click Activate license).
3. Premium lights up immediately — no sign-in, no reinstall.

The window also appears on first launch as the very first step of the setup flow; Skip — use the Free version → closes it and changes nothing.

Once Premium is active the window reads Premium is active (with Licensed to … when the key carries a name) and offers Remove license from this computer — use it before moving the license to another PC. Manage your account & devices on aura-mixer.com ↗ opens the website for everything else.

How the license is checked

The key binds to this computer. Aura Mixer re-checks it online in the background and works fully offline in between — roughly two weeks of grace, so a trip without internet won't lock you out. If the license has been deactivated on the website (or refunded), Premium switches off the next time the app can reach the server and you're back on the Free tier; nothing you built is deleted.

Buying & upgrading

The 🔒 Premium = unlimited prompts you'll meet at a limit, and the website, are where you buy. Premium is a one-time, lifetime purchase — no subscription, with an optional dual-PC variant for running it on two of your own machines. Seats, device activations and invoices are managed on your account at aura-mixer.com.

After buying, unlock Premium with your license key (above) — the features light up immediately.