StemDeck so far: everything added from the first release to the current version

StemDeck so far: everything added from the first release to 0.11

StemDeck started as a small project to help my son learn his tracks by ear, without a subscription and without uploading our music to anyone's server. It has come a long way since the first build, so here is the whole journey in one place, grouped by version.

Everything below is free, local, and open source. No account, no upload, no subscription. StemDeck is still alpha, so expect rough edges, and every bug report genuinely goes into the next release. It has picked up around 2,000 GitHub stars and 13,000+ downloads in roughly three months, entirely through word of mouth.

The foundation (0.1 – 0.2)

• 6-stem separation (vocals, drums, bass, guitar, piano, other) powered by Demucs, running fully locally
• DAW-style waveform editor with zoom and loop
• Per-stem mixer: volume faders, mute, solo, and solo-only monitoring
• Pick which stems to keep on import instead of always extracting all six
• Live VU meters per stem
• Automatic song analysis: BPM and key detection
• Cancel a job at any stage (download, separation, export)
• Windows desktop app

Local files and persistence (0.3)

• Import local MP3 and WAV files, not just URLs
• Your imported track and settings persist across app restarts

macOS native app (0.4)

• Native macOS build with Apple Silicon (MPS) acceleration
• Both Apple Silicon and Intel builds

A real studio interface (0.5)

• Proper DAW-style visual overhaul
• Working Export Mix
• Tag search with autocomplete
• Library sidebar
• Sections bar and analysis panel

Export, storage, and hardening (0.6)

• Export a specific looped region, not just the whole mix
• Library and stems saved to a stable location in your Documents folder
• Docker fixes and professional WAV handling (24-bit, 32-bit float) so pro files no longer separate to silence
• Security hardening pass

Sources, formats, and platforms (0.7)

• YouTube import
• SoundCloud import
• YouTube Shorts support
• MP4 and M4A file import (drop a music video straight in)
• Upload limit raised to 400 MB
• Export your mix as an MP4 video, keeping the original picture
• Portable Linux builds (CPU and NVIDIA variants)
• Linux FFmpeg installs automatically on first launch
• NVIDIA RTX 50-series (Blackwell) GPU support
• Exact loop points you can type in, not just drag
• Docker image and Unraid Community Applications listing
• In-app update notifications with release notes and the right download for your machine
• A "We Recommend" section highlighting makers and artists (no paid placements, ever)

Mobile and self-hosting (0.8)

• Use StemDeck from your phone's browser, connected to the app on your computer
• Opt-in local network toggle so other devices can reach it
• Streaming playback that cut mobile memory use from around 420 MB to 28 MB and removed the track length cap
• Choose your export sample rate (22.05 / 32 / 44.1 / 48 kHz)
• "Best" separation quality mode for cleaner stems
• Compute device selector (Auto / CUDA / MPS / CPU) for self-hosted installs
• Automatic GPU-to-CPU fallback if separation fails on the GPU
• Repeated exports serve instantly from cache
• Reset app data and a read-only job registry view for troubleshooting
• A resilience pass: rotating logs, automatic retries on network blips, crash recovery
• Click track that follows the actual song, detected from the drums, so it tracks tempo drift instead of sliding out of phase
• Beat grid editor to correct detection by hand
• Optionally bake the click into an export

Rebuilt imports and a real queue (0.9)

• Imports run in the background instead of taking over the app
• A real import queue: line up several tracks, reorder them, cancel cleanly, and it survives a restart
• Import a whole YouTube or SoundCloud playlist at once
• Choose where your stems are stored (handy if your Documents folder syncs to iCloud or OneDrive)
• Optional Linux installer for an app icon and menu entry
• Playback fixes for silent tracks and 24/32-bit stems
• First community contributions from @MetalMan1245

Practice tools and better failures (0.10)

• Count-in: one bar of click before playback starts, so you come in on the downbeat instead of chasing it
• Count-in works in exports too, baked into the file for practicing away from the app
• The transport bar was rebuilt so every click-track control is visible and grouped, no more hidden right-click menu
• Practice speeds are clear presets (0.25x / 0.5x / 1x) instead of a vague dial
• Failures now land in the notification bell and stay there, instead of vanishing with a dismissed banner
• One click files a proper bug report, pre-filled with your version, OS, install type, and the actual error (your track title and source link are never included)
• A new Logs tab to read the app and setup logs and export them for a bug report

Reliability and reach (0.11)

• Your library now warns you when a track's files have gone missing, on desktop and mobile, instead of failing silently
• One click restores a missing track that came from a URL
• Bug reporting fixed on Windows, plus a "Report on Discord" button and the full backend traceback (with your home directory, source URLs, and local IPs stripped before anything is shared)
• More YouTube links import: livestream and premiere links, embed links, and the privacy domain youtube-nocookie.com
• Max track length raised to 60 minutes, so full albums and long sets fit
• macOS FFmpeg setup fixed: a second download source, fails fast instead of hanging, and a readable error instead of raw output

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If you have made it this far, the best way to help is simple: try it, tell me what breaks, and if you find it useful, a star goes a long way toward helping other people find it.

Download and source: https://github.com/stemdeckapp/stemdeck