# "Realtime mode doesn't seem to do anything"

**URL:** <https://restem.discourse.group/t/realtime-mode-doesnt-seem-to-do-anything/20>\
**Category:** Help & Support\
**Created:** [August 11, 2026, 3:36am UTC](https://restem.discourse.group/t/realtime-mode-doesnt-seem-to-do-anything/20 "2026-08-11T03:36:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Rim](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex009/user_avatar/restem.discourse.group/rim/32/20_2.png) [@Rim](https://restem.discourse.group/u/Rim)\
**Post date:** [August 11, 2026, 3:36am UTC](https://restem.discourse.group/t/realtime-mode-doesnt-seem-to-do-anything/20/1 "2026-08-11T03:36:49Z")

</div>

The realtime separation engine takes **5–15 seconds to load** after you select a realtime quality (longer on older machines). Until it’s ready, ReStem passes your audio through untouched — so if you hit play immediately, it can look like nothing is happening. Give it a moment; the display shows when separation is live.

If it never engages:

- check that your buffer size is reasonable (1024 or less),
- confirm your Mac DAW isn’t running under Rosetta,
- and post your machine specs here — realtime needs a reasonably modern CPU, and on Windows ReStem tunes itself to your machine on first use.