# Three Hidden Popover Features

Blocks have popovers for easy access to their settings. These popovers also offer three handy features which are somewhat hidden, but well worth learning about.

#### The On/Off Switch

First up is the On/Off switch, found in the upper right of each Block's popover. Using this switch (or right-clicking a Block and selecting "Turn Off This Block") enables you to turn off an individual block in your audio chain.

A popover's On/Off switch

With this control, you can test and fine-tune your audio pipeline, even as it's capturing audio. Test audio effects individually, or check your audio inputs without recording until you're ready.

Left: A Recorder block that's on;
Right: A Recorder block that's off

You can see which blocks are currently off by looking at your chain. Those blocks which are grayed out are inactive, and won't affect audio in any way (it will simply flow past them). Just be sure all desired blocks are on when needed!

#### Popover Tearing and Pinning

Single-clicking a Block will reveal its popover for quick adjustment. When you click a second Block, its popover will open and the first Block's popover will be dismissed. Generally, this is desirable, but in some cases you may wish to more rapidly adjust a Block's settings.

To do this, you can tear off the popover by pulling it away from the Block. Here you can see the 10-band Equalizers popover after it has been torn off. Its settings will now be accessible in Audio Hijack, even if another Block is selected.

The Equalizer's popover, torn-off

You may also wish to have a Block's settings accessible even if Audio Hijack is in the background, and that's possible as well. Click the Pin button in the popover's upper left corner, and it will float above all windows on your system, making it accessible from within any application.

The Equalizer's popover, torn-off and pinned

#### Presets

At the bottom of each popover, you'll see a section called "Presets". Presets are a way to save settings for a particular Block, for later use. Presets are saved globally, so they can be used in another copy of the Block in the same Session, or in another Session entirely.

A simple example of presets can be found in the 10-band equalizer. While it comes with some built-in presets for Rock or Jazz, you can also make a custom preset. Tweak the settings to your liking, then select "Save as Preset" from the "Presets" menu. You'll be able to name your preset, and it will always be accessible from the "Presets" menu.

The 10 Band EQ's Presets Menu

Do note that presets aren't limited solely to audio effects like the 10 Band EQ. In fact, you can save a preset in any Block complex enough to offer a popover! That means you can save presets for the Application input, the Recorder Block, and more. As you use Audio Hijack more, presets will save you tons of time.