Why? Well, let’s dive into the specifics… Many Mac users make music with Logic Pro X, so AU plugins are their go-to plugin format.Īnd the AU format remains the standard plugin format that Apple systems read, despite how they can read VST plugins now too. Now though, macOS can read VST and AAX plugins too. Once upon a time, macOS could only read AU plugins and not VST. But Pro Tools is the only DAW that can read this format. However, AAX plugins are compatible with Windows operating systems too. Unlike AAX and AU plugin formats, the VST format is pretty much universal. The common plugin format for Windows is VST/VST3. That brief introduction shows you that the battle of the operating systems – Windows and macOS – affects musicians and music producers as it does the general consumer. Plugin formats for different operating systems As a result, there are different types of audio plugin formats. In other words, audio plugin formats are associated with different DAWs and operating systems. The three most common audio plugin types are VST, AU, and AAX. However, Avid’s DAW Pro Tools can only read AAX plugins. And even Apple’s macOS could only read AU plugins until not so long ago! In any case, we can control these plugins with our mouse and keyboard or a MIDI controller.īecause different software companies make their trademark DAWs, they often have different specifications from others.Īnd because different big tech companies – Apple and Microsoft – make their own operating systems, they also have their own requirements.įor example, Apple’s DAWs – Logic Pro and Garageband – can only read the AU plugin format. But most DAW plugins also allow you to run them in standalone mode – no matter the plugin format. So, in digital audio, an audio plugin is a software tool that you can insert into your host DAW software – a Digital Audio Workstation.įurthermore, there are a few types of Digital Audio Workstation plugins. In general terms, a plugin is an extension or additional software tool that you can install into a host software. The difference between the plugin formats.Plugin formats for different operating systems.We’re exploring all of this and more with the following topics: Whether you’re striving to be a singer-songwriter, a music producer, a sound designer, or a mix/master engineer – you will use plugins at some point or another.īut there are a few things you need to consider when deciding what the best plugin format is for you.įor example, are you a Windows or Mac user? Do you use Pro Tools, Logic Pro, or another DAW? (And they’ve updated their website, too.Plugins are vital extensions of our DAW software. Reason 11.3 includes the AAX plug-in and other improvements and fixes, available now for free for registered Reason 11 users. If you’re a Pro Tools user, I’m curious how it works for you. It’s certainly the kind of thing you can get lost in on quarantine. Reason remains one of the most powerful sets of virtual instruments and effects you can find. And individual plug-in support is a bit spotty on the Mac. But while FL Studio can run as a plug-in, it can only do so as a VST. The closest equivalent is probably Image-Line’s FL Studio, which makes some of its bigger instruments and effects available as individual plug-ins (something Reason Studios doesn’t do). There’s not another tool that is that agnostic about how you want to work. And now you can run Reason itself in your DAW as VST or AU or Pro Tools’ AAX. You can run both VST and AU plug-ins, Mac and Windows, inside Reason. Or you can run your favorite plug-ins inside Reason. You can run Reason Rack (the essential instruments, effects, and routing from Reason) inside your DAW. Also part of a long tradition, Pro Tools is still a little more demanding of its third-party developers. It’s just usually Pro Tools users who now get left out. You don’t get to run the full version of Reason inside your DAW, as you did with ReWire, but the current Rack approach probably makes more sense for most workflows, anyway. Plug-ins have generally gotten better at doing that, and modern plug-in formats have 64-bit support so they can use all that memory you’ve got crammed into your computer. You want to sync the two sets of tools, transfer audio between them (and drag-and-drop files, where appropriate), and sequence patterns and parameters. But now, plug-ins are generally the accepted way to go for most software integration to provide the same essential functionality. The company formerly known as Propellerhead first made Reason work as a virtual rack of gear inside any DAW using the company’s own ReWire technology. All of this makes sense in the grand history of Reason.
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