Electronic Music 411 - Rediscovering plugins

Rediscovering plugins
em411.com forums : Effects, VST, VSTi : effects, vst and vsti

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thread starter

05/12/08 + daveojo

Hey all, some of you may remember me I used to post here a good back a few years ago (before the changeover to the new site format).

Anyway, I used to work with Cubase on PC, mostly working with VSTs and adding live instruments. Since then I've gone over to 8 track/harddrive + tape recording -working only with hardware.

In the last couple of months I've bought a macbook in order to scale back the amount of gear required so I'm thinking of getting back to using a laptop for composition and working with softsynths again.

I'm working with Reaper, which I really like. One thing which is sort of confusing is that when you open the Fx plugins list it pulls up plugs in all sort of different formats: AU (which I would have expected) but also VST and VSTi.. Weird. When I worked with VST's originally there was a strict divide -VST for PCs and AU for Mac. Has this changed now?

Working with a mac is a totally different realm for me since I was so used to PC's so any help that people can give me (especially as far as Mac-friendly freeware plugins go).

Recent Blog: I suck at the new EM411 :(

Replies

05/12/08 + cartesia

When I worked with VST's originally there was a strict divide -VST for PCs and AU for Mac. Has this changed now?

Yep. . . there are vsts for mac now. . .but be aware that a WIN VSt wont work on mac, it needs to be a MAC VST (Windows VSTs are .dll, mac VSTs are .vst)

Recent blogs: counter-intuitive ftw!, non-random use of random numbers?, My first max dabblings

edited: May 12 2008 + n9

macs have always had vsts, since cubaseVST came out in, what?, 1997? AUs are the newer format.

Logic and Garageband only see AUs. Most of the other clients will see both. Most, but not all, plugins support both formats. Since VST development uses a cross-platform API at the core, most cross platform plugins use some form of wrapper for the AU version on the Mac.

Recent blogs: Bootleg of first My Bloody Valentine show in 16 years., i'm back + two new tracks, new plugins that are awesome

05/12/08 + daveojo

thanks guys. really before the last couple of months I had zero experience of working with macs. I do remember always hearing complaint from mac users about not being about to use vsts created in synthedit.

does anyone have an recommendations for decent freeware synths and/or effects?

Recent blogs: Time signature help, I suck at the new EM411 :(

05/12/08 + n9

ugh. i see what you mean. NO PC-version plugins will work on the Mac, and vice-versa. They are as different as night and day. If there is not a mac version to download then the plugin is PC-only. There are a lot of plugins that are not cross-platform (for both Mac and PC.)

Recent blogs: Bootleg of first My Bloody Valentine show in 16 years., i'm back + two new tracks, new plugins that are awesome

05/12/08 + flies

freeware vsts and vsti's are link the classics.

Recent blogs: grade school, bohdan pacynsky, meditate?

05/12/08 + cartesia

for synths:
alphakanal automat
crystal

Recent blogs: counter-intuitive ftw!, non-random use of random numbers?, My first max dabblings

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