Harrison Labs MIXBUS V2.0.2 User Manual

Page 21

Plug-ins

Mixbus can load plug-ins in several formats. Mixbus can only use plug-ins that meet these criteria:

• The plug-in must be a supported format on your platform (see below)
• The plug-in must be installed in the standard folder for your platform.
• The plug-in must be compiled for your platform. (Intel/PPC, OSX/Linux, 32-bit/64-bit)
• The plug-in must support either 1>1 I/O (for mono channels) or 2>2 I/O (for stereo channels)

A summary of plug-in support in Mixbus:

Plugin input/output configurations for all formats
Mixbus loads mono plugins into mono tracks, and stereo plugins into stereo tracks/buses. Plugins with an unequal
number of inputs and outputs (such as a mono plugin with a sidechain input, or a mono-in, stereo-out effect) cannot
be loaded into Mixbus tracks or buses. Many plugins (particularly older VST plugins) only provide a stereo version.
If you’d like to use a stereo plugin on a mono signal, there is a workaround: create a stereo track and insert the VST
plugin on the track. Then drag the “mono” audio region onto the stereo track. This will play mono information
through the stereo VST.

Apple AU plug-ins (supported on OSX only)
AU (Audio Unit) is the native (Apple-developed) plug-in format for OS X. Most AU plugins can support either mono
or stereo operation from the same plugin package.

LADSPA plug-ins (supported on all platforms)
LADSPA is the "Linux Audio Developer’s Simple Plug-in Architecture". LADSPA plugins are simple to develop and
are freely available. There are nevertheless some LADSPA plug-ins that are quite good. LADSPA plug-ins do not
support customized GUIs, they will be shown as sliders on a simple window. Being very portable, most LADSPAs
are available for all platforms (OSX, Linux and Windows). Unlike other formats, Mixbus can load a mono LADSPA
plugin into a stereo channel (by duplicating the plugin and assigning the same controls to both sides of the signal).

LV2 plug-ins
The "next generation" open-source plugin format. LV2 plugins have several advantages over other formats. For
example, plugins do not have to be instantiated to be scanned so startup is much faster. For developers, LV2 is
compleletely unencumbered by licensing restrictions. Harrison’s bundled plugins currently use the LV2 format, and
the same plugins operate on WIndows, Mac, and Linux. This allows you to share sessions with users on other plat-
forms, and have your sound remain unchanged.

Steinberg VST plug-ins (currently supported on Windows only)
VST (Virtual Studio Technology) plug-ins were developed by Steinberg

and are the most common plug-in format on

Windows. VST plug-ins can be developed for Windows, OSX, and Linux. Currently, Mixbus supports VST plugins
on Windows only, but support on other platforms is under development.

Digidesign AAX/TDM/RTAS plug-ins (no support currently)
AAX, RTAS and TDM plug-ins are proprietary formats for ProTools

. Mixbus does NOT support RTAS or TDM plug-

ins. It is unlikely that Mixbus will ever support AAX, RTAS or TDM plug-ins.

Windows DirectX plug-ins (no support currently)
The DirectX plug-in API was developed by Microsoft and is the native plug-in format for Windows.

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Section 12.0 - Redirects: Plug-ins, Sends & Inserts

Mixbus User Guide

Note: Instrument plug-ins (plug-ins that take MIDI input and convert them it into audio) are currently not sup-
ported.

Note: While we have taken care to follow the specifications for each plug-in format, plug-ins are developed
by third-party vendors. This means that Harrison cannot take responsibility for plug-ins that don't work as

expected. Please use caution when trying a plug-in for the first time. Verify that all the functions work as expected
before committing to using a particular plug-in in a session.