As with everything you use with your computer, you have to make sure that
the software or hardware is going to be compatible with your system.
Plug-ins (for better or worse) follow this same rule of life. This article
will help clear up any confusion you have about the various formats of
Plug-ins available.
Format Wars
As plug-ins have evolved, the underlying technology has evolved
with them; with each manufacturer developing their own way of designing
plug-ins. As of this article, there are 3 basic types of Plug-in technology
in use by the makers of DAW software:
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VST
Plug-Ins
Virtual Studio Technology (VST) is an audio plug-in architecture that
was invented by Steinberg in 1996. VSTs come in two basic flavors; audio
VSTs (such as Compressors, Flangers, Delays etc.) and instrument VST
(such as Synthesizers, Drum Machines and Sound Modules).... Older VSTs are not
applications in themselves, but require a "host" such as Cubase in
which to work. Many of the newer generation of VST instruments often have
a "Standalone" version as well (see below). VST-based plug-ins are available
for Macintosh and Windows computers. This is the most common plug-in format type. |
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DX
Plug-Ins
DX Plug-Ins are based on Microsoft's DirectX technology. This technology
was first introduced in 1995 and has become a standard for multimedia
application development on the Windows platform. Like VST-based plug-Ins,
DX plug-Ins come in both virtual instruments and effects. DX plug-ins
will only run on a PC. |
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Audio
Units
Plug-Ins
Audio Units (AU) Plug-Ins are based around Apple's CoreAudio technology.
Audio Units is Apple's audio plug-in technology that allows you to use
audio effects and virtual instruments in applications such as GarageBand,
Digital Performer, Logic, and Final Cut Pro, as well as other popular
third-party applications and systems. |
Stand Alone & ReWire
In addition to the VST/DX/AU flavors, many
of the plug-ins currently available can also be used in what is called Stand
Alone mode.
This means that you can use the plug-in as an application by itself,
without the need for a host program to house the plug-in. This can
be convenient when you just want to play with a plug-in or even use
a plug-in live on stage, without the need for a DAW.
 Another
growing trend is to have the plug-in support ReWire in stand alone
mode. ReWire is a technology developed by Steinberg and Propellerheads
(of ReBirth and Reason fame) that allows Audio to be passed between any
ReWire compatible application in real time. Any application that supports
ReWire can use the standalone version of Groove Agent 2, HALion 3.1 and
the HALion Player. If you're a ProTools LE/ME/ TDM user you can run these
standalone versions in the background of ProTools LE/TDM/ME. ProTools
using Rewire can connect to the standalone version of the Plug-Ins' MIDI
and Audio connections allowing the user to control these products much
like an RTAS (a Digidesign format) plug-in.
Enter the Wrapper
So let's say you found a really great VST-based plug-in, but your DAW
only uses DX plug-ins. How are you going to use it?
Because some plug-ins are only available in VST, or DX formats, a
few clever software companies have developed plug-in Wrappers to
get around this. A Wrapper is a small program that takes the code of
one type of plug-in (like VST), and converts it into another format
(like DX or AU). While this is a great way to have access to plug-ins
that wouldn't ordinarily work in your DAW, it's not completely perfect.
Not every plug-in will translate with 100% accuracy or function (the
ability to "automate" the plug-in is usually lost) but they will work, more or less, as intended. |
