AUv3: are there any plans to support it in GP?

I have no idea how many there are at this point but I know of two developers of excellent plugins who either are or will soon be shipping AUv3s (and with no VST alternative).

Fred Anton Corvest (FAC) - very widely respected on iOS as a maker of exceptionally good plugins - is already shipping some through the Mac App Store. Chorus and Alteza are standouts.

Blue Mangoo - also from the iOS world and maker of the iFretless series of apps among many others - is about to ship Attack Softener, an extremely fast and accurate envelope/transient shaper that works really well on guitar (but is really handy to throw at any sound).

I have no idea what effort is involved in making AUv3s work in GP but you can see them in Plugin Manager - they just fail to validate.

I’m just wondering if there is any appetite to make this happen - and if so, roughly when that might be?

:slight_smile:

New technologies are showing up all the time and there are always plans to support those in GP, but we cannot promise if or when will will implement support for AUv3 format.

It is very unusual for a plugin developer to do just one format though. This basically excludes their product from many other professional products and other hardware platforms.

Another vote for AUv3 as the format is growing in popularity with the new version of iOS and MacOS.

Do.p you know what is the benefit to you - the end plug-in user to use AUv3 vs plain AU or VST3?

Why would you use one over the other as an end user? Trying to figure out the benefits.

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The main advantage is being able to use synths and fx that are only AUv3 in GP. AUV3 are primarily made for iOS, but developers are now allowing those to be run on Mac M1 and newer machines as well.

So, this functionality would allow me to use these along with other VSTs on my M1. Ableton also introduced AUv3 support in their latest beta.

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Are they really not also creating VST versions? Most plugins these days are built on top of libraries that make it easy to produce multiple formats. I would think developers would not want to exclude Windows users.

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As far as I’m aware, they are designed using xcode so may not be possible to port them, but I’m not a developer.

There are several sides to this one.

AUv3 has been around for some years now on iOS but has not been embraced anywhere else except a tiny handful of hosts (inc Logic, of course).

This means loads of plugins have been developed for iOS - some of these are exceptionally good, others less so.

With the introduction of Apple Silicon it has become possible for developers to make their plugins available on AS Macs. Some work well, others less so. Many have opted not to make theirs available - for functionality reasons or perhaps because the price points on the two environments are so wildly different. For example, Audio Damage charge one tenth the price on iOS so there’s no way they would want their plugins to just be available (actually, I’m assuming that - I haven’t checked).

So the main benefit, frankly, is that some iOS users can have their favourite plugins - that they already own - available on their Macs for no extra charge.

Strangely, Apple has been quiet over all this and has not sung any other benefits of v3 AUs.

And, yes: some of the the bigger iOS developers (such as Bleass) do have other non-AU formats available. Many of them (like with desktop plugin developers) are one person setups and may not have the resources or inclination to offer that.

I would like GP to support AUv3s but I realise the above kinda undermines the argument a little. I’m just being realistic.

Apple, OTOH, implies it’s easy to support the format (of course they would): Apple Developer Documentation

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Bumping: here’s an example of a plugin that is AUv3 only that I would love to make use of in GP, as i have not found another MIDI Recorder/Looper plugin that also will quantize (so I don’t have to be quite so nervous when creating drum loops on the fly!).

http://keybudapp.com/loopbud.html

Alternatively, if anyone knows of another plugin with these capabilities in AU or VST format, please let me know! I know there was a recent discussion of this here, but none of the suggested items met my needs.

It is also iPad only

I missed that (in fact I still don’t see it). I was assuming that AUv3 plugins were usable on qualifying Macs, which I guess is wrong. Debumped!

There is an example, very interesting, that I tested successfully.
Moog offers their Model 15 simulation with AUv3 format. For some weeks it was free of charge, when it was launched.
To allow a general use with all hosts, Moog added a VST wrapper to make that plugin visible as VST.
It works in GigPerformer.
Moog is using same way to sell their ModelD simulation. Since I already own 3 Minimoog clones, I didn’t buy it.
My opinion: downsizing is offering musicians to have professional apps on iPad. I know some professional keyboard players using that choice.
I truly think that in some time we will see that on many stages.
Camelot Pro is a VST host available for Windows, MacOS and iOS.
Some plugins are available for that, I can mention Hammond B3X and Synthmaster.
I think we will see soon LogicPro and Mainstage there.
So, why not GigPerformer?
If that will happen I will buy an M1 iPad…

Gig Performer does not run on iPad.

Come on… I know.
It was an “if” sentence.