Any good, cheap AU or VST hosts for Mac?

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Level 1

122 points

Any good, cheap AU or VST hosts for Mac?

In my quest for a good portable system, I'm going to run Logic on my MacBook Pro, but also run my VST/AU Spectrasonics & NI plugs on my old Powerbook G4 at the same time, using the powerbook as a host module. But I don't want to pay for an extra dongle; is anyone aware of something like V-Stack (the old Steinberg VST virtual rack) available for the Mac? VStack was something like $50. I think I could run these plugs as stand-alones, but it's a lot easier to just load up an entire rack worth of the stuff at once...

Dual 2Ghz G5, 4 gigs RAM, 3 MOTU 2408, Mac OS X (10.3.9)

Posted on Jul 5, 2006 3:52 AM

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Answer 1

Jul 5, 2006 4:25 AM in response to George Whitty

Here are a few options I've kept bookmarked, in case I ever decided to try that approach myself. As of yet, I have not, so I can't vouch for how well these apps work, or don't work.

I'm sure there are others here who have tried these, or currently use them, and can offer more information...

http://www.grantedsw.com/rax/

http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/audio/ploguebidule.html

http://plasq.com/wormhole

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Answer 2

Fred B

Level 3

575 points

Jul 5, 2006 5:19 AM in response to George Whitty

I'm using Plogue Bidule as AU/VST host. It's a very reliable and powerful tool with some outstanding features. In particular it supports graphical programming for MIDI routing/filtering similar to Logic's environment.
I'd suggest to check the free demo.

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Answer 3

George Whitty Author

Level 1

122 points

Jul 5, 2006 11:18 AM in response to Jim Frazier

Thanks, Jim & Fred: I'm going to give Rax a shot; downloaded it and it seems very straightforward. I've experimented with Bidule, which kept crashing, though this was at least a year ago. I'll let you know how it works out...

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Answer 4

Jul 5, 2006 3:54 PM in response to Jim Frazier

Wormhole is really more of a routing solution than a viable host.

Rax is now also a Plasq product...that Granted Software page is out of date. The recently released Rax 2.0 is the most elegant live-performance host I've ever seen. Well worth a look, and my personal recommendation in this category.

http://plasq.com/rax

Also, the version of Plogue Bidule linked on apple.com has expired. There's a newer version (0.92) available here at their own site:

http://www.plogue.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=27&Itemid=30

If you can get by with only AUs, I'd go for Rax, but if you need VST support, try Plogue Bidule.

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Answer 5

Fred B

Level 3

575 points

Jul 6, 2006 4:42 AM in response to Mies van der Robot

For AUs only you can also use the host 'AU Lab' which is free and comes with Xcode2 (on Tiger DVD). Very nice and handy little app.

I'd like to add that the latest version of Bidule works absolutely reliable for me. Usage seems a bit complicated at first sight but I think that sooner or later you will appreciate its extra features.

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