Digital performer 6 update update#
Digital performer 6 update software#

But there is, apparently, a mechanism that plug-in developers can use to automatically replace missing MAS plug-ins with AUs - and it's already active and working effectively in Waves v6. As a general rule, if you try to open a project that had used a specific set of MAS plug-ins when those plug-ins are no longer installed, you get a 'missing plug-in' dialogue box, and a devil of a job trying to reconstruct the settings and sound of your project. Now, if you're thinking at this point 'what about project compatibility?', you have a point. Even MOTU's own 'extra cost' instruments, such as MX4, MachFive 2 and Ethno, work really well as Audio Units, and are no longer automatically disabled in DP6.

Digital performer 6 update software#

Having a MAS‑format plug‑in installed for DP as well as an Audio Unit for all other audio software is a complication most of us could do without, and can even be confusing, since DP 'sees' both. And that being the case, the days when you'd specifically seek out a MAS plug-in over an equivalent Audio Unit seem to be coming to an end.

Where does all this leave us? Presumably it's only a matter of time until the remaining MAS developers also commit to the Audio Unit standard, since DP6 has got so good at handling it. Even Waves, one of the most long-standing MAS developers, have dropped the format with the recent release of their version 6 software. And so we reach the present day, where about the only companies now continuing to produce MAS plug-ins are MOTU themselves, UVI, Audioease, iZotope and WaveArts. Native Instruments, Applied Acoustics, IK Multimedia, Antares, PSP, Arturia and GMedia all developed MAS plug-ins in those days.Īudio Unit support dates back to DP4.1, released in Autumn 2003, and from that moment on, third-party MAS support dwindled, presumably since the MAS market was comparatively small and DP users could, in most cases, be catered for very well with AU. Back then, developing MAS plug-ins made a lot of sense to many developers, as it meant that DP users could buy their products without also needing a third-party VST host (which at the time was either VST Wrapper or Pluggo). The MAS (MOTU Audio System) plug-in format dates back to the days before OS X, when the only other format we Digital Performer users had to concern ourselves with was VST.

These shortcomings have been addressed in DP6, and consequently the question arises: why bother with MAS-format plug-ins at all any more? Some DP Plug-in History But in DP4 and DP5 there are limitations: there's no way to access side‑chain inputs on plug‑ins such as compressors or gates that have them, it's impossible to automate a smooth value change (a so-called 'ramp') for continuous‑type parameters, and AU instruments don't benefit from the same super-tight timing as their MAS-format counterparts (although it's still pretty good!). Of course, you've been able to use Audio Units in all the OS X versions of DP, and many users have done so for years with no difficulty whatsoever.

Digital performer 6 update update#

One of the more unsung features of the 2008 update of DP to version 6 has been its improved Audio Unit plug-in hosting. The reasons to use MAS versions instead are disappearing fast. In DP6, compatible AU plug-ins have working side-chain inputs (as shown here on WaveArts' TrackPlug) and fully‑featured automation. Version 6 of DP comes with improved hosting of Audio Unit plug-ins - but what does that mean for the MAS format? We consider the issues, and bring you a guide to DP's new bundled convolution reverb, ProVerb.