Given Cubasis supports AU3 on iOS and more and more iOS apps and effects are becoming ‘universal ‘ ( ie run on iOS and Mac OS ) it would be VERY beneficial for Cubase to support AU3 instruments and effects.
It would benefit users and developers enormously !
I doubt this will ever happen, given the ubiquity of VST plugins on desktop platforms, but if you NEED AU plugins in Cubase on MacOS, the simple and best solution TODAY is just to buy something like DDMF Metaplugin, which allows all sorts of cool and amazing things, including wrapping AU plugins so they run in a VST host like Cubase. So if you NEED it, you CAN do it today, right now. I believe DDMF Superplugin also does it, and there are other options out there too. But you can trust DDMF. Cheers!
Wow I had no idea about DDMF Metaplugin. Thanks for the nudge.
And, I agree probably no hope for AU in Cubase… although Halion is quietly AU and AXX , so SB does cross the streams sometimes!
Steinberg‘s own plugin development framework can export to AU and AAX. But for the host side, you might as well ask Apple to support VST3, same chances….
At least one of those two standards is open source. The other is Audio Unit 3.
Steinberg’s niche with Cubase is cross platform capability, which rules out AU. While their plugin products have always been available as AU, hell will freeze over before you see AU support in Cubase.
Unfortunately DDMF Metaplugin doesn’t see / support universal AUv3 app/plugins from iOS which are installed on a Mac.
It makes sense because AUv3 appear in MacOS as applications ( eg Animoog, GigFast, EG Pulse etc ) and don’t have a ‘plug in’ present the ‘Components’ folder where all the AU plugins are. I think applications that support AUv3 ( eg Logic ) run them more like extensions than plugins.
Of course everyone here is correct. SB won’t support AUv3 even though they have to in Cubasis ( no VST there ) . However all it would do is add to the customer base. No one would leave Cubase because it supported their iOS apps! And it would make moving a Cubasis project from iOS to Mac ( OK, sorry windows ) more fluid.
I suggest reaching out to the developer. He prides himself in MetaPlugin being a universal Swiss Army knife for a million use cases. And he’s been known to add many features over the years. I didn’t realize you were using plugins from iOS, which is pushing the edge on this workflow IMO, but I should have read between the lines in your OP, and it is also a logical progression of the concept, so more power to you for trying. BUT I would not be surprised if he would want to add support for your workflow. It’s literally the most flexible tool of its type on the market, so if anyone adds what you want, chances are he will add it at some point. Bug him and cross fingers.
So here’s another potential option for you, since my brain is constantly trying to solve problems like this. Blue Cat Audio has a genius little tool called Blue Cat’s Connector that MIGHT help you out and circumvent some of the nuances… you could theoretically route audio back and forth from Cubase to some other hosting environment that supports your plugins. For example, perhaps Reaper or Logic or Garage Band, maybe? I have not tried what you want to do with this, but basically Blue Cat’s Connector can route audio internally (or externally via the network) from one app to another app. So IN THEORY if you can get two DAWs up and running with the plugins you want to use, you can use Connector to route audio and MIDI back and forth. It’s genius and a wonderful tool. Blue Cat makes some other wonderful plugins, and you might want to try Patchwork too, which is similar in some respects to MetaPlugin… it MIGHT run into the same issue as MetaPlugin though, so my guess is you’ll have more luck with Connector. But check them both out.
My gut tells me DDMF is ultimately going to be the best solution though (eventually for your use case), but Blue Cat might do the trick for you with one of these options.
And of course, there’s always AudioGridder, which is an open source tool that MIGHT do the trick for you. I just don’t know the limitations of compatibility of iOS AU plugins on MacOS. But it can’t hurt to try. AudioGridder is essentially an entire plugin hosting environment/server, and you can run plugins locally (or remotely). So it MIGHT be possible to use it to bridge what you want. However, again, we run up against the iOS nuance of this equation.
Best of luck! Please report back if anything works!
Well…. like Uarte i do like a geeky challenge !
For Audio only AUv3 good old LoopBack (Rogue Amoeba ) will do the trick in a pinch! Just have to create an Audio device for the AUv3 and then it’s selectable as an input in Cubase. ( don’t forget to set Cubase to use the new audio device in the Studio Settings first ).
For an Audio/MIDI app like a synth it’s possible to leverage Loopback and an IAP MIDI port… sometimes. God awful fiddly, unreliable and not worth it!
On the whole it’s best to petition AU/AUv3 developers to make VST versions… or find a VST solution somewhere else ( this is REALLY the solution! ).
AudioGridder looks amazing … but TBH for me only as technical challenge and I already got plenty of those!!!
Thanks for the suggestions all the same!