Audio unit (abbreviated AU) is the format of plug-ins, both effects and instruments, for OSX. It is the format used by many audio (and audio / video) programs such as GarageBand, Logic, SoundTrack Pro, Final Cut, Ableton Live, AULab and many others. With the advent of the Mac with Intel processors, it was necessary to introduce Universal Binary (abbreviated UB) versions of the AudioUnits. Attention, if we find non-Universal Binary AudioUnits, we cannot use them if we have a Mac with Intel processor.
How to install AudioUnits that do not have an automatic installation program?
It is very simple, if we are faced with a DMG file (a kind of archive / image) just double click on it to mount it and make it visible as a drive (either on the desktop or on the finder). If there is no installer inside the package, but only the plugin file (generally with .component extension) just copy this file in the folder / Library / Audio / Plug-Ins / Components and the game is done.
Below is a small list of some of the best known free AudioUnits and especially Universal Binary for Mac OSX.
www.voxengo.com/group/free-vst-plugins/ - A collection of effects (in this case also VST) from the well-known Voxengo house, free and ready to use. There are, among others, EQ, virtual amplifier (Virtual Tube Amp), Delay and Reverb.
www.airwindows.com - Scrolling through the home page of the AirWindows softwarehouse, we find a large collection of free AudioUnits, including a series of effects including: flanger, chorus, overdrive, simulations of various analog effects.
www.ohmforce.com/UseFreeSoftware.do?action=freeware - Ohm Force is a French company specializing in the development of audio plugins. It provides an excellent resonant filter (Frohmage) and a nice virtual instrument with different presets ready to be used or modified (Symptohm).
kunz.corrupt.ch - We have already talked about Togu Audio Line in some previous articles. Excellent free virtual instruments in AU universal binary format (but also VST). To try absolutely the Vocoder and the BassLine (emulation of the classic Roland SH-101)
Charles Castellano
An interesting take on free Audio Units for Mac OSX. There is still a misconception that freeware equals low quality, but many of these tools easily compete with premium software nowadays. I hope to read more quality articles on this topic in the future. It would be particularly useful to see deeper free software comparisons, especially focusing on stability and performance across the latest Mac and Windows operating systems.
The Plugin Lab