Plugin Installation

Plugin Formats

  • VST(VST2): not included
    • It is no longer possible to get permission from Steinberg. If you do need such format, you have to build it by yourself.
  • VST3: included in macOS, Windows and Linux installers
  • AU: included in macOS installers
  • LV2: included in Windows and Linux installers
  • AAX: included in macOS and Windows installers
    • because AAX requires code-signing, some installers may not include/update this format
  • CLAP: not included, awaiting official support from JUCE
  • Standalone: included in macOS, Windows and Linux installers of some plugins
    • can serve as an independent application. You have to set up routing properly to make it functional.

VST® is a trademark of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH, registered in Europe and other countries.

Signing/Notarization

All installers have not been notarized. You should decide whether to trust the installers. Alternatively, you can build the plugin from the project source code (except AAX format).

macOS Installation

The macOS installer is packaged in a .dmg file. You need to open it to use the .pkg installer.

If there are two .dmg files, the one with x86 is for Intel-chip macOS machines and the one with arm is for Apple-M-chip macOS machines.

On macOS, the plugin requires Metal support. The plugin is not compatible with macOS prior to macOS 10.13 and is not guaranteed to be compatible with macOS prior to macOS 13. Besides that, you may refer to Safely open apps on your Mac if you are confused by the alert given by your OS.

If you cannot upgrade your system through official macOS support, you may upgrade it with OpenCore Legacy Patcher (use at your own risk).

Windows Installation

The Windows installer file extension is .exe.

If there are two .exe installers, the one with x86 is for x86-64 architecture Windows machines and the one with arm is for ARM64 architecture Windows machines. You may check it through Setting - System - About - Device specifications - System Type.

On Windows, the plugin requires Direct2D support. The plugin is compatible with Windows 10 and later.

Linux Installation

The Linux plugins are compressed in a .zip file. You need to unzip it and manually move the *.vst3 file to the correct folder, such as ~/.vst3.

If there are two .zip files, the one with x86 is for x86-64 architecture Linux machines and the one with arm is for ARM64 architecture Linux machines.

On Linux, the plugin does not have hardware acceleration. The plugin is built on Ubuntu 22.04 with dynamic linked dependencies. Therefore, I cannot guarantee its compatibility with Linux distributions. I would recommend building the plugin from source code.

Subscribe to Release Notifications

If you want to subscribe to release notifications of a plugin (including pre-releases):

  1. Register a GitHub account and set your email address.
  2. Go to the plugin’s project page, e.g., https://github.com/ZL-Audio/ZLEqualizer.
  3. On the right-top corner, there is a Watch button. Click the button, select Custom, tick Releases, and click Apply.
  4. Done!

If you want to unsubscribe, do the opposite:

  1. Go to the plugin’s project page, e.g., https://github.com/ZL-Audio/ZLEqualizer.
  2. On the right-top corner, there is a Watch button. Click the button and select Ignore.
  3. Done!