Unfortunately, Avid Technologies make it so you cannot use VST plugins with Pro Tools. Plus, being able to design your own plugin format for your own DAW has obvious performance benefits. He also stated that VSTs don’t work as well with very large sessions, due to the way they handle automation.

The reason for the development of AAX was explained by developer Paul Neyrinck and Avid’s Dave Tremblay in 2013.Īccording to Paul, AAX was born out of the need for a plug-in format that worked with both native and DSP systems (like an external DSP processor).ĭave stated that AU–being a Mac-only format left Windows users with no option but to use VSTs, creating the need for a format that wasn’t limited to native applications. However, AAX plugins work on Windows and Mac. But AU plugins are not exclusive to Apple’s DAWs, just their operating system.

To be fair to Avid, Apple also has an “exclusive plugin format” in the form of Audio Units (or AU plugins). Because Pro Tools remains the industry standard for digital audio recording and mixing, most major plugin manufacturers offer AAX versions of their products. Thankfully, Pro Tools lovers are used to pain and most dedicated users will not care. The only thing that matters is that AAX plugins only work in Pro Tools.įor many, this is a real pain. If you’re not a Pro Tools user, you do not need to worry about AAX plugins. The AAX format combines the best of both worlds from Avid’s prior plug-in formats: RTAS and TDM. However, these plugins can run on DSP acceleration hardware as well as natively on your computer (but not always both, it depends on the plugin). AAX plugins can be instruments or effects, just like AU or VST plugins.

In this article, we’ll explain what AAX plugins are and what makes them different to other plugin formats like VST and AU.ĪAX ( Avid Audio eXtension ) is a plug-in format developed by Avid technologies in 2011, the company behind Pro Tools.ĪAX is Avid’s own plugin format for use in Pro Tools and other Avid media software. If you’re a Pro Tools user, you probably already use these plugins without realizing. Plugin format acronyms can generally be confusing, with the most common being VST, AU, and AAX.ĪAX is Avid’s own audio plugin format and is a successor to their previous “Real Time AudioSuite” ( RTAS) plugin standard.

Also check out our guide to VST vs AU plugins.

What’s the difference between AAX, AU, and VST plugins?.

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