Plugins For Ardour

Ardour does not come with any built-in signal processors of its own (other than volume faders) and it also generally doesn't ship with any plugins. This page provides informations on plugins that you can use with Ardour, many of which are available at no charge. For information on how to use plugins with Ardour, please see the relevant section of the tutorial manual

What plugin formats can I use with Ardour?

On OS X, you can use AudioUnit, LADSPA and LV2 plugins. AU plugins with Cocoa or Carbon GUIs are both supported. As of Ardour 2.8.5, Ardour provides tempo and meter information to AU plugins.

On Linux, as of version 2.5, you can use LADSPA and LV2 plugins. As of Ardour 2.8.3, plugins that use the LV2 external GUI extension will have their own custom GUI displayed, rather than the generic one offered by Ardour itself.

Somebody said you could use Windows VST plugins...

On Linux ONLY: ... It is also possible to use Windows VST plugins, though not all will function correctly and can make Ardour unstable (you would be using software created for a different operating system - it cannot be expected to be perfectly reliable). The Linux Audio Consortium maintains a page documenting various kinds of VST compatibility for Linux. VST support generally requires build Ardour yourself from the source code.

Where do I get plugins from?

The following list shows plugin packages. In some cases, a package contains just 1 or 2 plugins; in other cases, dozens.

LADSPA

LV2

How do I install plugins

Installation will vary a little depending on how you get plugins. If you use Linux and your repository has a particular plugin package, just install it using the normal software package management tool for your system.

If the package isn't available, then you can build the plugins from source (plugins are generally fairly easy to compile). LADSPA Plugins need to be installed in either /usr/lib/ladspa, /usr/local/lib/ladspa or in a directory mentioned in your LADSPA_PATH environment variable. LV2 plugins need to installed in either /usr/lib/lv2, /usr/local/lib/lv2 or a directory mentioned in your LV2_PATH environment variable.

The same rules apply on OS X. Some plugins are available from the ardour.org website, the macports system may make some others available. Others you will need to compile. We hope to work on making a complete "recommended" LADSPA plugin set available for OS X. AudioUnit plugins have their own installation process that tends to just work.

The list above provides nearly 200 plugins. Some of these are fantastic, some are good, some are usable and a few are really horrible. Below we mention our recommendations for particular "categories" of effects plugins.

EQ

SWH: Triple Parametric with Shelves
A very good EQ but the initial parameters are wrong. Always set all frequency values above 1Hz.

FILTERS

MCP: mvclpf/mvchpf
low- and high-pass filters that provide accurate implementations of the classic Moog voltage controlled filters.

DYNAMICS PROCESSORS

SWH: SC4
many people like this compressor, though some people find that it can be a little over-sensitive. It has a useful meter showing the amount of compression being applied.
SWH: Barry's Satan Maximizer
a maximizer that can easily get out of control but can do amazing things, particularly for percussion

REVERB, ECHO, DELAY

CMT: Freeverb
a basic but often much appreciated reverb plugin.
CAPS Plate
dark, realistic plate sound
TAP Reverb
some good presets
REV: GVerb
there are two reverb plugins called GVerb. They both sound very good and "smooth", but this one is somewhat more efficient in terms of CPU use.

FLANGERS, PHASERS etc.

MISCELLANEOUS

SWH: Vinyl Emulation
in search of that nasty vinyl noise? a little more heat-induced warp? this is very very good at this.
SWH: Tube Warmth
Adds some extra punch and presence. Apply individually to each track in varying amounts for best results… Set to “Tube” for adding warmth, “Tape” for adding presence.