3 title: Working With Plugins
7 <dfn>Plugins</dfn> are bits of software that get loaded by Ardour in order to create various audio or MIDI effects, or generate audio by functioning as "software instruments".
11 Ardour supports a variety of different plugin standards:
14 <dl class="narrower-table">
15 <dt><abbr title="Linux Audio Developers' Simple Plugin API">LADSPA</abbr></dt>
16 <dd>An early, simple, lightweight plugin <abbr title="Application
17 Programming Interface">API</abbr>, audio effects only,
18 plugins have no editors/GUI of their own (Ardour provides one, however).</dd>
19 <dt><abbr title="LADSPA Version 2">LV2</abbr></dt>
20 <dd>An extensible, full-featured plugin API, audio and <abbr
21 title="Musical Instrument Digital Interface">MIDI</abbr>, plugins can provide their
22 own <abbr title="Graphical User Interface">GUI</abbr>s; the successor to LADSPA</dd>
23 <dt><abbr title="Audio Unit">AU</abbr></dt>
24 <dd>OS X only, full featured, audio and MIDI, plugins can provide their own GUI</dd>
26 <dt><abbr title="Virtual Studio Technology">VST</abbr></dt>
27 <dd>Plugins using Steinberg's VST plugin standard. Varies by platform:
29 <dt>on Linux</dt><dd>(native) Linux VST plugins fully supported (VST2.4)</dd>
30 <dt>on Windows</dt><dd>(native) Windows VST plugins fully supported (VST2.4)</dd>
31 <dt>on OS X</dt><dd>Not supported, unless you use a VST-to-AU
32 bridge plugin. Similar to Apple's Logic DAW.</dd>
36 <dt>Windows VST Plugins on Linux</dt>
37 <dd>VST plugins for Windows, but being used on Linux. <strong>Normally not supported.</strong> See <a href="/working-with-plugins/windows-vst-support">Windows VST Plugins on Linux</a> for details.