Reference Manual

226 Working with Instruments and Effects
brary
17.2 Using Plug-Ins
The collection of devices that you can use in Live can be extended with plug-ins. Live supports
Steinberg Media’s VST Plug-ins format, as well as the Audio Units (AU) Plug-ins format (Mac OS
X only).
Working with VST and Audio Units Plug-ins is very much like working with Live devices. VST and
AU instruments can only be placed in Live MIDI tracks and, like Live instruments, they will receive
MIDI and output audio signals. Plug-in audio effects can only be placed in audio tracks or fol-
lowing instruments. Please see the previous section, Using the Live Devices (page 219), for
details.
Plug-Ins in the Browser.
Audio Units and VST Plug-ins are browsed and imported using the browser’s Plug-In label. Plug-
in instruments can be differentiated from plug-in effects in the browser, as they appear with a
keyboard icon.
Note that plug-in presets are only available in the browser for Audio Units Plug-ins. In some
instances, factory presets for Audio Units will only appear in the browser once the device has
been placed in a track and its Hot-Swap button activated.
Note: The first time you start Live, no plug-ins will appear in the Plug-In label as you must first
“activate“ your plug-in sources. Activating your plug-in sources tells Live which plug-ins you
want to use and where they are located on your computer. Information on activating (and de-