manual/_manual/11_working-with-plugins/06_getting-plugins.html

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layout: default
title: Getting Plugins
---

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

<h2>Plugins by Standard</h2>

<h3 id="LADSPA">LADSPA</h3>

<ul>
<li>AMB <a href="http://kokkinizita.linuxaudio.org/linuxaudio/">http://kokkinizita.linuxaudio.org/linuxaudio/</a>
</li>
<li>Blepvco <a href="http://www.smbolton.com/linux.html">http://www.smbolton.com/linux.html</a>
</li>
<li>Blop <a href="http://blop.sf.net">http://blop.sf.net</a>
</li>
<li>CAPS <a href="http://quitte.de/dsp/caps.html">http://quitte.de/dsp/caps.html</a>
</li>
<li>CMT <a href="http://www.ladspa.org/cmt/">http://www.ladspa.org/cmt/</a>
</li>
<li>FIL <a href="http://kokkinizita.linuxaudio.org/linuxaudio/">http://kokkinizita.linuxaudio.org/linuxaudio/</a>
</li>
<li>FOO <a href="http://code.google.com/p/foo-plugins/">http://code.google.com/p/foo-plugins/</a>
</li>
<li>MCP <a href="http://kokkinizita.linuxaudio.org/linuxaudio/">http://kokkinizita.linuxaudio.org/linuxaudio/</a>
</li>
<li>NJL <a href="https://github.com/tialaramex/njl-plugins">https://github.com/tialaramex/njl-plugins</a>
</li>
<li>Omins <a href="http://www.nongnu.org/om-synth/omins.html">http://www.nongnu.org/om-synth/omins.html</a>
</li>
<li>REV <a href="http://kokkinizita.linuxaudio.org/linuxaudio/">http://kokkinizita.linuxaudio.org/linuxaudio/</a>
</li>
<li>SWH <a href="http://plugin.org.uk/">http://plugin.org.uk/</a>
</li>
<li>TAP <a href="http://tap-plugins.sourceforge.net/">http://tap-plugins.sourceforge.net/</a>
</li>
<li>VCF <a href="http://www.suse.de/~mana/ladspa.html">http://www.suse.de/~mana/ladspa.html</a>
</li>
<li>VCO <a href="http://kokkinizita.linuxaudio.org/linuxaudio/">http://kokkinizita.linuxaudio.org/linuxaudio/</a>
</li>
<li>VLevel <a href="http://vlevel.sourceforge.net/">http://vlevel.sourceforge.net/</a>
</li>
<li>Vocoder <a href="http://www.sirlab.de/linux/download_vocoder.html">http://www.sirlab.de/linux/download_vocoder.html</a>
</li>
<li>WASP <a href="http://linux01.gwdg.de/~nlissne/wasp/index.html">http://linux01.gwdg.de/~nlissne/wasp/index.html</a> (mar wanted!)
</li>
<li>Nova <a href="http://klingt.org/~tim/nova-filters/">http://klingt.org/~tim/nova-filters/</a>
</li>
<li>Calf <a href="http://calf.sourceforge.net/">http://calf.sourceforge.net/</a>
</li>
<li>Socal’s LEET Plugins <a href="http://code.google.com/p/leetplugins/">http://code.google.com/p/leetplugins/</a>
</li>
<!--<li>Holap synthesizer and DSP effects <a href="http://holap.berlios.de/">http://holap.berlios.de/</a>
</li>-->
</ul>

<h3 id="LV2">LV2</h3>

<ul>
<li>SWH <a href="http://plugin.org.uk/lv2/">http://plugin.org.uk/lv2/</a>
</li>
<li>ll-plugins <a href="http://ll-plugins.nongnu.org/">http://ll-plugins.nongnu.org/</a>
</li>
<li>zynadd <a href="http://home.gna.org/zyn/">http://home.gna.org/zyn/</a>
</li>
<li>Calf <a href="http://calf.sourceforge.net/">http://calf.sourceforge.net/</a>
</li>
<li>LinuxDSP <a href="http://www.overtonedsp.co.uk/download/linuxdsp-archive/">http://www.overtonedsp.co.uk/download/linuxdsp-archive/</a>
</li>
  <li>Invada Studio <a href="https://launchpad.net/invada-studio/">https://launchpad.net/invada-studio/</a></li>
</ul>

<h3 id="LinuxVST">Linux VST (LXVST)</h3>

<ul>
  <li>Loomer <a href="http://loomer.co.uk/">http://loomer.co.uk/</a></li>
  <li>Distrho <a href="http://distrho.sourceforge.net/ports.php">http://distrho.sourceforge.net/ports.php</a></li>
  <li>Argotlunar <a href="http://argotlunar.info/">http://argotlunar.info/</a></li>
  <li>MDA plugins (a collection ported from Windows
    VST) <a href="http://www.linux-vst.com/download/mda_linux.tar.gz">http://www.linux-vst.com/download/mda_linux.tar.gz</a></li>
</ul>

<h2>How do I install plugins?</h2>

<h3>Linux</h3>

<p>
  <dfn>Installation</dfn> will vary a little depending on how you get plugins.  If
  your repository has a particular plugin package, just install it using
  the normal software package management tool for your system. Most
  Linux distributions that are good for audio work will have most of
  the LADSPA and LV2 plugins mentioned above available in ready-to-use
  forms. 
</p>
<p>
  Finding them will typically require <em>searching</em> your
  distribution's repository to find the name of the package. The tools
  for doing this vary from distribution to distribution. A good place
  to start searching is with the name of the package (e.g. "caps" or
  "calf"). There are no fixed rules about what different Linux
  distributions call their packages for a given set of plugins.
</p>
<p>
  If the package isn't available, then you can build the plugins from
  source (plugins are generally fairly easy to compile if you've ever
  done this sort of thing before).
</p>
<p>
  LADSPA plugins are shared library files. They need to be installed
  in either /usr/lib/ladspa, /usr/local/lib/ladspa or in a directory
  mentioned in your LADSPA_PATH environment variable.
</p>
<p>
  LV2 plugins are folders/directories. They need to
  installed in either /usr/lib/lv2, /usr/local/lib/lv2 or a directory
  mentioned in your LV2_PATH environment variable.
</p>
<p>
  Linux VST (LXVST) plugins are distributed as shared library
  files. They are typically installed in /usr/lib/lxvst,
  /usr/local/lib/lxvst or a directory mentioned in your LXVST_PATH
  environment variable. 
</p>

<h3>OS X</h3>
<p>
  Unless you're a particularly technical computer user, building and
  installing plugins in the LV2 (or LADSPA) format is probably not
  something worth planning on. Ardour releases for OS X ship with a
  collection of many LADSPA plugins, some of which are very useful and
  some of which are outright buggy. 
</p>
<p>
  Most of the plugins you are likely to use on OS X will be in Apple's
  AudioUnit format. These have their own installation process that tends to
  just work.
</p>