Third-Party Effects

Use third-party VST3 and AU plug-ins in the FX chain.

ACE Studio now hosts third-party audio effect plug-ins right alongside its built-in effects. Once a plug-in is scanned, it shows up in the same + Insert browser as the built-in effects and runs on the same FX chain — so you can mix built-in and third-party processors in any order on any track.

ACE Studio currently supports third-party effect plug-ins only. Instrument plug-ins (virtual instruments / synths) are not supported yet — support for them is planned for a future update.

For how the FX chain itself works — adding, reordering, bypassing, and saving chains — see Effects.

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Supported formats

Format	Windows	macOS
VST3	✓	✓
AU (Audio Units)	—	✓

• Only 64-bit plug-ins are supported. 32-bit plug-ins cannot be loaded.

• On Apple Silicon Macs, plug-ins run natively.

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Where plug-ins are scanned

ACE Studio scans the standard system plug-in folders:

Format	Location
VST3 (Windows)	%LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\Common\VST3 and %ProgramFiles%\Common Files\VST3
VST3 (macOS)	~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3 and /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3
AU (macOS)	~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components and /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components

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Scanning and updating the plug-in list

The first time you use the plug-in feature, ACE Studio runs a one-time full scan of the folders.

If a plug-in hangs or crashes, you have two options:

• Disable — exclude that plug-in permanently. It won't be scanned again.

• Skip — skip this one and continue scanning the rest.

To pick up plug-ins you install or update later, re-scan from Preferences:

• Rescan — scans for newly installed or updated plug-ins.

• Hold Alt / Option while clicking Rescan to force a full re-scan of everything. This is slower, but rebuilds the list from scratch.

See Preferences for the plug-in settings.

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Adding a plug-in

Click + Insert to open the effect browser. Third-party plug-ins and built-in effects share this one browser.

• VST3 / AU — switch between the two plug-in formats. The AU tab appears on macOS only.

• Search — filter the whole list by name.

• Recent — plug-ins you've used recently.

• FX Chain — your saved FX chains. See Saving a chain in Effects.

• Types — browse by category: Analyzer, Distortion, Dynamics, EQ, Filter, Generator, Mastering, Modulation, Pitch Shift, Restoration, Reverb, Spatial, Tools, and so on. The categories shown depend on what your installed plug-ins report.

• Brands — browse by manufacturer.

ACE Studio's own built-in effects live under the ACE Studio brand, and also appear under their matching Types — Dynamics, EQ, and Reverb.

Can't find an AU plug-in under Types? VST3 plug-ins report their own category, so they populate the Types list reliably. AU plug-ins don't always report a category, so an AU plug-in may not appear there — find it under Brands or with Search instead.

Pick a plug-in and it's added as a chip on the FX chain, exactly like a built-in effect. From there it behaves like any other insert — reorder it, bypass or deactivate it, copy and paste it, or save it as part of an FX chain.

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The plug-in window

Built-in effects expand inline inside their chip. A third-party plug-in instead opens in its own separate window — click the window icon on the right of the chip to open it.

At the top of the window, ACE Studio adds a consistent header so every plug-in works the same way, no matter who made it:

• Power and Bypass — turn the plug-in on or off, or bypass its processing, the same as on the chip.

• Preset bar — use < / > to step through presets, see the current preset name, such as Default, and open the preset menu.

Preset management

Presets that ACE Studio stores use its own .acefxpreset format.

Open the preset menu for:

• Store Preset… — save the current settings as a new .acefxpreset preset.

• Update Preset — overwrite the currently loaded preset. This is available once you're on a saved preset.

• Store as Default Preset — make the current settings the default for new instances of this plug-in.

• Load Preset File… / Import Preset… — bring in a preset from disk.

• Export Preset… — export the preset as an .acefxpreset file, for backup or for sharing within ACE Studio.

• Export VST3 Preset… / Export AU Preset… — export in the plug-in's native format, for use in other hosts. The option shown matches the plug-in type.

.acefxpreset presets are tied to the plug-in format: a preset stored from the VST3 version of a plug-in cannot be loaded onto the AU version of the same plug-in, and vice versa. On macOS, where a plug-in may be available in both formats, keep to one format per plug-in for your presets to carry over.

The plug-in's own internal preset browser inside its interface still works as usual.