LADSPA effects don't appear in plug-in manager on Mac

Audacity 3 Help Forum
1

Hi all,

I’ve been trying to install LADSPA effects into Audacity, with the file extension .dylib. Specifically, I am installing this plug-in. I prefer the LADSPA plug-in version over VST and Audio Unit extensions, as LADSPA plug-ins seem to work better with my assistive technology on other operating systems.

So far, I’ve tried running sudo chmod 777 filename.dylib to make the plug-in executable. I have also restarted both Audacity and my computer. The plug-ins are in the folder /Users/username/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins. However, the plug-ins are not being found by Audacity and don’t appear in the plug-in manager, even after scanning for available effects and restarting the computer. The VST plug-in install properly, but not the LADSPA version.

I am running Audacity 3.7.3 with macOS 15.4.1 with Apple M4 Mac, with VoiceOver screen reader.

Any suggestions on how to get the LADSPA plug-in to work?

2

Apparently replaced by LV2 … https://plugins.audacityteam.org/#ladspa-plugins

3

Hello,

Thanks for letting me know. I did some research on LV2, and I’m not sure how it’ll work with my screen reader. I’ll try the LV2 version with my screen reader and setup.

Below, I explain why I cannot use VST effects reliably, to better help you understand my issue. I face challenges with custom GUIs in third-party effects when using a screen reader, because some GUI elements may not have clear screen reader labels. Some VST effects are entirely unreadable by screen readers, making them inaccessible to blind and visually impaired users. Audacity appears to handle GUI setup for Nyquist and LADSPA plugins, making them accessible out of the box.

Thanks for your assistence.

4

In some cases it’s possible to disable the VST’s GUI, which is then replaced by text-only controls.
I do that where the VST GUI is an eyesore, I don’t know if it helps with screen reader.

big eyesore VST GUI

5

Hello,

Thank you so much! This works for me, only on VST two plug-ins, not VST3 or audio unit.

With VST2 effects I’m able to use keyboard navigation without graphical mode to move around through the effect settings and change it’s various parameters with arrow keys. With VST3 or audio unit effects, I can only see the checkbox labeled “bypass” even with graphical mode disabled.

I tried downloading the LV2 Version of the plug-in. Audacity will not display the plug-in in the effects menu even though it’s enabled in the plug-in manager. I’m assuming this is probably because of a limitation or incorrect binary format because I’m using Apple Silicon, and not an Intel chip.

Thanks so much for your help! I’ll just use the older VST too effects without graphical mode and hope that VST three will be accessible to screen readers in the future.