Plugins & Effects - Where to Find?

Does anyone know where to find VST, Nyquist, FFMpeg, Lame & Ladspa plugins. I"m looking for bundles/folders with them all in there and I keep finding the plugin titles ie: VST for example but everything is singular, I want to bulk add them… please help!

LAME is built into Audacity so you already have it and the instructions for downloading FFmpeg are [u]here[/u].

If you’re looking for commercial plug-ins you can try [u]WAVES[/u] but they might not be compatible with Audacity. Most commercial plug-ins don’t “officially” support Audacity and I assume that’s because most Audacity users don’t like paying for plug-ins.

I don’t think you’ll find bundles of Nyquist or LADSDA plug-ins and most are found on the [u]Audacity download page[/u]. There are a few unofficial Nyquist plug-ins written by Steve scattered around the forum.

Thank you Doug, Is LAME the plugins under “tools” “add/remove” and then “select all” “enable” and click ok?

Some of them didn’t work. What about the others mentioned. :slight_smile:

Lots of Nyquist plug-ins here: Missing features - Audacity Support

Hi Doug,

Thank you for below. :slight_smile: I’ve done the 64 bit LAME & FFMPEG :slight_smile:

Whenever I go to the site you’ve listed below wrt Nyquist and VST, I see 100’s of lists of plugins, I don’t know which one I need, there are so many.

Also: when I try to upload the Nyquist (Noisegate I think) it is a txt file. I am on iMac big Sur and run Audacity 3.0.2 … same with Safari & Chrome. I can’t figure that out.

One more item, my Audacity “Nyquist Installer” "can’t be read? it isn’t working. Any ideas?

But, I was able to “enable” under “add/remove” plugins, many plugins but some won’t enable? Any ideas?

One more question, Is the VST effects the same as "Noisegate?

The Noise Gate that is shipped with (included with) Audacity is a “Nyquist plug-in”, and is installed automatically when you install the current version of Audacity (See also: Noise gate plugin download problem)

Not sure what you’re using this for but if for voiceover/audiobooks etc (you mention an ‘agent’ in your other thread which makes me think VO), you really shouldn’t need to install any plugins at all. They’re all there for you under the Effect heading along the top.

If you’re used to Garageband/Protools bear in mind that effects are applied very differently in Audacity. In Audacity you only apply them after recording and the effect is ‘destructive’. Once applied, you can always undo an effect by holding down cmd+z, BUT if say you were to apply an effect then save the project, quit Audacity and return to the project later, the effect would be applied permanently and cmd+z will no longer work.

For this reason, it’s best to duplicate the raw recording before applying effects (highlight the track, then cmd+D) to keep a raw copy, or export it as a WAV so you know its safe.

I would particularly recommend: “export it as a WAV” as soon as you have recorded. (“File menu > Export > Export as WAV”)

HeidiV:
VST is a “class” or “type” of effect, and there are many VST effects. Same for Nyquist, LADSPA, LV2, and Audio Unit. The distinction is the way the effect “connects” (interfaces) with Audacity - a technical detail you do not need to concern yourself with.

You do not need hundreds of effects, many of which will do the same thing. The questions to ask are “What do I need to do?” and “Do I already have an effect that does that?”

What are you trying to do with Audacity? What is the project? What effects to you think you need?

As GDepot points out, you shouldn’t really need to download (and install) any extra effects since just about everything you need is already there under the Effect menu.

Since you’re on Mac, you have access to the Mac’s built-in Audio Unit effects, many of which are quite useful. Just go to Effect (menu) > Add / Remove Plug-ins and look for ones starting with “Apple:” or “AU”.

Not all plug-ins you download may successfully “enable” - there may be incompatibilities between the plug-in and Audacity. Also, remember that in the Plug-ins Manager you need to click the “Enable” button for each plug-in, then click the “OK” button.

– Bill

Hi Bill,

I’m using Audacity for VO. I have an Apex 540 mic and AKG K72 headphones. I can’t get any significant sound in headphones btw, that is my next question :slight_smile:

Thank you for below, many thanks!!!

Here is what my agent advised:

"Load them ALL> VST, Nyquist, FFMpeg & Lame. You need the effects (VST & Nyquist) plug-ins to be able to edit (compression, EQ, limiters, etc.), and you need the LADSPA (Lame & FFmpeg) to be able to export files properly. The FFmpeg library allows you to export in multiple raw file formats, while the Lame library allows you to export to mp3. You NEED these for auditions.

Here’s where you can get them all and read up on what they do.

https://www.audacityteam.org/download/plug-ins/"

That being said I need to do the following:

  1. Get headphones working
  2. Figure out how to get what my agent advised wrt effects into my Audacity :slight_smile:

Truly
Heidi the Noob

Perhaps you could start by answering the questions you were asked here: Headphones Volume w/Scarlet 2i2 3rd Gen

This person doesn’t know what they’re talking about. LAME and FFmpeg have nothing to do with LAPSPA.
LAME is already built in to Audacity.
You only need FFmpeg if you intend to export into exotic formats. For VO work the built-in export options in Audacity will work fine.
As I said before, determine what you need to do then get the effects that do that. Having 300 effects in your Effect menu will not help with anything.
– Bill