Is there a difference between RTAS and VST?

[kindlingmania]

my school finally got some Mboxes with pro tools le bundled, and I wanted to burn a cd of my favorite free effects and soft synths, but to make sure they're compatible I went to check the compatibility of the plugins I have, and all it said is that it supports RTAS and audiosuite. are vst, dx, au, etc, just formats of those, or are they completely seperate? I'm guessing that dx format wouldn't work as it's a mac I'll be working on, but what about vst and au?

[ObsoleteAcc99]

[DELETED]

[Alan]

I'm guessing that dx format wouldn't work as it's a Mac I'll be working on, but what about vst and au?

DX is out of the question for Mac as it is a Windows format only,in fact PC VST plugs won't work on a Mac either,only Mac VST plugs.I'm guessing from the last statement that you want to port your PC plugs over to the Mac which is impossible.Like Tozz say's though,you can run Mac VST plugs via the adapter in Pro Tools.

[kindlingmania]

I'm guessing from the last statement that you want to port your PC plugs over to the Mac which is impossible.

no, I'm well aware that's not the case, but many vsts I enjoy are available for mac as well, and I planned on downloading and burning those to use at school. Thanks for the tip on that adapter, but it won't do me any good, it costs money. I was trying to go the free route as it's my school's computer, not mine. I'll have to check everything out once it's up and running, cause there is an LE version of ableton that comes bundled, I might be able to at least use some effects with that. if not, oh well, it'll still be A LOT more fun than having nothing but pro tools free working midi only and no effects at all.

[Alan]

Thanks for the tip on that adapter, but it won't do me any good, it costs money.

Not everythings free but if you plan on buying a PTLE setup in the future it is an inexpensive solution and worthwhile investment.

there is an LE version of ableton that comes bundled, I might be able to at least use some effects with that..

The bundles are different depending on when it was purchased,but since Digi aquired M-Audio recently(the distributer of Ableton Live)that would be one way to get VSTi instruments happening via PTLE's ReWire.

it'll still be A LOT more fun than having nothing but pro tools free working midi only and no effects at all.

Both PT Free and PTLE do audio and ship with a basic the Audiosuite collection of plugins,and PTLE usually ships with some basic Bomb Factory and T-Racks plugins which are quite nice so you won't miss the basics.