Blue Cat Audio Freeware Pack VST for Mac OS X [Now Beta 2]

[Blue Cat Audio]

After many months of hard work, we are proud to release our first Mac plugins public beta: the Blue Cat's Freeware Pack plugins bundle is now available for download. It's for your Mac, and it's free!

Download free plugins pack for Mac

All 11 plugins have been ported to the Mac platform (as VST plugins), and we need your feedback to improve them for the final release. So please download the bundle, check it on your Mac and send us feedback in this thread!

What's new in beta 2 (October 30th):
- New skins with parameters value display for modulation effects.
- Improved graphical rendering performance.
- Improved graphs display.
- FreqAnalyst "Freeze" function fixed (now actually freezes the curves).
- MIDI control support with MIDI learn.
- Settings panel now available.
- Tooltips now implemented.
- Some VST 2.3 applications now supported thanks to a workaround (a new window is created)



(click here for full scale image)

System requirements
- Mac OS X Leopard (10.5)
- Intel or Power PC processor (probably minimum G5)
- A VST 2.4 compliant application (some supporting 2.3 will work though)

Known limitations and issues [last updated on October 30th]
- the GUI is frozen in Reaper (it's a Cocoa issue - in work with the Cockos team, the audio unit version will solve this anyway)
- No Audio Unit version yet

Please post in this thread to tell us if it works with your setup, along with the name of your hosts applications, your Mac OS X version, and the type of your processor (Intel or Power PC).

[mike@manike]

Awesome!

Is there any possibilty of running them in 10.4?

[Blue Cat Audio]

No it's unfortunately not possible, mainly because the plugins were designed with future 64 bits applications in mind: we use many new technologies introduced in 10.5 that will make our plugins compatible with 64 bits audio applications when required (it might happen soon, with the release of Snow Leopard)

[mike@manike]

no problem.

Excellent news that the plugs have arrived for mac!

[SaganTech]

Seems, from initial tests, to work fine in Metro.

[Blue Cat Audio]

Thamks for your feedback! Did you test on ppc or Intel?

[a.cla.dio]

System requirements
- Mac OS X Leopard (10.5)

Arghh!!

Unfortunately I can't try these.

[mellotronaut]

System requirements
- Mac OS X Leopard (10.5)

Arghh!!

Unfortunately I can't try these.

same here

[Blue Cat Audio]

Yes, sorry for that. We basically made the decision to build for the future, so we had to use new technologies that were introduced in Lepoard (especially for 64 bits apps support). There was actually no way of making a compromise here .

[BERFAB]

Is there a side by side feature chart somewhere on your site that compares your freebies with the paid plugs? I've got a couple of your free plugs, which I do enjoy, but I'm interested to know what I'm missing and if upgrading would make sense.

I'm sorry if this is clearly posted on your site, but I couldn't seem to find it with a quick look.

Thanks
-B

[Blue Cat Audio]

No there is not such a chart yet, but I guess it's becoming necessary .

Today our freeware effects include mostly modulation effects (which we do not have in our commercial plugins, except the Stereo Phaser plugin that adds the ability to control the "stereoness" of the effect). Then we have two free audio analysis plugins:

- Blue Cat's Digital Peak Meter (still available but actually discontinued - has not been ported to Mac): the Pro version offer you many extra features, such as the MIDI output support, to control effects in real time (whereas with the free version it's only automation), as well as total control over the generated envelopes + mid/side support + K-System metering + envelopes visualization + skins...

- Blue Cat's FreqAnalyst spectrum analyzer, which is less precise than the non free versions (no measurement capabilities). The Pro version also offers memory slots to save the curves for comparison + easy zooming capability + more analysis modes (average) + spectrogram view + MIDI and automation output generation based on the min/max/average pitch of the track for pitch dependent side chaining. And if you are into multiple tracks (or audio processing chain analysis) analysis and comparison, the FreqAnalyst Multi plugin offers the ability to see many tracks on a single track and compare them thanks to a "diff" view.

- Blue Cat's Triple EQ equalizer offers a single channel (same EQ for left and right), whereas the Stereo and Widening versions have two separate channels (left/right or mid/side), and the Parametr'EQ series have 7 independent bands as well as non linear processing capabilities to add color to the sound and oversampling for better quality.

An then you have all our other plugins that have no equivalent in the free pack.

It's a very short summary but I hope this helps. Do not hesitate to ask us more info on this forum for a particular product. And don't forget you can download the demos to try the plugins!

[rpb1966]

All I am getting in Pro Tools 7.4 is a white box, Im using 10.5.5.

Any ideas?

[Blue Cat Audio]

Thanks for reporting the problem.

I presume you are using FXPansion's VST to RTAS wrapper, right? The wrapper only supports VST 2.3, and VST 2.4 changed the technology used for the plugin window. This may explain the problem. We are about to contact FXPansion to find a way to solve the problem.

[Blue Cat Audio]

A new beta is out! The original post has been updated with update information.

The new version should include a workaround for Pro Tools and Energy XT users who could not see the plugin user interface. It's not perfect (created a new window) but, well, at least it's usable.

BTW is there anybody out there with a powerPC Mac and OSX 10.5?