How to Download and Install Airwindows Plugins Like ConsoleX3

Updated

ConsoleX3 is distributed through GitHub rather than a store page, and the install path depends on which version you want. For the GUI version, download the release from the ConsoleX3 GitHub releases page and click the version number at the top — as of the Airwindows post, that is 0.0.7, and it may not be flagged as the "latest release" even though it is the one to use. For a standalone, no-GUI build (for example on Raspberry Pi), use the separate ConsoleX3NoGUI.zip instead. If you plan to use the GUI version, do not install the Audio Unit from the no-GUI package, because the GUI installer will refuse to install when a plugin of the same name is already present.

Before you start

  • Decide which build you need: GUI version, no-GUI standalone, or a surround-capable setup.
  • Note that ConsoleX3 is free and open source under the MIT license, supported through the author's Patreon.
  • ConsoleX3 has too many controls to be included in the Consolidated plugin collection, so you will not find it there.

Downloading ConsoleX3

GUI version

  1. Go to https://github.com/airwindows/ConsoleX3/releases.
  2. Click the version number at the top of the list. At the time of the Airwindows post this was 0.0.7.
  3. Be aware that GitHub may not mark this as the "latest release" for this repository — the top version number is still the correct one.

No-GUI / standalone version

If you want the standalone, no-GUI builds such as for Raspberry Pi, download ConsoleX3NoGUI.zip (882k). This package covers standalone, AU, and VST2 formats.

Installing without conflicts

The main install pitfall is a name collision between the two packages. If you intend to use the GUI version, do not install the Audio Unit from the no-GUI package first — the GUI installer does not want to install if a plugin of that name is already present. Pick one path and install that.

Surround use

If you need a surround-capable version of ConsoleX3, you have to use the Audio Unit ConsoleX3Mono plugin. That is the one that will run any number of channels. It does not do surround panning, so you will need to handle panning separately.

Customizing the GUI look

Airwindows GUI plugins can be customized. To use the grey watercolor texture the author favors, or to restyle it any way you want, download AirwindowsGlobals.zip (158k), which contains a text file, folder structure, and a JPEG.

  1. Place the Airwindows folder into your Documents folder.
  2. On Mac, the expected path is Documents/Airwindows/AirwindowsGlobals.txt, with GreyWatercolor.jpg beside that file.
  3. If JUCE looks for documents files somewhere else on your system, put the folder there instead.
  4. AirwindowsGlobals now includes comments explaining how to do things, making it easier to use.

What else is coming

The author notes that new plugins such as Rockstar2, BezEQ4, and Weave are either in the demo or built into ConsoleX3 but do not yet exist as standalone releases. The overdrive control "More" is the Weave algorithm, and a Console algorithm uses the "derivative BIP" approach developed after an unsuccessful attempt to reinvent Signalsmith's "elliptic BLEP" antialiasing.