Strangelight Audio
v0.1Latest

Compatibility and known limitations

This page lists what the current release supports and its known limits. Other pages describe current behaviour without repeating these qualifications.

Release and platform

  • Throughline 0.1 is in private beta.
  • It runs as a plugin inside a DAW on macOS 13 or later, on Apple silicon and Intel Macs.
  • Formats: Audio Unit and VST3. There is no AAX or CLAP version.
  • The current build is macOS only. There is no Windows or Linux build and no standalone app.
  • Throughline is developed and checked against Logic Pro, Ableton Live and Reaper. Other AU and VST3 hosts may work but are not checked routinely.

For layouts each variant accepts, see DAW Setup.

Known limitations

  • Clips: audio and MIDI clips are turned off in this release. Write clips and piano-roll parts in your DAW and send them to Throughline as MIDI.
  • Sidechain: the plugins have no sidechain or auxiliary input bus. Compressor Sidechain takes signals from inside the patch.
  • DAW automation: only the eight Macro slots are automatable, and the DAW shows them as Macro 1 to Macro 8. Renamed Macros keep the generic names in the DAW. See Macros and DAW automation.
  • Built-in Group templates: the built-in Instrument and Effect Group templates are not available for new patches. Your own Local Library entries are available, and older patches that contain built-in structures still load.
  • MPE: not supported yet. An MPE controller's per-note bend arrives as ordinary channel pitch bend. See Polyphony.
  • Polyphony Zones: a Zone cannot contain another Polyphony Zone, and it takes no audio input. See Polyphony.
  • Throughline MIDI as an Audio Unit shows one unused audio output, because the format requires it. See DAW Setup.

Older patches

Patches from earlier builds open in the current release:

  • Macro and performance control nodes: the old Macro node and the Dial, X/Y Pad and Button performance controls are no longer offered for new patches. Patches that contain them still load and work. Throughline does not convert them to Macros; assign parameters to Macros in the Macros panel instead.
  • Polyphonic Groups: older Groups that contain a voice allocator and voice definition load as they are. Right-click one and choose Convert to Zone to turn it into a Polyphony Zone. Ordinary Groups do not offer this action.
  • Voices above 16: older Polyphony Zones set to more than 16 voices load with 16.
  • Sequencers without a Clock: older patches whose sequencers have no Clock connection stay silent until you connect one. The node shows a warning.
  • Frames: Frames saved by earlier builds still open with their nodes.

Uninstall on macOS

  1. Quit all plugin hosts.

  2. In Finder, choose Go > Go to Folder and open /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/.

  3. Move Throughline Synth.component, Throughline FX.component and Throughline MIDI.component to the Bin.

  4. Open /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/ and move Throughline Synth.vst3, Throughline FX.vst3 and Throughline MIDI.vst3 to the Bin.

  5. Open Terminal and remove the installer receipts:

    sudo pkgutil --forget com.strangelightaudio.throughline.installer.au
sudo pkgutil --forget com.strangelightaudio.throughline.installer.vst3

  6. Reopen your DAW and rescan plugins.

Uninstalling keeps your DAW projects, Patch Library and Local Library. Reinstall Throughline to open projects that use it.

Reset local preferences and libraries

Save your patch or DAW project first. Quit all plugin hosts before moving any of these files:

  • Editor preferences: move ~/Library/Strangelight Audio/Throughline/Presets/ui-preferences.json to a backup location, if it exists. Throughline creates new preferences when needed.
  • Patch Library: saved patches are in the fx, midi and synth folders under ~/Library/Strangelight Audio/Throughline/Presets/.
  • Local Library: each variant's entries are in ~/Library/Strangelight Audio/Throughline/NodeTemplates/<variant>/templates.json, where <variant> is fx, midi or synth. Back up the file, then move it out of the folder to clear that variant's Local Library.

These resets do not change patches already saved in DAW projects. To start a fresh patch, create a new plugin instance or choose New in the Patch menu.