We are seeing reports that some AAX DSP plugins like Avid Space and VisLM from Nugen Audio are not showing when the Hybrid Engine is enabled, on Pro Tools HDX and Pro Tools Carbon systems.

For example, in the DUC we came across these two threads…

Space AAX DSP MIA?

“For the life of me I can't find Space AAX DSP. Native runs fine. Just installed the 18 version - nothing. What am I missing? I have a full license PLUS I'm on the Ultimate plan.”

Space AAX DSP not working

“Looks like the Space plugin is not showing as a DSP option only Native. I bought Space, have several licenses on my iLok including the Avid plugin bundle. Tonight I tried deactivating all licenses on the iLok except the plugin bundle license, removed receipts for Space and reinstalled Space from the plugin bundle (looks like the version is correct). It just doesn't seem to register as a DSP option. Any ideas?”

Not All AAX DSP Plugins Are Fully DSP

This got me thinking, is it because the problem plugins are not fully AAX DSP, they are actually Hybrid plugins, that appear to be DSP plugins, but actually ship off some of the work to the host processors under the hood. Our first clue, which seems to confirm this theory, comes from the Pro Tools Carbon Read Me document.

Not all plug-ins are fully supported in DSP Mode. (PT-266587)…

“Some AAX plug-ins, including Avid Space and Nugen VisLM, are incompatible with DSP Mode and are only available with Pro Tools | Carbon in Native Mode. These plug-ins will be bypassed on tracks in DSP Mode.”

Then further down in the Space AAX DSP not working thread on the DUC, Avid’s Senior Principal Product Designer Kyle Splittgerber confirms this…

“Space splits the processing between DSP and host. The same is true for Nugen VisLM. This architecture created challenges with the Hybrid Engine model that were difficult to fix in time for the product release.

So, rather than release Carbon with these bugs, we decided to limit the plugin's operation to Native only. This may change in the future if the user demand is high enough. So far it has not been a top request, but that could change.”

Using The DSP Safe Mode With Pro Tools Carbon Or HDX Hybrid Engine

People may not be aware but when you enable DSP Mode Safe you can still use an Aux track with a native-only reverb.

What you need to do is press down the Command key and click the DSP Mode button to enable DSP Mode Safe. Now, any track in DSP Mode can route audio say a reverb send to this Aux track without the native-only reverb being automatically bypassed, which is what would normally happen.

In Conclusion

It would appear that the Hybrid Engine has revealed what was going on under the cover that there are a handful of AAX DSP plugins that have been cleverly designed to appear to the Pro Tools DSP mixer as DSP plugins, even though they are using the host processors to undertake some of the work natively.

These hybrid plugins need re-designing now to work with the Hybrid Engine so we can expect updates in due course.