PLUG-INS!!! Surely somebody knows!, TDM / RTAS / VST - MacAmp / SoundJAM?? Options

I own a ProTools (MIX/TDM) rig & have a ton of plugins. Is there a way to use plugins OUTSIDE the ProTools platform?

I'm trying to find a way to add compression / L1 type maximization to a streaming audio web-feed. MacAmp has a few plugins, but nothing much. Is there a way to ADD plugins to MacAmp or Soundjam - or some other mp3 player?

Is there a way to use plugins as if they were rack gear & route other programs into them? Didn't Waves have a way to do this once upon a time?

[Synthetic]

The only thing I know of that will do anything close to what you seek is a new app called Pluggo. It will let you use RTAS, VST, and MAS plugs in its host based system to manipulate sound like crazy. The interface is not the most professional looking but I have heard some great stuff about it. As far as plugs in Soundjam or Macamp.... the only audio plug that works with those is one called 'realizer' which enhances the dynamics of mp3 files but as far as I know... there are no plugs that will work for these apps that do compression and normalizing as you seek. The realizer might be worth looking into though because it does somewhat allow you to normalize the sound but it can also distort it.

i:

Do you have to be using your Pro Tools rig computer to do the streaming out? If you had another computer for that, you'd be able to route the signal through Pro Tools and get all the processing you need.

B

You're right, and I'm thinking about just doing that, but I REALLY want to find a way to accomplish this all on one mac, that way I can leave it all running 24/7

I have software to play the audio (OnTheNet Studio)
I somehow want compression / levelling (and have a didi 001/ProTools LE with RTAS, though this doesn't have to be part of the setup)
I have software to stream the audio (MacAmp & Audio Hijack)

There must be a way!! ???

I think the big problem is Pro Tools taking over the sound on your system.

That's why I'd like to find a way to do it all without using my ProTools computer. I can turn my other mac into a streaming server using the audio player software and MacAmp or Soundjam as the streamer... I'm just trying to find a way to put compression inbetween the two to make the feed sound professional.

Surely there is a way! Waves Native? Anything?

Uh... why don't you just buy the MP3 adapter for ProTools?
It's like $20.

Why don't I buy the mp3 adapter? Because I'm streaming an audio feed to the net using MacAmp - not playing mp3's. MacAmp (and Soundjam) has a great feature for streaming audio to the net to create an online broadcast. I'm just trying to add a layer of compression to the feed.

(although thanks for the tip on PT mp3 converter. I don't have it & have been using SoundJam to convert - but buying the converter for PT is much easier!)

[horowizard]

    What you are asking is relatively simple to do, particularly on systems which allow you to create Auxiliary tracks.  Auxiliary tracks do not actually record an audio waveform, but they do have insert points and can recieve and send audio either through the inputs and outputs of your interfaces or through the internal busses within Pro Tools or both.  
   
    The first thing to do is obviously create a Pro Tools session.  Next create an or any number of Auxiliary track(s) and choose which plug ins or combinations of plug ins that you would like to use in your audio chain by putting them across the inserts.  Address the inputs of the Auxiliary tracks to correspond with the inputs of your interfaces which are being fed the audio that you would like to process.  Then it is a simple matter of routing the audio signal(s) being processed within Pro Tools back out to your system via the outputs of your interfaces. You can send them back into the input channels of your recording console, input tracks of your tape machines or other effects processors.  You can even send those tracks back into Pro Tools for even more processing.

    If you do not have the abiliy to create Auxiliary tracks, you can use Audio tracks just as easily.  Use the same technique of placing your plug ins across the channel inserts.  As long as the tracks are RECORD ENABLED, they will pass audio back out through your interfaces.

    I have an HD 3 System, but this method will work with any system, even very early ones.  Again, if you need to use Audio tracks for this, the key is to Record Enable the track(s) but do not actually engage Pro Tools into record mode (unless of course you happen to want to record your audio source in Pro Tools!)

Nice long post there. Now tell him how to use MacAmp and Pro Tools on the same Mac at the same time.

[horowizard]

    That should be easy too, provided that one has not disabled or removed the internal sound card that comes with your Mac.  I am not totally sure on this one because I have never had occasion to use MacAmp, but my experience has shown me that a Mac loaded with the proper memory can do double duty.  When I took delivery on my Pro Tools HD 3 System, I was required to instal proprietary hardware inside the G4.  Then I needed a compact disc mastering program that would utilize the CD burner that came shipped with the G4.  The only one I knew of at the time was WaveBurner Pro 2.2, which came highly recommended to me by peers.
    Well, to my surprise and dismay, WaveBurner at this stage of the game, does not recognize the Digidesign High Definition audio interfaces.  When I rang up tech support at eMagic about this, they politely informed me that HD was 'too new', even though I have had the system since January, and it says right on the box that it can be used with all TDM systems.
    My only option was to use the internal Media sound card that already comes standard with the G4.  I felt silly taking a stereo mini-plug output into balanced XLR inputs of my monitoring system, but it was either that or shippping it back in favor of Master List and buying an external burner (which by the way does have it's advantages).
    This splendid little inconvenience turned out to be somewhat of a bonus, in that I can actually run both applications at the same time.  I can switch back and forth between monitoring Pro Tools or WaveBurner without having to shut one program down to open another.  I can even monitor both of them simultaneously if I so choose.
    I will bite the bullet for now until there is and upgrade which will someday let me hear WaveBurner Pro through the glorious high fidelity of my 192 I/O interfaces. The Mac Media sound is not the best thing to use, especially in the case of mastering applications, but it is certainly not the worst.  OK, I have to bump up the level somehow from -10 to +4, but how bad can it be for processing Mp3 audio?  If you put audio in and stream it out, then in theory, it should work.

Nice to hear about your gear.

So, are you saying, in response to the original post, that if he starts his streaming media in MacAmp the output of MacAmp will come out of the Mac hardware while Pro Tools is running on the same computer?

I can say that this is not the case in Pro Tools LE. All sounds are routed through whatever device you've chosen.