Install guide

Every FRED plugin ships as a macOS installer with VST3, AU and a standalone app. Apple Silicon (M1 or newer), macOS 12 or later.

1. Download and run the installer

Open the download link from your order e-mail. You get a ZIP with FRED <name> Installer.pkg, the standalone app and a folder with the raw VST3 and AU files.
Double-click the .pkg. It installs to /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3 and /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components. Your Mac asks for your password; that is normal for every plugin installer.
Restart your DAW, then rescan plugins if it does not pick up new ones automatically. In Cubase: Studio → VST Plug-in Manager → Rescan. In Logic: the AU appears after a restart; if not, Preferences → Plug-in Manager → Reset & Rescan.

2. If macOS says the installer "cannot be opened"

Our installers are signed, and Apple notarisation is in progress. Until it is complete, macOS may show a warning the first time. It takes ten seconds to pass:

Right-click (or Control-click) the .pkg and choose Open, then Open again in the dialog.
If the button is missing: open System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll down, and click Open Anyway next to the installer's name.

If your DAW blocks a plugin after installation (Cubase puts it on the blocklist), remove the quarantine flag once in Terminal and rescan:

sudo xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine "/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/FRED LEGEND 79.vst3"
sudo xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine "/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/FRED LEGEND 79.component"

Replace the name with the plugin you installed. Notarised builds replace these downloads as soon as Apple's review is complete; existing installations keep working.

3. Your licence

Your order e-mail contains a licence key. Keep it with your order confirmation. The plugins currently run without activation; the next update adds a one-time activation (three of your own computers, works offline afterwards), and you will enter the same key then. Nothing to do today.

4. Presets, updates and uninstalling

Factory presets live inside the plugin. Your own presets are saved in ~/Library/Audio/Presets/FRED Audio/<plugin>.
Updates are new installers from the same download link; run them over the old version. Your sessions and presets are kept.
To uninstall, delete the .vst3 and .component files from the two folders above.

5. Something else?

Write to hello@fredaudio.com with the plugin name, your DAW and macOS version. We answer within a day.