Ju-X

Recently, I grew tired of Logic and it's massive set of features. Sometimes I just want to jam a little or try a little sample in TAL's Sampler and improvise on that loop. Hosting AU is perfect for this: it launches in an instant, is very easy on the eyes with little distraction and is rock solid. As all of my plugins are AU only (or both AU and VST), non-availability of VST slots is not an issue for me whatsoever.

I wish the Ju-X guys came up with an immediate and simple MIDI looper like the Midiphy LoopA in software with support for external MIDI gear, that would make my dream jamming rig on a laptop and I'd be willing to shell out €€ for that. Actually, I'd be willing to pay for Hosting AU - the fact that it's free makes this an even more invaluable tool. Highly recommend.

Hosting AU is hands down the most lightweight and low-resource DAW out there. Despite being limited to AU plugins only it is very useful - I'm using it to host virtual instruments and it beats everything else with its simplicity and low overhead.

This is exactly what I was looking for, hosting an AU plugin for apps that don't support it on output, like iTunes & Reason. Just install Soundflower, send system output to "Soundflower (2ch)", select that as input in Hosting AU under the fourth channel as illustrated, and add your plugin.

It looks however like it's much more powerful than that, as a quick way to riff with virtual instruments and adding effects in real time at the touch of a key. Clean no-clutter interface. And so lightweight - 600kB.