This page hasn't been maintained for a while, and is pretty out of date! If anybody out there with more free time than me wants to take over looking after it, send me an e-mail.

This is a good place to start if you're new to audio and MIDI under Mac OS X. I try to list the important software and tools, both commercial and otherwise.

For more comprehensive information, see the related sites section.

Items marked with are my personal picks for the coolest tools out there.

Items marked with are capable of hosting AudioUnit plugins.

Related Sites

Site	Description
OS X Audio	Comprehensive OS X audio news
OS X Audio Forums	The best place to go to have questions answered
VersionTracker	A comprehensive listing of audio software for OS X
Apple's Music and Audio page	More Mac audio news

Sequencers

Product	Comments	Developer	License
Logic Platinum		Emagic	Commercial
Digital Performer		MOTU	Commercial
Cubase SX		Steinberg	Commercial
Live	Sequencer designed for live use	Ableton	Commercial
Intuem	OS X specific, nice interface	Intuem	Shareware
Metro 6	Audio, MIDI & video sequencer	Sagan Technology	Commercial

Synths & Samplers

Product	Comments	Developer	License
Reason	Powerful virtual studio software	Propellerheads	Commercial
Unity Session	Sampler and synth package	Bitheadz	Commercial
Rax	Simple AudioUnit host	Granted Software	Freeware
SimpleSynth	Basic soundfont based synth	Pete Yandell	Freeware
VSTi Host	Standalone VST instrument and effect host	Defective Records Software	Shareware

Digital Audio Workstations

Product	Comments	Developer	License
Pro Tools		Digidesign	Commercial
Deck		Bias	Commercial

Audio Editors

Product	Comments	Developer	License
Peak	Fast and powerful editor	Bias	Commercial
Melodyne	Innovative melodic editor	Celemony	Commercial
Spark	Editor with real-time effects	TCWorks	Commercial
SparkME	Freeware version of Spark	TCWorks	Freeware
Amadeus	Good basic low-priced editor	HairerSoft	Shareware
Sound Studio	Popular older editor	Felt Tip Software	Shareware
Cacophony	Multi-track editor with support for lots of file formats	Richard Bannister	Shareware
Audacity	Cross platform		Freeware

MIDI Tools

Product	Comments	Developer	License
MIDI Monitor	Display MIDI data from any source	Snoize	Freeware
SysEx Librarian	Backup SysEx data	Snoize	Freeware
MIDI Patchbay	Patch and filter MIDI data on the fly	Pete Yandell	Freeware
MidiPipe	Flexible real-time MIDI filtering tool	SubtleSoft	Freeware
iMIDI	Send MIDI data over ethernet	Granted Software	Freeware
MidiClock	Generate MIDI clock data for syncing devices	Granted Software	Freeware
ReMIDI	A basic MIDI arpeggiator	Granted Software	Freeware
MidiKeys	Play MIDI notes with your computer keyboard	Chris Reed	Freeware

Notation Software

Product	Comments	Developer	License
Sibelius	Long standing popular package	Sibelius	Commercial
Notability Pro	Newer OS X specific tool	Keith Hamel	Commercial

DJ Tools

Product	Comments	Developer	License
Traktor DJ Studio	Powerful tool with MIDI & automation support	Native Instruments	Commercial
MegaSeg	Easy to use OS X specific DJ tool	Fidelity Media	Shareware
Obelisk	8 player DJ mixer	Coradine	Shareware

AudioUnits

I've removed this section because I've realised that I have no hope of keeping up with all the AudioUnits being released.

For a comprehensive listing of AudioUnits and plugins in other formats, see OS X Audio plugin table.

Developer Tools & Libraries

Product	Comments	Developer	License
SynthTest	Tool to test AudioUnits	Chris Reed	Freeware
AudioUnit GUI SDK	SDK for AudioUnit interfaces	Airy Andre	Freeware
CAUGui SDK	Coregraphics AudioUnit GUI SDK	Urs Heckman	Freeware
PYMIDI Framework	Objective-C MIDI library	Pete Yandell	Freeware
DfxPlugin	Build VST and AU plugins simultaneously	Smart Electron:x	Freeware

Soundfonts

Site	Description
The Sound Site	A huge collection of SoundFonts
HammerSound	A lot of free Soundfonts and a good links page
SoundFonts.com	A good quick intro to SoundFonts
The MMA	The official place for DLS information

OS X Audio Links