ARES AUDIO
    _
    CLOSED BETA · APPLICATIONS OPENARES AUDIO

    Turn the wholechain yourself

    The whole Ares Suite — four plugins, one closed beta.Knobs only. No menus, no manual needed.

    • Every tool of the Suite — EQ, DRV, VRB and DLY — installed and licensed
    • VST® 3 and AU on Apple Silicon Macs, VST3 on Windows (Ares VRB without RT skins: GPU processing is Apple Silicon only). All four also come as Max for Live devices, on Mac and Windows
    • A direct line to the person who builds them
    NOWAPPLICATIONS OPEN14 OCTBUILDS GO OUT14 NOVBETA ENDS
    APPLY AS A TESTER

    WHAT YOU NEED

    A host that loads VST3 or AU on an Apple Silicon Mac (macOS 12 or newer; the RT skins of Ares VRB need macOS 13), or VST3 on Windows. Intel Macs aren't supported. There is no AAX build, so Pro Tools isn't covered. We'd rather put that here than have you take one of thirty seats and find out on October 14.

    On Windows, SmartScreen may warn you before the installer runs. Click "More info", then "Run anyway". The file is ours; Windows just hasn't seen it often enough yet to trust it.

    Thirty places. This is an application, not a sign-up — we read every one and write back either way.

    Applications are open until October 13. We pick the thirty and send every invitation, and every reply, on October 14.

    Rather buy than test? From October 14 anyone can buy at the beta price. The prices are further down this page.

    Beta licences are issued under the Ares Audio End User Licence Agreement. We will ask you to accept it before your licence is issued.

    Applying is free. Nothing is for sale on this page.

    The Ares Suite is every plugin: Ares EQ, Ares DRV, Ares VRB and Ares DLY. Full prices are shown as they will stand — the beta discount is a one-off and is marked as one.

    WE'D RATHER OVER-SAY IT

    WHAT CAN BREAK

    This is a beta, and we'd rather over-say it than have you find out halfway through a project.

    The parameter layout is not frozen until November 14. A project you save during the beta may not open the same way afterwards. That is deliberate: freezing early would mean keeping the things we already know are wrong.

    This applies to buyers too. Until November 14, people who paid are running the same builds as the testers. Put these on work you can afford to lose, or keep a bounced version of anything you care about.

    THIRTY PLACES, NOT THIRTY THOUSAND
    ToolList · Beta
    Ares EQEqualiserFree
    Ares DRVDistortion€59€29.50
    Ares VRBReverb€79€39.50
    Ares DLYDelay€49€24.50
    Ares SuiteEvery plugin, in one purchase€129€64.50

    The Suite costs less than DRV and VRB together, and DLY is included.

    Beta action — a one-off, ends 14 November 2026

    The paid tools are half price until 14 November 2026. Afterwards they cost what the list column says. Buying opens on 14 October, for everyone, with or without a place in the beta.

    The Ares Suite is every plugin: Ares EQ, Ares DRV, Ares VRB and Ares DLY.

    MADE FOR YOUR MIDI CONTROLLER

    If you map a controller

    Every Ares plugin shows you the mapping method of the DAW it is open in. Hosts differ here, so the plugin tells you which way works in yours.

    In Ableton Live, for example, right-clicking a knob for MIDI Learn will not work — Live takes the CC and never passes it to the plugin. Use Live's own mapping instead: Configure, then ⌘M. In hosts that pass the CC on, the plugin's own MIDI Learn is the quicker way.

    Mapped through the host, you map the plugin's parameter list — its identity, its order, its length. That list is not frozen until 14 November, which is the part of the beta we would most like to settle with people who actually work that way.

    VST Compatible

    VST is a registered trademark of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH.

    Ableton, Live and Max for Live are trademarks of Ableton AG.