Which AAX SDK version works for HISE 4.1.0?

[Sawatakashi]

Hi everyone! I'm currently working on compiling the AAX SDK 2.4.0 version on Windows. The process of exporting the AAX plugin format seems to go smoothly, but I haven't conducted any tests on a Mac yet.

The main issue I'm facing right now is that the Pro Tools Developer version can't detect my AAX plugin. I'm not sure which step I might have skipped during the process.

It's worth noting that I haven't signed the AAX plugin. However, I've heard from some people that the Pro Tools Developer version allows us to test unsigned AAX plugins.

Any insights or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

[HISEnberg]

@Sawatakashi It should work if the AAX SDK is setup correctly and the HISE-based plugin compiles successfully. You are correct that the Pro Tools Developer let's you test usigned AAX plugins. Have you tried testing a simple plugin example (like a single slider gain fx) just to see if the error is with your SDK setup or with your plugin? I am using the 2-8-0 SDK I believe

[Sawatakashi]

@HISEnberg Thanks Mate! Do you use the Hise 4.1.0 on Windows? I'm sure I'm having a hardtime compiling an AAX plugin, including getting it signed.

[HISEnberg]

@Sawatakashi Yes I am on the recent branch. What stage are you experiencing issues with? Are you able to build the AAX with HISE? Is the issue that you cannot load the AAX in ProTools? The signing process is quite different, Avid will forward your case to PACE and they will provide all the details on how to do this.

[Sawatakashi]

@HISEnberg Hi, finally I've gotten back to you now. Thanks so much!

1. I don't know if I need to change something inside the HISE or JUCE project first.
   After testing it again, I found that I got some errors about "MD_DynamicRelease" issues as I exported the AAX directly from HISE. So I re-exported it by opening the autogenerated project from Juce. I fixed from "MD_DynamicRelease" to "MT_StaticRelease" in Visual Studio 2022. Then it seemed to build successfully. Now the Pro Tools DEV detected the plugin.

But I wonder if there's a way I can directly export AAX from HISE.

2. When I do it on my MacBook, I find I meet the other problem. (AAX SDK 2.4.1, HISE 4.1.0, M4, Xcode 16.1, sequoia)
   I can only compile the ARM version for the AAX plugin in Xcode, which warned me I could not compile the universal AAX for both Intel and ARM MAC.

Big thanks again, I believe that you must have experience with it.

[HISEnberg]

@Sawatakashi Lol not really I only set this up last week but I had similar issues.

For the first issue on Windows you have basically solved it. When you build the AAX in Visual Studio (so the one that is in HISE's SDK folder), set it to static release. Each time you build your HISE project it will build against this version and you will be good to go. There is a post about this on the forum somewhere.

When building the AAX SDK on Xcode it was a bit more trial and error for me but I think what happens is HISE is only designed to build for arm64 or Intel slice  x86_64 (depending on what you set in your Projucer). I ended up asking chat gpt for the solution to the universal binary and it gave me the right response. I found the terminal command (option 2) to be more efficient:

Option 1 – Re‑build in Xcode (GUI)

Open the project again
Libs/AAXLibrary/MacBuild/AAXLibrary.xcodeproj

Target & Build Settings

Select the AAXLibrary_libcpp target.

In Build Settings

Architectures → Standard Architectures (arm64, x86_64)
(don’t choose “arm64 only”).

Build Active Architecture Only → No (Debug and Release).

Excluded Architectures → (leave empty)

Choose a universal build destination
In the scheme selector (the drop‑down next to the ︎ button) pick
Any Mac (My Mac) or Any Mac (Mac Catalyst) – not “My Mac (Apple Silicon)”.
That generic destination tells Xcode to build all valid slices.

Build (⌘B)
When it finishes, run:

lipo -info "$HOME/HISE/tools/SDK/AAX/Libs/Release/libAAXLibrary_libcpp.a" 

Expected output:

Architectures in the fat file: libAAXLibrary_libcpp.a are: arm64 x86_64

Option 2 – One‑liner with xcodebuild (CLI)

From Terminal inside Libs/AAXLibrary/MacBuild/:

xcodebuild -project AAXLibrary.xcodeproj \
           -target AAXLibrary_libcpp \
           -configuration Release \
           -sdk macosx \
           ARCHS="arm64 x86_64" \
           BUILD_LIBRARY_FOR_DISTRIBUTION=YES \
           BUILD_ACTIVE_ARCH_ONLY=NO

This explicitly asks Xcode to build both slices and drops the fat libAAXLibrary_libcpp.a in:

Libs/Release/libAAXLibrary_libcpp.a
Check it with lipo -info as above.