There are several reasons an effects plug-in will not load in NOTION 6 . . .

THOUGHTS

I do everything on the Mac, primarily on a Mac Pro (Early 2008) running macOS El Capitan (10.11.6) with an Apple 30" Cinema HD Display (2004), the latter of which I bought on eBay last year for $250 plus $50 shipping, which if nothing else is indisputable evidence that Apple makes good stuff, even though support for the Mac Pro (Early 2008) stopped at macOS El Capitan (10.11.6), which is fine with me . . .

In fact, I bought another one to use as backup, and it has an Apple ATI Radeon HD 5870 1024 MB graphic card that I got on eBay for about $200 (significantly faster for peppy response), and instead of being 2.8-GHz (8 cores, dual XEON processors), it's 3.2-GHz (8 cores, dual XEON processors), hence is faster than my primary Mac Pro (Early 2008) . . .

For reference, with 32GB of system memory, fast 4TB internal hard drive, graphic card update, keyboard, mouse, and so forth, you can get one of these Mac Pro (Early 2008) units for about $1,000 and like me be frozen in time, since nearly all new and updated digital music production software will not run on the Mac Pro (Early 2008), but so what . . .

TOP SIX REASONS FOR PLUG-INS NOT WORKING WITH NOTION 6

[NOTE: The VST2 and VST3 aspects might have changed. but perhaps not . . . ]

(1) It's an Apple "Audio Unit" technology AUi virtual instrument or AU effects plug-in. Studio One Professional suports AU and both versions of VST, (2 and 3); but NOTION only supports VST and then it's VST 2 (see note above)

(2) It's a VSTi 3 virtual instrument or VST 3 effects plug-in and it's not backward compatible with VSTi 2 and VST 2.

(3) There is no VSTi 2 or VST 2 version of the virtual instrument or effects plug-in.

(4) The VSTi virtual instrument or VST effects plug-in is 32-bits only, not 64-bits.

(5) Everything is good on the technology side, but you do not have a proper license activated to use the VSTi virtual instrument or VST effects plugin.

(6) Everything is good on the technology side and you have a proper license which is activated but you are using it in subscription mode and have not refreshed your subscription this month. This will happen with EW ComposerCloud X, and the solution is to refresh the subscription via EW Installation Center, which is easy to do and takes just a few seconds once a month.

EFFECTS PLUG-INS THAT WORK: EXCELLENT SOLUTIONS

Generally, I use and recommend T-RackS (IK Multimedia) and the various VSTi virtual instruments and VST effects plug-ins from FabFilter Software Instruments, as well as a few from Waves and Wave Arts (in particular TrackPlug [Wave Arts], since it has a "brickwall equalizer", noise gate, and compressor-limiters). There are others, of course, but these are personal favorites . . .

[NOTE: In this context, "brickwall" refers to setting hard boundaries, where for a brickwall limiter that upper level can be set, as well as parameters to determine the amount of limiting, compression, and input gain. For the "brickwall equalizer" in TrackPlug, the hard upper and lower frequency boundaries can be set, where an example is nothing below 50-Hz and nothing above 10-Hz. The "brickwall" usage is that the boundary is like a brick wall in the sense that nothing passes through it. FabFilter Software Instruments has an equalizer that does brickwall equalizing, and it's useful when the goal is to provide separate sonic spaces for kick drums and electric bass, which becomes more precise when augmented with "ducking", so that the electric bass is lowered in volume when the kick drum is hit, but only temporarily. This moves the kick drum to the front for an instant, and it's such a short time that there is no perceptible difference in the volume level of the electric bass. This is one of the techniques for making instruments and voices more distinct and easier to hear without making big changes. Effectively, you create a separate sonic space for each instrument and voice. When Elvis is singing, you hear Elvis at the front of the mix, but when Scotty Moore is playing a lead guitar solo, you hear Scotty Moore at the front of the mix, but only until Elvis starts singing again. It's not just one thing; it's a combination of producing and audio engineering techniques . . . ]



[NOTE: In the mid-1950s, magnetic tape machines were one-track or perhaps two-track, and Elvis Presley songs were recorded in real-time on the fly with all the musicians, backup singers, and Elvis performing the song. Elvis had excellent hearing and judgment, so they would continue recording the song over-and-over until Elvis was happy. There were compressor-limiters, reverb chambers, and simple tape echo units; but there probably were no compressor-limiters that did "ducking", although there might have been a way to do "ducking" in those days, at least by the 1940s. Basically. in those days they did everything in the most simple ways possible, where for example Scotty Moore would run the volume level on his guitar at a lower level when Elvis was singing and then increase the volume level when it was his turn to do the lead guitar solo. Today, it's easier to use effects plug-ins that do everything automagically once they are set correctly. Listen carefully, and you will hear Elvis doing uvular trills on the "h" of "hound dog", which is simply amazing . . . ]



The FabFilter Software Instruments, Waves, and Wave Arts plug-ins are a bit expensive compared to IK Multimedia effects plug-ins when IK Multimedia is having one of its absurd, super discount sale, but well worth the cost . . .

Smoothing the cost, FabFilter Software Instruments has discounts on bundles and the more effects plug-ins you purchase, the lower the prices for additional effects plug-ins . . .

Waves and Wave Arts have bundles at discounted prices, so the more the merrier . . .

Subscribing to these companies' newsletters and emails is an excellent way to get information on discount sales and special offers; and these companies--including PreSonus--do not send you constant, annoying emails. . .

They all have discount sales, so getting on email subscription lists is a good strategy; this way you get notices when there are discount sales and special promotions, which overall helps you save money . . .

My perspective on discounts is that the more money you can save, the more effects plug-ins and virtual instruments you can add to your library of producing and audio-engineering tools and virtual instruments . . .

IK Multimedia builds new factories in Italy every so often, and when they are building a new factory they have virtually insane discount sales to raise money for construction; and you can get lots of excellent stuff at discounts of 75 percent or greater; and sometimes they have "Group Buy" sales where the more people who participate by purchasing one product, the more free products everyone in the group gets, which at times is like six or more free products when you purchase one product . . .

There are FREE versions of T-RackS, Amplitube, Syntronic, and SampleTank at the following link:

FREE Stuff (IK Multimedia)

At present, IK Multimedia is not having what I consider to be super fabulous discount sales, so try the FREE stuff; get on the email subscription list; and be patient . . .

I have T-RackS Deluxe and have added more effects plug-ins to it--most recently adding the Leslie rotating loudspeaker effects plug-ins, which I used on Realivox Blue (RealiTone), my favorite virtual female soprano, in her singing on "Magic Teepee Dance", one of my most recent truly idiotic songs done in my newly created Stupid musical genre . . .



Project: Simple and Stupid (PreSonus NOTION Forum)

There are a handful of T-RackS effects plug-ins I use, and most of them are precise emulations of 1950s and 1960s broadcast radio signal processors designed originally to make it possible for radio stations to satisfy FCC broadcast requirements for signal levels and tonality . . .

These signal processors have melodic properties that make music sound better, and this was discovered quickly by record producers and audio engineers . . .

Many of these continue to be used today; and if you listen to music on the radio, then what you hear is run through these types of signal processors, even when it's on the web (for example, YouTube music videos) . . .

The key is to use high-quality effects plug-ins in thoughtful ways . . .

My primary T-RackS compressor-limiter and equalizer plug-ins are White 2A Leveling Amplifier, EQP-1A Classic Analog Tube-Based EQ, Black 76 Limiting Amplifier, and the Brickwall Limiter, where I use EQP-1A Classic Analog Tube-Based EQ primarily for bass and kick drums, since it adds deep bass tone . . .

[NOTE: Some of these are provided in bundles, but others usually are sold separately; so the more research-shopping you do, the better prices you will find. Mid-March 2021 is not a good time to buy IK Multimedia products, because there are no absurd, super fabulous, discount sales. Get the FREE stuff; get on the email list; and be patient. IK Multimedia has absurd, super fabulous, discount sales, but not at present . . . ]

I use Pro-C (FabFilter Software Instruments) for "ducking", and it's easy to configure the sidechain and various parameters . . .





These are available for the Mac and Windows . . .

This is one of my more "normal" songs, and it has different styles, as well as a virtual festival of effects plug-ins . . .

[NOTE: As with every YouTube music video I post, this is best enjoyed when listening with studio quality headphones like SONY MDR-7506 headphones (a personal favorite) . . . ]



Project: "Sweet Hour of Prayer" (PreSonus NOTION Forum)

Lots of FUN!