PHOENIX DSP / GET STARTED

From download to a working plug-in

Six steps, about ten minutes. A free trial and a purchase follow the same path — the only difference is whether you press Trial or buy.

  1. Install Phoenix Recorder — it is free

    Recorder is the app that puts your plug-ins on this Mac and licenses them. There is no licence key to type anywhere.

    It needs macOS 14.2 or newer on an Apple Silicon Mac. Not sure? Open the Apple menu, choose About This Mac, and look for a chip called Apple M1, M2, M3 or newer. Intel Macs are not supported. macOS asks for your Mac password while installing.

    Download Phoenix Recorder

  2. Create your account in Recorder

    Open Phoenix Recorder from the menu bar at the top of the screen and go to the Licenses tab. Choose “Don't have an account? Create one”, enter your email address and a password of twelve characters or more — a phrase is fine — and press Create account.

    If you are buying, use the same email address you pay with: your purchase finds your account by it.

  3. Confirm your email — do not skip this

    We send a message titled “Confirm your PHOENIX DSP account”. Open it, click the link, and press Confirm on the page that opens.

    Until the address is confirmed, a free trial cannot start and a purchase does not show up. Nothing is lost in the meantime — it simply waits for this step.

    No message after a few minutes? Look in Spam or Junk. Still nothing: sign in on your account page and press “Resend confirmation email”. Typed the address wrong? Create the account again with the right one.

  4. Start your trial, or find what you bought

    Back in Recorder's Licenses tab, press Refresh. Each product has a row. For a free trial, press Trial on the product's row — if you only see a small circle, move the pointer over the row and it opens into a button. A product you bought shows up as yours.

  5. Install the plug-in

    On the product's row press Install. Recorder downloads, checks and installs the plug-in; macOS asks for your Mac password again. The button appears once the product is yours — a trial counts — and goes away when the plug-in is on this Mac.

    An older Recorder has no such button: open the “…” menu at the right-hand end of the row and choose Install….

  6. Rescan plug-ins in your DAW

    A DAW that was already running keeps its old plug-in list until it rescans.

    Ableton Live: open Live → Settings → Plug-Ins (Preferences in Live 11 and older), turn on Use Audio Units and Use VST3 Plug-In System Folders, then press Rescan. If the plug-in still does not appear, hold Option while pressing Rescan: that clears Live's plug-in database and scans everything again.

    Other DAWs: use the rescan or refresh command in the plug-in manager, or restart the DAW. Then search for the product's name and add it to a track.

    Keep Phoenix Recorder installed and let it open at login: it renews your licence in the background, so there is nothing to do later.

If something does not work

I bought it and Recorder does not show it
Check three things, in this order: Recorder is signed in with the address you paid with; that address is confirmed (step 3); and you have pressed Refresh. Your account page says whether we have your payment.
The Trial button is missing or refuses
The most common reason is an unconfirmed address — see step 3. A product has one trial per account, so a finished trial turns into the purchase offer.
I cannot find Install
It is on the product's row once the product is yours, trial or purchase, and it goes away when the plug-in is on this Mac (an older Recorder keeps it in the “…” menu). If the row says “update Recorder”, this copy of Recorder is older than the product — download it again from step 1 and install over it.
The plug-in is not in my DAW
Rescan, as in step 6. If it is still missing, restart the DAW once. Then look at the product's row in Recorder: it shows Install when the plug-in is not on this Mac yet. No button means the plug-in is installed — the “…” menu then reads “Reinstall”.
The plug-in is in my DAW but says it is not licensed
Open Recorder, go to the Licenses tab and press Refresh. The product's row should show that it is yours; Recorder needs an internet connection for that.
Still stuck
Write to support@phnxdsp.com and say what you see on the screen. You will have an answer within 24 hours.