How to Install Mirage

The short answer is: just run the installer! It will install the files on your computer in the appropriate places. However, this page contains more information about the installation process if you need.

Requirements

Mirage is designed to be as accessible as possible to producers, composers, musicians, and sound designers. You probably already have what you need if you are producing audio on a reasonably modern computer. There is one exception – Mirage is not available in the AAX plugin format yet, and so will not run in Pro Tools. Here are the specific requirements:

• Windows: a computer running Windows 7 or higher. Mirage is available as a 64-bit plugin only.
• Mac: macOS 10.12 or higher. Both Intel chips and M1 chips are supported (universal binary).
• A host that can play either a VST2 plugin or an AudioUnit v2 (AU) plugin. Examples of such hosts are Cubase, Ableton Live, Studio One, Reaper, Reason, FL Studio, Logic X, Garage Band, and many more. Logic 9 or older does not support AudioUnit v2, and so this product will not work in it.

Detailed steps

1. Download the installer file from your account. Be sure to select the file appropriate for your operating system: Windows or Mac.
2. The downloaded file is a ZIP file which contains the installer. Double click on this file and either follow the steps to extract it, or just open the installer if it is displayed already.
3. Follow the steps of the installer.
4. Once completed, close and reopen your DAW (if it was opened during this installation).
5. Done! Open the plugin called ‘Mirage’ in your DAW. From there you will find your Mirage libraries.

What does Mirage install?

There are three types of components that make up Mirage’s system. The installer will handle installing all of these.

1. The plugin: There is a single file for each plugin format, such as VST or AU. These are installed to your audio plugins folder – a common location where DAWs scan to find plugins. These files are small – a few MB each.
2. Library files: Each library has a single file in the MDATA format. These contain all of the audio data of the sample-library. Library files can be large – over 1 GB in some cases.
3. Preset files: Each library normally comes with a pack of presets. These are separate .mirage-something files. They are installed to your Presets Folder. These files are very small; in total, they will only make up a few MB.

You can find the full details of the file locations here.

Troubleshooting

On Windows, Mirage isn’t showing up in my DAW

If your DAW cannot find the Mirage plugin you can try one of these options:

• Run the installer again and choose one of these alternate plugin folders: C:/Program Files/Steinberg/VSTPlugins or C:/Program Files/Common Files/VST2.
• In your DAW’s settings, there is often a way to add extra folders VST searching. Add to that list the folder that you installed Mirage to.

On Mac, how do I install the libraries to a separate harddrive?

Libraries can be large files, and so you might not want them on your default hard drive. Once installed, you can move the MDATA file using Finder to any location that you want. If you do this, you will be prompted by Mirage to set the new location for the library file when you next open up Mirage. Be careful doing this though – some DAWs like Logic Pro X can block Mirage’s access to folders.

New Mirage Installer

Since version 2.0.3, Mirage has a new installer. This installer is a small file that will download and install the components that you need.

In order for the installer to know what files you need, you must either:

1. Enter your frozenplain.com email address and password.
2. Use a download ticket.

Download tickets

A download ticket is like a password that grants you access to specific products to install.

There are a few publicly available download tickets at the bottom of this page.

You might also get a unique download ticket if you purchase a product through a third-party store.

You cannot share your unique download ticket with other people – the ticket’s usage is monitored and blocked.

Email and password

Instead of using a download ticket, you can also use your FrozenPlain account email and password. The installer can then know which products you have in your account, and give you the option to install them if you haven’t already.

If you have a download ticket and want the products that it refers to added your FrozenPlain account, you can get in touch.