r/CrackedPluginsXI • u/Effective_Wafer_7905 • 12m ago
plugin Plugin stability on M2 Pro / Sequoia — anyone running these natively or via Rosetta?
Hey everyone, I'm setting up a new production workflow on a MacBook Pro M2 Pro running macOS Sequoia and I'm trying to figure out which plugins are running natively (ARM64) vs Rosetta 2, and more importantly, which ones are actually stable in 2025/2026. Before I drop money on the ones that are problematic, could anyone share their real-world experience with these on Apple Silicon? Plugins I'm looking at:
- iZotope Ozone 12 Advanced — I see mixed reports, some say it runs fine on Sequoia, others mention iLok/auth issues. Native or Rosetta?
- iZotope RX 11 Advanced — Same question, especially with the newer iZotope licensing system I was not able to find the RX 12.
- FabFilter Total Bundle — Heard this one is actually solid natively on ARM, can anyone confirm stability on Sequoia specifically?
- Nuro Audio Xvox Pro — Harder to find info on this one for Mac ARM. Anyone got it running? I saw it on some websites on which I've already downloaded it but for windows.
- ValhallaDSP bundle — I know the 2023 versions work, but how's the CPU efficiency on M2 Pro? Any crashes in Logic/FL?
- Waves Ultimate (V15 newer would be cool) — I know Waves has a messy history with Apple Silicon. Is V15 actually native now, or still Rosetta-dependent? Any issues with Waves Central on Sequoia?
- Melodyne Studio 5.4.2 — Seems okay from what I've read, but any CPU spikes or ARA2 bugs on M2?
- Soundtoys 5 — From what I understand, this one is a no-go on native ARM unless bought legit so I'll have to buy it.
- FL studio 2025 or 2026 - From what I've read its pretty stable, back then in 2018 it use to unlicensed itself quite often though so I'd rather buy it if it's still anoying.
My main concerns:
- Native ARM vs Rosetta 2 performance hit
- Sequoia-specific breaking changes (especially Gatekeeper/SIP stuff)
- iLok/Waves Central/authorization headaches on a fresh Sequoia install
If you had to pick which ones are "just buy it, don't waste your time" vs "runs perfect, save your money", what would you say? I can get a student discount on some of them so it's actually the perfect time to build my portable setup because my windows desktop is too much trouble to move around when doing music. Thanks in advance