Softube Flow Studio now controls FabFilter, Soundtoys and UAD plugins

Softube's Flow Studio controller can now control plugins from other developers, not just Softube's own. The update is free, but Softube's support page says it covers only a tested list of VST3 plugins, and you must already own their licences.

What's free

The update costs nothing if you own Flow Studio or subscribe to a Flow Mixing Suite, according to Softube. The hardware itself doesn't need a subscription. Softube's product page says it ships with 25 Softube plugins as perpetual licences, more than 100 Flows (preset signal chains) and the Flow Mixing Suite plugin. Optional Flow Subscription Suites start at €15 and add more Flows and plugins. If you only want free effects to put on the controller, see our best free plugins by category.

What's supported

The first batch, per Softube, includes:

• FabFilter: Pro-Q 4, Saturn 2
• Neural DSP: Mantra
• oeksound: soothe3, bloom
• Plugin Alliance: a group including Maag EQ4, Shadow Hills compressors and SPL Machine Head
• Safari Audio: 18 plugins
• Soundtoys: Decapitator, EchoBoy, EchoBoy Jr., Little AlterBoy, Little Plate
• Universal Audio: many UADx plugins, including 1176 and LA-2A variants, Distressor and Lexicon 224
• Valhalla DSP: VintageVerb
• XLN Audio: DB-30 Drum Butter, RC-20 Retro Color

Softube says more plugins will follow. Only VST3 versions are recognised. To set it up, update Flow Mixing Suite in Softube Central, open it in your DAW, and choose the third-party scan from the + menu. You can also scan every installed VST3 plugin, but Softube warns that this can take a long time and may pick up plugins that don't work well. Gearnews reports that you can build chains mixing Softube and third-party plugins and recall them in any DAW session. Softube lists mapping for its Console 1 controller as "coming soon".

What we think

This is the update Flow Studio needed. A controller that only drives one company's plugins asks you to change your plugin habits to fit the hardware. Most mixers already have a Pro-Q, a Decapitator or a UAD compressor they reach for, and now the knobs can reach them too.

The limits matter, though. "Tested list" means you shouldn't assume an older or niche plugin will map well, and the VST3-only rule leaves out AAX-only Pro Tools users and anyone running AU-only plugins. Check the list against the plugins you actually use before buying the hardware for this feature.

There's a wider pattern here. Hardware makers have tried to lock controllers to their own plugin catalogues, and buyers have pushed back. Opening up costs Softube some plugin upsell, but it makes the box worth around $399 (Gearnews lists $399 at Sweetwater) to far more people. We'd expect rivals' controllers to face the same pressure.