Audion contains a flexible plug-in system, where small files can be used to expand Audion's capabilities without requiring an entirely new version of Audion. These files live in the "Plug-ins" folder, in the same location as Audion itself.

The console window is your one-stop interface for managing and configuring the myriad of plug-ins that Audion can support. As you add new plug-ins in the future, check the Console window to discover what options the plug-in has.

The plug-ins included with Audion are:

Effects

Effects plug-ins modify audio in real-time.

Equalizer:
The equalizer adjusts audio data, allowing you to boost and mofidy particular frequencies.

Karaoke:
Karaoke does its best to remove vocals from audio.

Speed:
Lets you modify the speed of the audio without affecting the pitch. Chipmunks ahoy!

Visuals

Visual plug-ins draw pretty things in the Visualizer Window.

Inputs

Input plug-ins specify sources of audio data.

CD Audio:
Allows Audion to read data from Audio CDs.

File:
Lets Audion read data from files, such as MP3s or AIFFs.

HTTP:
Gives Audion the ability to download data from the Internet, such as Shoutcast streams.

Before starting to play network audio, Audion will download a small portion of it first to keep a backlog ('buffer') in case the network stream gets interrupted. This setting defines how much memory Audion dedicates to the network buffer.

Note: A larger buffer size means that network streams will take a longer time to start playing.

Decoders

Decoders translate compressed audio data into true sound.

AIFF:
Support for AIFF files.

CD Audio:
Support for CD Audio.

MPEG:
Support for MPEG (.MP3) data.

Ogg Vorbis:
Supprt for Ogg Vorbis (.OGG) data.

WAVE:
Supprt for WAVE (.WAV) data.

Outputs

Outputs define where the audio goes, once decoded.

Macintosh Audio:
Outputs the audio to the Mac, usually being your speaker or sound system.

Audion stores a backlog ("buffer") while playing MP3 audio. This helps prevent skips and breaks caused by network trouble, or heavy hard-drive access. If you find audio skipping frequently, you can try adjusting this slider to compensate.

Encoders

Encoders take audio data, and recompress it into new files.

MP3 - Fraunhofer:
The Fraunhofer encoder is considered in some circles the gold standard. It allows you to create MP3 files.

MP3 - PMLAME:
The LAME encoder, a spunky open-source project, creates excellent quality MP3 files.