Howdy folks,

I recently downloaded Nebula 4.5 and installed some sweet external libraries (Cupwise, TimP) the plugin validates as it should in Logic Pro X 11.2.2 (Sequoia 15.6 ), but the settings panel is invisible when opening the plugin it vanishes and shows all black instead.

I tried to run N4 in DDMF metaplugin as a countermeasure (au, vst and vst3), but the same GUI bug happens
All GUI options are still clickable, but there's no visual GUI

Has anyone else experienced this on Mac and is there a fix?
Should I reinstall, I just don't want to mess up the installation of the external libraries and validation of the component in logic

Spoiler: The Problem

Native Logic Pro N4:

Metaplugin N4

What it's meant to be

 

Hello @deezballs, please read this: Fixing N4 black empty window https://acusticaudio.freshdesk.com/...cles/35000170981-fixing-n4-black-empty-window

 

Thanks for the reply, I checked the N4.xml and the path is correct as shown in the link. I then tried deleted the generated N4.settings file in "/Library/Audio/Presets/AcusticaAudio/Nebula4/" and reopening Logic to no avail.

I'm using the most recent release posted on Audioz - not installed from Acusticas desktop application.

It's like a semi GUI bug idk, when opening the plugin it displays correctly for a split second then disappears. The plugin is still usable by clicking where the panel is meant to be (the external libraries sound so good rn I don't want to buy a preamp again - I sold my 500 series Neves this year) but I just want to know I'm not the only Mac user who's noticed this slight GUI bug

Bear in mind I'm a first time user, if this is how it works normally please report and ban me

 

Last edited: Aug 18, 2025

Acustica Nebula problem only half the GUI showing up ?
https://audiosex.pro/threads/acustica-nebula-problem-only-half-the-gui-showing-up.78616

A User wrote: The Acustica Technical Support helped me to fix the the issue suggesting me to reinstall the Acustica Framework.

Visual C++ Redistributable Runtimes All-in-One Jul 2025
www.techpowerup.com/download/visual-c-redistributable-runtime-package-all-in-one

Reinstall the Acustica Framework Properly
- A clean framework install can often clear up GUI failures:

How to reinstall the Acustica Audio framework
https://acusticaudio.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/35000104338/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

 

Last edited: Aug 18, 2025

Fire boss. Alright, I'll try to reinstall the most recent nebula framework from Audioz, and then the Acustica app if it doesn't work. I'll let you know how it goes ;)

 

I tried to reinstall, but it didn't fix the issue

I did find someone else with the same issue from last year
https://audiosex.pro/threads/acustica-audio-installation-help-for-mac-users.73143/page-3

So I think it has to do with an update on Acustica's side. When installing the Audioz Nebula framework, an instruction step was to make an "Acustica" Folder to save GUI resize changes, but nothing seems to add to the folder, so resizing Nebula 4 isn't even possible in Logic Pro.

I'll leave it for now, the plugin is still useable 2 years later and that's what matters most.

 

hey did you ever figure this out?

 

Nebula can be somewhat peculiar compared to most audio stuffz in the fact that you have manually to put files in their proper place for things to work. At least that is the way it is on win based installs. I can only assume that the same general concept applies to the apple side as well.
When you install Nebula the "repository" is created. The repository contains the folder structure where you place the various pieces of individual Nebula plugins. After the initial install, you'll need to locate where the Nebula Repository has been created on your system. Nebula plugin files must be manually moved into the correct repository folders, or you will have issues not unlike those you have already described.

Nebula File types
Program Files - *.N2P goes into the repository programs folder (sample rate sensitive)
Properties files - generally manifest as *.XML goes into the repository properties folder (sample rate sensitive)
Setup files - can manifest as *.XML also but also accompanied by *.n4setup files. These all go into the repository setups folder (sample rate sensitive)
Skins files - *.N2S go into the repository skins folder
Vector files - *.N2V go into the repository vectors folder. (sample rate sensitive)

This is universal on win installs and I would suppose fairly similar on the apple side.

Also, be advised that Nebula plugins are generally distro'd in 4 sample rates - 44Khz, 48Khz, 88khz, and 96khz. With any given Nebula plugin there will be file sets marked with each included sample rate. Not all third party Nebula plugins come with all the standard sample rates. Depending on the sample rates you want the plugin to work with, you have to install ALL of the files of the desired sample rate(s) for all the file types listed above, or things won't work correctly.

Any VST, AAX, AU etc, general plugin files will go to your normal system areas where those type files are kept. These do NOT go into nebula repository folders.

Acustica Acqua and Acustica Nebula "frameworks" are two independent systems and should be treated as such.

 

Last edited: Feb 1, 2026

The black bar is a visual bug, known by Acustica, and resolved in the latest version of Nebula. You can still click the buttons where they should be within the black bar, but unless you know where you should be clicking, it could be a pain in the ass. I guess find a picture of nebula or a video tutorial or something, and use it as a point of reference for where to click.

 

None of the whole repository strategy of Windows versions is needed on Mac. I've done it that way before and you "can" get it to work, but it is actually more complicated and less likely to work. I screwed around trying to use the original instructions for the Aqua plugins, and many pages deep in a thread here I just did it this way. R2R may have modified the Framework files supplied in their original release, but there was no reason to think they tampered with the Mac framework files. So I skipped all that stuff.

The cleanest way to do it is to install a copy of the Aquarius program. You have to login to it, and download any free plugin to install. It installs all the file structure and Framework. At that point I always delete the Aquarius application and free plugin, but leave the rest of the files. Won't be needing the official app for anything, not because of "spyware" concerns.

For third party libraries, all of the Presets and Setups menus can remain blank. You can just load everything from the Finder. But you need to go to the Settings menu and make sure you have the plugin looking in the correct locations for everything. Set the alternative data path correctly and that's it. For me, that is /Library/Audio/AcusticaAudio/Nebula4/ . I usually check off the menu options "expan subfolders" and "Auto Close on Select". That's it.

The only GUI issue that has been mentioned is this from j0hnmans original instructions for the plugins:
Create a folder in ~/Library/Application Support/ (User Library, not the Computer Library) with the name Acustica
(if this folder doesn't exist and you change the size of the plugin the DAW will crash)
quick one-liner that can be pasted into terminal if you don't know how to create that folder:

[ -d "/Users/$(whoami)/Library/Application Support/Acustica" ] && echo "Already exists" || { mkdir -p "/Users/$(whoami)/Library/Application Support/Acustica"

Since doing it my abbreviated way, I have never done this again.

there were some issues of people having the "blue stripe" bug in a few plugins, but I never ran into it myself.

If there is any bug in Acustica's stuff which has been fixed for newer versions of MacOS, that would be resolved by either just reinstalling the newest version of Aquarius, since we already know it payloads all the Framework files and so on in the correct directory structure; or uninstalling Nebula and the underlying files completely. Use Find any File and you will find them all easily. then reinstall Nebula 4.5 cleanly and you are done.

 

Last edited: Feb 2, 2026