M-Audio Oxygen Pro FL Studio Template Global Links Supported VSTs
Since v3.0, M-Audio Oxygen Pro FL Studio User Preset included my Global Links file.
Global Links in FL Studio allow you to setup plugin parameters to a MIDI Controller’s knobs and sliders to get hands on control any time the plugin is focused. These Global Links work for both old and new FL Studio Projects!
After years of fine-tuning plugins in FL Studio for hands-on Oxygen Pro mixing, my own personal Global Links (.flmapping file) is made available to you!
This page shares Supported VSTs videos for how to use those VSTs with the Oxygen Pro MIDI Keyboard, and installation location of the Global Links file.
Global Links File FL Studio Installation:
When you purchase my Oxygen Pro FL Template, the download package included my Global Links file, which is a .flmapping file.
You simply drag the file into this location:
Documents/Image-Line/FL Studio/Settings/Mapping/Generic/local
Supported VSTs [Oxygen Pro FL Preset]:
I have split Effects (Mixing & Mastering Plugins) and Generators (Virtual Instruments).
Click a Plugin from the lists to watch a video for how to get the hands-on FL Studio experience of my Global Links file & the M-Audio Oxygen Pro MIDI Keyboard.
More videos coming shortly.. stay tuned [written May 16, 2024 🙂]
Effects (Mixing & Mastering Plugins – VST):
- FabFilter Pro-Q 3
- FabFilter Pro-C 2
- FabFilter Pro-L 2
- FabFilter Pro-G
- T-RackS 5 Classic Clipper
- Fruity Parametric EQ 2
- Fruity Blood Overdrive
Generators (Virtual Instrument Plugins – VSTi):
- reFX Nexus
- FLEX VST
- Sylenth1 VST (LennarDigital)
- Serum VST (XferRecords)
- Pigments VST (Arturia)
- Harmor VST
Effects (Mixing & Mastering Plugins)
FL Studio calls mixing and mastering plugins Effects.
Effect Plugins are VST, where as Generators (Virtual Instruments) are technically VSTi.
We load Effect Plugins into FL Studio’s Mixer.
Examples of Effect plugins types are EQs, Compressors, Reverb, Delay, Limiters, Chorus, Phaser, Distortion, Stereo Wideness, and many others.
FabFilter Pro-Q 3
I totally forgot to share I have a knob setup to enable FabFilter Pro-Q 3 Dynamic EQ !! This applies for each bank! Dynamic EQ is a great way to retain a sounds normal frequency balance, but control frequencies if they get too loud (or increase them if we want more if they go too quiet).
FabFilter Pro-Q 3 VST is the most enjoyable EQ plugin for mixing & mastering I’ve used! Thankfully, most parameters are able to be MIDI Mapped.
After many hours of figuring out a powerful hands-on mixing workflow based off the Oxygen Pro & FabFilter Pro-Q 3 EQ Plugin, we can create bands, boost, cut, adjust the Q’s wideness, change the EQ Band’s style & slope, enable Dynamic EQ, and even switch between “Stereo options” like Mid, Side, Left, Right, or Stereo!
FabFilter Pro-C 2
FabFilter Pro-C 2 VST is a powerful single-band compressor plugin with multiple compression types and with an awesome GUI that allows us to map a MIDI Controller for almost full control of the plugin!
If you’re like me, when you apply compression to your mixes & sounds with a mouse, you don’t try new things.
With this hands-on FabFilter Pro-C 2 mixing off the Oxygen Pro MIDI Keyboard, I find myself constantly trying the Pro-C 2’s different styles of compression, like Clean, Classic, Punch, Pumping, Opto, etc..
Another powerful benefit of hands-on mixing with a compression plugin is we can do TWO THINGS AT ONCE. We can increase ratio & compression at the same time, or increase ATTACK & decrease RELEASE…
I’m so grateful FabFilter’s Pro-C 2 single-band compressor plugin allows us to map almost everything to a MIDI Knob or Slider.
We can change the Knee, Hold, Lookahead (and enable / disable lookahead), adjust the range, threshold, ratio, attack, release, and even turn the plugin off and on!
When using mixing plugins like EQ and Compression, turning the plugin OFF and ON is so important to hear if you’re actually benefitting the music! This can be done off of the Oxygen Pro for all FabFilter plugins in my supported list!
FabFilter Pro-L 2
FabFilter Pro-L 2 Limiter VST gives a powerful hands-on mixing and mastering experience in FL Studio with my M-Audio Oxygen Pro FL Studio Template.
We can increase gain, enable the 1:1 gain matching feature to accurately hear our limited vs. non-limited audio, enable the audition feature to only hear audio that’s limited (audio that goes over the threshold), increase oversampling amount, and fine-tune our Attack, Release, Lookahead and channel linking for the transients and release settings of Pro-L 2.
Oh yes, we can even change the style of limiting algorithm from a slider on the Oxygen Pro!
With the power of the drum pad workflow, we can Save State and Switch State of the FabFilter Pro-L 2 to try different styles of limiting to try different sounds and choose what we think is best of that track.
This hands-on FabFilter Pro-L 2 experience allows me to try new things I would normally never do with a mouse.
FabFilter Pro-G
FabFilter Pro-G VST is a gate plugin for turning down audio if the audio does not go over the threshold. The power of the Pro-G Gate Plugin is it gives SO MUCH control of audio gating, like fully reducing audio, or just controlling audio tails for a tighter sound.
My Oxygen Pro FL Template gives a hands-on mixing experience with FabFilter Pro-G by allowing us to open the export mode, fine-tune the Pro-G sidechain to focus only on certain audio, and we can even audition that audio, too!
The hands-on experience also allows you to access all the basic gate features like threshold, ratio, range, attack, release, hold, knee, and lookahead.
All of these can be accessed from the knobs and sliders of the MIDI Keyboard while using FabFilter Pro-G with my M-Audio Oxygen Pro FL Studio Template.
T-RackS 5 Classic Clipper
v3.0.2 changed the T-RackS Classic Clipper layout to follow other plugin’s workflow. This is the last slider doing input volume, and the second last slider turning the plugin off and on. The first two knobs do output gain and slope. This allows you to use two hands while mixing for a better workflow. 👍
T-RackS Classic Clipper VST by IK Multimedia is an absolute BEAST of a clipper because of it’s soft and hard knee. This variable knee clipper gives us the ability to dial in a sweet spot for clean loudness in our masters!
What is a clipper? It’s like a limiter, but it doesn’t have an attack or release.. it instantly shaves off the peaks of our music so we can increase loudness transparently, if not pushed too hard. Because the Classic Clipper by IK Multimedia has its variable knee, we can dial in hard clipping or soft clipping, or a blend in between.. it’s such a great tool to have.
My M-Audio Oxygen Pro FL Template gives you the ability to adjust the clipper’s input, output, variable knee, and turn the plugin on and off with the normal slider for on / off (second last slider on the right).
Fruity Parametric EQ 2 VST
Fruity Parametric EQ 2 VST is where many of us learned to EQ with FL Studio. It has a beautiful GUI, it’s easy to understand, and does the job great!
My M-Audio Oxygen Pro FL Template maps Bank 1’s knobs to bands 2 and 6, and Bank 2 does band 4 on the Fruity Parametric EQ 2. You can control the Parametric EQ 2’s band frequency, gain, Q width, and a band’s slope.
Band 2 and 6 are both bell curves, and far a part, so you can EQ the low-end, then immediately EQ the high-end. If you need an extra band, go to Bank 2 on the M-Audio Oxygen Pro and use the first 4 knobs to control Band 4.
Also the furthest right slider allows you to turn up and down the PEQ2’s Master Volume so when you Save State & Flip State, you can get a fair volume comparison.
Unfortunately, FL Studio stock plugins do not support on and off on the actual plugin itself.. it is tied to the FL Studio Mixer’s slot to enable / disable. So we can’t enable / disable the plugin to hear a before and after, just switch between an A / B state. It still gives decent hands-on mixing, but not like FabFilter’s Pro-Q 3.
Fruity Blood Overdrive
Fruity Blood Overdrive VST is a FL Studio stock distortion plugin. It’s often overlooked, but is one of the best distortion plugins for mixing & mastering music! The ability to x100 allows us to get EXTREME distortion, as well as target what frequencies, whether we want to distort the low-end, the mids, or the high frequencies more!
My Oxygen Pro FL Template maps all of the Fruity Blood Overdrive’s parameters to the MIDI Keyboard’s knobs and the last 2 sliders on the Oxygen Pro.
How the Fruity Blood Overdrive distortion plugin works is we start with the Pre-Band, then the Color, then the Pre-Amp. Make sure you turn down the post gain as you do the pre-amp so it’s not way louder, and you protect your ears. Then if the sound is too bright, you can use the post filter. Use the color to target what frequency range.. you also need to have a decent amount of pre-band to hear color in action.
Generators (Virtual Instruments)
FL Studio calls Virtual Instruments (VSTi) a generator.
We load Virtual Instruments (VSTi Plugins) into the FL Studio Channel Rack.
This is what we use to program melodies and create our instruments by programming MIDI Notes into FL Studio’s Piano Roll. We use our MIDI Keyboard to record and play the piano keys and play the different presets of a Virtual Instrument, like pianos, guitars, pads, basslines, leads, plucks, etc.
reFX Nexus:
reFX Nexus is a very powerful Virtual Instrument (VSTi) ROMpler.
Learn more with: What is a ROMpler
With my Oxygen Pro FL Template, you can change plugin presets from a MIDI Keyboard in FL Studio, change the preset’s volume from a slider, as well as adjust reverb, delay, amp mod, and filter mod.
I mainly change plugin presets from the drum pads, and use the volume slider very often. But sometimes it’s nice to adjust the reverb’s low-cut to clean up your mix. Also the Save State / Flip state of my drum pad workflow allows you to modify the preset and switch between the two states to see what you like best for your song’s mix.
reFX Nexus VSTi has some VERY high-quality presets for instruments like piano, guitar, pads, leads, bassline, plucks, and various orchestral sounds. But it’s much more than just selecting a preset.. it has a powerful Arp generator, Trance Gate generator, and a powerful Effects chain which you can choose what order effects are in. There’s A LOT to reFX Nexus VST, and highly recommend it to students.
If you are thinking of buying Neuxs, my recommendation is getting the basic Starter package.. then you can buy expansion packs as you go along.
If you buy reFX Nexus Expansion packs, there’s a couple things to be cautious of.
My FL Studio Training Platform teaches you to make CUSTOM BEATS from scratch! We do not want presets that make music for us in regards to holding down 1 note, and it plays a riff, or has a pre-made drum loop.
So be careful of reFX Nexus Expansions that have lots of SQ (Sequence), DR (Drums), and DL (Drumloop). Besides that, Nexus Add-Ons typically have very high-quality sounds that are playable at most octave ranges.
Sometimes Nexus can label presets with vulgar language which is not cool.. since I do beatmaking education, I do not like that in my video trainings which should be a clean high-quality education environment. It is rare, but I have renamed at least one preset.
I’ve had an EXCELLENT experience with reFX Nexus now that they no longer require a eLicensor to activate.. you just use their reFX Cloud software (I do not like portal software, but it works well).
Since my Oxygen Pro FL Template can change reFX Nexus presets from a MIDI Keyboard, it gives a super fun beatmaking experience and keeps my hands on the keys, and less on the mouse!
FLEX VST for FL Studio (ROMpler)
FLEX VST in FL Studio is an easy to use ROMpler to select high-quality presets like pianos, strings, guitars, plucks, basslines, 808s, etc.
My M-Audio Oxygen FL Studio Template allows you to change FLEX Presets from a MIDI Keyboard by using the PUSH TO ENTER Knob, or using the drum pads.
The drum pads can navigate to different FLEX Packs and select a presets, whereas using the PUSH TO ENTER knob immediately selects the next or previous preset.
The furthest right slider on the Oxygen Pro changes FLEX VST Master Volume for a very nice workflow to quickly adjust a preset’s volume for the sweet spot!
I’ve also setup the Oxygen Pro knobs over 3 banks with FL Studio’s FLEX:
- Bank 1 changes FLEX’s Macros
- Bank 2 changes FLEX’s Filter Envelope
- Bank 3 changes FLEX’s Volume Envelope
Should you use FLEX VST? – A quick review for my FL Studio Students.
FLEX VST is a newer Synth to FL Studio, and was a great decision to quickly allow users to select high-quality presets. You can use both real instruments like pianos, guitars, strings and basslines, as well as synthesized sounds like 808’s.
I really like how easy FLEX is to use with lots of variety for high-quality instruments.
FLEX is a bit more CPU hungry compared to a ROMpler like Nexus, so on an older computer I can’t open as many instances (it also depends what type of presets you’re using). FLEX also lacks the ability of Nexus’ Arp & Trance Gate generator, many effects, and layer system, but generally gives a great experience.
I’ve noticed FLEX sometimes updates presets.. this is concerning as they don’t leave a changelog of what changed.. They did clarify this with me, but I now backup my FLEX banks just in case, as there’s no way to download the old version of those FLEX Banks!
In short, if want high-quality sounds in FL Studio, definitely look at FLEX VST. It’s a great tool to get started making beats free (which also has paid banks, too!)
Sylenth1 VST by LennarDigital
Sylenth1 VST by LennarDigital has been around for so long! It’s a tried-and-true synth for creating your own presets from scratch (or you can buy Sylenth1 Presets).
My Oxygen Pro Preset for FL Studio can change Sylenth1 presets from a MIDI Keyboard with the drum pads and PUSH TO ENTER KNOB (same experience).
I’ve also set the furthest right 3 sliders to change:
- MAIN VOLUME (Master)
- Part A Volume
- Part B Volume
Sylenth1 has a total of 4 Oscillators split into two sections, called Part A and Part B. I really like the ability to blend Part A and Part B off the MIDI Keyboard’s sliders, it’s not something I’d normally do with a mouse, and allows me to try a different timbre.
Serum VST by XferRecords
Serum VST by XferRecords is one of the world’s most popular synthesizers! It’s known for its wavetable synthesis, very clean output, and mentions from popular producers.
My M-Audio Oxygen Pro FL Studio User Preset does not set up much.. just volume on the furthest right slider for that fast workflow, and we can change presets off the drum pads (if you’re in Serum’s Preset Browser).
Serum allows us to trigger preset changes from a MIDI Note.. I tried and was not successful via FL Studio’s MIDI Scripting.. I’d really like to get it working.
Pigments VST by Arturia
Pigments VST by Arturia is a newer synth you may have seen out there. It is quite powerful and offers an amazing value for dollar because of all the different types of synthesis you can achieve inside Pigments VST.
My Oxygen Pro FL Studio Template has very basic setup for Pigments.. just the furthest right slider does volume, and you can change plugin presets off a MIDI Keyboard with the drum pads. You have to make sure you are actually focused inside Pigments, not the FL Wrapper. Additionally, you can open the Pigments Preset Browser and navigate presets, similar to Serum above.
One things I’ve noticed is Pigments takes much longer to load than any of my other synths. I do like Pigments, and think it is a powerhouse and fairly priced.. but I’m talking 9 second load time when I open an instance of Pigments, or clone a Pigments instance.. whereas other comparable synths I have listed on this page are at least 5 seconds OR LESS. (But once loaded, Pigments is awesome!)
Harmor VST for FL Studio (Image-Line)
Harmor VST is a premium synth for FL Studio from Image-Line!
My Oxygen Pro FL Template provides very basic support, as Harmor is very complex, and is probably best suited to use your mouse with this MIDI Keyboard.
I’ve setup volume on the furthest right slider, and you can change plugin presets from the MIDI Keyboard with PUSH TO ENTER Knob or drum pads.