VST

Developed by Steinberg and first launched in 1996, VST (Virtual Studio Technology) creates a full, professional studio environment on your Windows PC or Mac.

VST is a cross-platform, open standard plug-in format. The SDK is currently available in the C, C++, Delphi and Java programming languages.

VST allows the integration of virtual effect processors (VSTfx) and instruments (VSTi) into your digital audio environment. These can be software recreations of hardware effect units and instruments or new creative effect components in your VST system. All are integrated seamlessly into the host application.

Because these connections are virtual, there is no need for messy audio or MIDI cabling. These VST modules have the sound quality of the best hardware units, yet are far more flexible. All functions of a VST effect processor or instrument are directly controllable and automatable, either with a mouse or with an external hardware controller.

The best website on the internet to learn more about VST is right under your nose: http://www.kvraudio.com/

VST plug-ins are dynamic link libraries. On Windows they have the .dll extension, on Mac OS X they have the .vst extension. Most VST plug-ins can be simply installed by copying the file into the hosts plug-in directory. To uninstall, just remove it. For more complex plug-ins the manufacturer will mostly provide an installer for this process.

Many find it useful to use sub-folders to organize their plug-ins into categories like demos, evaluate, eq, delay, glitch, etc. This can prevent that nightmare where you have 400 files plus twice that many other random files in your plug-in directory.

External Links

• Steinberg 3rd Party Developer Support (incl. SDK)
• VST SDK Delphi Translation
• jVSTwRapper (Java)
• Juce Audio Plugin Framework