What plugin-format do you prefer?

[Markus Krause]

VST3
- It installs in one always the same folder: no fuss with installers that install a plugin in some random folder (not to mention those that doesn't even have the option to choose destination)
- Dynamic I/O: easier work with multi-output plugins like Kontakt
- Audio In for Instruments (unfortunately not as popular as it should be)
- A plugin is automatically disabled when doesn't process any sound (saving CPU!)

As a developer i need to give some comments on this.

The fixed directory can be an advantage for simplicity, but is a real problem when you need to format c: because of a windows reinstall. That's why many users prefer to have the choice.

Audio in for synths is also possible with VST2. We do this with filterbank and the vocoder of warmverb

Dynamic I/O sadly still crashes some hosts. It is a pretty 'dangerous' feature

Disabling the VST when no sound is processed is also possible with VST2. It is possible with any plugin-format with low effort. We do this for Electra, Gladiator and many other products

[Erisian]

I don't notice any difference between VST2 and VST3 the way I use synths but as things are constantly moving forward, I always get VST3 where possible. All the other formats are simply of no use to me.

[jamcat]

VST3
- It installs in one always the same folder: no fuss with installers that install a plugin in some random folder (not to mention those that doesn't even have the option to choose destination)

that's actually a showstopper with VST3 for me. I'm in charge of my hard disk organisation thanks. (It's also a showstopper for plugins with no option, too. Except one I can't live without...)

You always can change the destination folder. VST3 just establishes a default, universal folder on Windows in C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3. If you really want to browse to a different location you can, but why would you want to? The whole idea is that you DON'T EVER HAVE TO. But if you want to manually select a different arbitrary folder every time you install a VST3 plugin, you totally can, if that's what you want to do with your time on earth.

OSX already has a default location for ALL plugin formats in Library > Audio > Plugins >
You might even be able to change that, if you really like making life hard for yourself.

[Debutante]

VST 2 64 bit here, but VST2 is kaput. Why did steinberg kill it if its so popular? what REAL advantages are there natively moving to vst3 aside from side chaining, which is no big deal today anyway? it seems a little premature. And I hate to shit that I can't install them where I want to.

[dangayle]

I like AU plugins, even in Ableton, simply because it is consistent. My OCD hates having some plugins that are only VST3 and some that are only VST2, and having different folders for them. Or like in Bitwig you get handy icons and sorting options, but the VST2 plugins break all that.

Of course Bitwig doesn't support AU. And of course, I can never share a AU-based project file with a Windows user.

Please, Ableton/Apple/Steinberg/etc please come together on one spec. We can spend hours and hours and hours spinning on this, but it won't make a bit of a difference if the DAW manufacturers fix things on their end.

[Googly Smythe]

As a Cubase user, I prefer 64bit vst3. However... I have noticed that they sometimes take a few nano-seconds to "wake up" after being put to sleep. Eg, a guitar part with an amp emu - if there are more than a few seconds of silence, the amp emu goes to sleep, when the guitar starts playing again, the first note is virtually inaudible, then the amp emu is awake and it's business as usual. Happens with compressors, too. The overload led lights up, if the plugin has one.

[jancivil]

I host nearly everything in VE Pro, certain things post-MIDI where I’ve printed audio and like to process offline in Cubase. So, for yrs VSL did not offer VST for VE Pro on Mac, so I def needed both AU and VST for certain things. VE Pro doesn’t host VST 3. But, the instrument VE Pro [i]connected as[/i] VST 3 gives up to 48 MIDI ports, ie., 48 x 16 channels. I enable 16. 16 is far better to manage than 1. So there, since they began to support VST on Mac, either AU or VST 2 and there is no particular reason for the choice.

It matters not at all to me if suspended processing can theoretically work for VST 2, I don’t chase features or try new hosts, waste of time. There are my two reasons for choosing it, in Cubase I tend to do VST 3 per the latter reason. Sometimes 3 doesn’t function right.

[Aloysius]

VST 2, 64-bit and Stand Alone as long as it has a Keyboard I can click on.

[zvenx]

As a Cubase user, I prefer 64bit vst3. However... I have noticed that they sometimes take a few nano-seconds to "wake up" after being put to sleep. Eg, a guitar part with an amp emu - if there are more than a few seconds of silence, the amp emu goes to sleep, when the guitar starts playing again, the first note is virtually inaudible, then the amp emu is awake and it's business as usual. Happens with compressors, too. The overload led lights up, if the plugin has one.

Say what?
what plugins are these?
That has never happened to me in my 18 years of using cubendo.
rsp

[Googly Smythe]

As a Cubase user, I prefer 64bit vst3. However... I have noticed that they sometimes take a few nano-seconds to "wake up" after being put to sleep. Eg, a guitar part with an amp emu - if there are more than a few seconds of silence, the amp emu goes to sleep, when the guitar starts playing again, the first note is virtually inaudible, then the amp emu is awake and it's business as usual. Happens with compressors, too. The overload led lights up, if the plugin has one.

Say what?
what plugins are these?
That has never happened to me in my 18 years of using cubendo.
rsp

Mostly Plugin Alliance amp sims and Waves compressors. I even got into the habit of inserting a couple of notes just to kick start the plugin, then gave up and went back to the vst2 version.
I stopped using the vst3 versions of PA amp sims a while ago, maybe they're better now. Waves is Waves, so who knows what version is being used!

[zvenx]

Ahhh... I don't use either PA amp sims or Waves compressors alas.
rsp

[jamcat]

I will not buy a plugin in 2020 that is not VST3. Period.

I bought a couple last year that were VST2 only, and I am GREATLY concerned about the developers' commitments to those plugins. They haven't been updated since, and I am afraid they are abandonware. This is why I absolutely will not under any circumstances buy from a developer who is not developing for VST3 now.

[BONES]

Why does it matter if the plugins work OK now? As often as not upgrades wreck things anyway. e.g. I've completely stopped using Hive since the update to v2 because u-he have tried to cram too much shit into it and it is no longer easy to use. OTOH, I still use kHs One, V-Station and Basic all the time, even though none of them have been updated in years. I'm still using my Ultranova after 8 years with no updates, either.

Anyway, I always install the VST 2.4 version if I can because it works in both the hosts I use, where VST 3 doesn't. I never install both because then you end up with it listed twice in Cubase. If it is VST 3 only, it is less likely I will buy it. I also really appreciate having a standalone version of a synth because I can fire it up without having to go through the process of waiting for Cubase to start when I just want to play around a bit with my hardware. It's exactly what I did last night with Pigments.

[TheMaestro]

Why does it matter if the plugins work OK now?

Because of, let's say, performance and features.

[felis]

VST3 offers only benefits over the others.

I do like a standalone along with it, for when I want to focus on just that one thing without distractions.