What plugin format(s) do you use currently?

[jdoo]

Logic Pro user... Audio Unit exclusively (the others are not supported)

[VladK]

The VST2 SDK was shut down and development stopped altogether in 2012/2013. They didn't just stop supporting it, they shut if off completely and told everyone then it was time to move on.

You cannot shutdown an SDK.
Steinberg deprecated it in 2018 for new developers (no new SDK licenses granted), and in 2022 they announced that they will discontinue VST 2 support in their products as well (but so far Cubase 15 still supports VST2). However, if you obtained VST2 SDK license before 2018, you can continue to use it to update plugins that you already released as VST2. You just cannot create new plugins with VST2 SDK (or VST2 subset of VST3 SDK).
IMO, it mostly hurts Mac Silicon users, especially considering that Rosetta will also be discontinued in 2027. A lot of old projects will be impossible to reopen.

[BONES]

I installed my first CLAP plugin last night and Studio Pro immediately quarantined it.

[digitalboytn]

I installed my first CLAP plugin last night and Studio Pro immediately quarantined it.

Mmmm....

It probably mistook it for a venereal disease

[Tj Shredder]

The VST2 SDK was shut down and development stopped altogether in 2012/2013. They didn't just stop supporting it, they shut if off completely and told everyone then it was time to move on.

You cannot shutdown an SDK..

They can and they did simply by revoking the license if you use the latest VST3 commercial license. This move alone made CLAP for developers of commercial plugins very attractive and might kill VST3 in the distant future, as it also implemented requested features Steinberg ignored for too long in the past decades.
Simply look at the speed CLAP is accepted by developers and compare it to the speed of acceptance of VST3 18 years ago.
Smart developers move on, but with CLAP, and use a wrapper to create their VST3 version.
The op actually used VST2 as base and the VST3 is just wrapped.
I would install the version a plugin is based on. If VST3 is just a wrapped VST2 I don’t need it, it can’t do more. It would not use the existing advantages of VST3 anyway…

[VikingWarrior]

VST3 almost exclusively, but VST2.4 for anything older that either hasn't or won't get updated.

I have a couple of older 32 bit VST's bridged that rarely get used, but I won't get rid of yet.

CLAP is not recognised by Cubase so unless that changes I won't be considering that.

[sin night]

I voted VST3 because my main daw is Cubase, so I don’t have much choice.

I install on my Mac also the AU and AAX versions usually, but I use them rarely. When a daw supports more than one format, for example VST3 and AU, I prefer to use a cross-platform format (so my projects should be easier to open on a Windows computer… at least, that’s the theory!), so I prefer using VST3.

Clap looks great, but I think none of my hosts support it… if it was supported, I think I would use it if a plugin offers more features than VST3 (or if there’s a trend towards Clap, because I like the idea of making my projects as future-proof as possible). Otherwise, I’ll just stick with what’s already installed.

I don’t see myself switching to Linux soon (I have a lot of equipment - hardware and software - which doesn’t support it and probably never will), but I appreciate when it’s supported. I may use it in the future.

[Dexter US]

I have clap vst's on my patreon for free but I offer them because pure data supports it.. I would be using clap more often if I could use them in an organized way. I am under the impression that lv2 can be compiled for windows so it may be a nice way for one daw to do something other daws cannot..

[Seluvis]

It would be interesting to know what Tone2 think about the situation ...what is the best most efficient way to use their plugins. Especially if we are trying to squeeze every last drop of resources available.

[Tone2 Synthesizers]

People frequently ask us this.
All formats got advantages and disadvantages. The best choice depends on your individual demands. We created a website with an overview of all relevant advantages and disadvantages here:
https://www.tone2.com/plugin-formats.html

[RunBeerRun]

I wear girly underwear

[rod_zero]

I use exclusivity Vst3, but I am on windows and Ableton Live 12, and all my plugins have vst3 versions, mostly because I don't have that many (compared to the average some people have).

The moment Ableton Live supports CLAP i am migrating any plugins that have clap version.

[martinjuenke]

I just use hardware, because software sucks.

[Tj Shredder]

People frequently ask us this.
All formats got advantages and disadvantages. The best choice depends on your individual demands. We created a website with an overview of all relevant advantages and disadvantages here:
https://www.tone2.com/plugin-formats.html

The list does not cover advantages over VST2. VST3 and CLAP have higher resolution and support expressions, CLAP supports per voice modulation, which is crucial for synthesizers…
That VST2 supports MIDI 2.0 is new to me, how can this be? It was deprecated long before MIDI 2.0 appeared…
CLAP is very new, but is already ahead of VST2 after a much shorter time than VST3 needed for the same acceptance…

[Tone2 Synthesizers]

That VST2 support MIDI 2.0 is new to me, how can this be?

Technically MIDI (no matter what version) is just a simple raw data stream. You can transmit this stream even over 40 years old hardware. The receiver (in this case the internal DSP code of the plugin) must able able to decode the MIDI 2.0 commands of the stream. The same is true for MPE, AAX and/or AudioUnits.