which daw is best for showing plugin errors ?
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- KVRist
- 143 posts since 26 Apr, 2025
I've always just tested in Reaper, to find out later that my plugin distorted and crashed in Logic.
All is fixed now, and next time i'm going to test in Logic too obviously before release.
Which DAW's are notriously hard on plugins so this doesn't happen again ? Should I test others ? Auval and Pluginval test are perfect now. are there any other validations I should run ?
All is fixed now, and next time i'm going to test in Logic too obviously before release.
Which DAW's are notriously hard on plugins so this doesn't happen again ? Should I test others ? Auval and Pluginval test are perfect now. are there any other validations I should run ?
- KVRist
- 52 posts since 14 Jun, 2021 from Italy
In my experience each DAW has its own quirks when it comes to plugin hosting, so really the more you test the better.
Test on as many the major ones as you can. You can also consider setting up a small testing team
Test on as many the major ones as you can. You can also consider setting up a small testing team
- KVRAF
- 8482 posts since 12 Feb, 2006 from Helsinki, Finland
FL studio has never been the only DAW that split blocks, it's just that some other DAWs mostly do it in some special cases, where as FL does it fairly regularly. If you have a problem with "weird" blocks, then FL is the best DAW to use for debugging though, precisely because it splits so regularly.Marvinh wrote: Wed Jun 17, 2026 10:46 am I have heard fl studio is the one to test because of their weird block sizes .my plugins always run weird on windows so definitely test different os as well .
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- KVRist
- 223 posts since 6 Sep, 2015
Yes specially when doing internal block sizes of functions .
But for instance juce horizontalverticaldrag is a horizontal drag in some daws and a vertical drag in others. threw me for a loop . Stick to vertical or horizontal only .
But for instance juce horizontalverticaldrag is a horizontal drag in some daws and a vertical drag in others. threw me for a loop . Stick to vertical or horizontal only .
- KVRist
- 190 posts since 31 Oct, 2017
Unfortunately they've all got issues that you may run in to. Reaper is great to develop with as it loads so fast, but I'd also test on Ableton, Logic, FL Studio and Bitwig at least. Mac and PC. And Protools if that's relevant.
- KVRist
- 98 posts since 2 Jul, 2021 from Netherlands
Different DAWs also handle playhead position (PPQ) in different ways. For example, I *think* Reaper always puts the playhead exactly on a sample, so if a measure starts in between two samples (as the measure length is not always a whole number of samples), the playhead can actually end up before or after the measure's start position.
Looping is another difference. Some DAWs chop the block in half at the end of the loop region, others don't and expect you to detect where inside the block the jump back to the start of the loop happens. And so on...
Looping is another difference. Some DAWs chop the block in half at the end of the loop region, others don't and expect you to detect where inside the block the jump back to the start of the loop happens. And so on...
My audio programming blog: https://audiodev.blog
- KVRAF
- 3772 posts since 5 Mar, 2004 from Gold Coast Australia
Plenty of 'loose' VST do not open or behave well in Reason.
Those that do behave tend to be rock solid.

Those that do behave tend to be rock solid.
Benedict Roff-Marsh
http://www.benedictroffmarsh.com
http://www.benedictroffmarsh.com
- KVRist
- 65 posts since 1 Jun, 2026 from United States
Compile your debug builds with AddressSanitizer (ASan) enabled and run them inside JUCE's AudioPluginHost (or Reaper) attached to your IDE.
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