Vst Plugin Wikipedia
32-bit plug-ins on 64-bit Windows: C:Program Files (x86)Common FilesVST2. Any other folder your VST host application is scanning during startup by default is also suitable. But, to keep plug-in installations independent from a specific VST host release, never install plug-ins into the program folder of the VST. If you have never used VST plugins before, you will maybe only see the DirectX media effects. Hit the 'New plugin' button (marked red in the screenshot) and browse to the folder in which you saved your plugins. I recommend a central folder for all your plugins, something like C: Program Files OpenMPT Plugins.
Virtual Studio Technology (VST) is an audio plug-in software interface that integrates software synthesizers and effects units into digital audio workstations. VST and similar technologies use digital signal processing to simulate traditional recording studio hardware in software. Thousands of plugins exist, both commercial and freeware, and many audio applications support VST under license from its creator, Steinberg.
- 32-bit plug-ins on 64-bit Windows: C: Program Files (x86) Common Files VST2. Any other folder your VST host application is scanning during startup by default is also suitable. But, to keep plug-in installations independent from a specific VST host release, never install plug-ins into the program folder of the VST host application or any other.
- Nexus 2, the ROM-based sampling VST by reFX; This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Nexus 2. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the.
- Adam Hignell takes a look at some VST Plugins every FL Studio Producer should lust after. Must-Have Plugins for Ableton Live. Ableton Live is one of the most powerful DAW softwares in the world.
Overview[edit]
Nexus 2, the ROM-based sampling VST by reFX Disambiguation page providing links to topics that could be referred to by the same search term This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Nexus 2. The VST (Virtual Studio Technology) system was developed by Steinberg, to enable a complete studio to be created in software. It allows third-party developers to produce real-time effects modules (VST or VST FX), or synth engines that are called VST Instruments (VSTi), that could 'plug in' to the host application.
VST plugins generally run within a digital audio workstation (DAW), to provide additional functionality, though a few standalone plugin hosts exist which support VST. Most VST plugins are either instruments (VSTi) or effects (VSTfx), although other categories exist—for example spectrum analyzers and various meters. VST plugins usually provide a custom graphical user interface that displays controls similar to physical switches and knobs on audio hardware. Some (often older) plugins rely on the host application for their user interface.
VST instruments include software simulation emulations of well-known hardware synthesizers and samplers. These typically emulate the look of the original equipment as well as its sonic characteristics. This lets musicians and recording engineers use virtual versions of devices that otherwise might be difficult and expensive to obtain.
VST instruments receive notes as digital information via MIDI, and output digital audio. Effect plugins receive digital audio and process it through to their outputs. (Some effect plugins also accept MIDI input—for example, MIDI sync to modulate the effect in sync with the tempo). MIDI messages can control both instrument and effect plugin parameters. Most host applications can route the audio output from one VST to the audio input of another VST (chaining). For example, the output of a VST synthesizer can be sent through a VST reverb effect.
History[edit]
Steinberg released the VST interface specification and SDK in 1996. They released it at the same time as Steinberg Cubase 3.02, which included the first VST format plugins: Espacial (a reverb), Choirus (a chorus effect), Stereo Echo, and Auto-Panner.[2]
Steinberg updated the VST interface specification to version 2.0 in 1999. One addition was the ability for plugins to receive MIDI data. This supported the introduction of Virtual Studio Technology Instrument (VSTi) format plugins. VST Instruments can act as standalone software synthesizers, samplers, or drum machines.[3]
Neon[4] was the first available VST Instrument (included with Cubase VST 3.7). It was a 16-voice, 2-oscillator virtual analog synthesizer.[3]
In 2006, the VST interface specification was updated to version 2.4. Changes included the ability to process audio with 64-bit precision.[5] A free-software replacement was developed for LMMS that would be used later by other free-software projects.[6][7]
VST 3.0 came out in 2008. Changes included:[8]
- Audio Inputs for VST Instruments
- Multiple MIDI inputs/outputs
- Optional SKI (Steinberg Kernel Interface) integration
VST 3.5 came out in February 2011. Changes included note expression, which provides extensive articulation information in individual note events in a polyphonic arrangement. According to Steinberg, this supports performance flexibility and a more natural playing feel.[9]
In October 2011, Celemony Software and PreSonus released Audio Random Access (ARA), an extension for audio plug-in interfaces, such as VST, allowing greater integration between audio plug-ins and DAW software.[10]
In September, 2013, Steinberg discontinued maintenance of the VST 2 SDK. In December, Steinberg stopped distributing the SDK.[11]Where are vst plugins installed windows. The higher versions are continued.
VST 3.6.7 came out in March, 2017. It includes a preview version of VST3 for Linux platform, the VST3 part of the SDK gets a dual license: 'Proprietary Steinberg VST3' or the 'Open-source GPLv3'.
As VSTi virtual instrument technology was under development at Steinberg, a platform for virtual instruments using DirectX engine technology was being developed by Cakewalk, famous for its Sonar DAW. However, the format did not gain much acceptance beyond instruments bundled with SONAR. Currently, almost all virtual instruments on the market use Steinberg's VSTi format.[citation needed]
VST plugins[edit]
There are three types of VST plugins:
- VST instruments generate audio. They are generally either Virtual Synthesizers or Virtual samplers. Many recreate the look and sound of famous hardware synthesizers. Better known VST instruments include Discovery, Nexus, Sylenth1, Massive, Omnisphere, FM8, Absynth, Reaktor, Gladiator, Serum and Vanguard.
- VST effects process rather than generate audio—and perform the same functions as hardware audio processors such as reverbs and phasers. Other monitoring effects provide visual feedback of the input signal without processing the audio. Most hosts allow multiple effects to be chained. Audio monitoring devices such as spectrum analyzers and meters represent audio characteristics (frequency distribution, amplitude, etc.) visually.
- VST MIDI effects process MIDI messages (for example, transpose or arpeggiate) and route the MIDI data to other VST instruments or to hardware devices.
VST hosts[edit]
A VST host is a software application or hardware device that VST plugins run under. The host application presents the plugin UIs and routes digital audio and MIDI to and from the plugins.
Software[edit]
Many VST hosts are available. Not all of these support VST 3 plugins.
Vst Plugins For Fl Studio
- Acon Digital Acoustica
- Acoustica Mixcraft (VST3)
- Ardour (open source)
- Audacity (free and open source, VST support works on Windows, Mac OS X and Linux[12])
- Digital Performer (version 8 or higher)
- Psycle (open source)
- Reason (version 9.5 or higher)
- vMix (VST3 Only)
Stand-alone dedicated hosts provide a host environment for VST plugins rather than use the plugins to extend their own capabilities. These are usually optimized for live performance use, with features like fast song configuration switching.
VST plugins can be hosted in incompatible environments using a translation layer, or shim. For example, FL Studio only supports its own internal plugin architecture, but an available native 'wrapper' loads VST plugins, among others. FXpansion offers a VST-to-RTAS (Real Time AudioSuite) wrapper that lets VST plugins run in Pro Tools, and a VST-to-Audio Units wrapper lets VST plugins run in Logic Pro.
Hardware[edit]
Hardware VST hosts can load special versions of VST plugins. These units are portable and usable without a computer, though some of them require a computer for editing. Other hardware options include PCI/PCIe cards designed for audio processing, which take over audio processing from the computer's CPU and free up RAM.
Some hardware hosts accept VSTs and VSTis, and either run Windows-compatible music applications like Cubase, Live, Pro Tools, Logic etc., or run their own DAW. Other are VST Hosts only and require a separate DAW application. Origin from Arturia is a hardware DSP system that houses several VST software synthesizers in one machine, like Jupiter 50/80 from Roland. Using appropriate software, audio data can also be sent over a network, so the main host runs on one computer, and VST plugins on peripheral machines.
Standard[edit]
The VST plugin standard is the audio plugin standard created by Steinberg to allow any third-party developers to create VST plugins for use within VST host applications. VST requires separate installations for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. The majority of VST plugins are available for Windows only due to Apple's competing proprietary Audio Unit technology being used on OS X (Audio Units is a core part of the OS X operating system). The short history of commercial environments for Linux means few developers have targeted this platform.
Presets[edit]
VST plugins often have many controls, and therefore need a method of managing presets (sets of control settings).
Steinberg Cubase VST introduced two file formats for storing presets: an FXP file stores a single preset, while an FXB file stores a whole bank of presets. These formats have since been adopted by many other VST hosts, although Cubase itself switched to a new system of preset management with Cubase 4.0.
Many VST plugins have their own method of loading and saving presets, which do not necessarily use the standard FXP/FXB formats.
Competing technologies[edit]
- Apple's Audio Units
- Avid's Avid Audio eXtension
- Digidesign's Real Time AudioSuite
- Digidesign's TDM
- LADSPA, DSSI for Linux
- LV2, a cross-platform, open source, liberally licensed audio plugin standard
- Microsoft's DirectX plugin
- Mark of the Unicorn's Motu Audio System
- JACK Audio Connection Kit, an open-source sound server allowing flexible audio routing between apps
- Reason Studios' Rack Extensions
Programming languages[edit]
Steinberg's VST SDK is a set of C++ classes based around an underlying C API. The SDK can be downloaded from their website.
There are several ports available, such as a Delphi version by Frederic Vanmol,[13] a Java version from the jVSTwRapper project at Sourceforge,[14] and two .NET versions – Noise[15] and VST.NET;[16] this open source project also includes a framework that makes creating VST plugins easier and result in more structured code. VST.NET also provides support for writing managed host applications with a managed class that allows loading an unmanaged Plugin. A notable language supporting VST is FAUST, considering that it is especially made for making signal processing plugins, often producing code faster than hand-written C++.
In addition, Steinberg has developed the VST GUI, which is another set of C++ classes, which can be used to build a graphical interface. There are classes for buttons, sliders and displays, etc. Note that these are low-level C++ classes and the look and feel still have to be created by the plugin manufacturer. VST GUI is part of the VST SDK and is also available as a SourceForge project.[17]
Many commercial and open-source VSTs are written using the Juce C++ framework instead of direct calls to the VST SDK because this allows multi-format (VST, Audio Units and Real Time AudioSuite) binaries to be built from a single codebase.
See also[edit]
- LADSPA and LV2, similar open-source standards.
- SynthEdit, a VST/VSTi editor.
References[edit]
- ^'Our Technologies'. www.steinberg.net.
- ^Steinberg Cubase 3 (article), Sound on sound, Jul 1996.
- ^ abCubase 3.7 (article), Sound on sound, Sep 1999
- ^KVR audio.
- ^Steinberg.
- ^'vestige.h'.
- ^'aeffectx.h'.
- ^News, KVR audio.
- ^VST 3.5 a milestone in VST development (News), Steinberg, 2011-02-10.
- ^'Celemony introduces ARA Audio Random Access - Extension for Plug-in Interfaces'. KVR Audio. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
- ^SDK for VST 2 software interface discontinued (News), Steinberg, 2013-12-09
- ^VST plug-ins
- ^VST, Axi world.
- ^jVSTwRapper, Source forge.
- ^Noise, Google code.
- ^VST.Net, Codeplex.
- ^http://sourceforge.net/projects/vstgui
- The JS series & MDA series of VST plugins, (which are old) , wouldn't work properly with Audacity 2.1.0 , see https://bugzilla.audacityteam.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1083 for status, it is DEVEL-FIX MADE now.
- The “Antress modern” series of plugins, http://antress.blogspot.co.uk/ do work , but since implementation of real-time-adjustment , you have to stop then start playback for any adjustments to the controls to take effect. This is not on Bugzilla, so needs testing but it could have already been fixed by the fix for https://bugzilla.audacityteam.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1084 .
- Free VST effects I have on my machine right now, which I use regularly, so I know are working OK on Audacity 2.1.0:
- Marvel GEQ.dll http://www.voxengo.com/product/marvelgeq/https://forum.audacityteam.org/download/file.php?id=13343]A graphic equalizer
- ANWIDA Soft DX Reverb Light.dll http://www.anwida.com/product.asp?pid=7, http://www.anwida.com/dc.asp?file=http://www.anwida.com/progs/asdxrl20.zip&pid=7
- BC Chorus 4 VST(Stereo).dll http://www.bluecataudio.com/Products/Product_Chorus/
- Gmulti.dll , Ggate.dll , Gsnap.dll http://www.gvst.co.uk/downloads.htm [ compressor, gate, autotune ].
- SPITFISH.dll http://www.digitalfishphones.com/main.php?item=2&subItem=5 [ a basic de-esser ].
- TB_Sibalance_v3.dll http://www.toneboosters.com/tb-sibalance/ [ a sophisticated de-esser ].
- DtBlkFx.dll http://rekkerd.org/dtblkfx/ A spectral-processor [ capable of weirdness like nothing else ].
- 'Acon Multiply' https://acondigital.com/products/multiply/ It does chorus & stereo effects . It has presets, so is simple to operate : ideal for newbies who wants to add effects to vocal / guitar recordings.
This page describes support for VST (Virtual Studio Technology) effect plug-ins in Audacity; VST instrument plug-ins that generate audio are not supported. A list of VST effects known to process correctly in Audacity on Windows is given here.
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Related article(s):
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Vst Plugins
- 3List of functional VST Plug-ins
VST support in Audacity
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VST effects are displayed with full GUI interface (where provided by the plug-in), and without need of the VST Enabler. This has been made possible by use of an open source VST header.
For instructions on how to load new VST effects into Audacity please see this page in the Manual.
The overwhelming majority of VST effect plug-ins should display and process correctly. If an incompatible VST plug-in does cause a problem, click the Manage button in the effect's dialog then choose 'Options..'. In the dialog that appears, try reducing Buffer Size, disabling Latency Compensation or disabling graphical display. See VST Effect Options in the Manual for more information on these choices.- To report a plug-in that is problematic in current Audacity, please report it on the Audacity Forum.
Installing VST plug-ins in Audacity
The process and file location is different for each operating system. See the following pages in the Audacity Manual:
List of functional VST Plug-ins
Instructions for adding plug-ins to the list:
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- The majority of plug-ins will be for Windows only unless OS 9 or OS X is stated.
- Classic Mac OS plug-ins will only work under OS 9 and previous. Mac OS X plug-ins with a .component file marked as 'PowerPC' will only work on PPC Macs (they might work on Intel Macs with slow performance under Rosetta but Rosetta cannot be used on OS X 10.7 or later).
List of Plug-ins with download links
- Antares AutoTune Evo - Mostly works with current Audacity. Automatic pitch correction works, but to be able to draw pitch curves clock must be set to 'internal' and not 'host'. (commercial)
- Antress Modern Plug-ins including a number of compressors, a limiter, an expander, an exciter and a 'spacer' which could be used for creating 'fake stereo'
- ANWIDA Soft DX Reverb Light.dll for Windows and Mac (PowerPC only)
- Bo Johansen Plug-ins
- Bluecat Plug-ins
- bs2b.dll stereo to binaural
- Buzzroom CL 201 (Vintage Maximiser) - now shareware
- Gale 18Nov15: The Classic plugins below are discontinued. The links were pointing to Brothersoft which is a dubious site and now point to VST4free which is much less bad. Also you can get the complete bundle from http://acoustica1.cachefly.net/other/Classic-Effects-Installer.exe. The installer puts the plugins in %PROGRAMFILES%VST where (according to the Manual and VSTEffect.cpp) Audacity should not see them unless a registry key or VST_PATH environment variable points there. But Audacity does see them (on Win 10).
- Classic Chorus.dll
- Classic Compressor.dll
- Classic Delay.dll
- Classic EQ.dll
- Classic Flanger.dll
- Classic Master Limiter.dll
- Classic Phaser.dll
- Classic Reverb.dll
- Gale 17Nov15: Any other plugins are not listed because presumably no-one tested them. Yes, show a landing page with detail for the plugin if there is one. But if we have a table like I suggest we can link to the publisher and the plugin in a less confusing way.
- digitalfishphones plug-ins
- dominion v1.2.dll - a tool to shape the envelope of a signal, giving you total control of the signal's attack & sustain phase
- endorphin - dual-band stereo compressor
- BLOCKFISH - compressor for Windows and OS X (PPC only)
- FLOORFISH.dll - expander/noise gate for Windows and OS X (PPC only)
- SPITFISH.dll - de-esser for Windows and OS X (PPC only)
- normalizer.dll - a denormalization tool
- THD.dll - analog-style saturator
- DtBlkFx (FFT-based frequency and harmonics manipulation). Also supports OS X (Universal binary) but only Windows version tested.
- Extra Boy Pro removal and isolation of audio components (commercial, paid for)
- EZmix (commercial, time limited demo available). Also supports OS X but only Windows version tested.
- Freeverb Plug-ins
- Freeverb for OS X
- Freeverb2.dll for Windows
- FreeverbToo.dll for Windows
- GMulti Multi-band compressor
- iZotope vinyl for Windows and OS X
- JS plug-in pack - contains plug-ins listed below.
- JS 6 equalizer V1.0.dll
- JS Band Cut V1.0.dll
- JS Compresseur V1.1.dll
- JS Disto V1.0.dll
- JS equalizer V1.0.dll
- Humanizer v1.0.dll
- JS Limiteur V1.0.dll
- JS Magneto V1.1.dll
- JS Mini-sample V1.0.dll
- JS Noise Attenu V1.0 .dll
- JS Noise Filtre V1.0.dll
- JS Oscil resonne V2.0 .dll
- JS Oscil resonne V3.0.dll
- JS PanDelay .dll
- JS Resonnateur V1.0.dll
- JS Vibrato V1.0.dll
- jVSTwRapper-based plug-ins (on Windows, Mac OSX PPC/Intel and Linux).
- jVSTwRapper is a way of writing Java plug-ins using VST-based technology, enclosed in a wrapper that makes them compatible for use in VST, Audio Units and LADSPA hosts. Thus jVSTwRapper plug-ins can be run on all three platforms.
- Lisp level-independent sibilance processor
- Smartelectronix Plug-ins
- Ambience - reverb plug-in for Windows, OS 9/X (PPC only)
- MjCompressor.dll for Windows and OS XWindows version only has a tabular interface even in Audacity 1.3.8+
- REFLEX free - a regenerating delay plug-in, a mixture of stereo delays followed by a dense
- Robotizer for Windows and Mac OS X (PPC only)
- TAL-Reverb-2 - popular GPL licensed plate reverb
- TB Compressor (working demo) in Tone Boosters plug-in bundle - supports 'New York' or 'parallel' compression
- UpStereo.dll - stereo widener
- UpStereo for OS X(not tested)
- VOX_DoctorDemo.dll - De-Esser
- Voxengo - free VST plug-ins from Voxengo
List of Plug-ins with known problems
Instructions for adding VST effect plug-ins to the list:
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- JS plug-ins
- MDA VST's
- stereoizer.dll
Free Vst Plugins Piano
| Plug-in | OS | Date | Audacity version | Symptoms |
| Auto-Tune | Windows | Dec.2012 | Audacity 2.0.1 | Tuning by MIDI input is not supported. |
| BlueCat | OS X | Sep.2014 | Audacity 2.0.5, 2.0.6 | In 2.0.5, the plug-in interface does not work, so you can only use default settings. The interface works in 2.0.6, but in both versions, saving a preset will lock out the main Audacity window, requiring to close Audacity from the Dock. |
| CM Vocoder | Windows/OS X | Sep.08 | Audacity 1.3.8+ | Does not appear |
| Effect Chainer DX and VST wrapper | Windows | Jan.08 | All | can't host any plug-ins |
| FFX-4 DX and VST Wrapper | Windows | Jan.08 | All | can't host any plug-ins |
| Freeverb2 | Windows 7 | Oct.11 | Audacity 1.3.13 | Only tabular interface, no preset support |
| GRM Tools | OS X | May 2014 | Audacity 2.0.6-alpha | Interface cannot be used (so the effects can only be used at default settings) or interface disappears completely when loading preset. The interface is likely to be available in 2.0.6 release, but attempting to save a preset in any Audacity version could lock out the main Audacity window. |
| GRM Tools | Windows | Sep.08 | Audacity 1.3.8+ | unspecified |
| GSnap | Windows | Jan.2014 | Audacity 2.0.6 | Tuning by MIDI input is not supported. |
| keFIR | Windows | Apr.08 | VST-Bridge 1.1 | has no effect on audio |
| kn0ck0ut | Windows | Sep.2014 | Audacity 2.0.6-alpha | Despite Audacity 2.0.6 or later supporting buffer delay compensation, the start of the processed audio has silence inserted and a corresponding length is removed from the end of the processed audio. This also occurs in Goldwave and Wavosaur so is probably a bug in Kn0ck0ut, but the VST version is no longer being developed, only an LV2 version. |
| Sonic Maximizer | Windows | Sep.2007 | VST-Bridge 1.1 | not in Effect menu |
| SoundSoap2 (discontinued) (see also SoundSoap3) | Windows, OS X | 2007 (various) | All | Audacity won't launch |
| Spectro | Windows | Nov.2014 | 2.0.7-alpha | No spectrum visible in plug-in window |
| String Studio | Windows | 2007 (various) | VST-Bridge 1.1 | Audacity won't launch |
| T RackS 3 | OS X | Dec.2009 | All | Audacity won't launch |
| VisualVOX VST | Windows | Jan.2008 | VST-Bridge 1.1 | No interface, just silences audio |
| Waves V5 | Windows | Dec.2012 | Audacity 2.0.2 | Hangs Audacity on launch |
| Waves V8 | OS X | Feb.2013 | Audacity 2.0.3 | Only tabular interface. Two entries (m) and (s) for each effect. GarageBand does not have either problem.(1) |
- (1) Audio Unit versions of Waves may cause Audacity 2.0.4 or earlier to freeze or crash on launch. In 2.0.5 or later, Waves Audio Units may cause a freeze or crash when the effect is chosen from the Effect Menu.