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Old 09-18-2017, 12:25 PM   #1
radiopoet
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Default System Efficiency- VST, VST3 or AU best?

To maintain the cleanest and most efficient Reaper setup for commercial recording, editing, mixing and delivery, what is the consensus regarding having all three types of plug-ins available each time you select one to instantiate?

Are there reasons to keep all three types, moving forward, for any reason? If not, which are the best universally performing types on OS X? I'm somewhat aware that VST3 is preferred over VST due to coding improvement and efficiency with current multicore CPU's, so are VST3 preferred over AU, or are AU versions the best performing?

This Pro Tools refugee (as Serr so aptly calls us folks) is used to just having one type (.aax) of plug-in, and when trying to make quick mix decisions, being confronted with a boatload of versions for each plug-in is a "take me outta the creative zone" kind of admin decision I'd prefer not to deal with.

Rather than keep extra things in the system and just create a Favorites folder for plug-ins, it seems cleaner to me to just eliminate redundancy if possible.

As ever, the sharing of information here is gratefully received!

Jay
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Old 09-19-2017, 03:48 AM   #2
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Hi.. its called MacOS now.., and in saying that which version of MacOS are you running..?, I find VST more stable for me, but I still use some AU plugins.. VST3 works ok.. depends on which type of plugins you are using also, just try them all out for yourself and you will learn.

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Old 09-19-2017, 04:15 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by radiopoet View Post
VST3 is preferred over VST due to coding improvement and efficiency with current multicore CPU's
The VST3 standard does not mandate the plugin or host developers to do anything to improve CPU efficiency or make use of multicore CPUs.
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Old 09-19-2017, 04:47 AM   #4
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VST3 is preferable for me.

I've found AU's to be most buggy (usually GUI glitches).

AU's are a pain when using envelopes and track controls, as the range values are arbitrary. VST and VST3 display the correct values, as represented in the plugin.
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Old 09-23-2017, 01:33 PM   #5
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As far as I know VST3 support is still relatively new so there are most likely going to be more issues compared to VST/AU. Unless you need a specific feature that only the VST3 version has, I would stay away until it becomes more widely adopted.

I use VST in Reaper mostly because the VST has mono versions, which helps saves DSP when using Universal Audio plugins.
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Old 09-23-2017, 02:07 PM   #6
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As far as I know VST3 support is still relatively new so there are most likely going to be more issues compared to VST/AU. Unless you need a specific feature that only the VST3 version has, I would stay away until it becomes more widely adopted.

I use VST in Reaper mostly because the VST has mono versions, which helps saves DSP when using Universal Audio plugins.
Have you had any issues with VST3 plugins?

I haven't.
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Old 09-24-2017, 06:56 AM   #7
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I use VST3 if there is a version available otherwise VST2.4.
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Old 09-24-2017, 08:13 AM   #8
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Most of times AU versions work for me better or at least notably faster than VST or VST3. This may depend on the actual plugins you're using.

I prefer to use VSTi, not AUi, but I don't recall, why.
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Old 09-24-2017, 08:24 AM   #9
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Originally Posted by radiopoet View Post
I'm somewhat aware that VST3 is preferred over VST due to coding improvement and efficiency with current multicore CPU's
Not really. E.g., I have a Polytune plugin. It works as all three versions, but the VST3 version is the slowest one of these three (and it does not seem to be Reaper-specific, I get the same in S1).

On the other hand there is Melodyne. When they released 4.x, VST3 and AU did not work in Reaper. Somehow, the 32-bit VST2 almost did. I contacted Celemony and they were able to fix that -- they fixed the AU version and responded like "stick to AU version if it works for you, but others don't". At that point VST3 Melodyne did not work in Reaper IIRC. I have no idea, but it's possible that now all the three versions work again. Or not.
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Old 09-24-2017, 08:33 AM   #10
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P.S. If syncing your projects between Windows and Mac is a concern, you may want to stick to VSTs (there are no AUs outside Macs).
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Old 09-24-2017, 08:49 AM   #11
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Most of times AU versions work for me better or at least notably faster than VST or VST3. This may depend on the actual plugins you're using.

I prefer to use VSTi, not AUi, but I don't recall, why.
I think it really depends on the plugin developer.

Waves' AU are a disaster in REAPER, but VST3 work fine. Plugin Alliance just work whatever version you use. SoundToys work well as VST. Slate work well as both AU and VST3...
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Old 09-24-2017, 08:53 PM   #12
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Originally Posted by Judders View Post
Have you had any issues with VST3 plugins?

I haven't.
Yes. U-he plugins have known issues with the VST3 version and they recommend not using them for now.
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Old 09-25-2017, 04:17 AM   #13
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Yes. U-he plugins have known issues with the VST3 version and they recommend not using them for now.
I think that's just more proof that you have to try AU, VST and VST3 with each developer. None is more or less reliable across the board.
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Old 09-25-2017, 08:11 AM   #14
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Sure, i never intended to suggest otherwise. I personally wouldn’t have the patience to do side by side comparisons of all the plugins i own so as a rule of thumb i am sticking with VST2/AU for now. Just my humble opinion of course...
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Old 09-25-2017, 08:45 AM   #15
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Sure, i never intended to suggest otherwise. I personally wouldn’t have the patience to do side by side comparisons of all the plugins i own so as a rule of thumb i am sticking with VST2/AU for now. Just my humble opinion of course...
Fair enough.

Like I said before, AU's not showing parameter values in envelopes and track controls is a real bummer for me.
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Old 03-04-2019, 12:00 PM   #16
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Resurrecting an old-ish thread. I am wondering about this at the moment, specifically since VST versions of the same plug-ins seem to take one extra buffer in many cases (Sonnox and Eventide in my case) whereas the AU Versions do not.

Not that is matters massively but if anybody knows why that might be I would love to know the answer!
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Old 12-16-2020, 06:07 AM   #17
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Coming from LPX I have been using always AU. Now with Reaper I wonder which format is recommendable with the current standards. Please share your thoughts.
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Old 12-16-2020, 08:03 AM   #18
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VST only for me here. Ive had way too many crashes with AU here
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