Kawika Posted June 22, 2021 Share Posted June 22, 2021 When I have a choice downloading a plug-in, should I choose both VST2 and VST3 (eating up HD space) or just VST-3. What is the conventional wisdom here? thanks, Kawika Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwal³ Posted June 22, 2021 Share Posted June 22, 2021 get both, install both, decide which version works better - -VSTs don't take up much HD space, but you can then delete the VST version you don;t like /hth 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Promidi Posted June 22, 2021 Share Posted June 22, 2021 Sometimes VST2 works best, sometimes VST3 works best. It depends on the plugin. For that reason, I like to install both. Note: The VST DLL and VST3 files themselves take up very little space. If you are concerned about the space they occupy, time for a hard drive upgrade I think. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Byron Dickens Posted June 22, 2021 Share Posted June 22, 2021 9 hours ago, Kawika said: eating up HD space Probably several kilobytes worth! 1 hour ago, Promidi said: If you are concerned about the space they occupy, time for a hard drive upgrade I think. 👍 I'll bet there's way more bloatware on the machine that can be dumped Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kawika Posted June 22, 2021 Author Share Posted June 22, 2021 Oh, oK.....didn't realize how small the files are.......yes, both, (makes sense)....Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacques Boileau Posted June 22, 2021 Share Posted June 22, 2021 1 hour ago, Kawika said: Oh, oK.....didn't realize how small the files are.......yes, both, (makes sense)....Thanks! Personally, to give another opinion, I have gone the VST3 route only, for a while now. I used to install both and I still have VST2 version for a lot of plugins I installed. I need to do a clean up. VSTs do add up. My VST3 folder is 7.44GB and my VST2 folder is 9.49GB. That is not a few kilobytes! And that is after moving most sound data and IRs to another drive. There where also instances where both version showed up for some reason in my list of plugins. Cakewalk is very good at managing this and it may not happen anymore, but I would rather keep only one than have to disable one of them. I'd rather jump in the future of VST than stay in the previous version. That said: I do not own a professional studio or make a living out of music! If something goes wrong I am the only affected with downtime and it's no big deal. And I would assume it lengthens the VST scan to have more than one version of the same plugin to scan... If, for some reason the VST3 has problems (I have yet to come across one that did in my plugins list of about 800 or so, but I know it happens) I can easily run the install again and install the VST2 version for that one plugin. But I would probably remove the offending VST3 at the same time... or both if the offending plugin is not that worth it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starship Krupa Posted June 23, 2021 Share Posted June 23, 2021 The way I do it is: download and archive the installer (if VST2 support is still available, the installer usually contains both). At first I install only the VST3. If the plug-in has problems, I install the VST2 and try that. So for me, the VST2 is just something to try if the VST3 fails. My VST3 folder is 7.5G. I don't wish to duplicate that. There are other downsides to just installing both. First, any time a host program scans for plug-ins, its scanner will take longer. If the plug-in manufacturer hasn't been diligent about giving both the VST2 and VST3 the same plug-in ID, you'll wind up with two of the same plug-in in the host's plug-in list. This can lead to a situation where you accidentally use the VST2 version, then open the project later if the VST2 gets removed from your system by a future update. Also, the VST3 will sometimes scan okay but the VST2 won't and the scanner will mark the plug-in "failed." This can happen the other way around, of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwal³ Posted June 23, 2021 Share Posted June 23, 2021 4 hours ago, Starship Krupa said: My VST3 folder is 7.5G fwiw, my vst3 folder is 1.4G and my VST64 is 3.9G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abacab Posted June 23, 2021 Share Posted June 23, 2021 It's actually been a while since I had any major conflicts with a VST2 vs. VST3 plugin. I think that was with an update to OBXD from Disco DSP. Are plugins and DAWs maybe improving their overall compatibility these days? In the past, if I ran into one version that didn't play well, I would hide that version. That is still my plan if the issue comes up again. But there are no easy rules for VST2 vs. VST3 regarding which is best. Just use what works. I always try VST3 first now... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scook Posted June 23, 2021 Share Posted June 23, 2021 I mostly use VST3 plug-ins but still install both. Yeah, it can run into a few GB of disk space with hundreds of plug-ins but nothing like the space required for audio data used in projects, sample and loop libraries. There are still a few things VST3 developers are slow to adopt. One I experience is sending MIDI CC data from a plug-in, a VST2 feature added to the VST3 spec around a year ago. Still waiting for this to get added to the plug-ins. Here is another example of a missing feature Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abacab Posted June 23, 2021 Share Posted June 23, 2021 I forgot about the preset change issue. Since I don't use changes, not a showstopper for me, but I could see it being a big issue for guitar players and their amp sims. I also just remembered that some VST3 plugins (forget which ones) don't seem to recall the current preset name that was saved as current state in the last project save. Even though the actual correct preset is loaded, if it has been a while and you forgot the name, it can be frustrating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xoo Posted June 23, 2021 Share Posted June 23, 2021 16 hours ago, Starship Krupa said: The way I do it is: download and archive the installer (if VST2 support is still available, the installer usually contains both). At first I install only the VST3. If the plug-in has problems, I install the VST2 and try that. So for me, the VST2 is just something to try if the VST3 fails. +1 (unless it's an update to something I've previously possibly used the VST 2 version for - I assume the VST 2->3 migration won't work in most cases). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kawika Posted June 26, 2021 Author Share Posted June 26, 2021 Thanks, All good information to consider Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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