Phoenixverb VST2 version not stereo!!

[Sidney Earl Goodroe]

I took advantage of the Phoenixverb being on sale recently. I was surprised to find the output was mono!!

No matter how I tried it only had mono output in a track or bus.

I finally tried the VST 3 version and discovered that it works perfectly. The VST 2 version will not output stereo no matter what. Is this a known issue with Phoenixverb?

Just wanted to give everyone a heads up!!

[Hidden Symmetry]

I've had similar issues with their products reverting to mono & feedback for a few years.

HERE

[Starship Krupa]

Is there a particular reason you were using the VST2 version?

I have the converse issue with Acon Multiply. When I tried the VST3 version, nastiness ensued which was not present with the VST2.

Excellent purchase, BTW. Phoenix Stereo is hands down my favorite reverb, part of every template. Most of the time I don't even change to a preset other than the default. This goes against my philosophy of personalizing sounds, but I'm helpless in the face of such a great-sounding reverb.

I'd recommend you report it to iZotope, but the original Exponential products seem pretty clearly code-frozen since they changed the branding in the UI. Pity, that, because the colors of the UI's are just fugly.

[Sidney Earl Goodroe]

I generally use vst2 plugs out of habit. In the past I have had problems with vst3 plugs. This is one of those instances where the problem was with vst2.

[garybrun]

I always choose vst 3 over vst 2 if I have the option.
I havnt found any problems with my vst 3 plugins.

[Starship Krupa]

4 hours ago, Sidney Earl Goodroe said:

I generally use vst2 plugs out of habit. In the past I have had problems with vst3 plugs.

It seemed like when VST3 first came out, plug-in developers packaged their plug-ins in that format as an afterthought. Take the code for the VST2 and recompile it for VST3. And the hosts' support for the newer format was....unfinished. This added up to VST2 being my first choice.

Then at some point, things changed, most hosts finally supported VST3, and it started to go the other way, it seemed like plug-in developers switched their primary focus to VST3 and VST2 became more the "legacy support" option, so I switched to preferring VST3's during installation.

I see VST3 as the "New Coke" of VST. For those who don't remember, a needless change to something that already owned the market because people liked it the way it was. There is practically nothing that VST3 offers that can't or hasn't already been implemented by developers in VST2. For proof, all anyone needs to do is look at the offerings: for all the plug-ins that come in both flavors, the VST3 version functions identically (bugs aside) to the VST2.

[Sidney Earl Goodroe]

I noticed the "(bugs aside)" kind of snuck in there. Lol!!

[Hidden Symmetry]

A few years ago I used mostly VST2 but now it's VST3 unless there are issues. The only one I can think of off hand (using Cubase) is BOZ Digital's Pan Knob. The vst3 version has had a known bug for several years now. It still doesn't function correctly so in that case I only use VST2.

One of the advantages of VST3 is  improved performance by processing only when audio signals are present.

Edited October 30, 2021 by Hidden Symmetry

[abacab]

Some DAWs allow you to automatically hide VST2 plugins if both versions are available.

I continue to use VST2 if that's all there is from a developer. Otherwise, it's VST3 all the way!

[Starship Krupa]

10 hours ago, Hidden Symmetry said:

One of the advantages of VST3 is  improved performance by processing only when audio signals are present.

It's a common misapprehension, fostered by Steinberg, that all VST3's automatically have that feature. Steinberg's pitch says "Instead of always processing input signals, VST3 plug-ins can apply their processing economically and only when it is needed." That's a weaselly-worded statement.

What it means is that, along with all of the other new features in the VST3 spec, it's a feature that plug-in and host developers may choose to implement. It's not somehow automatically part of a plug-in just because it's VST3.

And, as with most of the other features added to the spec between VST2 and VST3, it can also be implemented by plug-in developers in VST2. As a matter of fact, the only plug-in developer I know of who has implemented the sleep feature implemented it in both their VST3 and VST2 format plug-ins.

It's a feature that I would think any plug-in company who had implemented it would advertise, and I've yet to see anyone do this except for that one developer.

I agree with you that VST3's are preferred going foward, but only because that's going to be where the better support is in the future, by which I mean more care taken in coding, QA testing, and compatibility. Similar to 32-bit plug-ins.

12 hours ago, Sidney Earl Goodroe said:

I noticed the "(bugs aside)" kind of snuck in there. Lol!!

Heh, as I said, I've had it go either way. If the VST3 doesn't work, try the VST2 and vice versa. Kinda silly that developers wouldn't test more with Cakewalk; they don't even have to phone up the company to get a free NFR testing license!