03 Sep Best Practices for deploying VST plugins on Windows

Best Practices (okay… my practices) for deploying VST Plugins on Windows

I’ve seen multiple approaches to installing plugins on Windows. After a number of years of building new Windows-based audio workstations, I have developed the following consistent approach to my plugin installation structure. There are two reasons for this. First, as I move from one machine to another, it is far easier to migrate when the machines are set up in a consistent manner from the old machine to the new machine. Second, my approach embraces the concepts around Windows security in order to avoid needing to ‘run as administrator’ for most application usage. Your mileage may vary, but here’s my take on the process. I would offer up that the install location for RTAS plugins would probably follow this same guidance, but I don’t use and typically won’t install a RTAS plugin on my system.

In today’s age, most of us Windows users (at least 90%) are on a 64-bit version of Windows. For non-business usage, that percentage is yet higher. I would expect for power-audio users, that is really at the 100% mark. I make it a policy to no longer use any 32-bit audio applications or plugins with my system, no exceptions. The incurred overhead and potential instability just isn’t worth it. That being said, I will reference where/how 32-bit plugins should be installed given my approach. Some install packages will require you to install and/or specify a location for 32-bit plugins in order to install the 64-bit versions, so there ARE some 32-big plugins on my systems. I just refuse to use them.

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 program! The following chart includes other common VST2 paths. Depending on the program version, these folders are the default VST2 folders in Cubase and Nuendo. Hi Mike, When installing any VST's, it should give you a choice of selecting which folder to install (even though the default path is C: Program Files Cakewalk VST). Then, you can select the location (or 'Change') where you want the VST's to reside. This is where I step in. Today we’re going to take a look at 13 free VST plugins for windows that give the high-end gear a serious run for their money. Free VST Reverbs. First off, let’s take a look at reverbs. This is probably one of the most abundant freeware plugin types on the market. However, there are some real duds out there. Download the VST to your computer. Unzip the VST file. Copy the.dll file to your VST plugin folder. This folder may be named differently for you. In Finder, click on the Go menu, hold down the Alt/Option key, and click on Library. Go to Preferences, locate the folder “Waves Preferences,” and move it to your Desktop. Launch your host application with a fresh session. If prompted to locate the Waves Plug-ins Folder, direct to the above location.

Application Install Location Guidance:

By default, Windows 64 bit applications should install somewhere under :Program Files with some additional path specified by the installer package with either the vendor or application name folders or in some cases both. An example of this would be :Program FilesArturia or :Program FilesKV331SynthMasterOne By default, Windows 32 bit applications that are installed on a 64 bit Windows operating system will install to :Program Files (x86) Please note that in either case, I would NOT install these application files in the same location as your VST 2 plugins. This is an anti-pattern. Installing the application files in your scanned plugins folders will result in scanning and flagging a significant number of .dll files that are NOT VST plugins. There are other side-effects of this approach that go beyond the scope of this set of best practices. Just suffice it to say “It’s a bad idea”.

Install Locations for VST 2 Plugins

For VST 2 plugins, a location that is ‘accessible’ to all users is a good practice. Personally, I will create a the folder :userspublicvstplugins on any new system I build. I will then create two additional subfolders, :userspublicvstpluginsx86 and :userspublicvstpluginsx64 for 32-bit and 64-bit plugins accordingly. I will then install any VST 2 plugins of the appropriate type (32-bit or 64-bit) into the appropriate folder. This also makes for VERY simple setup of your VST 2 scan folders for ANY audio applications that can load them.

Guidance for VST 3 Plugins

I don’t have any specific guidance here being as the methodology of how discovery is done with VST 3 plugins is VERY different from VST 2 plugins. I simply accept whatever location the installer package wants to put them in.

Installing Present Libraries, Sample Libraries, etc….

Windows Vst Plugins Folder Permissions

Provided the installer supports choosing the location of any preset/sound/sample libraries to be installed (and most do), I always install these under :userspublicdocuments. You may or may not choose to subdivide into additional subfolders based on vendor/application/etc… dependent on the particular installer package, however if you are taking a specific approach, DOCUMENT AS YOU GO. If you need to recover or build a new system, you will thank yourself for the guidance. Please note that some libraries come with a significant amount of additional subfolders of their own, so you creating your own subdivisions could create excessively long path names that can cause other types of issues. Do so sparingly and at your own risk.

Vst Plugins Folder Windows 10

Backup, Backup, Backup

Lack of a backup strategy with a critical system like your audio workstation is sheer laziness that will one day bite you in the ….. I personally back up before any significant system change and at least once a week whether I’ve changed anything significant or not. This approach has saved me weeks of effort in the last year alone. Lack of a backup strategy is simply negligence on your part for something you obviously think important enough to spend some significant time on. I personally have been using Acronis True Image as my backup utility for 15 years with great success. Not only have I done full system restores from images, but occasionally just having the ability to peruse the file system at a date several months in the past to recover just one version of a given file has saved me significant effort in the long run.

Closing Thoughts

I’m hoping some of you find this guidance useful, however I’m sure there are others that have their own consistent standards for this topic. This post was really intended for those who do not yet have a standard, particularly those just starting out in the VST world. This is one right approach, but not the only right approach. Your mileage may vary. .

To give Lié access to all your VST instruments, you will have to scan your plug-ins first. This is necessary since Lié itself has no sound engine on its own. It will always work as a shell for VST instruments.

Please note that Lié does not check for new VSTs on every startup. if you install VST instruments in the future, you will need to manually trigger a plug-in scan to make a newly installed instrument appear inside Lié.

In order to prevent that a DAW running in the background blocks Lié's scanning routine from accessing some VSTs, we recommend to perform the plug-in scan from Lié's standalone application.

1. After completion of the firmware update, Lié will tell you that your plug-in folder is still empty and suggests performing a first plug-in scan. Confirm this suggestion. You can always trigger the plug-in scan at a later point by navigating to Menu -> Plugin Manager, then clicking on Options at the bottom and selecting 'Scan for new or updated VST plugins'.
   
2. A window will pop up, asking you for the VST plug-in directories on your computer.
   • On a Windows computer, there is no standard folder for VST plug-ins. By default, the list will only contain the standard directory that UVI Workstation's VST plug-in is installed in (C:Program FilesVstplugins). This is a popular folder used for VST plugins on Windows. Please add all folders containing the VST 64bit instrument plug-ins that you want to use inside Lié. Click on the '+' symbol to add folders.
   • On a Mac, the directory for VST plug-ins is standardized. Normally, you don't need to change anything.
     
3. Click on 'Scan' to perform the plug-in scan within the folders. Depending on the amount of plug-ins you have installed, this might take a while. After completion, it is likely that you will get a notification about certain VST plug-ins not being recognized. Don't worry: Most of the times, the plug-ins that cause problems are VST effect plug-ins, not VST instruments. Lié can host VST instruments exclusively, so this is not a bug.
   The “Plug-in Manager” window will now display the list of all VST plug-ins that were recognized:
   Note: If some of your plug-ins are listed in red, they may have a compatibility issue with Lié or their license is not activated properly: You can try to use “Force-scan” in “Options” to get them to work inside Lié anyway. However, this procedure may cause instabilities with your DAW.
   
4. You can now start playing the factory sounds in Lié Standalone. To load a factory preset, just double-click on it or step through the preset list by pushing the left or right Button on Touché (SE).
   You can also create your own mappings for all your VST instruments that were recognized by Lié. To create your own plug-in preset with 3rd party VST instruments, please refer to this article: Creating a new Plug-in Preset

You can now proceed with...

Downloading and installing optional plug-in presets for 3rd party VST instruments

If you own one or several 3rd party plug-in instruments that we offer free presets for, please feel free to add these soundpacks to Lié. An overview and sound examples of all available packs are listed here: Software Presets on expressivee.com. The installation procedure is explained in this article: How to install optional software preset packs for third party VST instruments

Setting up Touché/Lié inside your favourite DAW

Vst Plugins Folder Location Windows 10

We have prepared several articles explaining in detail how to set up Touché in most popular DAWs (that can host VST or AU plug-ins). Click on the link above to find our DAW Tutorials section.