# VST2 or VST3



## puremusic (Jan 16, 2019)

Installing yet another plugin, and unchecking the boxes for the 32 bit versions and AAX versions I don't use, I come again to that decision. ..

VST2 64bit or VST3 64bit. 

I have the habit of choosing VST2, with the thought, 'Older, more reliable', and 'Keep all my ducks in the same boat', but I've never seen any practical difference yet with one working and the other not. 

Is there any reason to habitually choose one or the other? Performance? Reliability? Anything?

Using Studio One V3.x here.


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## Ben (Jan 16, 2019)

VST3 is more capable in theory than VST2. But most plugins do not use these extended functions.
VST3 also can be more performant because it does not request processing time if there is no input signal. Also VST3 can process and output 64bit float audio signals.

For more information: https://www.steinberg.net/en/company/technologies/vst3.html


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## rrichard63 (Jan 16, 2019)

In addition to what @Ben said, VST3 has official support for sidechain signals. This doesn't matter in most DAWs, which have well-established workarounds for routing sidechains to VST2 plugins. If I recall correctly, it does matter in Cubase.

But I've read, I think in more than one place, that VST3 plugins are more likely to be buggy than their VST2 counterparts. I'll try to track down those statements and provide links here.

One approach -- a little extra work that might be worth it -- is to try the VST3 plugin first. If you have trouble with it, try the VST2 plugin to see if that solves the problem.

All that said, I am in the habit of installing both versions when the developer supplies both. I have at least one host that doesn't support VST3, at least not yet.


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## Digivolt (Jan 16, 2019)

I install both and usually just hide the VST2 plugins in Studio One in the event that if the VST3 has issues I can just unhide and use the VST2 without having to go and reinstall things


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## puremusic (Jan 16, 2019)

Hmm, I'll try VST3 more in the future then, if it doesn't work then there's VST2. 

Yes hiding things is a good way to keep things looking nice, though I wonder in the long run if installing both habitually would slow down loading times?


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## rrichard63 (Jan 16, 2019)

Here are a couple of threads that focus on stability issues:

https://www.gearslutz.com/board/music-computers/1173225-vst-vs-vst3.html
https://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=199621

There seems to be some degree of consensus around two points: (1) which is more trouble-free can vary from one plugin to the next, and (2) the answer can also vary across DAWs.


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## InLight-Tone (Jan 16, 2019)

Cubase doesn't seem to like VST2 so I'm trying to move away from them when possible...


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## Bansaw (Jan 16, 2019)

I read somewhere that VST3 was able to offer more support to "resizable GUIs".
So you may get a situation where the vst3 version of the plugin is able to resize well, and the vst2 version is not.


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## Akarin (Jan 16, 2019)

Others have mentioned several differences already. There's also one that is important if you use VEPro: with VST2, you are limited to 16 channels.


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## thevisi0nary (Jan 18, 2019)

Gonna echo what others have said. It's important to test them first hand to seed out any possible performance issues. For me vst3 was very buggy, so I just use vst2 now and the problems went away. I am sure it's fine for most people, better to see first hand how it will behave with your setup and daw.


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## Fredeke (Feb 5, 2019)

rrichard63 said:


> But I've read, I think in more than one place, that VST3 plugins are more likely to be buggy than their VST2 counterparts. I'll try to track down those statements and provide links here.


On rare occasions, I get occasional but consistent clicking with some VST3 plugins in Reaper, while the VST2 versions, on the same track with the same settings, don't click. I don't know if you can make a general rule out of this, or whether it is just a flaw in my particular system (which is Windows 10 based).


Digivolt said:


> I install both and usually just hide the VST2 plugins in Studio One in the event that if the VST3 has issues I can just unhide and use the VST2 without having to go and reinstall things


That's the way to go.

There may be differences in CPU usage, too. I haven't compared CPU usage on the PC, but before feeling let down by Apple, I was using a 2015 Macbook Pro (of which getting rid was the best improvement to my studio in a long while), and on that I measured that VST3 plugins were slightly more CPU-efficient than VST2.


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