About VST Plugins

ABOUT VST PLUGINS

VST plugins

VST plugins are used with VST hosts. A VST host is a piece of software which loads and maintains all VST plugins. It usually manages recording, preferences and settings such as latency and sound card settings.

VST plugins can be instruments, for example synthesizers, keyboards or organs. Or they can be effects, for example filters, echo units or compressors. An instrument is usually refered to as VSTi (VST instrument). But the term VST plugin is also common, no matter if it's an instrument or an effect.

The framework

VST means Virtual Studio Technology and was developed by Steinberg Soft- und Hardware GmbH. It's an open framework in the sense that manufacturers of VST plugins may use it and host manufacturers too. However, Steinberg still maintain the rights to the interface.

Plugins

The term plugin (or plug-in) has been around for a while. For example, Microsoft developed DirectSound and DirectX in the middle of the 90s, a framework which features DirectX plugins. Steinberg developed VST for the launch of their host software Cubase VST. Apple developed Audio Units as part of CoreAudio, for Mac OS X. There are other plugin formats too, for example RTAS and LADSPA. RTAS is DigiDesign's plugin format for ProTools and LADSPA is Linux Audio Developers' Simple Plugin API.

As you can see there are several competing formats and several applications which may host plugins on Windows and Mac OS X. But most musicians seem to use either VST plugins, if they run Windows, or Audio Units if they run Mac OS X. The reason is that many Windows users seem to choose the Cubase SX host, by Steinberg, and many Mac OS X users seem to choose some of Apple's applications, for example Logic or Garage Band, which support Audio Units.

There are adapters though, which can convert plugins from one format to another. For example, Cakewalk users often use a VST to DirectX adapter so they can use VST plugins in applications like Sonar, which (at the time of this writing) supports DirectX plugins only and not VST plugins. But with an adapter, such problems are easily solved.