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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.
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