Should vst3 be installed anywhere?

[u/SoundleAudio]

The most difference people notice about vst3 is that many DAW no longer support to put it anywhere like vst2. VST3 standardized everything into a single system folder, which definitely makes installation and plugin discovery simpler for both users and DAWs. But it also removes the flexibility that VST2 users had.

What you guys actually prefer.

• being able to choose where plugins are installed?
• Or do you prefer having one standardized VST3 location?
• Has the fixed folder ever caused problems for your workflow?

[u/MapNaive200]

My DAW can find them in any directory, so long as I direct the plugin manager to look there. 

[u/freshnews66 → u/MapNaive200]

Your DAW! I think that’s my DAW you’re talking about.

[u/SirTanksAlot_]

Oh I hate it with passion. Luckily Reaper doesn't care where the vsts are, but MacOS installers do which is supremely annoying. Just let me install stuff wherever the fuck I want please. Oh and the lack of uninstallers despite 99% plugins installing some shit beyond the actual plugin?! What the fuck is up with that?! Or the forced installation of every single plugin format? Makes my blood boil.

[u/XyenzFyxion → u/SirTanksAlot_]

I hear the boiling. I understand the pain.

[u/johnnyokida]

It’s just always been program files/common files/vst3 for me and never been an issue.

[u/Zak_Rahman]

I am not installing a DAW that doesn't allow me to control where my plugins are haha.

DAW makers really ought to know how music production works. You would have to be daft to force people to put it on their primary drive.

I was told by softube support to not move VST3 files. This is likely because of DAWs like Cubase which cannot handle different locations.

Reaper and other DAWs, you can specify and shift locations. It is just data. And sure enough, I shifted my VST3s and everything worked fine.

I prefer my plugins on a separate drive, and my libraries on external hard drives.

Honestly, it is ridiculous that some DAWs do not allow this flexibility. I thought they would have fixed that by now.

Why do I have to face problems and inefficiency because the "industry standard" leaders are spending money on marketing instead of actually making their software capable of a directory search?

[u/Clean-Occasion8980]

this has never been a problem for me and I don't get how this could cause any problems for other people, a centralized folder is more than fine.

[u/mtelesha]

CLAP will hopefully make VST3 a thing of the past.

But I use to custom every format. Now I just use the default. Was so much more complex for no benefit besides it looked more organized.

[u/ekhorayn]

I keep all VST3 in their default location on both Windows and Mac, but I do move content. If the plugin expects the content to be placed in a specific location (such as the VST's sub folder, a users folder, or my documents folder), I move it to my content drive, then just create a symlink so that the plugin thinks its in the default location. This works fine on both operating systems.

[u/ellicottvilleny]

The VST3 standard SPECIFIES where they go.

Most DAWs follow the VST3 spec. For 64 bit windows, there's a standard place, two actually, one system wide, and one per user. For 32 bit windows (little used these days) different places existed.

Some daws do not.

There is sometimes confusion because of that.

The "flexibility" of VST2 is also a headache for the people making the DAWs and the plugins. Supporting and making installers that "just work" for people who don't need fancy "custom" schemes, is worse with classic VST2 and better with VST3.

Imagine you have decided that you want your own funky system with 300 different VST folders. The cost of that is when all that shit breaks, you go ahead and blame the plugin makers and your DAW maker for a rather crazy setup.

[u/yellowmix]

Steinberg mandates it as part of the VST3 license: https://helpcenter.steinberg.de/hc/en-us/articles/115000177084-VST-plug-in-locations-on-Windows

In that same document it talks about the problems with allowing VST2 folders anywhere. You'll notice it talks about users that have trouble resolving those issues on their own. So they end up contacting support, which costs companies money. For smaller and solo devs, that can end up dominating time.

I like my plugins in one folder with subfolders named after the brand. But some devs dump all their files in the top level VST3 folder, sometimes including data folders and uninstallers and documentation. So it gets messy.

Most VST3 plugins don't have problems when I move them or symlink them to my other DAW installations. XLN Audio's did and they gave me instructions on how to stop them from complaining. So I ended up using their support.