VST vs Audiounits

[supersonic]

Hi everyone

I am in the middle of an interesting conversation with a developer of the MeldaProduction plugs-in which I am very fond of and after a few recent hick-ups with the latest updates concerning the AU version of the plug-ins he has admitted it is not the most comfortable format to work with. Since we now have the possibility to switch to VST in DP I will do that at least for his plug-ins but I would take this opportunity to ask you how you tackle the subject. Have simply continued to use AU as before or have some of you switched to VST for some, perhaps all the plug-ins?

[bayswater]

I do use VSTs now and then, and have never had a problem with them. If an AU was not available, it would make no difference to me. That said, I don't see how anyone making plugins could drop the AU format and lose the Logic and GB base which is very large.

[kgdrum]

I also use both AU's and VST's,some developers have actually told me if given a choice they recommend using VST's,of course ymmv but overall I think both work well.

[MikeInBoston]

I mainly use AUs. Hey, I'm on the Mac, I will probably always be on a Mac (as long as Apple keeps making them), and that's the Mac standard. However, if I found out that the VST version of a plug-in did something that I wanted or needed, of course, I would take advantage of the special features of the VST version in that case.

Mike

[billf]

I use mainly AU, and like others have said, use VST on rare occasions.

[Michael Canavan]

I use Au for backwards compatibility. VSTi's can send MID date if they have a sequencer or arp built in to them and the developer decided to implement that. AU's currently cannot. So Geist, and Reaktor I have as VST.
Urs Heckman who Makes Zebra and Diva among other plug ins, got his start on AU, and there are still developers that first code the AU version. If all you care about is stability generally speaking you could go with VST when the developer is primarily a Windows coder, or prefers Windows etc. Reaktor started off as Windows only, and it took years for the AU port to work properly so VST might be a better choice there.

This brings up the oddities in DP's implementation of both platforms? No other DAW I know of asks for one to be primary? Live has plug in wide on/off states for AU and VST. Plus it seems now you can have both available, but in the drop down menu, it just says:
Reaktor
Reaktor
Reaktor
Reaktor

For the AU and VST versions… The pop out chooser window shows AU or VST though.

[James Steele]

I am in the middle of an interesting conversation with a developer of the MeldaProduction plugs-in which I am very fond of and after a few recent hick-ups with the latest updates concerning the AU version of the plug-ins he has admitted it is not the most comfortable format to work with.

That's interesting. I really liked his freebie "Notes" plug-in that let you just keep text notes about a project with it, but it was AU and it caused crashing for me. If he has a VST instead, I may give that a whirl.

[supersonic]

According to Vojtech from Meldaproduction The AU unit standard is not the best written standard and VST is, from his point of view, a better environment to code in. I think the freebies are in VST format also. Also he mentioned the AU units having a slight CPU overhang. I might give that notion a try to see if a fully loaded project in AU performs better in VST. One of the quirks of DP is that once up you use a plug-in in given format and change it in the plug-ins manager to another, it will still be looking for the other format used in a project and report it missing. It would be cool if it simply recognized the new format and load the plug in as if nothing happened.

[Prime Mover]

Ya know, I've heard similar things. It's not a hot issue, but whenever it comes up, I usually hear VST being praised over AU. I gather it's slightly more sophisticated, have a few features that AU doesn't have (though probably because of that, no one implements them). That said, VST has sort of stagnated as developers have refused to adopt VST3 en mass, and I hear Steinberg's getting frustrated.

But VST is new to DP. I'm kind of shocked that there haven't been a few bumps in the road. I've been subtly avoiding it just because it's new and untested. However, I have never had any issues with any VSTs... in fact, I'm considering switching a few plugins over that currently aren't working correctly in AU format.

[kgdrum]

UA tech support actually told me that if given the choice between AU and VST they feel VST is more stable with their plugs.

[billf]

Also he mentioned the AU units having a slight CPU overhang

Thanks for sharing this.

Yikes! Are there any benchmark tests we can see that support that? How is such a thing possible given that Apple designs the Mac, OSX, and AU? Also how many AU's would someone need to run before it starts to have a serious impact on CPU performance?

[mikehalloran]

There are some old 32bit AU plugs that no longer work in 64bit as expected. The VST versions work with JBridge in DP 8 64bit - a welcome surprise.

[David Polich]

Developers who say VST is the better standard
are just more comfortable with it.

Benchmark comparison tests would be a
waste of time. How many AU's can you
run at a time? It depends on which ones
you're using. CPU consumption varies
from plug to plug and VI to VI. It isn't a
matter of whether AU or VST is inherently
better or worse.

Who cares. Use VST or AU,
whichever you like.

[Prime Mover]

Gotta disagree, David. It may not be a big enough point to fret about, but there can be such a thing as an objectively better or worse standard. If memory handling and CPU usage is streamlined, then you can easily have one flavor that I would think you can call superior. Yes, there is the inherent comfortability factor as well, but I don't believe it's wrong to point to one or the other and be able to make a judgement call... though I doubt many here can make that kind of judgement.

[mhschmieder]

Does anyone have links handy for developer packs for each standard? I'm curious now to look at the code and evaluate it.

This is a good time for me to consider switching to VST from AU, as I've been focused mostly on live playing, composing, and practicing acoustic instruments these past six months, so when I get back to recording in earnest next month, it won't throw me off if I make some changes to my routine.