Synthedit help and tutorials

Stuck with a SynthEdit project?

Tag: VST3

V1.5 FAQ’s

28/02/2025 / / 0 Comments

Requirements

Windows.
V1.5 Requires Windows 8.1 or better. 64 Bit Windows 10 is recommended. V1.5 may well not run on anything older than Windows 10, and any Windows OS must be 64 Bit.
MAC OS.
macOS plugins require macOS 10.9 or better.
Linux/Unix.
Sorry, no some people have tried WINE and Linux with varying success.

(False) Virus Alerts.

Unfortunately all Anti-Virus software is getting more aggressive and is registering harmless modules that haven’t been code signed as a Virus. Chances are if it’s a SynthEdit module it’s going to be a false positive, and you can safely ignore it.
I had the issue with Elena Novaretti’s Spectral Synthesis trial modules installing OK, getting a random virus alert, and then the modules would all disappear into some kind of Windows “Limbo”. She’s now fixed this issue but it’s something to be aware of. It’s not something Jeff can fix, so please don’t report it as a bug!
For example the Chrome browser even goes through spells of refusing to download perfectly safe PDF files etc., and tells me perfectly safe websites are out to steal my personal data…

New Features

MIDI 2.0/MPE: MIDI2 and MIDI Polyphonic Expression (MPE) support. Both are hardware dependent, and MPE needs some setting up in the DAW.
MIDI output in plugins (depends on DAW support)
ARM: Apple Silicon (ARM) support.
VST3 Format: VST3 plugins are supported on both Windows and macOS.
SFZ: SFZ (Sample Playback) is now supported.
Zoomable windows: Windows in the editor are now ‘zoomable’ by holding down the <CTRL> key and using the mouse-wheel to zoom in and out.
Finding Modules: Searchable module browser.
Oversampling: New oversampling mode for control-signals (add * to pin name)
New Plug-in formats: ‘Export as JUCE’ supports additional plugin formats in some cases (AAX, CLAP, Standalone)
Faster loading of projects.
New XML-based project format (human readable)’
The ‘Ignore Program Change’ feature returns.
VST3 bypass parameter support (add a Bool PatchMem called “BYPASS”) 

Known Issues

Reaper: Universal VST3 plugins might fail to scan in Reaper. A workaround is to delete the ‘MacOS’ folder inside the VST3 plugin. Davidson has also produced a utility to remove all traces of MAC or Windows from your VST (depends which OS you want to use). The utility is on his website.
MIDI out: MIDI output from VST3 plugins depends on DAW support. Some DAWs, like Cubase, do not support this.
macOS: Partially transparent images may render too dark on macOS.
Windows HDR: On Windows, HDR screens will switch SynthEdit to a slightly lower-quality rendering mode (8-bit).
Parameter Limits: Parameter limits (i.e. high-value and low-value) are not enforced in the SynthEdit editor but are enforced by the DAW in plugins. This behavior is needed to support older projects.
False virus positives. Some anti-virus software might report SynthEdit modules as having a virus. These are usually fake positives (not viruses). If you are a professional developer you can alleviate this by code-signing your plugins.
Ableton BUG: Knob movements can ‘jitter’ in Ableton Live. This appears to be a bug in Ableton Live 12, this is not a Bug in SynthEdit..
GUI Module behaviour: GUI modules (the blue ones) are reset when you change their inputs by typing in the properties panel (window at far right). This might make them act surprisingly.
Intel Graphics issues: SynthEdit may have graphical bugs on low-spec graphics hardware (e.g. Intel Integrated Graphics). You can alleviate (sometimes) this by “Disabling Hardware Graphics” on the General Preferences screen, and restarting SynthEdit. I have personally known this to cause V1.5 to crash during it’s start up before even opening a Window.

Reporting Bugs

Please do report bugs you are helping everyone by doing this, but do not report them at the SynthEdit.IO group but on GITHUB, see SynthEdit Bug Reporting at GitHub. If the bug occurs under certain specific conditions be as full and precise in your description of the bug as possible, screenshots of error messages etc. are very helpful, as are details of your operating system, and if you can upload a zipped copy of the project file for Jeff to analyze this will help him tremendously.

Upgrading from older versions

Please ensure you have the absolute latest version of SynthEdit 1.4 installed, and that way your existing projects will have the fewest problems with being opened in SynthEdit 1.5.
SynthEdit 1.5 will quietly use SynthEdit 1.4 in the background to upgrade projects that are otherwise too old to be compatible with 1.5
Module compatibility. Can I use the new Modules in V1.5 with V1.4 by copying them into the V1.4 modules folder? The official advice from Jeff is no do not do this. It will most likely be very “buggy” and unpredictable.
Any modules from V1.4 that are not compatible with V1.5 will have been upgraded automatically.
Old 32 Bit modules will probably not even appear in the module browser.

Universal VST3 plugins

A universal plugin can run on either macOS or Windows. SynthEdit now produces universal VST3 plugins. This means you can offer the same download to macOS and Windows users. It will ‘just work’. SynthEdit universal VST3s support both Intel Mac computers and ‘Apple Silicon’ (ARM) based ones such as the M1, M2, and later. As a result of being universal, VST3 plugins now take a little more disk space and contain more files than with previous versions of SynthEdit.

MIDI 2.0

SynthEdit 1.5 uses MIDI 2.0. This should work automatically in most cases. However, if you are using 3rd-party MIDI plugins you will need to use a MIDI Converter module to convert their incoming MIDI to version 1.0. You don’t need any converter on the output, SE will convert it back to MIDI 2.0 as required. 

Creating VST 2 plug-ins.

SynthEdit 1.5 (and later versions) does not directly support the saving of VST2 plugins (only VST3). However, some projects can also be loaded in the older version (SynthEdit 1.4) and exported as VST2 plugins from there.
To save some hassle SE 1.5 export has a tick-box option ‘Create a VST2 using SE 1.4’. All this does is automatically launch SynthEdit Version 1.4 (if it’s installed) and export the same project from there.

limitations:
1) The project file must be compatible with SE 1.4, this means the projects save format must be *.se1 not *.synthedit
2) The project must rely only on modules that are SE 1.4 compatible
3) You must have the latest SE 1.4 installed Build 695  or later. Earlier versions will fail to work properly if at all.

Related posts:

  1. Can I use SynthEdit V 1.5?
  2. Virus alerts.
  3. About VST plugins and VST3.
  4. MPE How to set it up.

About VST plugins and VST3.

09/02/2024 / / 0 Comments

What is a VST?

VST is an abbreviation of Virtual Studio Technology which is an audio plug-in software interface that plugs-in software synthesizers and effects units into digital audio workstations. VST and similar technologies use digital signal processing (DSP) to emulate a traditional hardware recording studio using computer software technology.
Thousands of plugins exist, both paid and free, and many audio applications support VST under license from it’s original creator, Steinberg.

Overview
VST plugins generally run within a digital audio workstation (DAW), to provide additional functionality and instruments, although there are few standalone plugin hosts exist that support VST plugins.
Most VST plugins are either instruments (VSTi) or effects (VSTfx), although other categories do exist: for example spectrum analyzers, and various meters.
VST plugins nearly always provide a custom graphical user interface (GUI) that displays controls similar to physical switches and knobs on audio hardware. Some (often older) plugins rely on the host application for their user interface.

VST Instruments.

VST instruments include software simulation emulations of well-known hardware synthesizers (Moog, ARP, Roland to name a few) and samplers. These often closely emulate the look of the original equipment as well as its sonic characteristics, and behaviour. This lets musicians and recording engineers use virtual versions of devices that otherwise might be almost unobtainable, very expensive and hugely expensive to keep in working condition.

A VST Instrument running in the Reason DAW.

A VST Instrument running in Reason DAW

VST plugins and MIDI
VST instruments receive notes as digital information via MIDI, generate, process and output the results as digital audio.

VST Effects plugins.

Effects plugins are able to receive digital audio and process it, passing it on to their outputs. Some of the effect plugins also accept a MIDI input – for example, MIDI sync to modulate the effect in sync with the tempo.
MIDI messages can control both instrument and effect plugin parameters. Most host applications can route the audio output from one VST to the audio input of another VST (chaining). For example, the output of a VST synthesizer can be sent through a VST reverb effect.

A VST plugin running in Reason DAW.

A VST Effect running in Reason DAW

History of VSTs.

Steinberg released the VST interface specification and Software Development Kit (SDK) in 1996. They released it at the same time as the Steinberg Cubase 3.02 DAW, which included their first VST plugins: Espacial (a reverb effect), Choirus (a chorus effect), a Stereo Echo, and an Auto-Panner.

VST 2.
Steinberg updated the VST interface specification to version 2.0 in 1999. One notable addition was the ability for plugins to receive MIDI data. This supported the introduction of VSTi plugins. VST Instruments could now act as standalone software synthesizers, samplers, or drum machines.
Neon was the first available VST Instrument (which was included with Cubase VST 3.7). It was a 16-voice, 2-oscillator virtual analog synthesizer (Pretty basic compared to some of the VSTi’s being created now).
VST 2.4.
In 2006, the VST interface was updated to version 2.4.
Changes included the ability to process audio with 64-bit precision. A free-software replacement was developed for Linux MultiMedia Studio (LMMS) that would be used later by other free-software projects.

VST 3.0 was introduced in 2008. Changes included:
Audio Inputs for VST Instruments
Multiple MIDI inputs/outputs
Optional Steinberg Kernel Interface (SKI) integration

VST 3.5 was introduced in February 2011.
Changes included:
Note expression, which provides extensive articulation information in individual note events in a polyphonic arrangement. According to Steinberg, this improves support for performance flexibility, and allows a more natural playing feel.
In October 2011, Celemony Software and PreSonus released Audio Random Access (ARA), which is an extension for audio plug-in interfaces, such as VST, allowing for greater integration between the audio plug-ins and DAW software.

VST2 Support officially discontinued.
In September, 2013, Steinberg discontinued maintenance of the VST 2 SDK. In December, Steinberg stopped distributing the V2 SDK. The higher versions of SDK have continued support.

VST 3.6.7 came out in March, 2017.
VST 3.6.7 includes a preview version of VST3 for the Linux software platform, and the VST3 part of the SDK was given a new dual license: “Proprietary Steinberg VST3” or the “Open-source GPLv3”.

Hosting VST’s

VST plugins can be hosted in incompatible environments by using using software a translation layer, or shim. For example, FL Studio only supports its own proprietary plugin architecture, but a native “wrapper” loads VST plugins, among others. FXpansion likewise has a VST to Real Time Audio Suite (RTAS) wrapper that lets VST plugins run in Pro Tools, and a VST-to-Audio Units (AU) wrapper lets VST plugins run in Logic Pro.

Hardware Hosting.
Hardware VST hosts can load specially created versions of VST plugins. These units are portable and usable without a computer, although some of them do require a computer for editing.
Other hardware options include PCI/PCIe cards designed specially for audio processing, which take over audio processing from the computer’s CPU and free up RAM and valuable processor power.
Some hardware hosts accept VSTs and VSTis, and either run Windows-compatible music applications such as Cubase, Live, Pro Tools, Logic etc., or are able to run their own DAW. Other hardware hosts are only VST Hosts, and thus will require a separate DAW to function.
Origin from Arturia is a hardware DSP system that houses several VST software synthesizers in one machine, such as the Jupiter 50/80 from Roland. Using the required software, audio data can also be sent over a network, so the main host runs on one computer, and the VST plugins can run on peripheral machines.

The VST Standard.

The VST plugin standard is the audio plugin standard created by Steinberg to allow any third-party developers to create VST plugins for use within VST host applications. VST requires separate installations for Windows, macOs, and Linux. The short history of software developments for Linux means few developers have as yet targeted the Linux platform.

Presets
VST plugins usually have many controls, and therefore need a method of managing presets (sets of control settings).
Steinberg Cubase VST introduced two file formats for storing presets: an FXP file stores a single preset, while an FXB file stores a whole bank of presets. These formats have since been adopted by many other VST hosts, although Cubase itself switched to a new system of preset management with Cubase 4.0.
Many VST plugins have their own proprietary methods of loading and saving presets, which do not necessarily use the Steinberg FXP/FXB formats.

Typical VSTi Preset menu.

A VSTi Preset menu

Related posts:

  1. 64 Bit Synthedit FAQ
  2. V1.5 FAQ’s

© 2025 Synthedit help and tutorials

Theme by Anders Norén — Up ↑