VST 2 will gradually be discontinued

[RandomNoise]

Screen Shot 2022-01-19 at 19.36.59.png (94.49 KiB) Viewed 4868 times

https://helpcenter.steinberg.de/hc/en-u ... 9561018258

[MrFigg]

If it takes RS as long for them to take out VST2 support as it took for them to put it in then we’re good.

[Loque]

If it takes RS as long for them to take out VST2 support as it took for them to put it in then we’re good.

[orthodox]

It says VST2 to be discontinued in Steinberg's host applications and plug-ins. I've never used Cubase or Steinberg plugins.

[DaveyG]

It says VST2 to be discontinued in Steinberg's host applications and plug-ins. I've never used Cubase or Steinberg plugins.

I presume that Steinberg could also withdraw the VST2 licence from third parties like RS and all the other DAW companies if they wanted to but simply dropping VST2 support in the Steinberg products might be enough to persuade VST vendors to switch to VST3.

[orthodox]

It says VST2 to be discontinued in Steinberg's host applications and plug-ins. I've never used Cubase or Steinberg plugins.

I presume that Steinberg could also withdraw the VST2 licence from third parties like RS and all the other DAW companies if they wanted to but simply dropping VST2 support in the Steinberg products might be enough to persuade VST vendors to switch to VST3.

They can't withdraw it:

...
§ 9 TERM OF THE AGREEMENT
1. The Agreement shall run for an unlimited period.
...

[ScuzzyEye]

I presume that Steinberg could also withdraw the VST2 licence from third parties like RS and all the other DAW companies if they wanted to but simply dropping VST2 support in the Steinberg products might be enough to persuade VST vendors to switch to VST3.

They can't withdraw it:

Yeah, they can't withdraw it, but they've not granted the license to any new developer since October 2018. This includes anyone starting to make a DAW. So everything from new companies have to be VST3 only. They're doing everything they can to get people to move on.

I agree. The VST3 format is superior in every way (except maybe for higher dimension Ambisonics and channel labeling, but that's being sorted out). If I'm given the option during install, I don't even put VST2 plug-ins on my computer.

[orthodox]

Yeah, they can't withdraw it, but they've not granted the license to any new developer since October 2018. This includes anyone starting to make a DAW. So everything from new companies have to be VST3 only. They're doing everything they can to get people to move on.

Yes I know that, I'm only talking about other DAWs. Why would they voluntarily drop compatibility with maybe discontinued VST2 plugins that some users still want to use?

[Billy+]

I'm not a developer so don't really understand the implications of this?

I assume that any DAW that currently allows vst2.4 devices to be hosted would continue to do so and won't have to remove support for vst2.4 devices and all should continue working as normal?

It would be very disappointing for R12 to break any vst2.4 device before they fully implemented the standard?

I've got quite a few vst2.4 devices that don't offer vst3 versions...

[avasopht]

I'm not a developer so don't really understand the implications of this?

I assume that any DAW that currently allows vst2.4 devices to be hosted would continue to do so and won't have to remove support for vst2.4 devices and all should continue working as normal?

It would be very disappointing for R12 to break any vst2.4 device before they fully implemented the standard?

I've got quite a few vst2.4 devices that don't offer vst3 versions...

It's no big deal really, you can use an adapter to run vst3's as vst2 and vst2's as vst3.

[DaveyG]

I've got quite a few vst2.4 devices that don't offer vst3 versions...

The whole point of the latest Steinberg move is to pressure companies into making a VST3 version of their VST2 products. Most of them will do so. Of course, some VST2s will be out of development and some companies may opt to retire a VST rather than invest in updating it.

I imagine it will really piss off those companies who are currently having to spend time and money updating their perfectly fine VST2s to be compatible with the latest Macs.

But, yeah, there will always be some sort of wrapper that will allow VST2 to live on, in the same way that you can run 32 bit VSTs on a 64 bit system. Don't panic Mr Mainwaring.

[integerpoet]

I'm not a developer so don't really understand the implications of this?

If you use Steinberg apps, their releases will stop supporting VST2 plug-ins soon-ish. If you don't use Steinberg apps, this is mostly a distant early warning that the market for them will become less robust. Even if you are sure you have bought all the VST2 plug-ins you will ever buy, their developers will be decreasingly interested in keeping them up to date for new operating systems, etc., and they will eventually break. In fact, the VST2 SDK as a whole will eventually break, and there will come a time when Steinberg has lost interest in fixing it.

This may also be a good time to note some other stuff that was already true before this announcement.

Steinberg apparently has no plans to make it possible to run VST2 plug-ins natively on the new-ish Apple silicon Macs. RS apparently plans to address this to the extent that it can by introducing support for VST3 at the same time it introduces support for running Reason natively on these Macs.

It seems almost certain that VST2 plug-ins will not function under an Apple silicon build of Reason. And before someone jumps in and says "But you can just install a VST3 adapter for VST2 plug-ins", it isn't that simple. On Apple silicon, a VST3 plug-in cannot directly load and run a VST2 plug-in. It's probably not impossible to build an adapter which would bridge the gap, but it would be a lot of work for a highly qualified engineering team, and in the end VST2 plug-ins would still not be running natively on Apple silicon. I would be very surprised if any developer determined they could make money doing this much work to serve a shrinking market.

If you don't have an Apple silicon Mac, you might think this doesn't affect you. And maybe it doesn't for now, depending on whether RS continues to support VST2 on other machines. However, it will help exert downward pressure on the VST2 market which will eventually affect you indirectly.

[ScuzzyEye]

Yes I know that, I'm only talking about other DAWs. Why would they voluntarily drop compatibility with maybe discontinued VST2 plugins that some users still want to use?

Because the DAWs are controlled by Steinberg, and they're trying to force developers to make VST3 versions of their plugins. As for discontinued, they likely don't care.

Discontinued presents other problems like no native M1 support on Mac. If I were using a plug-in from a company who is no longer doing updates I'd be looking for an alternative anyway.

[npinero1]

I realize that plugins are just a part of the tools for creativity, but sometimes the tool itself enhances interpretations of the muse.

I think there was a press release From Steinberg that support for VST2 is discontinued. I am guessing VST2 sers will be ok for 1-2 years, maybe more but is there anything to be mindful of over the next few years. Any thoughts?

[integerpoet]

You might want to check out this thread:

viewtopic.php?f=48&t=7526582