Plugin ID# VST & VSTi

[RJHollins]

Something I've not been able to determine from manual or forum ...

An interesting situation has come up, whereby my 1st project was exported as a VST. Due to my working with REAPER, this was never an issue. However, it is in other DAWs [apparently]. To do the required 'routing', I need to issue the plugin as a VSTi. [I understand the practical function difference between VST and VSTi ... but not the special internal difference]

The question has to do with the plugin ID#.

Do we [or should we] give a VSTi edition a different ID# from the VST version ???

I don't fully understand the ID# implications. Would very much appreciate some insights.

Thanks!

[tester]

If you create 1 app as VST effect and 1 as VSTi instrument, then you are creating two separate plugins. Two different files with two different names. Thus - I would just give unique IDs. ID rather not interferes with type ("Hi, I'm John Smith" - two parts).

Reaper is pretty smart when dealing with plugins. While some/many hosts differenciate between VST and VSTi routings, reaper just loads whatever you give it - into one slot.

[trogluddite]

Yes, a unique ID for each plugin is a very good idea - some hosts do not use the file name for identifying the plugin, only the ID. Some hosts will have a problem if they see two plugin with the same ID, and there is no consistent behaviour to predict what they will do if there is a clash.
There's a handy little free tool I've used in the past called VSTspy to find out some info about plugin IDs etc. - it's rather old now, so I'm not sure how well it might work with newer 64bit plugins etc., but I've found it useful occasionally for diagnosing weird plugin loading problems.

[RJHollins]

Thank-you Gentlemen,

This all makes a lot more sense now. Thanks for helping me get a better understanding!