Where are my VSTs?

[Noodlemeister]

Hi,
Newbie here. Apologies if this subject has already been covered.
Reaper doesn’t recognise some of my plug-ins. Some it does, but others it doesn’t...so, is there a way to search for the lost VSTs?
Many thanks in advance

[joelsampson]

It's not Reaper. Plugins with an installer put them where they want, but usually you can change the directory. The defaullt seems to be a Steinberg folder, but it varies.

I have several directories and subdirectories to better keep them organized. That's one of the cool things about the Reaper VST/VSTi picker, it can read the folder.

The best plugins (typically the free ones) just have a .dll. Simply copy it where you want it.

Welcome to Reaper!

[chrisprice]

Originally Posted by Noodlemeister

Hi,
Newbie here. Apologies if this subject has already been covered.
Reaper doesn’t recognise some of my plug-ins. Some it does, but others it doesn’t...so, is there a way to search for the lost VSTs?
Many thanks in advance

I'm pretty new to Reaper too but I have a lot of years behind me using Cubase. I'm starting to get into Reaper in a big way. I think it's great...so versatile and very easy to customise.

You haven't said which plug-ins are missing. You could go into Preferences\VST and try re-scanning. That might work. If they are proprietory plug-ins that come with another DAW (eg. Cubase), they may not work with Reaper. I also have Cubase Elements 10 installed on my machine (Mac El Capitan), and none of the Steinberg plug-ins will show...with one exception..HalionSonic SE3..I had to do a seperate install of this in order for it to work with Reaper.

More info needed I think.

[Noodlemeister]

Originally Posted by chrisprice

I'm pretty new to Reaper too but I have a lot of years behind me using Cubase. I'm starting to get into Reaper in a big way. I think it's great...so versatile and very easy to customise.

You haven't said which plug-ins are missing. You could go into Preferences\VST and try re-scanning. That might work. If they are proprietory plug-ins that come with another DAW (eg. Cubase), they may not work with Reaper. I also have Cubase Elements 10 installed on my machine (Mac El Capitan), and none of the Steinberg plug-ins will show...with one exception..HalionSonic SE3..I had to do a seperate install of this in order for it to work with Reaper.

More info needed I think.

Many thanks for your reply, and help. The plug-ins that are missing are Synthmaster, Ascension and Toxic Biohazard. I really don’t understand how Sylenth and Vengeance are in Reaper but the others aren’t

[Noodlemeister]

Originally Posted by joelsampson

It's not Reaper. Plugins with an installer put them where they want, but usually you can change the directory. The defaullt seems to be a Steinberg folder, but it varies.

I have several directories and subdirectories to better keep them organized. That's one of the cool things about the Reaper VST/VSTi picker, it can read the folder.

The best plugins (typically the free ones) just have a .dll. Simply copy it where you want it.

Welcome to Reaper!

Hi Joel, thanks for your response. Steinberg is one of the directories that the plug-ins sit in...and Reaper recognises them. However, Synthmaster is in Steinberg but not in Reaper. How can that be?

[ivansc]

Have you tried doing a full clear/rescan to see if that helps?

[hopi]

I've got them... but for a small ransom I'll sell them back to you!

big suggestion:

Make three folders on C drive like so:

@ VST 3
@ VST 32
@ VST 64

when installing plugins, do not let them do the default install locations
always install into each of those folders, into a sub folder of the plugin name or plugin manufacturer... like @ VST 64\Fab Filter

then in reaper pref's set the vst locations to those three folders

I would highly suggest to uninstall what you have already done and do it again as above

[Kosmische]

Originally Posted by hopi

big suggestion:

Make three folders on C drive like so:

@ VST 3
@ VST 32
@ VST 64

when installing plugins, do not let them do the default install locations
always install into each of those folders, into a sub folder of the plugin name or plugin manufacturer... like @ VST 64\Fab Filter

then in reaper pref's set the vst locations to those three folders

I would highly suggest to uninstall what you have already done and do it again as above

I'm interested in your suggestion, Hopi, but as a newbie having the same problem as the OP, I'd need a bit more help.

I've created three new folders as you suggested but then realised I didn't know which of my (many) plug-ins are VST3s, which are 32 bit and which 64 bit. This is probably super-basic but can you tell me how I work out which ones to put where?

Thanks

[Stella645]

1. Delete the VST3 folder. All VST3 plugs have a vst3 extension instead of a dll and they will already be installed to one location. This is part of the vst3 standard so no need to try and circumvent it with your own folder.

2. If plugin dlls are not labelled with x86 or 32 or x64 or 64bit then you can't easily tell without getting them scanned by Reaper at which point any 32bit plugs should show as (x86)in the plugin chooser window.

But if they won't show up in the first place you won't be able to work out which type they are!