Portable Install & Vst's

[John B]

Hello Reaper Fans -
I downloaded both the 32bit & 64bit Reaper as a portable install onto my desktop in a folder. I have many vst plugins, which are all guitar related (amp sims, pedal sims, etc.). My question is, where should I install the vst's since I have done a portable install? I noticed I have an "Effects" folder within my portable install folder (located on desktop). I'm hoping that Reaper is a workable solution for a rookie guitarist wanting to explore - if so, I will quickly purchase a license; the price seems insanely fair! Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

John

[RobertP]

Hi there JB.
The vst's you see in the Reaper 'Effects' folder are the ones that come with Reaper and they are very good.
I would encourage you to make a new folder (not in the Reaper portable folder)
called VST, then inside that make two other folders one called vst32 and one vst64.
Install your amp sims, pedal sims, vsts into those two folders as appropriate.

Open Reaper and go to Options / Preferences / VST.
'Add' the main VST folder pathway, then 'Apply', then 'Rescan'.

When you then click on the FX button for a track, click on 'Add' and you should see all the vsts you installed and also the Reaper ones.

Good luck

[John B]

Originally Posted by misc100

Hi there JB.
The vst's you see in the Reaper 'Effects' folder are the ones that come with Reaper and they are very good.
I would encourage you to make a new folder (not in the Reaper portable folder)
called VST, then inside that make two other folders one called vst32 and one vst64.
Install your amp sims, pedal sims, vsts into those two folders as appropriate.

Open Reaper and go to Options / Preferences / VST.
'Add' the main VST folder pathway, then 'Apply', then 'Rescan'.

When you then click on the FX button for a track, click on 'Add' and you should see all the vsts you installed and also the Reaper ones.

Good luck

misc100....Thank you very much for your insight and advice! I'll definitely give that a go this evening. Again, thank you!

John

[John B]

Originally Posted by misc100

Hi there JB.
The vst's you see in the Reaper 'Effects' folder are the ones that come with Reaper and they are very good.
I would encourage you to make a new folder (not in the Reaper portable folder)
called VST, then inside that make two other folders one called vst32 and one vst64.
Install your amp sims, pedal sims, vsts into those two folders as appropriate.

Open Reaper and go to Options / Preferences / VST.
'Add' the main VST folder pathway, then 'Apply', then 'Rescan'.

When you then click on the FX button for a track, click on 'Add' and you should see all the vsts you installed and also the Reaper ones.

Good luck

I installed the new Reaper 5 as a portable install on my external Glyph drive. Would it be of any benefit to make a VST folder like you suggested and put that on my Glyph drive as well? I was wondering if it would enhance it in any way, or if it would operate the same if I put the VST folder on my desktop? Thanks so much for your advice and help!

JB

[RobertP]

It would operate the same for your vst folder wherever you put it as long as the correct pathway is there.

Couple of things though. I used to have Reaper on an external drive but it didn't seem to work very well - slow and glitchy if I remember right but that might have been my system and it relies on USB which can be flakey. You could try it and see how it goes but others here might have better or technical reasons. I seem to recall something about read/write speeds and access with external drive - dunno.. forgot.

Personally, I wouldnt put all this stuff on one drive just for safety sake. I have Reaper portable on one program drive, VSTs and projects on another and libraries on another - all internal. Thats the beauty of a portable install - if it dont work so well you can just pick it up and put it somewhere else.
I back all this up on an external drive.

[John B]

Originally Posted by misc100

It would operate the same for your vst folder wherever you put it as long as the correct pathway is there.

Couple of things though. I used to have Reaper on an external drive but it didn't seem to work very well - slow and glitchy if I remember right but that might have been my system and it relies on USB which can be flakey. You could try it and see how it goes but others here might have better or technical reasons. I seem to recall something about read/write speeds and access with external drive - dunno.. forgot.

Personally, I wouldnt put all this stuff on one drive just for safety sake. I have Reaper portable on one program drive, VSTs and projects on another and libraries on another - all internal. Thats the beauty of a portable install - if it dont work so well you can just pick it up and put it somewhere else.
I back all this up on an external drive.

Thanks! My Glyph drive operates at 7200rps, so hopefully that will be fast enough. I'll do some experimenting with it. By the way, thanks for the VST folder advice; it worked fantastic. Plus, it will make it easier to keep things organized...I tend to download all the free VST's I can in order to try out new stuff. Again, thanks!

JB