Just bought WinX x64 and ask - where to put VST dir?

Hi guys

I decided to upgrade Windows to latest Win10 X64, to be honest I am pretty impressed how good it looks (!?) and I swear to Life that I will stay on Win7 forever because all VSTs are working.

My question would be:

  • What will be the best / most working VST instruments dir? As you probably know I have bunch of various instruments (much free, less bought), some are x64, some are x32, some are from WinXP, some are from Win7 time… Will the best place to start getting / installing from beginning VST instruments and use in Renoise one of these links:

A)C:\Program Files (x86)\Steinberg\VstPlugins****

B)C:\Program Files\Steinberg\VstPlugins****

C)C:\Program Files (x86)\VstPlugins****

D)C:\Program Files\VstPlugins****

or something else?

I am asking this because during installation I must chase where every installation goes and make sure (or pray) it is going to work?

If you run into trouble, you can mklink to help work-around the limited number of paths.

I put mine in c:\users<username\VST

Easy to locate, easy to type.

Every program I use that needs a VST path lets me tell it where it is.

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steinberg\VstPlugins**\ for 32 bit VST’s < these directories include the Steinberg vst plugins and instruments*
C:\Program Files\Steinberg\VstPlugins** \ for 64 bit VST’s ***< these directories include the Steinberg vst plugins and instruments

if you are \ did not use any Steinberg plugins
then

C)C:\Program Files (x86)\VstPlugins**\ **for 32 bit VST’s

D)C:\Program Files\VstPlugins**\ **for 64 bit VST’s

32 bit plugins can be hosted ONLY through 32bit installed daws (86 bit)

Don’t put them under Program Files as old synthmaker ones will not work from there.

You can put them in a custom folder, which is easy to find and to maintain. E.g. some plugins consist of a dll only, so you could just copy it in there.

I have two folders “C:\msx\VSTI” for effects like delay, compressor etc. and"C:\msx\VSTI_Instruments" for instruments like synthesizers.

You can put them in a custom folder, which is easy to find and to maintain. E.g. some plugins consist of a dll only, so you could just copy it in there.
I have two folders “C:\msx\VSTI” for effects like delay, compressor etc. and"C:\msx\VSTI_Instruments" for instruments like synthesizers.

hmm… I wonder where the “I” in vsti stands for…

Mine are in C:\VST Plugins. The user directory would probably be a “cleaner” place, but either way it side-steps potential privilege issues that may surface if you put them into the Program Files directories.