I think B4 and Ultimate Sound Bank Charlie are the only 32bit vsti's I use. Not sure because both Sonar and Reaper seamlessly bridge the 32's so I don't pay much attention. I never noticed much of a CPU hit with either, nor with JBridge back when I used that, but I don't usually have a lot of tracks to bog things down.

 

I think it is wise to gradually get rid of all 32bit plugins. Bridging can always cause problems and if some day want to change your DAW the choices will be limited by 32bit support.

 

Yes, besides many devs are dropping 32bit.

 

Basically, I agree. (After all, who doesn't want to be able to benefit by the larger amount of memory that the x64-bit architecture can bring to an application)? With 32-bit, an application is limited to 2GB of RAM; with 64-bit, it can address something beyond terabytes! Unfortunately, because of a whole host of conversion challenges (especially with larger sized plugins) oftentimes this programmatic undertaking is not as easy at it may appear. (Too lengthy a topic to go into here). Ultimately (when all is said and done) it seems that a developer has to decide whether the benefits of upgrading a 32-bit plugin to 64-bit are going to be worth their time and effort (think money, money, MONEY $$$). Whether or not DAW developers are going to be comfortable dropping 32-bit support altogether, remains to be seen. As always, the "bottom line" will reign over the 'immediate' decision.

 

I don't think I've ever used a plugin that needed more than 2GB and I am sure that many people are in the same boat, although they keep beating the 64 bit horse without really knowing why. More must be better, right?

For those who aren't planning on using all 64 bit plugs at this time, the "wise choice" would be 64 bit OS + 32bit Host. Reaper 32 even runs 64 bit plugs (if needed) without extra bridges.

 

More is better? Hardly. However, there are so many plugins, incorporating a plethora of sizes and attributes, it's virtually impossible to use a "one size fits all" analogy. In my case, I have put together projects where I absolutely needed a 64-bit plugin (from a certain developer). Then again, there have been many other projects where a 32-bit plugin would do just fine. Everybody's OS and audio system customization is different. So, whatever is needed, is used. (At least in my case).

 

My analogy doesn't say that "one size fits all".

It clearly says that many people are too picky with the 64 bit thing just for snobbery. They just don't need it but like to have "everything 64 bit" on their computers just because "it sounds better and I can hear a difference".

 

You have already limited options because some of them didn't even implemented 32bit support (Ableton, S1).
Additionally sticking to 32bit is likely the case of old plug-ins so you have another problem waiting to happen.

 

Last edited: Dec 8, 2015

I have 16GB of fast RAM in my machine; and I like to work without freezing tracks. So if I am using a lot of RAM heavy plugins, x86 can be a limitation. So I transitioned to x64 quite a while ago. Been finding replacements and updates for all the stuff I deem essential to my workflow. There isn't much left that I "can't live without."

 

What you read from me purely stems from my personal opinion. Nothing more and nothing less. Everyone has to measure all things musical from their own perspective. So, do not take my words in the wrong way. Music (both from a technical and aural perspective) is always open to multiple interpretations. Whatever works for you...

 

Absolutely.

That's the reason why I advocate that people should at least have an interpretation instead of blindingly following the "more is better" bandwagon and getting themselves into unnecessary trouble and workarounds.

 

I agree. You and I are definitely on the same page on that one. Nice chatting with you, kouros. I hope some folks will take a morsel here and there and (as you correctly point out) spare themselves headaches and wasting time looking for illusive/unnecessary factors that serve little purpose -- at the end of the [their] process.

 

Same here it seems like Reaper has the 32 brigde working perfect. I have used it for a lot of my 32 bit vst and not one issue yet.
Some examples are Guitar RIg and Amplitube.

 

32 bit can access 4 gigs of ram max, not 2 gigs.

 

Oops! My bad. Actually, on a 32-bit (x86) Windows-based OS with 4GB installed, you could have between 2.8 to 3.2 or so available depending on memory mapping of video cards and so on. The usable memory may be less than the installed memory.

 

s(M)exoscope - can be replaced
Sylenth1 - can be replaced
TrackSpacer - can be replaced

So in my personal case, I don't need any 32-bit plugins.

 

Actually there's no 32-bit version of Logc Pro X. With "64-bit sounds better" I must agree, it's plain stupid.

 

Goliath Sounds - Venm... but the website has been down for a while and the original developer is not responding to e-mails... but great distortion.

 

Don't remember very much right now (I'm a mess) but I'd definitely say Nexus, despite I read several stupid critics like it's for noobs bla bla I think it's an amazing plugin and it's always great to have it just in case.

 

One computer for old 32 bit projects. My main computer is 64 bit everything. Jbridge opens up a new - separate background process for each plugin instance. Not ideal whatsoever. My VST fx, are all 64 bit with the exceptions of a few, such as PI Warp and some others. I do have some 32-bit VST instruments that I still use on my 64-bit system. Can't think off hand which ones they are other than Nexus and ZeroG. I do use some old 32bit SA apps every blue moon like Making Waves, Tuareg, Stomper, Orgunater, and sometimes Rebirth w/ mod packs, for impulse ideas. lol

Basically, using them sparingly might not hurt, but mixing w/ 32bit plugins with bridging is not a good idea imho. Comps, eqs, reverbs......that adds up to 100s of instances. If you use a few, then, no big deal........or your PC/MAC, all of a sudden, decides to puke. :-/