Reaper sorts plugins in a couple of different ways so it's easy to find what you're looking for, however you can also sort and rename plugins within Reaper any way you want. I keep the most used ones in "Favourites" folder for example. I also renamed some just so they're easier to find. You can load all plugins from a drop down menu when you click on "FX" with the right button and that's the fastest way to load a plugin that I've ever seen, although you can have a list of plugins in the dock, too, which is also pretty fast, similar to Ableton Live.

So I'd definitely suggest you to give Reaper a chance.

 

Hello Pablo, although we have already talked about this by PM
I leave my opinion the same
Each DAW has its advantages and disadvantages. I have tried many Daws as I told you.
Cubase, nuendo, fl studio, reaper, studio one, samplitube, reason, bandlab, cakewalk, pro tools, ableton and I don't remember others.
I don't really know all of them. But let's say you find a DAW that lets you organize folders exactly how you want. And everything else that another daw can offer you? because according to the music you told me you make, FL studio (for example) will not be as simple to use as Studio One, or Cubase.

 

OK, so you seem to be talking about organizing things in multiple folders in Windows (or whatever O/S you use) vs. just doing it in the DAW itself... but maybe that's because you're not aware you can do this quite easily in a DAW..?? It would only require one instance of the plugin installed.

I'm just suggesting here, but in Reaper you have an FX Browser that lists all your VSTs/VSTis. You can create categories (and there are many categories already created for you by default). This gives you a good way to organize things. Perhaps you have your mixing category where you throw in some EQ, and you can also place it in your favorites... and anywhere else you like. On top of that, I'm not sure how many DAWS allow you to do it, but you can rename plugins within Reaper too. I've done it a few times, like how I differentiate my Kontakt legit and my Kontakt "Portable" I also grabbed for more nefarious purposes Similar features probably exist in several DAWs, I just know what I've used though.

Just to give you a real world example of what I'm talking about, I have a couple categories I set up for Retro stuff. A retro instruments where I threw a bunch of VSTis that emulate old synths, and a Retro FX category where I drop some VSTs for things like adding a tape warble effect. I also have these plugins in other categories too. This makes a lot more sense to me on how to do things, but your brain is your brain, and I'm not going to re-train you here. Just a suggestion. If it works for you, great, if it doesn't, well, don't do it.

Reaper is a bit clunky of a DAW for people who work mainly with MIDI (me), but to me it is incredible value. It does everything any DAW out there does.. sometimes in a difficult way.. but it does everything. I don't think you'll find a more feature laden DAW, yet the price to actually own it is ridiculously cheap. There is also a fantastic forum/community for support.

I have thought about switching to Ableton Live, but I don't want to lose features, and their price model is ridiculous by comparison. I may acquire a lot of stuff on the sister site, but I also like to own things. Anyways, rambling now.. to sum: Reaper does everything, but can be cumbersome to use/learn. I still recommend it though.

Edit: sorry, some folks more succinctly iterated some of what I said already, as I was typing my novel But I think I've provided some additional info that may be of use.

 

look Pablo
You can do this in Studio one.
You can create folders, subfolders, rename them, give the plugin a new name, etc.
What you have to do is drag the plugin to the daw and then save it there as "presets", then drag the "preset" and the plugin opens.

 

Why not just:

Install them all - test - pick your choice - delete what you dont like.

My suggestions will be:
Cubase
Nuendo
Studio One

 

I don't like to give opinions for others. But... I guess when someone asks something it's because they want to avoid installing and trying daw by daw. Understanding the functionalities of a Daw can take months, and years (excellent as long as one has)
So if someone asks "Do you know Daw can do this?" and you give him a list of 20 daw to try one by one, I would say that it is not very useful, you can do the same without asking the question.
Or am I wrong?

For example, Cubase is extremely complex. Despite having used it for years, I never learned all its functions. That is why the experience of each one is important

 

My capacities in composing, arranging and my ear have developed a lot in the last 15 years. When I used pro tools back in the days I used it mainly to record, mix and master live audio. Now, yes I want to record live audio (guitar, bass and voice mainly) but I'd like to use midi/samples as a complement. So midi and vst instruments are highly important for me. In the DAW-chart this guy said that Cubase is well oriented to midi productions, and people here say it has the vst organizing capabilities that I expect. On the other hand, studio one, a compact and solid (may be, according to what I'm reading, I don't want to offend anybody) "basic" environment is also one of my favourites.

I don't know the difference between arrangement and session views, but knowing my workflow I know I need and environment where multiple midi and audio tracks can easily viewed, copied, pasted, removed, etc - I guess this is common to most of the DAWS.

Protools AAX: I generally dislike the "this is only for me" approach, so

 

That's what I said 10 posts ago.

 

Great thank you!

 

Gracias amigo! qué grande

 

There is one thing you should also keep in mind. Are you going to download it from the site brother? because yes, Cubase is much more complex and has many more functions than Studio one. But so far the versions I have tried of Cubase, hang unexpectedly, freeze, etc. Maybe someone who has been dealing with this knows how to "tune it up" (I believe) that the most stable programs that have been released on the sister site are Reaper and Studio one.

 

Great, it seems Reaper is fantastic in this bussiness. But I want to priorize the midi vst capabilities, but I'mm sure it's a great DAW anyway. Thank you!

Nothing to be sorry about friend, your comments are totally wellcome!

 

--

 

+1 for Studio One

Yes, I downloaded cubase 12 in sister site. May be is a question of pc capabilities? Anybody knows about the issues @Ryck is talking about? In the sister site people had some troubles installing Cubase 12 (it seems it ended well) and they say you have to select "Quit" instead of "Close" to close the program. Apart from that, no other issues. @Ryck, do you remember if the "close issue" was the problem you had, or there were others?

 

Last edited: Jul 6, 2022

Sure, it can be that. the capacity of the PC.
I use it for specific things. How to detect the time of a midi or audio file when it is changing, that is, it starts at 120 bpm then at 122 and thus, Cubase can recognize all those time changes. In Studio one I did not find this function.
I happen to be using normal, the program and it freezes or closes itself. Another thing that I don't like, is that you are like 20 min waiting for it to scan all the vst every time you start, in Studio one, you can disable that option.

It would be necessary to see the experience of the users of Cubase.

In fact I think there is a thread in this forum about the bugs and how to fix them

I Found it : https://audiosex.pro/threads/cubase-nuendo-12-pro-r2r-vr-win-mac-workarounds-discussion-etc.64421/

 

Last edited by a moderator: Jul 6, 2022

Just to repeat.. I use Reaper entirely for MIDI, and with VSTs (and it is by far not the first DAW I've ever used.. my music making experience goes back to 90s trackers). Don't overlook it because you think it doesn't do MIDI, but I will say there are easier to use programs for MIDI. Reaper is also extremely customizable and has a lot of 3rd party, mostly free, add ons to help make it more user-friendly too. Just saying.

Anyways, Cubase was one of the several DAWs I used (the one right before Reaper, for me), and it is also great. I only stopped using it because I pay for my DAWs, and it's pretty pricey. Reaper is the best value/$ of any DAW that I've ever seen, though (which may not be a concern for you at all).

 

I've used most of the aforementioned, now on Logic. If I were to be excluded to Windows however, I would probably go for Reaper.

 

@Pablo Cordal

I re-read your main post so I could feel confident I completely understood your requirements post DAW decision setup.
That is all feasible except for one thing only.
It is easy enough to create a shortcut to all of the individual vst files and a shortcut to their parent folders e.g. C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3 and the same for 64bit and place the shortcuts pointing to each file in their own subfolders.. It is a lot of manual work but it makes sense for categorisation.
HOWEVER - While MS Windows will see pointers in some scenarios and always see junctions, not all software does and it is almost a certainty that you would have to ask every DAW owner whether the DAW can see the shortcuts and display them IN THE DAW - which is what you wish?

What won't display your renamed shortcuts - ProTools, nor Reason, neither will Logic on the MAC though aliases on MAC are more efficient than junctions in Windows and some things work on MAC in renaming that do not on Windows.
I cannot say in Studio One, Ableton, FL, Reaper, Bitwig, or others.

Cubase will display renamed plugins PLEASE NOTE - You have to rename the actual vst, not the shortcut.
I did a test so yo ucan see for yourself in Cubase 12. I took Boz Digital Labs 'PanKnob" and renamed it "Wank Knob"
BUT it is a physical rename not a path or shortcut so it's absolute on the file itself. Be very aware, while this certainly works in cubase for the greater part, some plugins and synths have headers that are read that may not like being renamed. That's the best I can come up with.
If there is another DAW which can do the same you prefer, then that is the one. Studio One I reckon should do it too. Ableton and others, not sure.

 

You can do it in Cakewalk Bandlab via plugin manager (I know gui of the manager is a bit old)
You can save many layout as you want.
It's support vst3, build-in 32bit bridge if you have old plugin, and support dxi that nobody use today but why not.

I've tried cubase recently and think it has feature you want too.

 

First gonna preface with I only skimmed the thread, just saying lol, so my bad if this has been covered!

FL Studio allows you to organize vsts in literally any structure you want, and you use windows explorer to do so but then it will appear exactly as you've structured. FL is the only daw I'm aware of that will let you get as granular as you've mentioned, though I could be wrong.

Studio One will allow you to get similar results as far as vst folder structure, but Studio One does not allow you to have duplicates of the same vst unless they are vst2 and vst3. It does however allow you to mark vsts as favorites which is its own special folder and still place them in another folders, so at most you could have a single vst in 2 places. Ex Pro-Q 3 in favorites folder and in mixing folder. If its not a favorite it will only be in one folder.

BUT Studio One allows you to save entire FX chains which allows you to get around the only one copy issue. You could use the FX chains to have as many copies as you like and it saves the entire preset so you could have 10 vsts all open to specific settings as you wish with a single drag and drop. This is all done within Studio One's browser.