Steinberg brings enhanced VST SDK to Linux, and does other good things

jeremy · 03-30-2017, 08:24 AM

Quote:

The days of Linux being a barren plug-in desert may at last be over. And if you’re a developer, there are some other nice things happening to VST development on all platforms.

Steinberg has quietly rolled out the 3.6.7 version of their plug-in SDK for Windows, Mac, iOS, and now Linux. Actually, your plug-ins may be using their SDK even if you’re unaware – because many plug-ins that appear as “AU” use a wrapper from VST to Apple’s Audio Unit. (One is included in the SDK.)

For end users, the important things to know are, you may be getting more VST3 plug-ins (with some fancy new features), and you may at last see more native plug-ins available for Linux. That Linux support comes at just the right time, as Bitwig Studio is maturing as a DAW choice on the platform, and new hardware options like the Raspberry Pi are making embedded solutions start to appeal. (I kind of hesitate to utter these words, as I know that desktop Linux is still very, very niche, but – this doesn’t have to mean people installing Ubuntu on laptops. We’ll see where it goes.)

For developers, there’s a bunch of nice stuff here. My favorites:

cmake support

VST3 SDK on GitHub: https://github.com/steinbergmedia/vst3sdk

GPL v3 license is now alongside the proprietary license (necessary for some open projects)

CDM for more...

Great to see Steinberg on GitHub. Do any LQ members plan to use the VST3 SDK? Do we have any Bitwig Studio users?

--jeremy

michael diemer · 04-11-2017, 11:37 PM

Those interested in music creation on Linux may have another option soon: The DAW Reaper is working on a Native Linux version. Combined with this news about Steinberg, these are interesting days indeed for music on Linux.

notKlaatu · 04-12-2017, 01:55 AM

I use the VST SDK already, when compiling Qtractor and a few related plugins. VST has nothing in it to forbid Linux-native VSTs from being developed; the VST SDK is just some C++ stuff, so technically it's pretty universal. However, I'm happy to hear that Steinberg is expanding into official Linux support, and it would be great to see some of the plugins that some people claim to depend upon getting a Linux release.

AndrewS29 · 07-10-2020, 05:10 AM

Wow! Thanks for sharing this info! Not so long ago, I thought about switching to a new Linux operating system, but I was afraid that it wouldn't support my VST trumpet plugins or other applications that I use for my music. What do you think is the best audio editor to use using the Linux operating system? Have you encountered any problems using the Linux operating system and how did you configure your plugins? I really appreciate your answers and it's really important for me. Thank you very much for your feedback.