VSTHost

Music enthusiasts often stumble upon audio plugins and most of them would like to take them for a spin before installing in their DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) of choice and editing their sounds. For this purpose, one could rely on VSTHost, a handy utility that runs VST plugins and enables users to experiment with their functions.

The main purpose of the application is to send audio data signal to a chosen plugin in a specialized format, then to add the output stream to its own audio processing.

The interface of the software solution might seem somewhat overwhelming at first, mostly to novices who are not accustomed to VST (Virtual Studio Technology) effects. However, the menus are intuitive and can guide users toward successfully evaluating plugins.

In addition to loading VST data, VSTHost can also be used for adjusting their parameters and editing their configuration, such as the process thread priority or the value of BPM (beats per minute). Users can save the current effect settings to a separate file that can be loaded when they want to resume their work.

VSTHost supports several types of source devices, including MIDI, Wave and Joystick, and the settings for each of them can be modified until the loaded plugin performs at its best. The virtual keyboard can also help musicians make the most of their tested plugins, especially it is correctly configured. On the other hand, one can also enjoy the Wave playing and recording options of the application, along with the MIDI playback function.

Conclusion

VSTHost is a feature-rich application that can be of great use to those who would like to test their plugins before releasing them to the public, but also to casual users who want to play around with a VST effect before integrating it within a production environment.