vsthost
 
vsthost kvr news
 
Changes since V1.54:

• Added "isSingleton" to Data\effCanDos.ini (see this file for details) for Plug-ins that exhibit severe problems if more than one instance is loaded into the same process.
• Standard version uses VST SDK 3.6.5 now; Win98 version uses VST SDK 3.5.1, since 3.5.2 is uncompilable with VS98.
• VST3 double precision audio was effectively disabled; corrected.
• Various VST3 handling improvements.
• Parameter window wasn't updated correctly.
• MIDI Controller dialog didn't display controller names correctly.
• If a loaded USB MIDI device is detached and reattached, VSTHost automatically reconnects to it IF its device interface name can be determined (still rather experimental)
  Requires drivers that support DRV_QUERYDEVICEINTERFACE (not all do).
• Built-in Reverb Plug-in added (adapted FreeVerb v3, originally done by Jezar @ Dreampoint, generously put into the public domain; www.dreampoint.co.uk was used in the readme but that is not working any more. archive.org, however, has copies containing FreeVerb from 2000 and 2001).
• Bridging performance and stability improvements.
• I/O changes during performance loading are processed immediately so that channel-specific links are kept intact.
• Built-in Audio Passthru Plug-in added (can be used to set up elaborate channel splits / concentrators).
• Built-in Submixer Plug-in added (setting special channel configurations using the "Chain after" dialog doesn't work yet).
• Added pre-chained MIDI Plug-ins and "All linked Plug-ins" to possible sources for a Plug-in's Remote Control.
• Fixed a bug that ruined compatibility with Voicemeeter (with or without Banana:-) and other ASIO drivers that use IEE754 32-bit floating point format buffers.

... plus quite some other changes which don't really deserve mentioning here.

Thanks for the heads-up, Grim. VSTHost is now an integral part of my daily musical life. Good to see it's still being worked on!

you are most welcome, i was hoping you would see it after the last thread we were involved in where this came up. mission accomplished

I wonder if any of these updates will make there way into SAVIHost.

Probably. I expect the two programs share a fair amount of common code, as one is basically a streamlined version of the other. 

Is VSTHost a free Cantabile/Forte-like VST player? All I use SAVIHost for is to run VIs standalone that don't ship with standalone versions (like with bx_rockrack V3). I've never messed with VSTHost, as it seemed more complex for a simple task. How do you use it?

VSTHost is similar to SAVIHost but can host multiple VSTs and link them any way you like, both the audio and MIDI chains. So yes, being more featured means it is necessarily more complicated, but not terribly so.
 
I use it for making non-standalone instruments standalone, just like SAVIHost. But whereas SAVIHost has you rename its exe to specify the plugin (and has to be located in the same folder), you load VSTs into one copy of VSTHost as you would with a DAW. What we'd call "projects" VSTHost calls "performances" that can then be saved and loaded.
 
One downside compared to SAVIHost is that I have not found a way to specify a performance on the command line and therefore can't have separate desktop shortcuts for different instruments, but I gotta imagine there's a way to do that. By default it brings up your last performance, but loading another performance is quick. And you can have multiple instances if you're using VSTHost for live performance with multiple instruments. You can also select performances via MIDI patch changes.
 
The reason I switched to VSTHost from SAVIHost is that I wanted to follow my instrument with an EQ. My amplifiers are a bit bass-heavy, so adding EQ lets me roll off some bottom to keep from stepping on my bass player's realm. 

Informative. Thanks. I'll spend some time with it.

bitflipper
... 
One downside compared to SAVIHost is that I have not found a way to specify a performance on the command line and therefore can't have separate desktop shortcuts for different instruments, but I gotta imagine there's a way to do that. By default it brings up your last performance, but loading another performance is quick. And you can have multiple instances if you're using VSTHost for live performance with multiple instruments. You can also select performances via MIDI patch changes.
...

Check pages 25-27 of the updated manual for all of the command line parameters. Here's the one you need.
 
/perf=n
 
Forces VSTHost to load the performance with the number given instead of the one last stored in the .ini file or 0, depending on the setting of the “Reload” Performance setting (see page 63). N can be any number in range 0 to 128. /perf itself can be overridden by specifying /noload.
 
Create a shortcut on the desktop. Rename it to whatever suits you. Right-click on the shortcut and click on Properties. In the Target field, you'll see something like:
 
"C:\Program Files\VSTHost\vsthost.exe"
 
Just update that with the desired performance number replacing 'n'.
 
"C:\Program Files\VSTHost\vsthost.exe /perf=n"
 
Click Apply and you should be good to go.

Thanks! I knew it had to be in there, just been too busy to go looking for it.