LA-2A (leveling amplifier) VST plugin that works with MusicBee?

[Shanks]

Hullo, Long time reader, first time asker - please be kind.

I listen to quite a lot of orchestral music with (the wonderful) MusicBee. I prefer recordings that capture the dynamic range of the orchestras, and have quite a few of these; they sound great on the big speakers in the loungeroom.

Late at night, on the 7-inch monitors in my bedroom, I have to keep the volume way down, for obvious reasons. I've had some success pulling the file I want to listen to into ProTools and applying compression, but this is not exactly something I want to be doing every time I fancy some Beethoven at 2 am.

Has anyone had any success getting MusicBee to run the sound through an LA-2A emulation plugin using VST? (Only a couple of my VST plugins work with MusicBee, the rest cause problems that iinevitably lead to "no audio"..)

Any information or opinions would be most appreciated.

[sveakul]

Never tried any of these, but I'm assuming "free" is part of requirements?  Try:
https://www.patreon.com/posts/lala-36128829

Tin Brook Tales TLS 1295 LEA Plugin
https://drive.google.com/file/d/178HJjBqGGh3INZrte-IUSm3XBKbJtQ68/view?usp=sharing

AdHd Leveling Tool Plugin
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1exX6QVSn4PFxsIyAXS-18Fg2Rsz_TWHc/view?usp=sharing

VST and MusicBee: only 32-bit VST-2 architecture.
Be sure you have:
The latest 3.6.x MusicBee
The latest VST host plugin, updated January 7, 2023 (forget about the "1.0" version number) https://getmusicbee.com/addons/plugins/16/vst-effects-support/
The latest bass_vst.dll (2.4.1.8, Sept 13, 2024) https://www.un4seen.com/stuff/bass_vst.zip

Yes the host unfortunately is unstable.  If a VST crashes with more than one in use, try changing the VST order.  The old dsp-based Acon Effect Chainer worked the last time I tried it years back, I think if I installed it in Player/Input Plugins.  "Unlimited" is a very good adjustable limiter/compressor but will crash the player if used with any other VST.  I use the combo of Loudmax->Wider.

Let us know if any of those free ones work!  Subject is best posted in the VST Effects thread here:
https://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=13022.0

[Shanks]

Thank you for all these tips. I'll need to update some of my MusicBee components I see. I'm quite happy doing that, as I've never had MB lose a database or anything dramatic when  I've done that before - it was actually very smooth iirc

Free was not actually a requirement in this case. I have the Waves emulation, CLA-2A, installed on my ProTools (so AAX, not VST at all), but I doubt Waves still distribute it in a VST2-32bit DLL.

Will report on progress or lack thereof here.

[sveakul]

Thank you for all these tips. I'll need to update some of my MusicBee components I see. I'm quite happy doing that, as I've never had MB lose a database or anything dramatic when  I've done that before - it was actually very smooth iirc

Free was not actually a requirement in this case. I have the Waves emulation, CLA-2A, installed on my ProTools (so AAX, not VST at all), but I doubt Waves still distribute it in a VST2-32bit DLL.

Will report on progress or lack thereof here.

OK, great.  With no "free"needed, your choices expand exponentially, I just did a Google search.

If you just make a complete backup of MusicBee first you never have to worry about doing an update.  That is a simple one-step procedure with the Portable version, with the Installer version, "not so easy."  Normally, running the incremental updater from inside the MusicBee folder, and then the latest "patch" linked on the Moderator's sig files, will bring you up to date (but NOT with bass_vst.dll or the VST Host plugin.)

[Shanks]

I've followed the steps you gave, sveakul. (Thank you!) I also installed version 9.6 of Waves CLA-2A, which is apparently the last version of the plugin that supports VST2/32. Unfortunately, it does not show up in the Equaliser and DSP Settings window.

I'm at the stage now where I feel my computer is a bit messy, what with having had to uninstall the current Waves Central, as it doesn't co-exist with v9.6, the flakiness of MusicBee's VST plugin and MusicBee's VST support being limited to only VST2/32. So unless I get some fresh ideas I am ready to uninstall Waves Central 9.6 and the MusicBee VST host. At some stage I'll get a sound interface with a loopback feature, so whenever I want to use plugins I'll pipe MusicBee's output through Pro Tools which for me is a simple and familiar setup.

[sveakul]

Check that the folder with the VST in it appears in the "source folder for VST plugins" box in the "vsthost" entry in the Prefs/Plugins list.

I hope that Steven will invest some time in a VSThost re-write;  user interest appears a lot more times in this than in the equally "half-there" status of DSD playback (https://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=42447.msg232140#msg232140) .