VST Effects Plugin

[sveakul]

I don't think it's a big secret to anyone that while MusicBee supports VST plugins and some work well, its host system (mb_VST.dll working with bass_vst.dll) is best described as "shaky."  Some plugins don't work, some work but their GUI indicators stay unchanged, some crash MusicBee altogether.

For the time being if we can find just one plugin format VST "chainer"/patchbay that works great with MusicBee, hopefully adding effects plugins to that instead of individually will result in a greatly increased availablility of problem-free VST plugins in general.  With the caveat that it must be 32-bit and a plugin not a standalone.  Add "free" for even better.

I have used the oldie Acon Effect Chainer 1.02 from 2007 with MB--when the VST plugin version is used, it tends to crash MusicBee altogether.  The Winamp dsp_* version works when loaded via the "Input Winamp Input Plugins" section in the Player section with more than one VST added to it but how desirable is an ancient "Winamp" design in a modern player.

I realize products like Blue Cat "Patchwork" (has x86 or x64 versions) have been described as working well here, but in the "and FREE" department, has anyone tried Kushview's "Element," whose last x86 compiled binary I could find is element-win32-0.41.1 (from Nov 2019)?  Downloadable here:  https://github.com/kushview/element/releases/download/0.41.1/element-win32-0.41.1.exe

I intend to test the above regardless, but wanted to ask first if any users have had previous experience with it they could relate here.  Thanks to any who can.

[sveakul]

I'm sorry but I don't have the mental patience to sort out Element right now.  I took an initial look (loads without crashing) and the GUI is full of strange buttons and menus with text so small I can barely read it and creating subfolders in C:\Music and Users\Appdata\Roaming etc etc etc.  Man what happened to simplicity like Acon EffectChainer had.  For now I'll just settle for using what works individually in the stock MB VST host without crashing it.

The link though is in my last post if anyone else wants to take a bash--karbock, perhaps??  And please one of your killer write-ups afterwards!

[karbock]

The link though is in my last post if anyone else wants to take a bash--karbock, perhaps??  And please one of your killer write-ups afterwards!

Thanks for the compliment! I'm a complete newbie to VSTs, unfortunately.
But the screenshot posted within the github project will mean something to knowledgeable VST users, I suppose.

From https://github.com/kushview/element/blob/develop/data/screenshot.png:

[BoringName]

I didn't install it to confirm any of this but it seems like Element is basically a middle man. Run as a standalone it would take the output from Musicbee, apply any plugin effects and send that to the output (speakers/device).

Or it can be setup as a VST host but not 100% sure on how that works. All the examples I can find of other software show up a VST effect that can be selected eg) KV_ElementFX but I think the software has to be looking for it. It might place a DLL in program Files\vstplugins, I guess that could be loaded into musicbee.

Either way, I don't think this thing can be converted into a separate plugin for Musicbee, it will still require Steven's VST plugin for it to be loaded into Musicbee which means you would have to access it from the same place you access other VST plugin settings.

P.S.: Element is a terrible name for googling things. Like the band who called themselves "The Music".

[sveakul]

Unrelated to the above (no Element involved), just noticed the following bug:

Immediately after double-clicking an active VST (LoudMax or Wider in my case--the only two I use) in the "DSP Plugins" list to check or adjust settings while music is playing, the MusicBee volume/amplitude suddenly jumps up almost double without the VST settings being touched, and remains at that elevation until the song is stopped and restarted.

MusicBee 3.6.9119 P, bass_vst.dll version 2.4.1.8.

[sveakul]

I didn't install it to confirm any of this but it seems like Element is basically a middle man. Run as a standalone it would take the output from Musicbee, apply any plugin effects and send that to the output (speakers/device).

Or it can be setup as a VST host but not 100% sure on how that works. All the examples I can find of other software show up a VST effect that can be selected eg) KV_ElementFX but I think the software has to be looking for it. It might place a DLL in program Files\vstplugins, I guess that could be loaded into musicbee.

Either way, I don't think this thing can be converted into a separate plugin for Musicbee, it will still require Steven's VST plugin for it to be loaded into Musicbee which means you would have to access it from the same place you access other VST plugin settings.

P.S.: Element is a terrible name for googling things. Like the band who called themselves "The Music"

https://github.com/kushview/element

Yes it can be used as a VST plugin itself to host others (my only interest) or as a standalone app.  The good news is the last 32-bit one does load without crashing MB via the normal MB VST host as a DLL, the bad news is where do I go from there, haha..  With the Acon EffectChainer (crashes MB but loads fine in Foobar or AIMP) the next step was just adding buttons on its GUI that would load a VST of your choice when selected and adjust the order, etc.  Too easy.  You weren't looking at piano keyboards or graphs, sessions, etc.

As mentioned several times before in this thread, MusicBee cries out for a robust, stable, native VST host, as included in Foobar and AIMP.