Difference between unloaded and suspended plugins

Cantabile
1

Hi everyone,

could someone please tell me the actual difference between “suspended” and “unloaded” plugins?
I’m using rack states to switch between sounds (one rack for pianos, another one for organs, etc.)
How does the actual plugin state affect the performance of the whole system?

Thank you very much for your help and sorry, if my question might seem somewhat dispensable.

Kind regards,
Sepp

2 Likes
2

Hi Sepp,
did you get any feedback to your question? I have the same question.

Kind regards

Bolantando

3

“Unloaded” means it is literally removed from memory entirely. It is useful sometimes for certain updates that only kick in when you unload the plugin and then reload it to activate the changes, and of course also to save on CPU and RAM load.

“Suspended” simply means all connections to it are removed, though it sometimes means CPU is also less stressed (as the plugin is receiving no input, it isn’t doing anything, so it doesn’t use CPU. Not with all plugins, though! Reverbs still use CPU even with nothing going into them, as do look-ahead style EQ’s and limiters.) “Suspend” is also the only way you can remove racks from the system, though the above caveat still applies. You can create bindings and states that unload plugins inside of a rack to further save on CPU, but be aware it will take time for those plugins to load in again.

At least that is my understanding. @brad may have more to add.

Terry

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4

Thanks a lot, Terry, for your explanation. - That makes sense.

The only part I do not understand in your explanation is:

"“Suspend” is also the only way you can remove racks from the system, though the above caveat still applies. "

I can also unload racks, can’t I?

Bolantando

1 Like
5

No - only suspend. However, you can make a state or binding “reach” inside of the rack to unload the plugins within the rack. As a state change, simply create or move into the state where you desire it to unload the plugins, open the rack and unload those, then go back to the main page and update the state. Make sure you have the state options (bottom left of the page) set to affect the rack also by having the rack selected and then checking “Exported State” on the lower left side.

Terry

2 Likes
6

Does the same apply to the plugins loaded in pre-loaded songs? I always thought that I could simply pre-load songs as long as there is memory without having to worry about CPU performance. Are plugins in pre-loaded songs just suspended or are they completely frozen?

I might be mistaken, but I think that the vst3 standard provides some performance improvements for that specific situation as you can suspend processing when no audio signal is received. I’m not sure if that is something inherent about vst3 plugins or something that would need to implemented by the host.

1 Like
7

Hi Terry,
thanks a lot for helping me understand. Now I understood.

Regards

Bolantando