5.4

VST plug-in versions

FabFilter Volcano 2 is available in both VST 2 and the new VST 3 formats. They can be installed and used both at the same time. The VST 3 format can only be used by hosts that support it, for example Steinberg's Cubase 4. It has the advantage of easy side-chaining, while in VST 2 it can be quite a hassle to get this to work properly. On the other hand, the VST 2 format is more robust and complete. For example, there is no proper support for MIDI controller messages in VST 3 yet.

VST 2

For the VST 2 format, there are four versions of the FabFilter Volcano 2 plug-in that form all combinations of mono/stereo and with or without external side chain input:

The default VST plug-in does not have external side chain support because some hosts (e.g. Steinberg WaveLab) will not work correctly otherwise.

The external side chain feature in FabFilter Volcano 2 (SC) works well in Ableton Live 6 and in Tracktion 2 (use Tracktion's Rack feature to be able to route the side chain input).

With Steinberg Cubase, do the following to use an external side chain input:

  1. Create a Group Channel track with Quadro configuration (in the More... menu).
  2. Open the VST Connections window. In the Group/FX tab, locate the group bus you just created and right-click it to create child buses for the Stereo and Stereo (Ls Rs) parts.
  3. In the Mixer, insert FabFilter Volcano 2 (SC) in the group channel track.
  4. You can now route the input audio signal track to the Stereo child bus. The side chain track must be routed to the Stereo (Ls Rs) child bus. (The routing settings are found at the top of each channel.)
  5. Use Volcano 2's monitoring feature in the bottom bar to confirm that everything is routed as you want it.

Note: In earlier versions of Cubase, the Group/FX tab is missing from the VST Connections window. In this case, you must pan the input track to the front of the quadro bus, and the side chain track to the rear of the quadro bus. If you are using Cubase 4, make sure you have upgraded to at least version 4.02 to get everything to work.

Next: License agreement

See Also
Quick start
Manual installation