There are a lot of great plugins out there, particularly older plugins, which you might find yourself having difficulty running on a newer computer. This was my experience when I got a new computer a years ago and discovered that suddenly all of my 32 bit plugins no longer worked. Thankfully, your 32 bit plugins can still work, so let’s talk about how to make them work in your DAW.
What’s the Difference Between 32 Bit and 64 Bit Plugins
While this all goes back to the two types of processors, 32 bit and 64 bit, essentially 64 bit plugins (and applications) are better designed to take better advantage of your system’s memory. This makes them run more efficiently than their 32 bit counterparts. The problem is that 32 bit plugins aren’t naturally compatible with 64 bit DAWs and operating systems.
Should I Install 32 or 64 Bit Plugin
Sometimes when you’re installing a plugin they’ll offer you the choice of installing either the 32 or 64 bit version of the plugin (or both). You should always install the version which is compatible with your system’s processor and operating system. In Windows you can see whether you’re on a 64 or 32 bit machine by bringing up your “System Information”.
For what it’s worth, if your system is 32 bit, it will say x86-Based PC here. The reason it’s x86 rather than x32 goes back to the original language as it’s based on Intel’s 8086 microprocessor, but I digress. Suffice it say, it will either say x64 for 64 bit or x86 for 32 bit.
If you’re running a Mac OS, you need to lookup your processor directly to see whether it’s 32 or 64 bit.
Regardless if you’re running Windows or Mac, if your processor/system is 64 bit, install the 64 bit version of the plugin and vice versa for the 32 bit.
What about when you ONLY have a choice of 32 bit plugins as in the case for older plugins, and you’re on a 64 bit system?
Many of my favorite plugins are still in 32 bit format, and while SOME plugin manufacturers are cool and offer free upgrades, others charge for the more modern 64 bit or VST3 version (see VST2 vs VST3), and I’m not keen on paying for virtually the exact same thing twice.
Of course in some cases you have older plugins which have been completely abandoned by their developers, so there’s not even a more modern and compatible version in existence.
You may know from experience that installing a 32 bit plugin on a 64 bit machine results in the plugin either not working or simply not appearing altogether alongside your other plugins, even after refreshing, restarting, etc.
Let’s talk how to make 32 bit plugins work in your DAW.
How to Make 32 Bit Plugins Work In Your DAW
The only way to make this work is to bridge the 32 bit plugins to be compatible in a 64 bit operating system.
The main utility for bridging is jBridge. Full disclosure, this utility costs around $15, but it’s reliable, easy to use, and the amount of use and value you can get for it is worth far more than its asking price, not to mention cheaper than replacing plugins you’ve already got with their modern upgrades.
It also works both ways, so you can also bridge 64 bit plugins to work in a 32 bit environment.
Note that the previously linked to jBridge is also Windows specific, but if you run a Mac OS then they have a demo you can try, as well.
Step 1 – Specify 64 Bit
Once you’ve installed the utility, you simply open it to be prompted to specify whether your operating system and DAW are 64 or 32 bit.
For this example we’re trying to get a 32 bit plugin to work in our 64 bit version of Windows and Ableton Live, so we’ll select x64 host.
Step 2 – Options
There’s a few straightforward options here. The important one is “Create bridging files for 32 bit plugins”, so make sure you have that selected so it knows to target the 32 bit plugins to patch and work on your computer.
Step 3 – Select Folder With 32 Bit Plugin(s)
Whenever I install a 32 bit version of a plugin, I install them all to the same destination. I quite literally have a folder called “32 bit plugins need bridging” and it houses all the 32 bit .dll VST plugins.
This is essentially just a holding folder which jBridge uses to pull the data from and create the working versions of the VSTs which we’ll specify the destination folder for in the next step.
Step 4 – Select Destination Folder for Bridged/Working 64 Bit Updates
Again, this is where the newly created 64 bit working versions of the plugins will go after they’re bridged.
You should typically set this as your DAW’s custom VST folder.
After you specify this folder, the utility will quickly get to work in bridging/patching these plugins to be compatible with your computer.
When you next open your DAW, depending on the DAW it will automatically detect these patched versions of the 32 bit plugins as fully functioning 64 bit plugins which you can pull into your set like any other plugin.
That’s all there is to it. If you get any more antiquated 32 bit plugins, just run jBridge again. It will remember the two folders from steps 3 and 4, so it should be even more expedited next time.
Enjoy those old plugins!
