Two Amplitube 4 plug-ins to choose from?

[maxdavidsonmusic]

When I go to my effects browser in Studio One 4 Amplitube 4 appears twice. One says FX VST (category VST2) and the other has a little chain icon (Category VST3 - Distortion).

They each seem to be identical (to a layman) so obviously I'm missing something here.

Can someone explain the difference?

[DarkStar]

Hello maxdavidsonmusic and welcome to the forum.

IK Multimedia plug-ins are provided in several different plug-in formats as different DAWs use plug-ins in different formats.

VST2 and VST3 are two of those formats. And it looks like both were installed during the installation. They will have the same user functionality. The VST3 technical specification does introduce some new plug-in functionality but I do not not whether that is implement in AmpliTube and is supported by Studio One.

I would use whichever format your other third-party plug-ins are in.

[Rudalpl]

Depending on DAW you will have different plug ins formats.
Some VST3 plug ins are required to have the side chain available in some DAW's.
Cubase for example is moving away from VST2 format.
Normally it is good to read your DAW's manual to be sure what type of VST's you need to install.