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VST stands for Virtual Studio Technology. It’s an audio plug-in software interface that has the power to integrate things like virtual instruments and effect modules into your DAW. VST simulates traditional audio recording hardware in software by using digital signal processing (DSP).

This technology was released in 1996 by the German company Steinberg Media Technologies. The VST format created a revolution in the digital audio world and quickly became the de facto standard in the music industry. A big reason for this success is that, through licensing agreements, Steinberg allowed other companies to build their own applications on top of their technology. This encouraged many third-party companies to develop their own VST-compatible audio plug-ins.

Nowadays, VST is still the most popular format for audio plug-ins, though there are others. VST2 and VST3 are simply different versions of VST.

Many additional features were introduced in the VST version 3 (VST3) and these plug-ins are now supported by most hosts and DAWs.

Here’s what Steinberg has to say about VST3:

“VST3 marks an important milestone in audio technology with a completely rewritten code base providing not only many new features but also the most stable and reliable VST platform ever.”

Some of the most noticeable features introduced in VST3 by Steinberg are:

• Better performance. VST3 applies processing power only when there are audio signals coming in their respective inputs.
• Multiple dynamic inputs and outputs. This means VST3 plug-ins adapt dynamically to the channel configuration it’s inserted in. For example, if you are editing in stereo, the plug-in will adjust itself for 2 channels. But if you then choose to switch to surround, the plug-in will switch to 6 channels.
• More flexible control of VST plug-ins through remote controllers. The ability to control a DAW and its plug-ins remotely is becoming more and more popular. VST3 offers much more flexible control to remote controllers.
• Audio inputs for VST instruments. It’s now possible to route audio data into a VST3 instrument.
• Multiple MIDI inputs and outputs. Unlike VST2, a VST3 plug-in can have more than one MIDI input or output connected at the same time.

You can read the full list and description of VST3 new features on Steinberg’s website.