manual/include/using-windows-vst-plugins-on-linux.html

<p>
  Thanks to the combined work of Torben Hohn, Kjetil Mattheusen, Paul
  Davis and a few other developers, it is possible to use Windows
  <dfn><abbr title="Virtual Studio Technology">VST</abbr>
  plugins</dfn> (that is, plugins in VST format built and distributed
  for the Windows platforms) on Ardour running on Linux. (Note: there
  is no VST support of any kind on OS X).
</p>

<p>However, doing so has three <em>substantial</em> downsides:</p>

<ul>
  <li>It requires a special build of Ardour that is fundamentally
  very different from normal builds</li>
  <li>Support depends on <a href="http://winehq.org/">Wine</a>,
  a Windows "emulator"</li>
  <li>As usual with plugins, a crashing plugin will take Ardour down
  with it&mdash;and crashes in Windows VST plugins are more likely when
  used in this way</li>
</ul>

<p>
  The dependence on Wine makes it almost impossible for the Ardour
  project to support this feature. Wine's functionality generally
  improves over time, but any given release of Wine may behave worse
  with some or all Windows VST plugins. It may even just crash Ardour
  completely.
</p>

<p>
  Step back and think about what "using Windows VSTs" really means:
  taking bits of software written with only one idea in mind&mdash;running
  on the Windows platform&mdash;and then trying to use them on an entirely
  different platform. It is a bit of a miracle (thanks largely to the
  incredible work done by the Wine project) that it works at all. But is
  this the basis of a stable, reliable DAW for a non-Windows platform?
  Getting Ardour on Linux to pretend that its really a Windows
  application running on Windows?
</p>

<p>
  It is understandable that there are many outstanding plugins available as
  Windows VSTs and, that in many cases, no equivalent is available for Linux.
  If a workflow is so dependent on those plugins, Ardour should be used on
  Windows (or potentially used with an actual Windows VST host running inside
  of Wine). If the effort can be made, a better environment can be obtained by
  using a normal build of Ardour and exploring the world of plugins built to
  run on Linux natively. This covers LADSPA, LV2 and Linux VST formats, and
  even some outstanding proprietary plugins such as those from
  <a href="http://www.loomer.co.uk/">Loomer</a>.
</p>

<h2>A Plea To Plugin Manufacturers</h2>

<p>
  Please consider porting your plugins so that users can enjoy them on
  Linux too. Several other commercial plugin developers have already
  done this. You can choose between using "Linux VST" (which is what
  Loomer and others have done)&mdash;you will find toolkits like JUCE that
  help to make this fairly easy&mdash;or using LV2 format which is
  ultimately more flexible but probably more work. We have
  users&mdash;thousands of users&mdash;on Linux who would like to use your
  plugins.
</p>