Incompatible Versions

All audio plugins have two main identifiers that digital audio workstations (DAW) use for checking which plugin it’s working with. These are the plugin code and the plugin manufacturer code. Both are four characters and should (in theory) be unique for each plugin in existence.

In August 2022, I realized that my plugins, despite having a unique plugin code, still had a default value of “Manu” as the plugin manufacturer code. This didn’t affect their functionality, but I decided to change it to not risk any conflicts in the future. Better late than never, huh? This decision, however, unfortunately, meant that all projects out there still using the old versions could not load the new ones since DAWs would detect them as completely new plugins. On this page, I’ll explain this issue in more detail and show you how to get new versions up and running if you were previously using versions with the old manufacturer code.

The plugins influenced by this issue are SSF, Deelay, F(l)atter, and Clips, and the versions that got the new manufacturer code are the following:

SSF: 1.0.2
Deelay: 1.0.3
F(l)atter: 1.0.2
Clips: 1.0.2

If you are currently using earlier versions, I suggest finishing current projects containing the plugin before updating to a new version. This makes the updating process a little bit less cumbersome. You can still save all settings from current projects as presets if you need to load them later once the new version is installed (This is not unfortunately possible with SSF since it does not have a preset manager).

How To Update

You might find that after running the new installer, the plugin opens fine in new projects. If so, great! You are good to go. However, in most cases, your DAW has cached the old version on your system, and the updating requires a little more effort. Here are step-by-step instructions that should make your DAW “forget” about the old version and successfully start using the plugin with the new manufacturer code:

  1. Locate the old plugin file on your system and delete it. By default, Sixth Sample installers copy the plugin files to the locations on the bottom of this page. If you are unsure which plugin formats your DAW is using, delete the plugin file from all mentioned folders regarding your operating system.
  2. Perform a so-called “deep scan” in your DAW. This makes sure that all previously verified plugins get scanned as well. All DAWs do this differently so it’s best to do a quick Google search of “perform deep plugin scan *your DAW name*”.
  3. Run the new installer for the plugin in question.
  4. Perform another deep scan in your DAW to scan the newly installed version.
 

You should now be able to open the plugin in new projects. If not, shoot me an email. I’d be happy to help you personally :)

Default Plugin Locations

  • VST3 (64bit Windows): C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3
  • VST3 (32bit Windows): C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\VST3
  • AAX (64bit Windows): C:\Program Files\Common Files\Avid\Audio\Plug-Ins
  • VST3 (macOS): /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3
  • AU (macOS): /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components
  • AAX (macOS): /Library/Application Support/Avid/Audio/Plug-Ins