JUCE and VST3 SDK - which combo to use?

[KoenTanghe]

So I just read through this thread again (I know, that was mainly about VST2):

The removal of JUCE’s embedded VST2 SDK

Hello JUCE users, Following Steinberg’s announcement that they are removing the VST2 components from the VST3 SDK https://www.steinberg.net/en/newsandevents/news/newsdetail/article/vst-3611-sdk-now-available-4906.html the JUCE team is also removing the VST2 header files from the JUCE repo. As of this commit https://github.com/WeAreROLI/JUCE/commit/a3566b8c1edac29997490143982cd2b2eb089ffa it is no longer possible to create VST2 plug-ins using JUCE’s embedded VST2 SDK. If you are an existing…

and from that it appears that the VST3 SDK files are now embedded into the JUCE repository under modules/juce_audio_processors/format_types/VST3_SDK, which seems practical indeed, as I assume we can then rely on that version working properly together with that JUCE version.

However, when I looked into the vsttypes.h file in the JUCE VST3 SDK files, I see this:
#define kVstVersionString "VST 3.7.2"
on the current develop branch (where 3.7.2 appears to have been released on 29 March 2021).
From Steinberg’s site, the latest version of the VST3 SDK appears to be 3.7.4 (from 16 December 2021).

So, question:

• Is it generally advised to just stick with the version that JUCE embeds (because that combo actually gets tested and is also what most people use for production)?
• Or do you use a separate folder on your system with the latest VST3 SDK downloaded from Steinberg’s site, and use that for production builds?

[reuk]

@KoenTanghe

Is it generally advised to just stick with the version that JUCE embeds (because that combo actually gets tested and is also what most people use for production)?

Yes, I would strongly advise using the bundled VST3 SDK unless you have a very good reason to use a different version.

[KoenTanghe]

OK, thanks! That’s what I’ll do then.