I’ll add myself to the list of those unable to add their existing instruments or VSTs (I use Reason 12 / Win 11)
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I don’t know if scaler 3 came with the ability to scan for third-party plugins with the format of vst2 and vst3 combined but I have added new plugins to my library and when I rescan for third-party plugins these new plugins do not show also a window pops up saying that an error 2 occurred; whatever that means. The bigger question about the use of third-party plugins and the ability to rescan and scaler 3, is there a certain requirement of the type of plug-in many of the plugins that are showing up in the third-party plug-in library and scalar 3 are effects plugins some of them are midi-based for example I just added UJAM deluxe plug-in to my Ableton live 12 standard library and it’s not showing in my third-party plug-in library on scaler 3. Does anybody have any ideas have they figured out anything as to how to fix this problem?
I think they will end up having to add a plugin manager page to Scaler 3. Most DAWs have such a thing.
Then you can see all the plugins, along with locations and errors etc., plus you can disable or blacklist individual plugins and also set custom folders to be scanned. Some DAWs also allow you to only show, say, the VST3 version of a plugin where there are other versions of teh same plugin installed.
Hosting VSTs is something all DAWs have found challenging at some point. There always seem to be a few rogue ones that somehow upset the scanning process. A plugin manager helps us figure out the problem.
Incidentally, they have thought to hide Scaler 3 from the list of plugins but you can load Scaler 2 as an instrument in Scaler 3. I can’t think of a use for that but it amused me to play with it for a while. 
I found the plugin scanner PluginScanner64.exe at
C:\ProgramData\Scaler Music\Scaler 3
You can even run it outside of Scaler 3. There are many other files there which seem to relate to plugin scanning.
plugins64.log
contains a log of scans which includes MANY folder locations that are being scanned.
Here’s the content of mine:
Scaler 3PluginScanner
Log started: 25 Mar 2025 9:46:52am
Bad plugins path: C:\ProgramData\Scaler Music\Scaler 3\plugins64.ignore
Cache path: C:\ProgramData\Scaler Music\Scaler 3\plugins64.cache
Search type: 0
Trying to find probe tool at: C:\ProgramData\Scaler Music\Scaler 3\PluginProbe64.exe
PluginScanner::scan() - spinning up thread
PluginScanner::scan() - start
Starting scan: VST: C:/Program Files/VSTPlugins;C:/Program Files/Steinberg/VSTPlugins;C:/Program Files (x86)/VstPlugins;C:/Program Files (x86)/Steinberg/VstPlugins
Starting scan: VST3: C:/Program Files/Common Files/VST3;C:/Program Files (x86)/Common Files/VST3
That tallies with what I’m seeing when I watch it scan. It is scanning a lot of plugins BUT I only end up with a handful of Waves instruments listed in Scaler 3.
plugins64.ignore
Lists a handful of plugins to ignore, which understandably includes Scaler 3.vst3
plugins64.cache
This looks like XML format and mine includes a list of exclusively Waves plugins and nothing else.
I’m wondering if the way that Waves plugins are implemented (through numerous Waveshells) is causing problems for the S3 plugin scanner, resulting in it being unable to store any other types of plugin.
Does anyone else here have Waves plugins installed alongside others? If so are you seeing anything else other than Waves instruments/effects show up in your S3 external plugin list?
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Great info on the plugin scanner and associated files. I found about a dozen bad plugins listed and the interesting thing is that some of them will scan sometimes and not others. Sometimes plugins take a long time to load or show a pop-up window, both of which can cause problems for scanners.
I gave up on Waves precisely because of those waveshell things. It caused no end of problems for me in several DAWs so I wouldn’t be surprised if it was doing the same for Scaler 3.
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Scanning for VST plugins gives me maybe 15 error messages, every other one saying something to the effect of “cancelling this may cause your system to crash”, and finally ends with an error. Don’t know if it ever completes, but the scan does stop eventually with an error message. Almost none of my instruments (including the Komplete 15) isn’t located by Scaler. The Komplete VSTs are in startup but the content is on a separate drive.
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I thought it was just me. Only thing that showed up was a Waves folder but its empty. Nothing else. Is this working for anyone?
Opened a support ticket. I was told to install the latest version of Scaler 3.01 which I did. My issue was fully resolved as a result.
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SPECS: Windows 10 - Ableton Live 11 - Scaler 3.01 update
I’ve got some work-around tactics that some folks might find useful. I have installed the bulk of my VSTs into custom folders on my windows C:/ drive. For this reason, Scaler 3 will not find those VST (.dll files) in it’s scan. I tried it upon initial install when prompted, and also rescanned from the Scaler plugin within the DAW (Live 11). Also tried running the standalone PluginScanner64.exe located at ‘C:/ProgramData/ScalerMusic/Scaler 3’. All of those attempts only recognized the VSTs which were in the default locations automatically chosen by Scaler 3. This confirms that Scaler 3 does need an option to choose custom VST folder locations for it’s scanning process. I’m going to suggest to the devs that another possible approach would be to have scaler recognize windows shortcut files (and MAC alias files?) in addition to the VST .dlls (or MAC .au .vst files). This is something that Ableton live allows which is very handy and flexible for scanning VSTs. You can create a custom Ableton Live VST folder and just fill it with shortcuts from all the various locations of the VST files. It also allows you to easily remove anything from the scan without having to uninstall any VST software. It even allows you to put the shortculs into folders and they show up that way within the Ableton Live VST plug ins hierarchy. Either way, it seems necessary for Scaler 3 to be able to point to custom folders in order to make it’s plug in scan more successful and flexible for all users.
So, if like me, you are unable to scan your desired VSTs, here is something you can do as a workaround until this gets solved within the Scaler 3 software. I am not sure if this works on MAC but it does work in my environment. Copy your VST .dll files from their locations into one of the default locations used by Scaler 3 - in my case, I used C:/Program Files/VstPlugins. Make sure you COPY and not MOVE these .dlls as that would screw up any other scanning used by your DAW or other software. This is also an opportunity to omit any VSTs you don’t want to show up in Scaler 3 (just don’t copy those ,dll files). Now Scaler 3 will see those plug ins when it scans for VSTs. I did not have to do this for any VST3s, only VST2s. Also note, there may be some conflicts using this method so be aware that not all plug ins will work if there are more than one copy of the .dll in use on your system. For instance u-he Repro-5 would not scan properly because of the original copy of the .dll requiring exclusive access to its proprietary user folders and files. Also note, if your DAW is scanning your system and finding 2 copies of the .dll files, there may also be conflicts and crashes. It worked for me because I’m using a custom Ableton VST folder for all my Ableton VSTs - so Ableton is not scanning the Scaler 3 location I’m now using for my copies ‘C:/Program Files/VstPlugins’ - so there is no conflict (YET). I haven’t tested this method extensively so there may be more issues with it.
Again, this is a work-around and definitely not the cleanest way to handle this problem. I hope Scaler 3 can resolve the issue with a custom folder location option, or the ability to scan shortcuts and use them to access the proper original .dll files (this would be best for many reasons)…
I know this might be too complex for some users, but you can try it out if you’re careful. Remember to COPY and not MOVE your .dll files. You don’t want to disturb the proper installation of those VSTs by moving the files - you may get away with it, but more likely to have problems. Also, copying the .dll files (depending how many you have and what VSTs you are using) is going to require a bit of hard drive space (3Gb for me)…
If Scaler 3 can solve the issue of accessing custom folders, obviously I will undo this work-around method and use a cleaner, more direct method.
to add to my previous post regarding windows work-arounds
i noticed one other thing… after making the changes to my system, and re-scanning using Scaler 3, the rescan didn’t work because I had an Error2 message. To counter this, I manually deleted ‘plugins64.cache’, ‘plugins64.ignore’, ‘plugins64’ files from the ‘C:/ProgramData/ScalerMusic/Scaler 3’ folder, then performed a fresh scan. Scaler 3 compiled new versions of those files which worked properly. I am guessing the Error2 prevented the scan from overwriting the previous database data written in those files.
Also, it’s helpful to do all this using the Standalone version of Scaler 3. I had a few crashes after my successful scan when using the VST within the DAW. Making sure everything works in the standalone version first will prevent the DAW crashes and should save a bit of doubt and concern with respect to that. Good luck!
Also thanks Scaler developers for such an awesome app! Thanks in advance for addressing the current issues which are of course to be expected with any new launch…
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Hi
I just installed Scaler 3.0.1 with the hope it would resolve the plugin issue. At initial installation Scaler found my 66 plugins and all looked promising.After installation I started the standalone version of Scaler 3.0.1 then scanned for plugins within Scaler only get a the same error message as before. Disappointed to say the least. What puzzles me is that this is the only software I own that gives me this issue when it comes to scanning for plugins and VST Instruments. I don’t want to be moving things around into different folders for fear of my DAW Studio One 6, Mixbus 10 pro and even Cakewalk by Bandlab will start acting up in this manner. Anyone have a suggestion?
Edit:
To counter this, I manually deleted ‘plugins64.cache’, ‘plugins64.ignore’, ‘plugins64’ files from the ‘C:/ProgramData/ScalerMusic/Scaler 3’ folder, then performed a fresh scan. Scaler 3 compiled new versions of those files which worked properly. I am guessing the Error2 prevented the scan from overwriting the previous database data written in those files.
I wanted thank candlewax for his suggestion to delete cache items as quoted above … that did the trick and now I am all good. Scaler 3.0.1 now works with plugins and VST Instruments in Standalone and within my DAW. Now I can concentrate on learning this version of Scaler .
Thanks again candlewax
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Hi how can I rectify this please? Thanks
see this thread:
Syphus
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Thanks! Thank did the job 
Excellent! Glad it worked out
Syphus