WET Delay VST3 Plugin

80s studio delay faithfully recreated in a CPU-friendly effect. Now with tap tempo mode!

Download: wetvst.com/wetdelay

Panel too big or too small? Right-click anywhere on the panel and pick UI Zoom, from 50% to 125%.

Features

• 6 hand-picked delay times that cover a broad range of applications including slapback
• 24kHz internal rate, 12-bit quantisation
• Stereo operation including crosstalk
• Real-time input/output metering
• Resizable panel: right-click and zoom from 50% to 125%
• 100% wet output - no dry signal in the mix, so it belongs on a send or a parallel path
• Tap tempo mode: tap the logo in time with the music (see below)

Download & Installation

Windows

1. Download the latest release from wetvst.com or GitHub Releases
2. Extract the ZIP file
3. Copy WetDelay.vst3 to your VST3 folder:
   • User: C:\Users\[Username]\Documents\VST3\
   • System: C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3\
4. Restart your DAW and rescan plugins

Linux

1. Download the latest release from wetvst.com or GitHub Releases
2. Extract the ZIP file
3. Copy WetDelay.vst3 to your VST3 folder:
   • User: ~/.vst3/
   • System: /usr/lib/vst3/
4. Restart your DAW and rescan plugins

macOS

1. Download the latest release from wetvst.com or GitHub Releases
2. Extract the ZIP file
3. Copy WetDelay.vst3 to your VST3 folder:

   ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/
   

4. Copy WetDelay.component to ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/ for Logic and GarageBand
5. Restart your DAW and rescan plugins

Note that by default, the Library folder may not be shown in the Finder. See the macOS documentation on how to make it visible.

The plug-in is signed and notarised by Apple, so macOS opens it without a warning.

If macOS still blocks it

Older releases were not signed. If macOS says the plug-in "cannot be opened because the developer cannot be verified", remove the quarantine flag in Terminal and restart your DAW:

xattr -cr ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/WetDelay.vst3
xattr -cr ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/WetDelay.component

Usage

1. Load the plugin in your DAW (Reaper, Cubase, Ableton Live, FL Studio, etc.)
2. Select delay time using the Delay Time parameter (0-5 for 6 positions)
3. Monitor levels using the built-in input/output meters
4. Automate the delay time parameter for creative effects

Hidden bonus tap tempo mode

A small thank-you to celebrate 10,000 WET downloads, and because so many of you asked for it: as of version 1.4.0, WetDelay has a hidden bonus tap tempo mode.

Tap the WET DELAY logo in time with the music. From the third tap the delay follows your tapping and all six lights blink on the beat. Keep tapping to fine-tune it. Press any of the six time buttons to go back to the fixed times.

The tapped time runs from 100 ms to 2 seconds and is saved with your project. It is not synced to your DAW's tempo: if the song changes tempo, tap again.

Parameter Reference

Parameter	Range	Default	Description
Delay Time	0-5	0	Selects delay time: 0=20ms, 1=40ms, 2=80ms, 3=120ms, 4=220ms, 5=400ms

Delay Times

Position	Delay Time
0	20 ms
1	40 ms
2	80 ms
3	120 ms
4	220 ms
5	400 ms

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Building from Source

If you want to build the plugin yourself, follow these instructions.

System Requirements

Windows

• Operating System: Windows 10/11 (64-bit)
• Build Tools:
  • Visual Studio 2022 Build Tools or Community Edition
  • CMake 3.15 or higher
  • Git

Linux

• Operating System: Linux (x86_64)
• Build Tools:
  • GCC or Clang with C++17 support
  • CMake 3.15 or higher
  • Git
• Dependencies (Ubuntu/Debian):

  sudo apt-get install cmake gcc g++ libstdc++6 libx11-xcb-dev libxcb-util-dev \
      libxcb-cursor-dev libxcb-xkb-dev libxkbcommon-dev libxkbcommon-x11-dev \
      libfontconfig1-dev libcairo2-dev libgtkmm-3.0-dev libsqlite3-dev \
      libxcb-keysyms1-dev git
  

macOS

• Operating System: macOS 10.13 or higher (Intel) / macOS 11.0 or higher (Apple Silicon)
• Build Tools:
  • Xcode Command Line Tools or Xcode
  • CMake 3.15 or higher
  • Git

Step 1: Clone VST3 SDK

If the vst3sdk folder is not present, clone it:

git clone --recursive https://github.com/steinbergmedia/vst3sdk.git

Step 2: Build

Windows

Run the automated build script:

build.bat

This will:

• Configure CMake for Visual Studio 2022
• Build the plugin in Release mode
• Run the VST3 validator (47 automated tests)
• Output: WetDelay\build\VST3\Release\WetDelay.vst3

Linux

Run the automated build script:

chmod +x build.sh
./build.sh

This will:

• Configure CMake with GCC/Clang
• Build the plugin in Release mode
• Run the VST3 validator (47 automated tests)
• Output: WetDelay/build/VST3/Release/WetDelay.vst3

macOS

Run the automated build script:

chmod +x build.sh
./build.sh

This will:

• Configure CMake with Clang
• Build the plugin in Release mode
• Run the VST3 validator (47 automated tests)
• Output: WetDelay/build/VST3/Release/WetDelay.vst3

Step 3: Install

Windows

To install the plugin to your system's VST3 folder:

install.bat

Note: You may need to run as Administrator if you encounter permission errors.

Linux

To install the plugin to your user VST3 folder:

chmod +x install.sh
./install.sh

This installs to ~/.vst3/WetDelay.vst3

macOS

To install the plugin to your user VST3 folder:

chmod +x install.sh
./install.sh

This installs to ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/WetDelay.vst3

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Technical Details

Architecture

• Framework: VST3 SDK (Official Steinberg)
• Language: C++17
• Build System: CMake (MSBuild on Windows, Make on Linux)
• GUI: VSTGUI4

Audio Processing

• Host Sample Rates: Supports 22.05 kHz to 384 kHz
• Internal Sample Rate: 24 kHz (80s rack-style)
• Host Bit Depth: 32-bit float processing
• Internal Bit Depth: 12-bit quantization with dither
• Latency: User-controlled (20-400ms delay)
• CPU Usage: <0.5% (typical)
• Memory: ~200 KB

Implementation Details

• Delay Engine: Circular buffer at 24 kHz internal rate
• Resampling: Linear interpolation with anti-aliasing and reconstruction filters
• Quantization: 12-bit uniform quantization with TPDF dither
• Filtering: 1st-order high-pass (80 Hz) and low-pass (9 kHz)
• Crosstalk: 1% (-40 dB) bidirectional channel bleed
• Metering: Atomic peak detection with exponential decay
• Thread Safety: Lock-free atomic operations for GUI communication
• Buffer Size: Pre-allocated for 400ms @ internal sample rate

Project Structure

WetDelay/
├── vst3sdk/                    # VST3 SDK (git submodule)
├── WetDelay/                   # Plugin source
│   ├── source/
│   │   ├── wetdelayprocessor.h/cpp    # Audio processing
│   │   ├── wetdelaycontroller.h/cpp   # Parameter control
│   │   ├── delaybuffer.h/cpp          # Delay buffer implementation
│   │   ├── wetdelaycids.h             # Plugin IDs
│   │   └── version.h                  # Version info
│   ├── resource/
│   │   └── wetdelayeditor.uidesc      # GUI definition
│   ├── CMakeLists.txt                 # Build configuration
│   └── build/                         # Build output (generated)
├── build.bat                   # Build automation script
├── install.bat                 # Installation script
├── LICENSE                     # MIT License
└── README.md                   # This file

Validation Results

The plugin passes all official VST3 validation tests:

✅ 47 tests passed, 0 tests failed

Key validations:

• Valid state transitions
• Proper bus configuration
• Correct parameter handling
• Sample rate support (22.05 kHz - 384 kHz)
• Thread safety
• Preset save/load
• Plugin suspend/resume

Troubleshooting

macOS Issues

Plugin not appearing in DAW:

• Restart your DAW and rescan
• Check VST3 scan path: ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/
• Verify the folder contains WetDelay.vst3

Getting "cannot be verified":

• Only older, unsigned releases do this - see "If macOS still blocks it" above
• Right-click the plugin → "Open" → "Open" to bypass Gatekeeper
• Check DAW console for error messages
• Report issue at GitHub Issues

Plugin crashes DAW:

• macOS 10.13+ (Intel) or macOS 11.0+ (Apple Silicon) required
• Check DAW console for error messages
• Report issue at GitHub Issues

Runtime Issues

No sound output:

• Verify the plugin is receiving audio input
• Check that the delay time is not set to minimum (varies by sample rate)
• Ensure your DAW is routing through the plugin correctly

Crackling/Clicking:

• This shouldn't occur with discrete parameter changes
• If it does, report as a bug with your DAW and sample rate info

Author

Ronald Klarenbeek

• Website: https://wetvst.com
• Email: contact@wetvst.com
• GitHub: https://github.com/yonie

License

MIT License - Copyright © 2026 Ronald Klarenbeek (Yonie)

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Note: This project uses the VST3 SDK which is licensed under a BSD-style license. See the VST3 SDK license files for details on SDK licensing.

Acknowledgments

• Steinberg Media Technologies for the VST3 SDK
• VSTGUI framework for cross-platform GUI support
• The audio plugin development community

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Part of WET - with WetReverb, WetEQ and WetCompressor