Can Clarity VX plugin work with Audacity v2.4.2 or 3.4

Can the Waves Clarity VX plugin work in Audacity v2.4.2 or v3.4 under Windows10? If Yes, what setup is needed to do so?

I currently use Audacity v2.4.2 on Windows 10, just downloaded Clarity VX, then learned that Waves doesn’t officially support Audacity. I’ve tried to make VX work with Audacity anyway – unsuccessfully so far. FWIW, Waves tech support says the current Clarity version is a VST3 but a VST2 version is also downloaded with it. (Note: I don’t understand VSTs or how different VST versions differ.)

Here is what I’ve seen and tried so far:
– After downloading, Clarity VX (and maybe other Waves plugins) apparently resides in folder: C>Program Files (x86)>Waves>PluginsV14.
– I copied folder C>Program Files (x86)>Waves>PluginsV14 to Program Files (x86) >Audacity>Plug-Ins.
– After opening Audacity, in Audacity Effect>Add/Remove Plug-ins, listing All shows Clarity VX with path: C:\Program files (x86)\Audacity\plug-ins
Plug-insV14\ClarityVx.bundle\Contents\Win64\ClarityVx.dll .
– Clicking Enable then OK for ClarityVX yields this error message: “Effect or command at [that path] failed to register. Could not load the library.”

At this point I’m stuck. If I should have done something different here, please clarify. If Clarity VX should work OK with Audacity v3.4, what should I do to install Clarity for v3.4?

Thanks for all guidance.
Don Deane

Is a contradiction in terms: “x86” is 32-bit programs. “Win64” is 64-bit.

64-bit VST3 plugins usually go into

C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3

& they can* only work with 64-bit version of Audacity.
[* but not guaranteed to work ].

Is Audacity v2.4.2 32-bit or 64-bit? If 64-bit, and Program Files (x86) is solely for 32-bit programs, why did v2.4.2 load automatically in …(x86)?

Is v3.4 64-bit?

Looks like Audacity v2.4.2 is only available in 32-bit …

Audacity v3.2.4 is available in 64 & 32-bit,

(64-bit is served-up by default).

Because 64-bit Audacity can only use 64-bit plugins
and 32-bit Audacity can only use 32-bit plugins,
I have two versions of Audacity so I can use old & new plugins.
[ I recommend keeping them separate: unzipped into their own folders, rather than installed ].

I just installed the 64-bit version of Audacity v3.2.4. It lives in folder ProgramFiles\Audacity. Plugin Manager showed Clarity VX as available both for Mono and Stereo. I enabled the mono version for voiceover since I record only mono tracks.

After that, Clarity VX was briefly available to use on a recorded track in v3.2.4 and worked effectively, but has now disappeared from the list of enabled effects. Plugin Manager still shows Clarity VX in both mono and stereo versions, and I again enabled the Mono version which now shows accordingly as Enabled in Plugin Manager. However, the Effects list does NOT include Clarity VX despite what Plugin Manager shows, so I can’t use it. This is mystifying.

Explanations/suggestions? Thanks.

Could “Clarity VX” be on the Audacity Realtime effects list ?.

Could try renaming (not deleting) “pluginregistry.cfg”, see … Bug: 3.2.0 Effects appear then disappear - #4 by Trebor
That will force Audacity to rescan the plugins.