VST Users, Don't Throw Out Those Old PCs!

[lunatic]

At least not yet.

I was checking the Cubase.net site (http://www.cubase.net) and found that Steinberg has announced something called VST System Link:

http://www.steinberg-ag.net/presse/press_section.phtml?section=01&action=show&pressID=71

Personally, I wondered how long it would be before someone came up with idea. I've been waiting for something like this. Now, I just wonder how much it will cost

Also, for those interested in Amp Modeling, check this out: http://www.steinberg.net/infocenter/events/namm2002/thewarp.phtml?sid=04662461


-Lunatic

 

[skippy]

I'm trying so hard to be excited about this, but I'm not there just yet. It's not at all clear to me how this is going to work.

Presumably, you'll need to buy a Cubase license for each individual machine. Then, you'll have to do whatever optical or SPDIF patching is needed to talk from your existing machine to the new soundcard in each of your other machines, and then you 'll have to figure out how to handle the latency issues that will arise.

I'd like this a a lot better if they did their inter-machine communication via media with real bandwidth available- say, a dedicated Ethernet segment, for example. Using SPDIF to talk from machine to machine means that you'll either be severely limited in what you can actually _do_, or that you'll have to pipeline very deeply and somehow deal with the latency issues.

For synchronizing VST instruments on one machine with audio and midi on another- this could be cool. But I somehow just don't see it working very well for the following example case: feeding a channel out to a CPU-intensive modeled reverb, and then bringing it *back in* to the main machine for further processing/mixing. The only way that'd work would be if they could advance the sample stream to acommodate the latency. Maybe they've done that: who can tell?

To probe further, check out this thread from cubase.net: http://linux1723.dn.net/forum/Forum2/HTML/020001.html . As near as I can tell, nobody's actually seen this actually *work* yet, and nobody has any real technical detail on what it'll do: right now, it's just vaporware and hype.

Let's stay tuned, for sure, but at the same time let's not get our hopes up too terribly high. I think that this is a good bit away from being real...

 

[lunatic]

Skippy:
I hear ya on the concerns. I guess what I am most excited about is that a company is actually trying to accomplish it. From here, we'll see other companies try their own, design, refine, and somewhere someone will come up with a really good solution.

I checked out that link and agree with some of the opinions there. Firewire, presumably, would be a great way to implement this solution.

I really hope Steinberg is smart about the licensing. If not, they'll kill this idea through their own stupidity. The end users, I doubt, will pay for another copy of Cubase just to do this technology. What would make sense is to purchase an add-on to Cubase and then some sort of agent install of the other machines.

Then again, all the information I can find says that it simply talks to the other sound cards via ASIO. Maybe there isn't even an agent install necessary. Maybe you just load an OS and your cards ASIO drivers, connect the cable and go!

I still gotta try it though. I like experimentation!



To All:
So, did anyone go to NAMM see this technology? Maybe you could shed some light on our questions and concerns.


Peace,
Lunatic

 

[lunatic]

Interestingly enough, Midiman has coverage of VST System Link on their website! Apparatnly, this link is a demonstration and explanation by a staff member from Midiman:

http://www.midiman.net/NAMM/mov/Rodney12fps.mov

To be honest, I haven't watched it yet as it's encoded in QuickTime but I'm headin' to the Apple site to update so I can watch it!


Peace,
Lunatic

 

[lunatic]

Well, I watched the movie and it doesn't really answer our questions but you do see it in action. At least they're trying

 

[LongWaveStudio]

i think they will be using mLan or firewire to send the data back and forth. just a thought.