Re: VST?

[Doug Tapia <dtapia@unoco.edu>]

>Subject:     Re: VST?
>Sent:        7/6/19 8:11 AM
>Received:    7/2/99 10:10 AM
>From:        Leo Cavallo, cavallo@dada.it
>Reply-To:    Loopers-Delight@annihilist.com
>To:          Loopers-Delight@annihilist.com
>
>Hi Doug and all
>
>I think there're a few misconceptions here... ;)
>
>At 16.32 01/07/99 -0600, you wrote:
>>OK, I'll jump in here.  What Gareth has said about _Cuebase VST_ is 
>true. 
>> To anwser your question more completly, VST stands for Virtual Studio 
>>Technology and is a cross platform plug-in arcetecture like _Direct-X_ 
>on 
>>windows machines, _Audio Suite_ on Mac and Windows, and _TDM_ on 
>>Digidesign ProTools compatable hardware running on either Mac or Windows 
>>NT.
>>
>
>the Virtual Studio Technology is the whole software architecture, not just
>the plugin system
>
Yes, this is true, but for all but the programers out there, the plug-in 
aspect is the most significant feature of VST, wouldn't you say?

>>I've found that the use of multiple VST plug-ins can also cause about a 
>1 
>>sec. delay between the input of a signal and it being echoed out the 
>>monitor output in MOTU's 2408--which is why I consider this system to be 
>>unusable for any serious recording, as most users will have to disable 
>>all plug-in processing when in record mode, or monitor the source 
>>pre-2408 and try to line up by ear with the tracks that are playing back 
>>-- thus necessitating 2 pair of nearfields. (I'll go into further 
>details 
>>on the evils of MOTU at another time if anyone cares to hear.)
>
>I dunno if you're working on Mac or PC system, but latency at the moment 
>is
>an inevitable "problem" with every audio card on the market. It's due to 
>the
>internal computer architecture... it's the delay the whole system puts
>between its audio input and output...
>Consider that the MOTU 2408 (that I own too and I'm very happy with)
>probably has the lowest latency value around... down to 3ms on my P2
>350mhz... I call this real time... Consider a lot of MIDI instruments (to 
>be
>played live) have 3-6ms latency...
>And, on PC, latency doesn't depend on how many plug ins you open but
>exclusively on the card buffer(s) settings. 
>
Maybe things have been upgraded since I checked out the 2408, but it was 
far from the "lowest latency around."  I'm not calling you a liar, I just 
have a much different recolection of their system, and it was much more 
severe than 3ms.  And that was on the fastest computer out there at the 
time.  

I will admit that for any serious DAW stuff, I will not go with anything 
less than a full-blown Protools system.

>BTW, like real studio usually do, it's better to record straight clean and
>then process the signal (with plug ins), than recording wet... so latency
>should not be a big problem... 

I'll not even comment on the "real studio" comment, sufice it to say that 
I've had considerable time on SSLs, etc.  In a plugin environment, I 
never print effects, but it is disconcerting to play while monitoring a 
dry signal.  I always record Guitarists through ampfarm, but print only 
the dry signal, so I can tweek it later, for instance.  If you're NOT 
working this way, you are missing half of the point of a plug-in DAW.



>in fact big latency values are a problem only
>for mixing, when your moves on the virtual mixers have a delay on the 
>music
>played.

Which should be automated, eh?
>


Doug