Just the must be a plugin itself and fully modular (hosting VST2/VST3) narrows the list a lot. I think the only ones are:
- Mulabs MUX (I think is the name)
- Plogue Bidule
- DDMF Metaplugin

And two in development:
- Kushview Element (open source which is nice, but still at v0.46). I think it can do everything @Olymoon asks. Or it will at certain point...
- Loomer Architect: kinda similar rich features and development stage but you have to pay
Then we have another free opren source one:
- KXStudio Carla: I think has less features than the two above but more stable

Adrian said all those and some more I don't know:

 

never tried but it also looks interesting https://soundigy.com/midilab.php , btw I would also add https://cherryaudio.com/products/voltage-modular Voltage2 to the list (but it can't pass the 'space' key to the host using any DAWs from an opened and focused plugin window I which mean practically MuLab Plugin is better https://www.mutools.com/mulab-plugin-downloads.html)

 

Last edited: Feb 5, 2024

https://www.tone2.com/nanohost.html, it's free

 

I know about that but using it is a not pleasant experience, like riding a bicycle with square wheels, maybe that the reason why nobody uses it and it looks awful, that's why I wrote about Plogue which is not the prettiest but very usable

 

Last edited: Feb 5, 2024

Much of this seems achievable to me with....

...hold it....

.....drum roll......

..............BITWIG.

Seriously, you can create insane instrument/fx groups with every parameter controlling everything else, send/receive audio/midi from/to every step of the chain, save every permutation as a preset, create groups of presets within groups of presets, map everything to every knob you have on you..

..and sometimes you make music, too.

 

You're right, BitWig has crazy possibilities for that. But several DAWs have fully modular extensions. Like FL Studio or Tracktion Waveform.
It's not a standard plugin.

 

"..and sometimes you make music, too." This was the great truth, I think the middle way is somewhere here



at least I strongly tried to find some kind of best-of-both-worlds working solution ... the rabbit hole of Bitwig is simply too deep, FL Studio and Patcher simply too "stupid" compared to Cubase and MuLab combo, and I hate the GUI of AL (S1, Reaper doesn't work well with MuLab as I've mentioned and they haven't got native Patcher like modular solution)

 

Last edited: Feb 5, 2024

Guys, I must say that I'm very thankful and surprise by so many answers.
It's a lot of possibilities, ( a bit overwelming) I'm trying each of the solutions you advise.
And will be back to report.

For now I'm waiting for Nembrini Audio NA Nexus to finish scanning all my plugins.. It's extremely slow.

Edit: It seems that I waited for nothing, Nembrini Audio NA Nexus seems to be only to process audio, it's not receiving MIDI notes..

 

Last edited: Feb 6, 2024

The BIG difference, to me, is that Bitwig's modular part isn't, like, a "feature". You can take a simple effect like DC offset, which, when used as intended, isn't even supposed to be heard -yet it has so many modular options built-in that you can turn it into a square oscillator so goddarn easily.

What I mean is, AFAIK, it's the only DAW that makes the modular thing its core element while remaining ultra accessible. You've ever used Ableton? Good, now you have Ableton turned into a modular synth. If you're over the age of 6 you'll understand how it works. Enjoy.

I'm guessing you're referring to the Grid.

I have a confession to make : for the past 4 years where I've been bending over and spreading my butt cheeks to Bitwig daily, I've use the Grid maybe 10 times

 

that's a bummer, what were Nembrini thinking of..

 

Same here, WTF were they thinking?
It's even hard to believe... it's a bug?

 

Pure Data has the "vstplugin" external (a module) that can host VST plugins, hook up any number of ins and outs + MIDI I/O. There's also "plugdata" which lets you run PD itself as a plugin, but I've not tried these in combination, but it should work. Pure Data is free, of course.

Now as Max/MSP has the same roots (and a lot of similarities) as PD (MSP stands for Miller S. Puckett, the author of PD), I'd be very surprised if you couldn't find something similar for Max or Max for Live.