Hi all,
I’ve wanted to make a hardware device dedicated to a single VST plugin for a while now. I’ve done a lot of searching as this is something that has either been done before by closed-source companies or just not talked about in much clearness. I’m looking for some clarity as to what - and how - VSTs on computers really work.

In terms of preferences, the device would have to be quite small and cheap, which narrows my knowledge down to a raspberry pi. However, it turns out they can’t run windows based VSTs (I really want to be able to run most VST3 plugins). But then I learned about programs like WINE which apparently let me run windows applications on Linux, but apparently in doesn’t actually work, because it has nothing to do with the actual processing chip?

In all honesty I am very confused by the different layers of processor architecture and operating systems, especially with where VSTs fall into it all.

P.S. I also stumbled across an operating system called “Elk Audio” which is supposedly a dedicated system to run smooth audio and sounds like it would fit perfectly with what I’m hoping to do, but running on a raspberry pi means running ARM Linux which, if I’m correct, narrows the list down too far.


Any help or knowledge on this situation is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

The cheap option is to grab a Raspberry Pi and limit yourself to plugins available for Linux / ARM (and invest the time to learn how to set this up and how to compile plugins from source). The RPi is probably not fast enough to run demanding Windows / x64 plugins at reasonable speeds - if you can get them to run at all.

The alternative is to buy an SBC (single board computer) fitted with an x64 chip (Intel or AMD) that can run Windows. Those will run whatever plugins you throw at them (double check that the CPU supports AVX instructions). You can get a non-exhaustive overview of x64 SBCs here: https://hackerboards.com/?cpu_architecture=x86_64

You might have to resort to embedded shops, eBay or AliExpress to get your hands on one of those.

The third option is to trade form factor for better availability and buy something like the ECS LIVA (also x64).

 

She said...Size doesn't matter...really!!

 

There's plenty of alternatives to RasPi, like OrangePi. But it pays to shop around for SBCs, there's more performant and/or cheaper options which have similar features.

How are you planning to do audio I/O by the way? stick a USB interface in it (look for class compliance, those work fine with Linux) or some sort of HAT?

*edit:* A side note, I've seen people building web interfaces to control the software installed, once done with the setup of the device and the audio processes. Might be something to look into as well.

 

Last edited: Aug 8, 2024

FYI, recently, for the same purpose I bought 3 2500k, 2600k based systems, all around €50 complete, one with SSD windows, Hdd en graphics card. So if it is just cost, this is a good solution with avx and plenty power, they all run at 4.4ghz. I use Vienna ensemble pro 5 cracked for connecting to main saw. But there are other and free solutions too

 

one of the best for this kind of project is probably stuff from "Tracktion soft"
they have don a lot of work for cheap & low power devices especially for Linux/pie
they have Open Sourced the main Tracktion Engine, i forgot if it was just Biotek synth
or even the daw itself, its been a while, so

have a look

ps.
and there a lot of yt channels for this kind of stuf