Hi All,

I'm having a senior moment here - I know there are programs which allow 2 computers to be hooked together, one a master, the other the slave, so one can harness the power of each in audio production, but I can't remember their names. Does anyone know what programs do this, and does anyone have experience with any of them and can tell me how well they work?

Thanks!

 

fx-teleport

Btw., the company went out of business and is giving away their software for free!

 

Logic Audio v7 allowed you to connect multiple computers as Nodes to share processing power. You had to pair the computers via Gigabit Ethernet. Nowadays you have dual- and quad-core Intel processor Mac that are a little more efficient at it.

 

Vienna Ensemble Pro

 

Didn't thought of it before. Great idea. Is there a newer WIN programme than fx teleport that allowes you to do so? With which means does the conection take place?

 

There's a program called Bidule by.. what's the company name again... Plogue. I have no clue on how to use it, though xD. I've searched for some videos on Youtube but I still don't really understand it. Maybe I'm just a simpleton when it comes to Bidule xD. Anyway, you may be able to figure it out and it may help you .

 

This is what I use

Midi over LAN

 

At the fx-Teleport page, they mention about 'VST System Link' by Steinberg.

I googled this and read some interesting info. In a forum where they talk about fx-Teleport in 32bit - -64bit hosts and that VSL is only available in Steinberg products, here:
http://forum.recordingreview.com/f23/vst-system-link-38103/?join_banner_modifier=3&utm_expid=21269980-2.EQfZAxwDSmulccLJfOLh6g.3&utm_referrer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com.au%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dvst%2Bsystem%2Blink%26gws_rd%3Dcr%26ei%3Dvp-pVJy5DIKrmAX-6oIg%26norc%3D1%26zx%3D1420402624891

 

I just use a midi cable running from the midi out of my studio machine to a midi in on my games machine.

On the games machine i have a standalone kontakt and it sends the audio back via an sp/dif cable.

I also have all the rest of komplete 9 and some other synths that run as standalone on there, it just works as a fecking huge synth

It probably helps that they are both blindingly fast machines and are only 3 feet apart.

 

Thank you all! I was thinking of fx-teleport, Vienna Ensemble Pro and Midi over Lan. And now I will explore Plogue Bidule. And maybe there was something called ReWire, now that I think of it. These are all so old though. I guess developers stopped working on these sorts of things when computers became so powerful, but many people must put together a new computer at some point, and then still have their old, perfectly useable computer just sitting around, so I would think there'd still be a market for stuff like this. Oh, well. Thank you guys for the help. Anyone have any experience with any of these, and can report on how well they work?

 

For the Steinberg option, there was their free VST host: "V-Stack". A 32bit which can integrate into their VST System Link network.
- no longer available but you should be able to download is from somewhere.
Read about it here:
http://www.kvraudio.com/product/v-stack-by-steinberg/details

 

thebert, we need more info to help you, mate. What DAWs do you want to connect? What OS do you use? Since I've read the thread I'm assuming you want to connect two PC computers, but if you use Reaper DAW there is a much more elegant solution in Reaper called ReaMote that comes with Reaper and I'm a very satisfied user of.

VST link is the crappiest crap of the craps there is since the crap has been invented. You have to use SPDIF connection to make it work, both in and out. ReaMote uses network/LAN connection so you can use SPDIF for something more useful.

 

Good thinking, SineWave. Yes, I'm planning to connect 2 PCs. The old one is running Logic 5 on Win XP. (Yes, old!). I haven't yet built the new one, but it will run Windows 8.1 probably, or maybe Windows 7, and I haven't yet decided on which DAW. Maybe Pro Tools, maybe Sonar, maybe something else. Now that I know about ReaMote, I'll look at Reaper, which I know little about. Thanks!

 

You're welcome, thebert!

The only problem with ReaMote, which you probably already figured out, is that you have to use Reaper on both computers, same as VSTlink. But ReaMote is such a beautiful solution as you can use all the PCs on your network as outboard DSP and run CPU heavy plugins on them without tasking the main computer! ;) [but with a little bit of additional latency, of course] That's unique and no DAW except Reaper has that.

If you only need audio and MIDI streaming from one DAW to another then ReaStream is probably a better solution. Here: http://www.reaper.fm/reaplugs/ It's free. ReaStream is a plugin that sends/receives multiple channels [configurable] of MIDI and audio over network. This is actually what you asked for in the first place, so you can connect 2 different DAW's MIDI/audio, probably working with MIDI in good old Logic and mixing on another PC and DAW, I guess.

Cheers!

 

Just another input...

WormHole by plasq

WormHole is a VST/AU plug-in to send audio streams over a local network. It is now possible to transmit audio between Macs and PCs over TCP/IP.
Features:
Transmits 32 Bit audio over TCP/IP.
Low Latency on a LAN.
One 44 kHz Mono Channel requires 175 kByte/sec.
Works with any Network Interface (Ethernet, Firewire, Airport).
Works with any Audio Units/VST host.
Can be used on a single machine to send audio between applications or to send audio between multiple computers.

Here:
http://www.kvraudio.com/product/wormhole_by_plasq/details
http://code.google.com/p/wormhole2/

 

Or take a look here:

http://www.copperlan.org/index.php/download/implementations-2

 

I have friends that use Vienna Ensemble Pro and swear by it.... seems people are getting more into buying, say a farm of mac mini's, and using that. To me it seems like it would double the notes and pita in a certain way, as I am am always working on tons of different stuff all over the place, and remember what is where and what it is labeled etc.... would bring me back to the days of having to write down which Akai banks I was using on 2 different s1100's, kurzweil programs by 16 channels, nords etc.... but I think it is probably more elegant then that.

I used Logic node ~8-10 years ago, and it only worked with Logic's internal fx etc, but it DID work, I assume that is long gone from the platform.... but from what I hear VEP is the best...

 

Greetz,

If U want 2 know the best solution 4 the least cost, try the following.

1. Visit E-bay & Locate A good Low Priced Not To Old DeskTop PC That A Good Amount of Memory (RAM) And Capable Of Adding More Memory (Dell In This situation Are A Better Choice). Make Sure They Have Windows XP PRO or Above (Although Microsoft No Longer Supports WIN XP it's still a Pretty Dependable OS). Stay Away From VISTA if at all possible, it wasn't the best OS MS put out. (Of course if U already have the amount of PC's U want already, then Ignore this part.)

2. Also On E-Bay Locate a Low Priced Minimum 4 Port (More if U Plan on Networking More Computers) Gigabit Router (D-Link, Linksys☑, Netgear Are The Best Choices).

4. A. Setup A Home Network Starting with this PC. A Good Place to get good Tips/Tutorial on how to do so is Here: Home Network Setup connecting Windows 7, XP and Vista - http://techblissonline.com/home-network-setup-connecting-windows-7-xp-and-vista/

B. Share this PC on the network (The above Tut Shows U How)

To Help Clearly Identify the PC that U Will Install Your DAW (s) App to, Identify it with a name such as DAW Central or DAW PC for example.

3. Install Your DAW Software on that PC making sure it is in a Shared Location.

4. Connect Your other PC (PC's) to the Router and share it/them as well.

5. Locate Your Network Under Windows Explorer. Click on the Computer U Installed Your DAW Software to and locate the Hardrive & Folder U Installed The DAW Software to. Locate the EXE for the DAW and click it. It Should launch on the PC U Plan 2 use. (Note: Sometimes in Network situations software claims it can't find files needed to launch. U usually see the names of the files indicated in the error message. Make note of the file (s) and their location and copy them from the PC where the Main DAW Software is located, Create a folder with the same name in the same location on the PC you will B using. If it does not work, the refer to your DAW Software Support options for what is needed to access across your network.)

Doing it this way We have found that the PC that We have the DAW open on uses it OWN RESOURCES (CPU, MEMORY, etc.) to run our DAW. Then we just move to another PC to Access other DAW software. Using a Dual or More Monitor Configuration of course.

It's not all that difficult to setup and once U have it setup it's easy 2 use. And as far as VST's and such go, We just create a MAIN Folder for them (e.g. Mixcraft, Logic, ProTools, or Cubase VST Collection or DB) and point our DAW Software to it under Preferences) on each PC.

Hope this helps.

 

I highly recommend VEP too....

I utilize it on my main Mac inside Logic Pro 9 or X....

I then can host 32 or 64bit AU plugins or Mac VSTs on various other Macs slaved to my Main Mac... Note: 32bit AUs can be hosted inside Logic pro X... removing the need for wrappers like Lives32. All 32bit Plugins that i have tried.. work fine this way.. not just the ones supported by 32lives...

I can also host 32 and 64bit Windows VSTs in Logic... on various PCs i have, slaving them to my Main Mac too... Gives you the best of both the PC and Mac Plugin worlds this way!

Example.. As i have found that the Windows version of EWQL Play is more stable and efficient than the Mac versions.. I run Play on my PCs and slave those PCs tom my Mac via VEP so I can host the Win versions of Play inside my Mac running Logic...

Finally of course, its great at just load sharing large Kontakt/VSL/Play/Heavy CPU usage plugins like Diva etc... setups across several Macs/PC... using the snapshot facilities to save out configurations like templates ready for use with a single click on my Main Mac....

VEP's not cheap.. but well worth the investment.....

 

Sharing files over the network (if I understand you right here) is not the same as distributed computing and will in fact decrease performance.