Gearslutz.com - View Single Post - Multi-computer multi DAW

muziksculp · 27th March 2009

Hi m127,

Very impressive setup ! I'm sure it was worth your time and effort. (Looks like one of NASA's Houston Center Control Panels)

I'm just beginning to venture into the multi computer & Multi DAW world, and have a VST-System-Link related question:

My system consists of a Mac Pro 8 core (OSX 10.5.6), and a PC (Vista 64bit-Ultimate).

The mac will run as a master, using Cubase 5. The PC which functions as a slave, mainly to host 64-bit VI's such as PLAY, and VSL using Cubase 5 as well.

I have not been able to fully evaluate the advantage of using VST-System Link vs. just using a midi networking SW such as midiOver LAN CP, to send midi over LAN from the Mac to the PC. I have an RME Raydat card w/WC option on both the Mac Pro and PC. So I could dedicate the SPDIF of both Raydat cards for the VST-System-Link, and utilize optical ADATs for the Audio transfer from PC to Mac.

From my understanding, VST-System-Link is sample accurate, and also offers 16 midi ports networked via SL. That also saves me the extra cost of midi networking SW.

The other detail that I'm not sure about is, when using VST-System Link, the transport of the two sequencers (Cubase on Mac and PC) are synchronized, i.e. clicking (Play) on the Mac's Cubase transport will trigger the PCs transport to follow along, but since all I need to is host the VST instruments on the PC, and trigger them via midi, is this DAW to DAW synchronization an advantage ? or can I disable the PC from following the Mac's transport when using SL ? Do I really need/benefit from this feature ?

My alternative option is to just use a midi networking SW such as midiOver LAN CP, and just trigger the assigned midi ports of the PC via the Mac, all audio routing is then accomplished via the RAYDAT cards.

Any feedback on this would be helpful.

Thanks.

27th March 2009	#8
muziksculp Lives for gear Joined: Mar 2007 Posts: 1,214	Hi m127, Very impressive setup ! I'm sure it was worth your time and effort. (Looks like one of NASA's Houston Center Control Panels) I'm just beginning to venture into the multi computer & Multi DAW world, and have a VST-System-Link related question: My system consists of a Mac Pro 8 core (OSX 10.5.6), and a PC (Vista 64bit-Ultimate). The mac will run as a master, using Cubase 5. The PC which functions as a slave, mainly to host 64-bit VI's such as PLAY, and VSL using Cubase 5 as well. I have not been able to fully evaluate the advantage of using VST-System Link vs. just using a midi networking SW such as midiOver LAN CP, to send midi over LAN from the Mac to the PC. I have an RME Raydat card w/WC option on both the Mac Pro and PC. So I could dedicate the SPDIF of both Raydat cards for the VST-System-Link, and utilize optical ADATs for the Audio transfer from PC to Mac. From my understanding, VST-System-Link is sample accurate, and also offers 16 midi ports networked via SL. That also saves me the extra cost of midi networking SW. The other detail that I'm not sure about is, when using VST-System Link, the transport of the two sequencers (Cubase on Mac and PC) are synchronized, i.e. clicking (Play) on the Mac's Cubase transport will trigger the PCs transport to follow along, but since all I need to is host the VST instruments on the PC, and trigger them via midi, is this DAW to DAW synchronization an advantage ? or can I disable the PC from following the Mac's transport when using SL ? Do I really need/benefit from this feature ? My alternative option is to just use a midi networking SW such as midiOver LAN CP, and just trigger the assigned midi ports of the PC via the Mac, all audio routing is then accomplished via the RAYDAT cards. Any feedback on this would be helpful. Thanks.