Live gig with VST-plugins

Steffu · 8th July 2008

Hi guys. I've been lurking in these parts of the internet for awhile reading posts. I suddenly got an urge to sign up, great forum guys!

I've been wondering something for awhile now. Do you think it's possible to run a live gig with vst effects entirely from cubase with a motu 828mkII usb 2.0 straight into the power amps on a small live gig? It would be exciting to try it out. I think my latency is about 3-6ms and I might be able to lower it still.

My friends and I use to put on shows just for fun and people usually shows up :P And this might be my idea of a (decent sounding?) pretty "cheap" live solution. We don't own alot of gear and the last time when we had a bigger happening we rented it... but this time, we have everything in our rooms and on our harddrives. OF course with computers involved the ratio of fatal errors in realtime are quite high, but if we use a mixing desk it would be easy to drop the effects and switch everyhing to it.

Would this be worth trying? What would the major obstacles be? Anyone tried it?

feyshay · 8th July 2008

Are you talking about guitar? It is definitely doable, but I'm not sure if it would be advisable.
Unless you are going to be doing looping or avant garde kind of stuff, I'm thinking putting a computer chain leads to some risk (crashing, digital noise, digital feedback, impedance mismatches, degradation of signal).
I'd try to keep in the analog realm and if necessary rely on a hardware effects processor for effects. Better yet, stick with pedals.
If I were going to try such a thing with computer, believe me it would not be with Cubase. I'd go with something like Live--easier-- drag and drop.
However, if among friends--sounds like you could work it if not pressured with a catastrophic computer crash.

Flying_Dutchman · 8th July 2008

I´think of this, too at the moment.
It works, no problem, i tried it at rehearsal room many times.
I´m still not shure if i should have the balls to realize a live gig with this setup.
What if the computer crashes... hell.
The best would be a split box with a small safety analog setup, i think.

sardonic_z · 8th July 2008

I say go for it, as long as the gig's not too high-pressure. I used to run alto sax thru a cheap Emu cardbus interface on my old crappy toshiba laptop. Never had a crash during a show. The only problem I had was that the computer had a tendency to distract me from the performance.

I do second what the guy said about Ableton Live, that'd most likely be the way to go here.

Steffu · 9th July 2008

My original plan was to run everything trough the motu, guitar, drums, vocals etc. just a couple of tracks with live monitoring and the plugs set up. I think i might be able to try it out at some rehearsal just to see how it goes. Guitar works fine right now, just the same as when I record.

With several computers the risk would be a bit smaller and yes, some hardware processors might have to be there. I think when and IF we try it we'll do it with a big mixer.

Well it seems like the experiment could be a little sweaty, but if we'll do it I can report back with some results, thanks for your expertise guys!

daverich · 9th July 2008

I've mixed a show using Reaper, a Mackie Onyx 1640 and the stock reaper plugs.

As long as you are frugal with the plugs (mind you I'm running a lowly 4400x2) it's totally do-able.

I kept it at 3ms latency, which wasn't noticable with the onyx (it is with a fireface because of the extra buffering it does)

Kind regards

Dave Rich

Steffu · 9th July 2008

Cool to hear that someone actually did it!

dighawaii · 8th March 2009

I.ve been using emu 1616m hardware and a laptop to run 4 live subgroups through. It's awesome. Also, developing a 4 piece, total pc (AD/DA through RME hammerfal at 3ms latency), inside Sonar for live patch changing, main mix, monitor mix, guitar rigs, autotuners, synths, you name it. Pretty frickin wicked. All vst and DX. Digital mixer routes the ins and outs.

Of course it's a pretty powerful computer- nothing you cant put together on ebay for $700.....

a hui ho !

rackdude · 8th March 2009

My old phonic firewire 24 had low enough latency to pull it off well. Got to use all my good eqs and compressors and it sounded great.

8th July 2008	#1
Steffu Gear interested Joined: Jul 2008 Location: Finland Posts: 9 Thread Starter	Live gig with VST-plugins Hi guys. I've been lurking in these parts of the internet for awhile reading posts. I suddenly got an urge to sign up, great forum guys! I've been wondering something for awhile now. Do you think it's possible to run a live gig with vst effects entirely from cubase with a motu 828mkII usb 2.0 straight into the power amps on a small live gig? It would be exciting to try it out. I think my latency is about 3-6ms and I might be able to lower it still. My friends and I use to put on shows just for fun and people usually shows up :P And this might be my idea of a (decent sounding?) pretty "cheap" live solution. We don't own alot of gear and the last time when we had a bigger happening we rented it... but this time, we have everything in our rooms and on our harddrives. OF course with computers involved the ratio of fatal errors in realtime are quite high, but if we use a mixing desk it would be easy to drop the effects and switch everyhing to it. Would this be worth trying? What would the major obstacles be? Anyone tried it?

8th July 2008	#3
Flying_Dutchman Lives for gear Joined: Oct 2005 Posts: 3,145	I´think of this, too at the moment. It works, no problem, i tried it at rehearsal room many times. I´m still not shure if i should have the balls to realize a live gig with this setup. What if the computer crashes... hell. The best would be a split box with a small safety analog setup, i think. __________________ Just do it

8th March 2009	#9
rackdude Lives for gear Joined: Aug 2007 Location: Orange County, CA or Oberlin, OH Posts: 1,752	My old phonic firewire 24 had low enough latency to pull it off well. Got to use all my good eqs and compressors and it sounded great. __________________ Just having fun!

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8th July 2008	#2
feyshay Lives for gear Joined: Aug 2005 Posts: 1,358	Are you talking about guitar? It is definitely doable, but I'm not sure if it would be advisable. Unless you are going to be doing looping or avant garde kind of stuff, I'm thinking putting a computer chain leads to some risk (crashing, digital noise, digital feedback, impedance mismatches, degradation of signal). I'd try to keep in the analog realm and if necessary rely on a hardware effects processor for effects. Better yet, stick with pedals. If I were going to try such a thing with computer, believe me it would not be with Cubase. I'd go with something like Live--easier-- drag and drop. However, if among friends--sounds like you could work it if not pressured with a catastrophic computer crash.

8th July 2008	#4
sardonic_z Gear interested Joined: Jul 2008 Location: NYC Posts: 19	I say go for it, as long as the gig's not too high-pressure. I used to run alto sax thru a cheap Emu cardbus interface on my old crappy toshiba laptop. Never had a crash during a show. The only problem I had was that the computer had a tendency to distract me from the performance. I do second what the guy said about Ableton Live, that'd most likely be the way to go here.

9th July 2008	#5
Steffu Gear interested Joined: Jul 2008 Location: Finland Posts: 9 Thread Starter	My original plan was to run everything trough the motu, guitar, drums, vocals etc. just a couple of tracks with live monitoring and the plugs set up. I think i might be able to try it out at some rehearsal just to see how it goes. Guitar works fine right now, just the same as when I record. With several computers the risk would be a bit smaller and yes, some hardware processors might have to be there. I think when and IF we try it we'll do it with a big mixer. Well it seems like the experiment could be a little sweaty, but if we'll do it I can report back with some results, thanks for your expertise guys!

9th July 2008	#6
daverich Gear nut Joined: Jun 2007 Posts: 143	I've mixed a show using Reaper, a Mackie Onyx 1640 and the stock reaper plugs. As long as you are frugal with the plugs (mind you I'm running a lowly 4400x2) it's totally do-able. I kept it at 3ms latency, which wasn't noticable with the onyx (it is with a fireface because of the extra buffering it does) Kind regards Dave Rich

8th March 2009	#8
dighawaii Gear interested Joined: Mar 2009 Posts: 2	I.ve been using emu 1616m hardware and a laptop to run 4 live subgroups through. It's awesome. Also, developing a 4 piece, total pc (AD/DA through RME hammerfal at 3ms latency), inside Sonar for live patch changing, main mix, monitor mix, guitar rigs, autotuners, synths, you name it. Pretty frickin wicked. All vst and DX. Digital mixer routes the ins and outs. Of course it's a pretty powerful computer- nothing you cant put together on ebay for $700..... a hui ho !