cheddatom Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Has anyone ever used this? I want to set up 1 PC for FX processing, and the other as a master/mix console. Exactly what sort of cable do I buy? All the SPDIF cables around are so vastly different in price! I'm hoping to link two PCs with a Delta 1010LT in each. So... What do I do? Any advice? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crez5150 Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 [quote name='cheddatom' post='391476' date='Jan 26 2009, 10:14 AM']Has anyone ever used this? I want to set up 1 PC for FX processing, and the other as a master/mix console. Exactly what sort of cable do I buy? All the SPDIF cables around are so vastly different in price! I'm hoping to link two PCs with a Delta 1010LT in each. So... What do I do? Any advice?[/quote] Depends on your interface.... if you can.... opt for the toslink/Adat/Lightpipe type interface Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted January 26, 2009 Author Share Posted January 26, 2009 My interfaces are M-Audio Delta 1010LTs which have "S/PDIF digital I/O" which I thought I could use for this application? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crez5150 Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Yeah as long as you can route the fx through the s/pdif your rockin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted January 26, 2009 Author Share Posted January 26, 2009 Great! That's what I thought. Now, this may seem stupid, but I searched for a spdif cable and found some for £3 and some for £30 and some of the connectors look a bit weird. I've never used one before so... what do I need to get? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crez5150 Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Try these guys..... Cable is ok... not the best but for what your doing it's fine..... 1.5M for£5.50... [url="http://www.cabling4less.co.uk/Optical_Digital_Audio.php?referrer=google&gclid=CJDhlOqHrJgCFc0a3godbiLmlw"]Cable for less[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted January 26, 2009 Author Share Posted January 26, 2009 Excellent, thanks for your help! My cable is on the way. I'll report back when I get stuck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eight Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 I must admit, I never thought of doing it that way. Clever. The alternative would be to run the VSTs over a local network (if you have one). E.g. a simple crossover cable, or through a router and something like FX Teleport (http://www.fx-max.com/fxt/product.html) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crez5150 Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Very good..... on ething to bear in mind guys though is the Latency issue..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted January 26, 2009 Author Share Posted January 26, 2009 I'm guessing with the SPDIF connection there won't be any latency unless I get rediculous with my plugins? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crez5150 Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 [quote name='cheddatom' post='391652' date='Jan 26 2009, 12:47 PM']I'm guessing with the SPDIF connection there won't be any latency unless I get rediculous with my plugins?[/quote] Never say...... Never... what you have to remember is that your audio still has to be processed via the software on the other computer..... there will always be Latency.... just depends on how severe it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted January 26, 2009 Author Share Posted January 26, 2009 I was reading about VST system link in the help file. They say that no actual audio is going down the SPDIF cable, it's just sharing the processing somehow? I suppose I won't know until I try it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eight Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Am I right in assuming the SPDIF method would only be a single stereo output so you'd be applying an effect to the whole song? I've never used any of my SPDIF connections before. Whereas the FX Teleport method would allow you to run different effects on different tracks of course. I only used it once but had no problems with latency over two machines joined with a crossover ethernet cable. However, there are a lot of other factors in doing it this way which could cause latency issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crez5150 Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 [quote name='cheddatom' post='391666' date='Jan 26 2009, 12:57 PM']I was reading about VST system link in the help file. They say that no actual audio is going down the SPDIF cable, it's just sharing the processing somehow? I suppose I won't know until I try it.[/quote] I see.... if that's the case then I guess the Latency would be minimal..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted January 26, 2009 Author Share Posted January 26, 2009 [quote name='Eight' post='391690' date='Jan 26 2009, 01:13 PM']Am I right in assuming the SPDIF method would only be a single stereo output so you'd be applying an effect to the whole song? I've never used any of my SPDIF connections before. Whereas the FX Teleport method would allow you to run different effects on different tracks of course. I only used it once but had no problems with latency over two machines joined with a crossover ethernet cable. However, there are a lot of other factors in doing it this way which could cause latency issues.[/quote] My understanding is that "VST system link" is a communication protocol, rather than an audio transmission. Otherwise I could set up my other PC and route 3 stereo channels through it using analogue connections with my existing set up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crez5150 Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 What I'm not sure about though is if it's a comms link.... why would you be using S/Pdif..... surely that would be better served on 232/485/USB/Firewire? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted January 26, 2009 Author Share Posted January 26, 2009 No idea, it's what I read in the cubase help file!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted February 17, 2009 Author Share Posted February 17, 2009 Pasting this from another forum where i've asked for help. Hopefuly someone here will know?.... So, I set it all up and started a big mix on PC1, started cubase on PC2 and loaded ampeg SVX. I routed the bass track through PC2 and back into PC1. This works fine, and the bass sounds amazing, and my cpu load is tiny. So, I tried VST link. I can't get this f***er to work. At first I thought i'd be able to use one SPDIF cable, but after trying for a while it seemed more logical to need two SPDIF cables, one for each way of communication between the PCs. Is this correct? I only have one proper SPDIF cable, so I used a standard phono lead for the other side, and this still didn't work. Is this just because of the cable? Or should it have worked "a bit"? ...... First, I set the input and output on the vst link page to SPDIF 0 on both PCs. Then I plugged the cable in. Then I activated VST link. It didn't work, so then I tried connecting both SPDIF 1s with a phono cable, and I set the input on PC1 to SPDIF 0, the output on PC2 to SPDIF 0, the input on PC2 to SPDIF 1, the output on PC 1 to SPDIF 1. EDIT: And it still didn't work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowdown Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 Cheddatom. I use VST system link with Nuendo 3 [ same as SX3 really ] on one PC. And Vstack on another PC. Zero problems, infact it works like a dream. I have the older 10/10 rack version in each one. I did have problems in the beginning, But someone pointed me to Vstack, and new digital cables. There are a number of things that can go wrong, So you might wanna have a sniffty through this. It might help. [url="http://knowledgebase.steinberg.net/89_1.html"]http://knowledgebase.steinberg.net/89_1.html[/url] Garry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted February 17, 2009 Author Share Posted February 17, 2009 Thanks very much, I shall have a good read. It does sound like I should buy another digital cable though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted February 23, 2009 Author Share Posted February 23, 2009 I've bought my other cable now. I've tried eveyr way of connecting the SPDIF ports on both PCs and I still can't get the VST Link page to recognise anything. I tried the Self Test, by plugging SPDIF 0 into SPDIF 1 on one PC. I set the ports to SPDIF out L and SPDIF in L. Arrrrgh!!?!? What am I doing wrong!? Vstack looks interesting, but looks like it's for MIDI/VSTis rather than the audio processing I want to acheive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted March 2, 2009 Author Share Posted March 2, 2009 Cheeky bump due to lack of progress and a whole recording computer sitting around spare!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggsy Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 Sorry mate, according to M-Audio none of the Delta series of soundcards support the Steinberg VST System Link.. [url="http://www.maudio.co.uk/index.php?do=support.faq&ID=46c5db7248941816a5a24d8d92396e34"]M-Audio FAQ[/url] I think it's something to do with how the information is routed in the sound card. If you have the LT versions, maybe try Lightpipe instead of SPDIF with FX Teleport or VStack or something. Never done anything of the sort myself, this uninformed (and probably unhelpful) reply is based on 3 minutes of Googletime! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted March 2, 2009 Author Share Posted March 2, 2009 (edited) Lowdown has a VST system link system running with two delta cards. Mine are the LT versions, but I don't think they have an optical connection for lightpipe? Is it the case that I could use VStack or something to synchronise the two cards without using vst system link? This would be good, but i'd still like the transport (i.e stop and start) of both computers to be linked because then I can use automation on my FX PC. EDIT: Ta for the link though, I just don't think it's true seeing as Lowdown has his sytem working. Perhaps I should have done more research before buying my 2nd Delta card. Edited March 2, 2009 by cheddatom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowdown Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 [quote name='cheddatom' post='423411' date='Mar 2 2009, 04:55 PM']Lowdown has a VST system link system running with two delta cards. Mine are the LT versions, but I don't think they have an optical connection for lightpipe? Is it the case that I could use VStack or something to synchronise the two cards without using vst system link? This would be good, but i'd still like the transport (i.e stop and start) of both computers to be linked because then I can use automation on my FX PC. EDIT: Ta for the link though, I just don't think it's true seeing as Lowdown has his sytem working. Perhaps I should have done more research before buying my 2nd Delta card.[/quote] Like i said earlier, does work...Might be something to do with the Latest drivers from M-audio. That M-audio link has been there for years. [ the Steinberg site only lists two cards not working] Although [again as i said earlier i am using VStack] Tom you have a PM. Garry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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