Steinberg Cubase Essential 4 Operation Manual

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Synchronization
 A synchronizer that can read timecode (and possibly house 
clock) and generate the required sync signals from that, such 
as the Steinberg TimeLock Pro.
or...
 An audio system with complete built-in synchronization possi-
bilities, preferably supporting the ASIO Positioning Protocol 
(see “About the ASIO Positioning Protocol (APP)” on page 
284).
Using timecode without word clock
Of course, it is possible to set up a synchronization system 
where you lock Cubase Essential to timecode without us-
ing word clock. However, please note that the timing of au-
dio vs. MIDI cannot be guaranteed and that fluctuations in 
speed in the incoming timecode will not affect the play-
back of audio events. This means that synchronizing to 
timecode may work in the following situations:
When the timecode was originally generated by the au-
dio card itself.
When the source providing the timecode is extremely 
stable (such as a digital video system, a digital tape re-
corder or another computer).
When you remain synchronized to that same stable 
source throughout the entire process, both while record-
ing and playing back audio.
Making basic settings and 
connections
Setting the Frame Rate
The frame rate is the number of frames per second in a film 
or on a video tape. Just as there is always sixty seconds to a 
minute, there is always a certain number of frames to each 
second. However, the frame rate used varies with the type 
of media (film or video), which country the video tape has 
been produced in, and other circumstances.
In the Project Setup dialog are two settings for frame rates:
The Frame Rate pop-up is automatically adjusted to the 
frame rate of the incoming timecode.
There is an exception to this when you are synchronizing Cubase Essen-
tial to MIDI Timecode: If you have selected 29.97 fps or 30 dfps as 
Frame Rate in Cubase Essential, this selection will be kept, since these 
frame rates are not included in the MTC format.
The following frame rates are available:
The Display Format pop-up contains a number of for-
mats that when selected work as the “master” setting for 
the display format used in the various windows’ rulers and 
position displays.
Making connections
The following connections are required for external sync 
via a synchronizer, including resolving of the audio card. 
For details on audio card and synchronizer settings and 
connections, see the manuals for these devices.
Route the master clock signal (LTC, VITC, etc.) to an in-
put on the synchronizer.
Connect the word clock output on the synchronizer to a 
word clock input on the audio card.
Connect the MIDI Timecode (MTC) output on the syn-
chronizer to the corresponding input on the computer.
Set up the synchronizer and make sure the frame rate 
settings are in accordance with the master clock.
A typical synchronization setup. Frame Rate Description
24 fps The traditional frame rate of 35mm film.
25 fps The frame rate used for all video and audio in Europe 
(EBU).
29.97 fps Straight 29.97 frames per second.
29.97 dfps “Drop frame” code running at 29.97 frames per second, 
most often used in the United States of America for work 
with color video.
30 fps Straight 30 frames per second. This is often used in the 
United States for audio only work.
30 dfps Very rarely used. 
						

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Synchronization
Synchronization settings
In the following sections you will find a description of how 
to set up your system for the different timecode sources:
Internal Timecode
In this mode, Cubase Essential is the master.
Use the “MIDI Timecode Destinations” and “MIDI Clock 
Destinations” sections to specify which devices should be 
slaved to Cubase Essential.
Synchronizing other Equipment to Cubase Essential
You may have other MIDI devices that you want to syn-
chronize to Cubase Essential. There are two types of syn-
chronization signals that Cubase Essential can transmit: 
MIDI Clock and MIDI Timecode.
Transmitting MIDI Clock
If you transmit MIDI Clock to a device supporting this type 
of synchronization signal, the other device will follow Cu-
base Essential’s tempo. The tempo setting in the other de-
vice is of no relevance. If the device also reacts to Song 
Position Pointers (which Cubase Essential transmits) it will 
follow when you wind, rewind and locate using the Cubase 
Essential Transport panel.
ÖMIDI Clock transport commands include “Start”, “Stop” 
and “Continue”. However, some MIDI equipment (e.g. 
some drum machines) do not recognize the “Continue” 
command. If this is the case with your equipment, activate 
the option “Always Send Start Message” in the Project 
Synchronization Setup dialog (MIDI Clock Destinations).
When this is activated, only the Start command is used.
Activate “MIDI Clock Follows Project Position” if you 
want the other device to follow when you loop, jump and 
locate during playback.
When this is activated, the sent MIDI Clock signals will follow the se-
quencer time and tempo position at all times.
Transmitting MIDI Timecode
If you transmit MIDI Timecode to a device supporting this 
type of synchronization signal, the device will synchronize 
time-wise to Cubase Essential, that is, the time displays 
on Cubase Essential’s Transport panel and on the other 
device will agree. When you wind and locate Cubase Es-
sential and then activate playback, the other device will 
follow from the same position (if it has this capability and 
is set up for it!).
Setting Up
1.Connect the desired MIDI Outputs from Cubase Es-
sential to the device(s) that you plan to synchronize.
2.Open the Project Synchronization Setup dialog from 
the Transport menu.
3.Activate the sync outputs by using the corresponding 
checkboxes.
You can output any combination of MIDI Timecode and MIDI Clock to 
any combination of outputs (however, you probably don’t want to send 
MTC and MIDI Clock to the same output).
!Please note that some external devices may not react 
smoothly to these repositioning messages. Espe-
cially when working with some older devices, it may 
take some time for them to synchronize accurately to 
the project time.!Some MIDI interfaces will automatically send MIDI 
Clock to all MIDI outputs, regardless of the MIDI 
Clock Port selection in Cubase Essential. If this is 
the case, you should only select one MIDI Clock Port 
(consult the documentation of the MIDI Interface if in 
doubt).
Settings for sync to internal timecode 
						

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Synchronization
4.Set the other device(s) to their “external synchroniza-
tion” mode (or some other mode with a similar name) and 
activate playback on them if necessary.
5.Activate playback in Cubase Essential, and the other 
device(s) will follow.
MIDI Timecode
In this mode, Cubase Essential is the slave and the time-
code is sent by the MIDI Timecode Source specified in the 
corresponding section. 
Setting up Cubase Essential for external sync to 
timecode
1.In the Project Synchronization dialog, set Timecode 
Source to MIDI Timecode.
2.Use the pop-up menu in the MIDI Timecode Source 
section to select an input for the timecode.
3.Close the Project Synchronization Setup dialog and 
open the Project Setup dialog from the Project menu.
4.Use the Start value to set which frame on the external 
device (e.g. a video tape) should correspond to the begin-
ning of the project.5.In the dialog that appears, you are asked if you want to 
keep the project content at its timecode positions. Select 
“No”.
This will make all events and parts keep their positions relative to the 
project start. 
6.Close the Project Setup dialog.
7.On the Transport panel, activate the Sync button (or 
select Use External Sync from the Transport menu).
8.Start the tape (or video, or other master device) that 
contains the timecode. Cubase Essential starts playing 
when it receives timecode with a position “higher” than, or 
equal to, the project Start frame.
You can wind the device that sends the timecode to any 
position and start from there.
You should also take a look at the Sync Options, see 
“Sync Options” on page 285.
The Sync indicator
On the Transport panel you can check the status of in-
coming timecode by observing the sync indicator. It 
switches between “Offline” (not waiting for sync), “Idle” 
(ready for sync but no signal is coming in), and “Lock xx” 
(where xx indicates the frame rate of the incoming signal).
Sync to timecode activated
Outputs for 
MIDI Clock
Outputs for MIDI 
Timecode
Input port for MIDI 
Timecode
Options for incoming 
timecode
Set this to the time-
code position 
where you want the 
project to start.
!When the master device with the timecode is 
stopped, you can use the Cubase Essential transport 
controls as you normally do, when it is not synchro-
nized. 
The Sync indicator 
						

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Synchronization
ASIO Audio Device
In this mode, Cubase Essential is the slave and the syn-
chronization signal can be received from another device 
connected to a digital interface of the audio hardware.
About the ASIO Positioning Protocol (APP)
The ASIO Positioning Protocol is a technology that ex-
pands on the type of sync described above and makes 
sample-accurate positioning possible.
When transferring audio digitally between devices, it is im-
portant that synchronization using word clock and timecode 
is completely correlated. If not, the audio will not be re-
corded at the exact intended (sample-accurate) position, 
which can cause various types of problems, such as inac-
curately positioned audio material, clicks and pops etc.
A typical situation is when transferring material from a dig-
ital multi-track tape recorder to Cubase Essential (for ed-
iting) and then back again. If you do not have sample-
accurate synchronization set up, you cannot be sure that 
the material will appear in its exact original position, when 
transferred back to the tape recorder.
In order to take advantage of the ASIO Positioning Proto-
col, your audio hardware must be suitably equipped and 
the functionality must be included in the ASIO driver for 
the hardware.
An example of a system for doing sample-accurate trans-
fers, would be transferring audio tracks from an Alesis 
ADAT to Cubase Essential. Here the ADAT will be the sync 
master (though it doesn’t necessarily have to be). It pro-
vides both the digital audio (with an inherent word clock) 
and position information (timecode) via its ADAT sync pro-
tocol. The master clock is generated by the ADAT itself.
Hardware and software requirements for APP
 Your computer audio hardware (in the example above, this 
would be an ADAT card in your computer) must support all 
the functionality required for the ASIO Positioning Protocol. 
That is, it must be able to read the digital audio and the corre-
sponding position information from the external device.
 There must be an ASIO 2.0 driver for the audio hardware.
 For resolving to external timecode, the audio hardware must 
have an integrated timecode reader/generator.
 For information about which audio hardware models currently 
support APP, see the Steinberg web site (www.steinberg.net).
Setting up the audio card for external synchronization
1.Open the Device Setup dialog from the Devices menu 
and, on the VST Audio System page, select the name of 
your audio interface.
2.Click the Control Panel button to open the card’s pro-
prietary setup dialog.
If this card is accessed via a special ASIO driver (as opposed to MME or 
DirectX), this dialog is provided by the card, not by Cubase Essential. 
Hence the settings vary with the card brand and model.
3.Adjust the settings as recommended by the card man-
ufacturer, then close the dialog.
The dialog may also contain various diagnostic tools that allow you to 
verify for example whether word clock is arriving correctly.
4.From the Clock Source pop-up, select the input to 
which you routed the word clock signal.
This pop-up may not be used if you selected an input in the Control 
Panel dialog instead.
!This option is only available if your hardware is com-
patible with the ASIO Positioning Protocol.
!The ASIO Positioning Protocol requires audio hard-
ware with specific ASIO drivers.
!The ASIO Positioning Protocol exploits the specific 
advantage of having an audio card that has an inte-
grated timecode reader. With such a card and the 
ASIO Positioning Protocol, you can achieve constant 
sample-accurate synchronization between the audio 
source and Cubase Essential. 
						

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Synchronization
You can now set up the synchronization:
1.Open the Project Synchronization Setup dialog and 
set the Timecode Source to “ASIO Audio Device”.
2.Make the desired settings in the dialog.
For information on the different sections, click the Help button in the dialog.
3.Close the Project Synchronization Setup dialog.
4.Open the Project Setup dialog from the Project menu 
and use the Start value to set which frame on the external 
device (e.g. a video tape) should correspond to the begin-
ning of the project.
5.A message appears, asking you whether you want to 
keep the project content at its timecode positions. Select 
“No”.
This will make all events and parts keep their positions relative to the 
project start. 
6.Close the Project Setup dialog.
7.On the Transport panel, activate the Sync button (or 
select “Use External Sync” from the Transport menu).
8.Start the tape (or video, or other master device) that 
contains the timecode. Cubase Essential starts playing 
when it receives timecode with a position “higher” than, or 
equal to, the project Start frame.You can wind the device that sends the timecode to any 
position and start from there.
You should also take a look at the Sync Options, see 
“Sync Options” on page 285.
The Sync indicator
On the Transport panel you can check the status of in-
coming timecode by observing the sync indicator. It 
switches between “Offline” (not waiting for sync), “Idle” 
(ready for sync but no signal is coming in), and “Lock xx” 
(where xx indicates the frame rate of the incoming signal).
VST System Link
Sync Options
The following Sync options are available in the Project 
Synchronization Setup dialog:
Lock Frames
Using this field you can set how many frames of “correct” 
timecode Cubase Essential should receive before at-
tempting to “lock” (synchronize) to incoming timecode. If 
you have an external tape transport with a very short start-
up time, you could try lowering this number to make lock-
up even faster than it already is.
Drop Out Frames
On an analog tape with timecode, dropouts may occur. If 
a drop-out is very long, Cubase Essential may (tempo-
rarily) stop. In the Dropout Frames field you can set how 
long a drop-out (in frames) should be tolerated until Cu-
base Essential decides that the tape isnt good enough to 
synchronize to. If you have a very stable timecode source, 
you may lower this number to make Cubase Essential stop 
more swiftly after the tape recorder has been stopped.
The ASIO Audio Device is selected as Timecode Source
Outputs for 
MIDI Clock
Options for incoming 
timecode
Set this to the time-
code position 
where you want the 
project to start.
!When the master device is stopped, you can use the 
Cubase Essential transport controls as you normally 
do, when it is not synchronized. 
!For a description of the VST System Link feature 
(with which you can synchronize separate computers 
running Cubase Essential or Nuendo for example) 
see “Working with VST System Link” on page 286. 
						

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Inhibit Restart
Some synchronizers will still transmit MIDI Time Code for 
a short period after an external tape machine has been 
stopped. These extra frames of timecode can sometimes 
cause Cubase Essential to restart suddenly. Inhibit Re-
start allows you to control the amount of time in millisec-
onds that Cubase Essential will wait to restart (ignoring 
incoming MTC) once it has stopped.
Working with VST System Link
VST System Link is a network system for digital audio that 
allows you to have several computers working together in 
one large system. Unlike conventional networks it does not 
require Ethernet cards, hubs, or CAT-5 cables; instead it 
uses the kind of digital audio hardware and cables you 
probably already possess in your studio.
VST System Link has been designed to be simple to set 
up and operate, yet give enormous flexibility and perfor-
mance gains in use. It is capable of linking computers in a 
“ring” network (the System Link signal is passed from one 
machine to the next, and eventually returns to the first ma-
chine). VST System Link can send its networking signal 
over any type of digital audio cable, including S/PDIF, 
ADAT, TDIF, or AES, as long as each computer in the sys-
tem is equipped with a suitable ASIO compatible audio in-
terface.
Linking up two or more computers gives you vast possibil-
ities:
 Dedicate one computer to running VST instruments while re-
cording audio tracks on another.
 If you need lots of audio tracks, you may simply add tracks on 
another computer.
 You could have one computer serve as a “virtual effect rack”, 
running CPU-intensive send effect plug-ins only.
Since you can use VST System Link to connect different 
VST System Link applications on different platforms, you 
can take advantage of effect plug-ins and VST instru-
ments that are specific to certain programs or platforms.
Preparations
Requirements
The following equipment is required for VST System Link 
operation:
Two or more computers.
These can be of the same type or use different operating systems – it 
doesn’t matter. For example, you can link an Intel-based PC to an Apple 
Macintosh without problems.
Each computer must have audio hardware with specific 
ASIO drivers, installed and working.
The audio hardware must have digital inputs and out-
puts.
Of course, to be able to connect the computers, the digital connections 
must be compatible (i.e. the same digital formats and connection types 
must be available).
At least one digital audio cable for each computer in the 
network.
A VST System Link host application installed on each 
computer.
Any VST System Link applications can connect to each other.
Additionally, we recommend that you use a KVM switch-
box:
Using a KVM switchbox
If you want to set up a multi-computer network, or even a 
small network in a limited space, its a good idea to invest 
in a KVM (Keyboard, Video, Mouse) switchbox. With one 
of these you can use the same keyboard, monitor, and 
mouse to control each computer in the system, and switch 
between computers very rapidly. KVM switchboxes are 
not too expensive, and very easy to set up and operate. If 
you decide not to go this route, the network will function 
just the same, but you may end up doing a lot of jumping 
from one machine to the other while setting up!
Making connections
Below, we assume that you are connecting two comput-
ers. Should you have more than two computers, it’s still 
best to start with two and add the others one by one once 
the system is working – this makes troubleshooting easier 
if you run into problems. For two computers, you will need 
two digital audio cables, one in each direction: 
						

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Synchronization
1.Connect a digital audio cable from the digital output of 
computer 1 to the digital input of computer 2.
2.Connect the other cable from the digital output of 
computer 2 into the digital input of computer 1.
If a card has more than one set of inputs and outputs, 
choose whichever one that suits you – for simplicity usu-
ally the first set is best.
Synchronization 
Before you proceed, you need to make sure that the clock 
signals on your ASIO cards are synchronized correctly. 
This is essential when cabling any kind of digital audio 
system, not just VST System Link.
The Clock Mode or Sync Mode is set up in the ASIO con-
trol panel of the audio hardware. In Cubase Essential, you 
proceed as follows:
1.Pull down the Devices menu and open the Device Set-
up dialog.
2.On the VST Audio System page, select your audio in-
terface from the “ASIO Driver” pop-up menu.
In the Devices List, the name of the audio interface is displayed below 
the VST Audio System entry.
3.Select your audio interface in the Devices list to the 
left.
4.Click the Control Panel button.
The ASIO control panel appears.
5.Open the ASIO control panel on the other computer 
as well.
If you are using another VST System Link host application on that com-
puter, check its documentation for details on how to open the ASIO con-
trol panel.
6.Now, you need to make sure that one audio card (and 
only one!) is set to be the Clock Master, and all the other 
cards are set to listen for the clock signal coming from the 
Clock Master i.e. they must be Clock Slaves.
The naming and procedure for this differs depending on the audio hard-
ware – consult its documentation if required. If you are using Steinberg 
Nuendo ASIO hardware, all cards default to the “AutoSync” setting – in 
this case you must set one of the cards (and only one) to “Master” in the 
Clock Mode section of the control panel.
Typically, the ASIO control panel for an audio card con-
tains some indication of whether the card receives a proper 
sync signal or not, and the sample rate of that signal.
This is a good indication that you have connected the cards and set up 
clock sync properly. Check your audio hardware’s documentation for de-
tails.
The only exception to this procedure is if you are using an 
external clock – which could be from a digital mixing desk 
or special Word Clock synchronizer for example. If so, you 
must leave all your ASIO cards in Clock Slave or AutoSync 
mode, and make sure that each of them is listening for the 
signal coming from the synchronizer, usually passed 
through your ADAT cables or Word Clock connectors in a 
daisy chain fashion.
VST System Link and latency
The general definition of latency is the amount of time it 
takes any system to respond to whatever messages are 
sent to it. For example, if your system’s latency is high and 
you play VST instruments in real time, you will get a notice-
able delay between when you press a key and when you 
hear the sound of the VST instrument. Nowadays, most 
ASIO-compatible audio cards are capable of operating 
with very low latencies. Also, all VST applications are de-
signed to compensate for latency during playback, making 
the playback timing tight.
However, the latency time of a VST System Link network 
is the total latency of all the ASIO cards in the system 
added together. Therefore it’s extra important to minimize 
the latency times for each computer in the network.
!All digital audio cables by definition always carry a 
clock signal as well as audio signals, so you dont 
have to use a special Word Clock input and output 
for this (although you may find that you get a slightly 
more stable audio system if you do, especially when 
using multiple computers).!It’s very important that one and only one card is the 
clock master, otherwise the network cannot function 
correctly. Once you have set this up, all the other 
cards in the network will take their clock signal from 
this card automatically. 
						

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Synchronization
ÖThe latency does not affect the synchronization – its 
always perfectly in time. But it can affect the time it takes 
to send and receive MIDI and audio signals, or make the 
system seem sluggish.
To adjust the latency of a system, you adjust the size of the 
buffers in the ASIO control panel – the lower the buffer 
size, the lower the latency. Its best to keep to fairly low la-
tencies (buffer sizes) if your system can handle it – about 
12 ms or less is usually a good idea.
Setting up your software
Now it’s time to set up your programs. The procedures 
below describe how to set things up in Cubase Essential; 
if you are using another program on the other computer, 
please refer to its documentation.
Setting the sample rate
The projects in both programs must be set to use the 
same sample rate. Select “Project Setup…” from the 
Project menu and make sure the sample rate is the same 
in both systems.
Streaming digital audio between applications
1.Create input and output busses in both applications 
and route these to the digital inputs and outputs.
The number and configuration of the busses depends on your audio hard-
ware and on your needs. If you have a system with eight digital i/o channels 
(such as an ADAT connection), you could create several stereo or mono 
busses, or any combination you need. The important thing is that you 
should have the same configuration in both applications – if you have four 
stereo output busses on computer 1, you want four stereo input busses on 
computer 2, etc.
2.Set things up so that computer 1 plays back some au-
dio.
You could for example import an audio file and play this back in Cycle 
mode.
3.In the Inspector or mixer, make sure the playing audio 
channel is routed to one of the digital output busses you 
set up.
4.In computer 2, open the mixer and locate the corre-
sponding digital input bus.
The audio being played back should now “appear” in the program run-
ning on computer 2. You should see the input bus level meters moving.
5.Reverse this procedure so that computer 2 plays back 
and computer 1 “listens”.Now you have verified that the digital connection works as 
it should.
ÖFrom this point on in this chapter, we refer to the bus-
ses connected to the digital inputs and outputs as “VST 
System Link busses”.
Settings for the audio hardware
When you send VST System Link data between comput-
ers, it is important that the digital information isn’t changed 
in any way between the programs. Therefore, you should 
open the control panel (or additional application) for your 
audio hardware and make sure that the following condi-
tions are met:
If there are additional “format settings” for the digital 
ports that you use for VST System Link data, make sure 
these are turned off.
For example, if you are using an S/PDIF connection for VST System Link, 
make sure that “Professional format”, Emphasis and Dithering are turned 
off.
If your audio hardware has a mixer application allowing 
you to adjust the levels of digital inputs and outputs, make 
sure that this mixer is disabled or that the levels for the 
VST System Link channels are set to ± 0 dB.
Similarly, make sure no other forms of DSP (pan, ef-
fects, etc.) are applied to the VST System Link signal.
Notes for Hammerfall DSP users
If you are using RME Audio Hammerfall DSP audio hard-
ware, the Totalmix function allows for extremely complex 
signal routing and mixing in the audio hardware. This can 
in some situations lead to “signal loops” in which case the 
VST System Link won’t work. If you want to make abso-
lutely sure this won’t cause any problems, select the de-
fault or “plain” preset for the Totalmix function. 
						

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Synchronization
Activating VST System Link
Before you proceed, you need to make sure that VST Sys-
tem Link is set as Timecode Source in the Synchronization 
dialog and that the desired Sync options are activated, 
see “Sync Options” on page 285.
After setting up the inputs and outputs, you now need to 
define which input/output should carry the actual VST 
System Link information.
The System Link networking signal is carried on only one 
bit of one channel. This means that if you have an ADAT 
based system which normally carries eight channels of 
24-bit audio, once you activate VST System Link you will 
have seven channels of 24-bit audio and one channel of 
23-bit audio (the least significant bit of this last channel 
will be used for networking). In practice this makes no dis-
cernible difference to the audio quality, since you will still 
have around 138dB headroom on this channel.
To set things up, open the VST System Link panel:
1.Open the Device Setup dialog on the Devices menu.
2.Select VST System Link in the Devices list to the left.
3.Use the ASIO Input and ASIO Output pop-up menus 
to define which channel should be the networking channel 
(and thus become a 23-bit audio channel, in our example).
Quite often you will be able to leave these pop-ups the way they are. 
4.Click the Active checkbox at the top of the panel.
5.Repeat the steps above for every computer on the 
network. As the computers are made active, you should see the 
small Transmitting and Receiving indicators flashing on 
each active computer, and the name of each computer 
should appear in the list at the bottom of the pane. Each 
computer is assigned a random number – dont worry 
about this, its just so the network knows internally which 
one is which.
You can double-click on the name in bold (which is the 
name of the computer you’re currently working on) and set 
it to whatever other name you wish.
This name will appear in the System Link window of every computer on 
the network.
ÖIf you dont see the name of each computer appearing 
once you have made it active, you may have to check your 
settings. 
Go through the procedure above again and make sure that all ASIO 
cards are listening to the digital clock signals correctly, and that each 
computer has the correct inputs and outputs assigned to the System 
Link network.
Putting the network online
After each computers name you will see whether it is online 
or not. When a computer is online, it will receive transport 
and timecode signals, and its sequencer application can be 
started and stopped by remote control. If it is off-line, it can 
only be started from its own keyboard – it is effectively an 
independent machine, although it is still on the network.
ÖNote that any computer can control any and all of the 
others – VST System Link is a peer-to-peer network and 
there is no absolute “master” computer.
However, most users do like to think of one machine as the master (in a 
one person/two computer network, this would be the machine you actu-
ally sit behind most of the time). 
For now, lets put all computers online:
1.Activate the Online checkbox in the VST System Link 
panel for all computers. 
2.Check that the system is working by pressing Play on 
one computer – all computers should start almost instantly 
and play perfectly in time, with sample-accurate precision.
The Offset setting allows you to adjust whether one ma-
chine will play back slightly ahead or behind the rest.
This is normally not needed, but occasionally with some hardware you 
may find that the lock is a few samples out. In that case you can adjust 
the lock with the Offset value. For now, leave it set to 0 – it will most likely 
be what you want. 
						

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Synchronization
The Transfer Bits setting allows you to specify whether 
you want to transfer 24 or 16 bits. This allows you to use 
older audio cards which do not support transfer of 24 bits.
VST System Link sends and understands all transport 
commands, so you can play, stop, fast forward, rewind 
etc. the entire network from one computer without a prob-
lem – try it! If you jump to a locator point on one machine, 
all other machines will also instantly jump to that locator 
point. You can even scrub on one computer and have the 
video and audio on another computer actually scrub right 
along with you.
Using MIDI
As well as supplying transport and sync control, VST Sys-
tem Link also supplies up to 16 MIDI ports, each with 16 
channels. You set this up as follows:
1.Use the MIDI Inputs and Outputs value boxes to spec-
ify the number of MIDI ports you need.
The default value is 0 MIDI In and 0 MIDI Out ports.
2.Create a MIDI track in the Project window and open 
the Inspector (top section).
3.If you now pull down the Input or Output Routing pop-
up menus, you will find the specified System Link ports 
added to the list of MIDI Inputs and Outputs.This allows you to route MIDI tracks to VST instruments 
running on another computer, as described in the applica-
tion examples (see “Using one computer for VST instru-
ments” on page 292).
The “Active ASIO Ports for Data only” setting
If you are sending huge amounts of MIDI data at once, 
there is a small possibility that you might run out of band-
width on your VST System Link network. This will manifest 
itself by notes “choking” or timing becoming erratic.
If this happens, you can devote more bandwidth to MIDI 
by activating “Active ASIO Ports for Data only” in the VST 
System Link Setup panel. When this is activated, the VST 
System Link information will be sent on the entire channel 
instead of just one bit, more than enough for all the MIDI 
you could ever hope to use. The downside is that you can 
no longer use this ASIO channel for audio transfer (do not 
connect it to a speaker!), thus leaving you only 7 channels 
of audio in our ADAT cable example. Depending on how 
you work this might be a reasonable compromise.
Hearing the network audio
If you are using an external mixing desk, hearing your audio 
really isnt an issue – just plug the outputs of each com-
puter into the desired channels on the external mixing 
desk, press Play on one of the computers, and youre 
good to go.
However, many people prefer to mix internally inside the 
computer and just use a desk for monitoring (or maybe not 
use any external mixer at all). In this case youll need to se-
lect one computer to be your “main mix computer” and 
send the audio from your other computers into this.
In the following example, we assume you are using two 
computers, with computer 1 as your main mix computer 
and computer 2 running two additional stereo audio 
tracks, an FX channel track with a reverb plug-in and a 
VST instrument plug-in with stereo outputs.
1.First you want to set things up so that you can listen to 
the audio playback from computer 1.
In other words, you need an unused set of outputs, e.g. an analog stereo 
output, connected to your monitoring equipment.
2.Go to computer 2 and route each of the two audio 
tracks to a separate output bus.
These should be busses connected to the digital outputs – let’s call 
them Bus 1 and 2.
!Make sure that all computers have their tempos set 
to the same value, otherwise your synchronization 
will be seriously skewed.