Steinberg Nuendo 5 Manual

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Synchronization
10.Ensure that the pre-roll and post-roll times are appro-
priate for the VTR.
In most cases, the default values will be sufficient for the VTR to get up to 
speed before punching in.
11.On Nuendo’s Transport panel, activate the Sync button.
This turns Nuendo into a timecode slave. Once the VTR starts to play, 
Nuendo will sync to incoming timecode.
12.On the 9-Pin Device panel, click the Auto Edit button.
This starts the Auto Edit process. The tape transport locates to the set 
pre-roll position (by default, 5 seconds before the left locator) and starts 
playback. When the left locator is reached, the VTR enters record mode.
13.The Auto Edit is complete when the right locator is 
reached and the VTR goes out of record.
After reaching the right locator, the VTR continues playing for the set 
post-roll time (by default 2 seconds) before it stops.
Theatrical mixing stage
A theatrical mixing stage (also known as a dub stage) is a 
large theater-sized room used to create the final mixdown 
for feature films that will be presented in theaters with sur
-
round sound. These types of studios are very complex, 
dealing with hundreds of audio tracks at once through 
large mixing consoles along with high-quality video and 
film playback systems.
In this example, Nuendo is only one part of a very large 
system of devices that need to be perfectly synchronized 
with one another. An external master 9-Pin controller will 
operate the transport of the entire system remotely from 
the console and timecode will be handled via 9-Pin inter
-
face through the SyncStation. The audio clock will be ref-
erenced to tri-level HD video sync fed to the SyncStation 
which will output dedicated word clock to both Nuendo 
and the digital console.
•Audio clock is generated by the house sync generator.
In this example, video sync is being fed to the SyncStation as both a 
speed reference and a phase reference for sample-accurate sync. Word 
clock goes from the SyncStation to Nuendo and the digital console.
•The console is the machine control master, sending 
9-Pin control commands and status messages to the 
SyncStation.
The console controls the playback in Nuendo via the SyncStation. Nuendo 
is the timecode slave. The SyncStation is acting as a machine control 
slave.
•Timecode is fed to the SyncStation via 9-Pin and then 
via a USB connection to Nuendo (as MTC).
The SyncStation’s 9-Pin interface is capable of using 9-Pin timecode ef-
fectively for accurate synchronization. Direct serial port 9-Pin connections 
should not be used this way.
Sync settings for a theatrical mixing stage
To configure Nuendo for this example setup, proceed as 
follows:
1.Make the connections as shown in the diagram above.
In this example, the SyncStation handles many of the synchronization 
tasks. Please refer to the documentation that comes with the SyncSta-
tion for complete information on its operation.
2.Open the Project Synchronization Setup dialog and 
select the SyncStation as the timecode source.
The SyncStation sends MTC over the USB connection to Nuendo. The 
SyncStation will use its “Virtual Master” mode to generate timecode. 
						

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Synchronization
3.In the “Machine Control Input Source” section, select 
the SyncStation option.
Provided that the SyncStation is set to route record and track arming 
commands to Nuendo, this will allow the digital console to record-enable 
audio tracks in Nuendo and enter record mode via 9-Pin commands sent 
to the SyncStation.
4.On the Transport panel, activate the Sync button.
Nuendo will await incoming timecode from the SyncStation.
5.Test the record-enable buttons on the console.
If configured properly, the corresponding audio tracks in Nuendo be-
come record-enabled.
6.Press play on the console’s transport control.
This will send the play commands to the SyncStation over 9-Pin and the 
SyncStation will start generating timecode to synchronize Nuendo.
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 instruments that are 
specific to certain programs or platforms.
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 
does not 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.
•The audio hardware must have digital inputs and out-
puts.
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 must be available for 
each computer in the network.
•A VST System Link host application must be installed 
on each computer.
Any VST System Link application can connect to another.
Additionally, use of a KVM switchbox is recommended.
Using a KVM switchbox
Whether you want to set up a multi-computer network or a 
small network in a limited space, it is 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 you can switch 
between computers very rapidly. KVM switchboxes are not 
too expensive, and they are 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! 
						

							513
Synchronization
Making connections
Below, we assume that you are connecting two comput-
ers. Should you have more than two computers, it is 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:
1.Use the first digital audio cable to connect the digital 
output of computer 1 to the digital input of computer 2.
2.Use the other cable to connect the digital output of 
computer 2 to 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. Proceed as follows:
1.From the Devices menu, open the Device Setup 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 now appears as a sub-
entry to the “VST Audio System” entry.
3.In the Devices list, select your audio interface.
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 is set 
to be the clock master and all other cards are set to be 
clock slaves (i.
 e. they listen for the clock signal coming 
from the clock master).
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 or not the card receives a 
proper sync signal, including 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 – from a digital mixing desk or a special 
word clock synchronizer, for example. In that case 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. This signal is usually 
passed through your ADAT cables or word clock connec
-
tors 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 realtime, 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 is 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 do not 
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 is very important that only one card is the clock 
master, otherwise the network cannot function cor
-
rectly. 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 – it is 
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. It is 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 is time to set up your programs. The procedures 
below describe how to set things up in Nuendo. If you are 
using another program on the other computer, please re
-
fer 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 that 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 depend on your audio hard-ware and on your needs. If you have a system with eight digital i/o chan-
nels (such as an ADAT connection), you could create several stereo or 
mono busses, a surround bus together with a stereo bus, or any combi
-nation 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 
audio.
For example, you could import an audio file and play it back in Cycle 
mode.
3.In the Inspector or Mixer, make sure that the channel 
containing the audio material is routed to one of the digital 
output busses.
4.On 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 exchange VST System Link data between com-
puters, it is important that the digital information is not 
changed in any way between the programs. Therefore, 
you should open the control panel (or additional applica
-
tion) for your audio hardware and make sure that the fol-
lowing conditions are met:
•If there are additional “format settings” for the digital 
ports that you use for VST System Link data, make sure 
that 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, effects, 
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 will not work. If you want to make abso
-
lutely sure this will not cause any problems, select the de-
fault or “plain” preset for the Totalmix function.
Activating VST System Link
Before you proceed, you need to make sure that VST Sys-
tem Link is set as the timecode source in the Project Syn-
chronization Setup dialog and that the desired Sync 
options are activated, see 
“Timecode Preferences” on 
page 503.
After setting up the inputs and outputs, you now need to 
define which input/output will carry the actual VST System 
Link information. 
						

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Synchronization
The VST 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 discern
-
ible difference to the audio quality, since you will still have 
around 138
 dB headroom on this channel.
To set things up, open the VST System Link panel:
1.From the Devices menu, open the Device Setup dialog.
2.In the Devices list to the left, select the “VST System 
Link” entry.
The VST System Link settings are shown to the right of the Devices list.
3.Use the ASIO Input and ASIO Output pop-up menus 
to define which channel is the networking channel.
4.Activate the Active checkbox at the top left of the panel.
5.Repeat the steps above for every computer in the net-
work. 
As the computers are made active, you should see the 
Sending 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 as
-
signed a random number – do not worry about this, it is 
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 are currently working on) and 
set it to whatever other name you wish.
This name will appear in the VST System Link window of every computer 
on the network.
ÖIf you do not see the name of each computer appear-
ing once you have made it active, you need 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 VST System 
Link network.
Putting the network online
After each computer’s name you will see whether it is on-
line or not. When a computer is online, it will receive trans-
port 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 ef
-
fectively 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.
To put all computers online, proceed as follows:
1.For all computers, activate the Online checkbox on the 
VST System Link page. 
2.Start playback on one computer to check that the sys-
tem is working – all computers should start almost instantly 
and play perfectly in time, with sample-accurate precision.
•The Offset Samples setting allows you to adjust whether 
one machine will play 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. For now, leave it set to 0 – it 
will most likely be what you want.
•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.
Receiving 
and 
Sending 
indicators 
						

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Synchronization
VST System Link sends and understands all transport 
commands (such as play, stop, fast forward, rewind, etc.). 
This allows you to control the entire network from one 
computer without a problem – try it! If you jump to a loca
-
tor point on one machine, all other machines will also in-
stantly jump to that locator point.
Scrubbing via VST System Link
You can scrub on one computer and have the video and 
audio on another computer scrub along. However, the 
playback on the linked systems may not be perfectly in 
sync while scrubbing and there are some further restric
-
tions you should bear in mind when scrubbing via VST 
System Link:
•Use the jog/shuttle control on the Transport panel or a 
remote controller for scrubbing.
Scrubbing with the Scrub tool does not work over a VST System Link 
connection.
•Always use the system where you started scrubbing to 
control the scrubbing, e.
 g. change the scrub speed or 
stop scrubbing.
Changing the scrub speed on a remote system will only change the 
speed on the local system.
•You can start playback on all systems.
This stops scrubbing and enters playback on all systems in sync.
Using MIDI
As well as supplying transport and sync control, VST Sys-
tem Link also supplies up to 16 MIDI ports, with 16 chan-
nels each. To set this up, proceed as follows:
1.Use the MIDI Inputs and MIDI Outputs value fields to 
specify the number of MIDI ports you need.
The default value is 0 MIDI In and 0 MIDI Out ports.
2.In the Project window, create a MIDI track and open 
the Inspector (top section).
3.If you now pull down the Input or Output Routing pop-
up menu, you will find the specified System Link ports 
added to the list of MIDI inputs or 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 518).
The “Use Selected 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 the “Use Selected ASIO Ports for Data only” 
option on the VST System Link page of the Device Setup 
dialog. When this is activated, the VST System Link infor
-
mation 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 with only 7 audio channels in 
our ADAT cable example. Depending on how you work, 
this might be a reasonable compromise.
!Make sure that all computers have their tempos set 
to the same value, otherwise your synchronization 
will be seriously skewed. 
						

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Synchronization
Hearing the network audio
If you are using an external mixing desk, hearing your audio 
really is not an issue – just plug the outputs of each com
-
puter into the desired channels on the external mixing 
desk, start playback on one of the computers, and you are 
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 you will need to 
select 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.
Proceed as follows:
1.Set things up so that you can listen to the audio play-
back 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.On computer 2, 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.
3.Route the FX channel track to another VST System 
Link bus (Bus 3).
4.Route the VST instrument channel to yet another bus 
(Bus 4).
5.Go back to computer 1 and check the corresponding 
four VST System Link input busses.
If you start playback on computer 2, the audio should “appear” on the in-put busses on computer 1. However, to mix these audio sources you 
need actual Mixer channels.
6.Add four new stereo audio tracks on computer 1 and 
route these to the output bus you use for listening, e.
 g. to 
the analog stereo outputs.
7.For each of the audio tracks, select one of the four in-
put busses.
Now, each computer 2 bus is routed to a separate audio channel on 
computer 1.
8.Activate monitoring for the four tracks.
If you now start playback, the audio from computer 2 will 
be sent “live” to the new tracks on computer 1, allowing 
you to hear them together with any tracks you play back 
on computer 1.
For more information about Monitoring, see “About moni-
toring” on page 32.
Adding more tracks
What if you have more audio tracks than you have VST 
System Link busses (physical outputs)? Then you just use 
the computer 2 mixer as a submixer: Route several audio 
channels to the same output bus and adjust the output 
bus level if needed.
ÖIf your audio cards have multiple sets of input and out-
put connections, you can link up multiple ADAT cables 
and send audio via any of the busses on any of the cables.
Internal mixing and latency
One problem with mixing inside the computer is the latency 
issue we mentioned earlier. The VST engine always com
-
pensates for record latencies, but if you are monitoring 
through computer 1 you will hear a processing delay while 
you listen to signals coming from your other computers 
(not on your recording!). If your audio card in computer 1 
supports ASIO Direct Monitoring you should definitely turn 
this on. You can find the setting on the VST Audio System 
device panel for your hardware (see 
“ASIO Direct Monitor-
ing” on page 98). Most modern ASIO cards support this 
function. If yours does not, you may want to change the 
Offset Samples value on the VST System Link page to 
compensate for any latency issues.
Setting up a larger network
Setting up a larger network is not much more difficult than 
a two-computer network. The main thing to remember is 
that VST System Link is a daisy chain system. In other 
words, the output of computer 1 goes to the input of com
-
puter 2, the output of computer 2 goes to the input of 
computer 3, and so on around the chain. The output of the 
last computer in the chain must always go back into the 
input of computer 1, to complete the ring. 
						

							518
Synchronization
Once you have done this, the transmission of all the trans-
port, sync, and MIDI information to the whole network is 
handled pretty much automatically. However, where you 
may run into confusion in a large network is in the trans
-
mission of audio signals back to a central mix computer.
If you have lots of hardware inputs and outputs on your 
ASIO cards, you do not have to send audio via the chain at 
all, but can transmit it directly to the master mix computer 
via one or more of its other hardware inputs. For example, if 
you have a Nuendo Digiset interface or 9652 card on com
-
puter 1, you could use ADAT cable 1 for networking, ADAT 
cable 2 as a direct audio input from computer 2, and ADAT 
cable 3 as a direct audio input from computer 3.
You can also transmit audio via the ring system if you do 
not have enough hardware I/Os for direct audio transmis
-
sion. For example, in a four-computer scenario you could 
send audio from computer 2 into a channel in the Mixer in 
computer 3, from there to a channel in the Mixer in com
-
puter 4, and from there back to the master Mixer in com-
puter 1. This can certainly be tricky to set up, so for 
complex networks it is generally recommended to use 
ASIO cards with at least three separate digital I/Os. 
Application examples
Using one computer for VST instruments
In this example, one computer will be used as main record 
and playback machine, and another computer as a virtual 
synth rack. Proceed as follows:
1.Record a MIDI track into computer 1.
2.Once you have finished recording, route the MIDI out-
put of that track to VST System Link MIDI port 1.
3.On computer 2, open up the VST Instrument rack and 
assign an instrument to the first slot in the rack.
4.Route the VST instrument channel to the desired out-
put bus.
If you are using computer 1 as your main mixing computer, this would be 
one of the VST System Link output busses, connected to computer 1.
5.Create a new MIDI track in the Project window of 
computer 2 and assign the MIDI output of the track to the 
VST instrument you created. 
6.Assign the MIDI input of the track to be VST System 
Link port 1.
Now, the MIDI track on computer 1 is routed to the MIDI track on com-
puter 2, which in turn is routed to the VST instrument.
7.Now activate monitoring for the MIDI track on com-
puter 2, so that it will listen and respond to any MIDI com-
mands coming in.
In Nuendo, click the Monitor button in the track list or Inspector.
8.Start playback on computer 1.
It will now send the MIDI information on the track to the VST instrument 
loaded on computer 2.
Even with a slow computer you should be able to stack a 
whole bunch of extra VST instruments this way, expanding 
your sound palette considerably. Do not forget that VST 
System Link MIDI is also sample-accurate, and thus has 
much tighter timing than any hardware MIDI interface ever 
invented!
Creating a virtual effect rack
The effect sends for an audio channel in Nuendo can ei-
ther be routed to an FX channel track or to any activated 
group or output bus. This allows you to use a separate 
computer as a “virtual effect rack”, by setting the system 
up as follows:
1.On computer 2 (the machine you will use as effect 
rack), add a new stereo audio track.
You cannot use an FX channel track in this case, since the track must 
have an audio input.
2.Add the desired effect as an insert effect for the track.
Let’s say you add a high-quality reverb plug-in.
3.In the Inspector, select one of the VST System Link 
busses as input for the audio track.
You want to use a separate VST System Link bus, which will only be 
used for this purpose.
4.Route the channel to the desired output bus.
If you are using computer 1 as your main mixing computer, this would be 
one of the VST System Link output busses, connected to computer 1.
5.Activate monitoring for the track.
6.Go back to computer 1 and select a track to which 
you want to add some reverb.
7.Bring up the effect sends for the track in the Inspector 
or the Mixer. 
						

							519
Synchronization
8.Open the Send Routing pop-up menu for one of the 
sends and select the VST System Link bus assigned to 
the reverb in step 3.
9.Use the Send slider to adjust the amount of effect as 
usual.
The signal will be sent to the track on computer 2 and pro-
cessed through its insert effect, without using any proces-
sor power on computer 1.
You can repeat the steps above to add more effects to the 
“virtual effect rack”. The number of effects available this way 
is only limited by the number of ports used in the VST Sys
-
tem Link connection (and of course by the performance of 
computer 2, but given that it will not have to handle any re
-
cording or playback, you should be able to use quite a lot of 
effects).
Getting extra audio tracks
All computers on a VST System Link network are locked 
with sample-accuracy. Therefore, if you find that the hard 
drive on one computer is not fast enough to run as many 
audio tracks as you need, you can record new tracks on 
one of the other computers instead. This would create a 
“virtual RAID system”, with several disks all operating to
-
gether. All tracks will remain locked together just as tightly 
as if they were all running on the same machine. This 
means that you effectively have an unlimited track count! 
Need another 100 tracks? Just add another computer.
Dedicated Video Playback
Playback of high-resolution video can be taxing on a sys-
tem’s CPU. By dedicating one computer for video play-
back via System Link, you can free up resources on your 
main CPU for audio and MIDI processing. Since all trans
-
port commands will respond on the VST System Link 
computers, scrubbing video is possible even when it is 
coming from another computer. Spotting sound effects to 
picture in Edit Mode will work the same way as it does on 
one computer. This is a viable and economic alternative to 
dedicated hard disk video systems like the Doremi V1. 
						

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Video