Steinberg V-Stack Operation Manual

							V-STACKSetting up your system 4 – 31
•Normally, you can open the control panel by clicking the Control Panel 
button in the VST Multitrack panel.
The control panel that appears when you click this button is provided by the audio 
hardware manufacturer and not V-STACK (unless you use DirectX or MME, see be-
low). Hence it will be different for each audio card brand and model. The settings may 
include options for buffering, synchronization, digital input and output formats etc.
The Control panels for the ASIO Multimedia and ASIO DirectX drivers are an excep-
tion, as they are provided by Steinberg. They provide their own help information, 
opened by clicking the Help button in the respective dialog. See also the notes below.
•If you are using non-ASIO audio hardware under Mac OS X, you will 
find the control panel for your audio hardware in the System Prefer-
ences (“Other” section), opened from the Apple menu or from the Dock.
If you are using the built-in audio hardware of the Macintosh, you use the “Sound” con-
trol panel in the System Preferences to set levels, balance, etc.
4.If you plan to use several audio applications simultaneously, you may 
want to activate the option “Release ASIO Driver in Background”. 
This will allow another application to play back via your audio hard-
ware even though V-STACK is running.
The application that is currently active (i.e. the “top window” on the desktop), will get 
access to the audio hardware. Make sure that any other audio application accessing 
the audio hardware is also set to release the ASIO (or Mac OS X) driver so V-STACK 
can use it when becoming the active application again.
5.Click Apply and then OK to close the dialog. 
						

							V-STACK4 – 32 Setting up your system
If you are using audio hardware with a DirectX driver (Windows only)
If your Windows audio hardware doesn’t have a specific ASIO driver, 
a DirectX driver is the next best option for stand-alone use. An ASIO 
DirectX driver is available with V-STACK, “ASIO DirectX Full Duplex”. 
❐Windows 2000 users should use DirectX version 8.1.
When the ASIO DirectX Full Duplex driver is selected in the Device 
Setup you can open the ASIO Control Panel and adjust the following 
settings (for more details, click the Help button in the control panel):
• Direct Sound Ports
In the list to the left in the window, all available Direct Sound output ports are listed. In 
many cases, there will only be one port in each list. To activate or deactivate a port in the 
list, click the check box in the left column.If the check box is ticked, the port is activated.
• You can edit the Buffer Size and Offset settings in this list if necessary, by 
double clicking on the value and typing in a new value. 
In most cases the default settings will work fine. The audio buffer is used when audio 
data is transferred between V-STACK and the audio card. Having a large buffer en-
sures that playback will occur without glitches. However, the time between the mo-
ment V-STACK sends out the data and when it actually reaches on the output the 
latency will be longer.
If you are using audio hardware with a Windows Multimedia (MME) 
driver (Windows only)
When you select the ASIO Multimedia Driver for the first time, the sys-
tem will ask you whether you want to test the configuration. We strongly 
recommend that you perform this test. If it fails, or if you for other rea-
sons need to make adjustments to your ASIO Multimedia configuration, 
click the Control Panel button to open the ASIO Multimedia Setup con-
trol panel included with V-STACK. This control panel comes with an 
HTML Help describing the features and procedures. 
						

							V-STACKSetting up your system 4 – 33
Setting up MIDI (stand-alone)
This section describes how to connect and set up MIDI for basic VST 
Instrument playback – setting up MIDI with VST System Link is de-
scribed on page 43.
❐Always make all connections with all equipment turned off!
Making connections
Since V-STACK doesn’t control external instruments and sound mod-
ules via MIDI, we don’t have to worry about any MIDI devices other 
than the MIDI interface and the keyboard (or similar) you will use to 
play the VST Instruments:
1.Connect a MIDI cable from the MIDI output of your MIDI keyboard to a 
MIDI input on your MIDI interface.
2.If your MIDI interface has more than one input, you may want to con-
nect another keyboard or MIDI controller to that, in the same way.
For each VST Instrument in V-STACK you can specify which MIDI input should be used 
– this allows you to play several different VST Instruments at the same time if you like.
• There is one case when you need to use two-way MIDI connections: if 
you are using a remote control device to control the Mixer in V-STACK.
Some of these devices feature “MIDI feedback” in the form of indicators, displays or 
motorized controls on the device. For these to work properly you need to connect a 
MIDI cable from the MIDI Out on your MIDI interface to the MIDI In on the remote de-
vice. See page 124 for details. 
						

							V-STACK4 – 34 Setting up your system
Setting up MIDI ports in V-STAC K
The Device Setup dialog lets you set up your MIDI system in the fol-
lowing ways:
• Note: After changing a setting in the Device Setup dialog, you should 
click Apply and then click OK to close the dialog.
Showing or hiding MIDI Ports
Under Windows, the MIDI ports are listed in the Device Setup dialog 
on the DirectMusic page and/or the Windows MIDI page (depending 
on your system). By clicking in the “Show” column for a MIDI input or 
output, you can specify whether or not it should be listed on the MIDI 
pop-up menus in the program.
Under Mac OS X, you can hide or show MIDI ports on the MIDI Sys-
tem page in the Device Setup dialog.
• Hiding a MIDI port from view does not turn it off if it’s already selected as 
input for a VST Instrument.
Setting up the “All MIDI Inputs” option
When you play VST Instruments in V-STACK, you can specify which 
MIDI input each instrument should use. However, you can also select 
the “All MIDI Inputs” option, which causes any MIDI data from any 
MIDI input to be sent to the instrument.
The All MIDI Inputs page in the Device Setup dialog allows you to 
specify which inputs should be included when you select All MIDI In-
puts for a VST Instrument. This can be especially useful if your system 
provides several instances of the same physical MIDI input – by deac-
tivating the duplicates you make sure only the desired MIDI data is 
sent to the instrument.
All done!
Now you are ready to play VST Instruments in V-STACK from your 
MIDI controller keyboard. If you want to set up the program for VST 
System Link, read on. If you want to get to know the program, go to 
page 49. 
						

							V-STACKSetting up your system 4 – 35
Setting up VST System Link
Introduction
VST System Link is a network system for digital audio that allows you 
to have several computers working together in one large system. Un-
like 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 oper-
ate, yet give enormous flexibility and performance gains in use. It is ca-
pable 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 machine). 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 system is equipped with a suitable 
ASIO compatible audio interface.
In the case of V-STACK, VST System Link allows you to use the pro-
gram as a dedicated VST Instrument device, played and controlled 
from another computer in the VST System Link network. You may lis-
ten to the audio signals from the VST Instruments in V-STACK directly 
from the V-STACK computer, or you can route them to the application 
on the other computer. 
						

							V-STACK4 – 36 Setting up your system
Requirements
The following equipment is required for VST System Link operation 
with V-STACK:
•One computer running V-STACK.
•At least one other computer running a VST System Link compatible 
application (e.g. Cubase SX, Cubase 5.2s or Nuendo 1.6 or later).
The computers can be of the same type or use different operating systems. For exam-
ple, 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 outputs.
Of course, to be able to connect the computers the digital connections must be com-
patible (i.e. the same digital formats and connection types must be available).
•At least one digital audio cable for each computer in the network.
•To be able to hear the audio, one of the computers needs to have 
more than one physical set of audio outputs.
When using V-STACK with e.g. Cubase SX, you would typically want the Cubase SX 
computer to have one set of outputs (digital) connected to the V-STACK computer via 
VSL and another set of outputs (analog or digital) connected to your listening equipment. 
						

							V-STACKSetting up your system 4 – 37
Making connections
Below, we will assume that you are connecting two computers. 
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 com-
puters, you will need two digital audio cables, one in each direction:
1.Connect a digital audio cable from the digital output of the V-STACK 
computer to the digital input of the other VST System Link computer.
2.Connect the other cable from the digital output of another VST Sys-
tem Link computer to the digital input of the V-STACK computer.
•If a card has more than one set of inputs and outputs, choose which-
ever one that suits you – for simplicity usually the first set is best.
3.Connect the other VST System Link computer to your listening equip-
ment, using an additional set of outputs (analog or digital).
With this connection, signals will be sent in the following way:
This setup allows you to mix all sound sources in the other application (VST 
Instruments from V-STACK and audio tracks from the other application), with 
common mixer automation.
• If there are additional outputs available for both computers, you could 
also consider connecting both computers to an external mixer.
This would give you the following signal paths:
With this setup, a mixer is required (if you want to listen to the audio from both 
computers). All mixing is done separately for the two applications and you cannot 
automate the mixing of the VST Instrument channels.
Computer running 
V-STACK.Computer running 
Cubase SX etc.Mixer, monitors, 
etc.
AudioAudio MIDI
Computer running 
V-STACK.Computer running 
Cubase SX etc.
Mixer
Audio MIDI
Monitors, etc.
Audio 
						

							V-STACK4 – 38 Setting up your system
Setting up clock sync
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.
❐All digital audio cables by definition always carry a clock signal as well as 
audio signals, so you dont need 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).
The Clock Mode or Sync Mode is set up in the audio hardware’s 
ASIO Control Panel. In V-STACK, you proceed as follows:
1.Pull down the Devices menu and open the Device Setup dialog.
2.Select the VST Multitrack device and make sure the Setup tab is se-
lected to the right.
3.Click the Control Panel button.
The ASIO Control Panel appears.
4.Open the ASIO Control Panel on the other computer as well.
Please check the documentation for the other VST System Link application for details 
on how to open the ASIO Control Panel (hint: in Steinberg’s Nuendo and Cubase SX, 
the procedure is the same as in V-STACK).
5.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 must be 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 hardware – consult 
its documentation if required.
•Typically, the ASIO Control Panel for an audio card contains some in-
dication 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 details. 
						

							V-STACKSetting up your system 4 – 39
❐It’s very important that one and only one card is the clock master, other-
wise 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.
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 then 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.
Minimizing the latency
The general definition of latency is the amount of time it takes any sys-
tem 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 noticeable 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 designed 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.
• The 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 au-
dio signals, or make the system seem sluggish.
To adjust the latency of a system, you typically adjust the size of the 
buffers in the ASIO Control Panel – the lower the buffer size, the lower 
the latency. Generally speaking its best to keep to fairly low latencies 
(buffer sizes) if your system can handle it – about 12 ms or less is usu-
ally a good idea. 
						

							V-STACK4 – 40 Setting up your system
Setting up your software
Now it’s time to set up your programs. For details on how to perform 
the steps below in the other VST System Link application, see its do-
cumentation.
Setting up inputs and outputs
1.In the other VSL application, enable the desired number of outputs.
You need one output bus (digital output) for VST System Link connected to the V-STACK 
computer, and one or more output buses (analog or digital outputs) connected to your lis-
tening equipment, mixer, etc.
2.Enable the desired number of audio inputs in the other application.
To make it simple you will probably want to enable all inputs available in the cable you 
are using. For example, if you are using an ADAT connection this would mean activat-
ing the first four stereo input pairs. See the documentation for the program for details 
on how to do this.
3.In V-STACK, open the VST Outputs window from the Devices menu.
This shows all available output buses – the number of stereo buses corresponds to the 
number of outputs on your audio interface.
4.Enable the output buses you need.
Usually these should match up to the input buses you enabled in the other application. 
In our ADAT example, this would mean the first four stereo outputs.
Now, the audio output of the VST Instruments in V-STACK will be sent 
via the digital connection into the other computer. However, there’s 
still no MIDI connection – first you have to activate VST System Link.