- A way to preview commercial modules.
- C++17 (officially).
4 Likes
Perhaps Iām being naĆÆve or am missing something but one instance of Rack on a computer only gets you so far before you run into the CPU crunch. Now Iām a drummer who has a huge kit but Iāll frequently just set it up with a snare, a single tom and a few cymbals because I get that it makes you be more creative. And this works in the physical world of modules as well, but how often do you see in modular huge systems that can never be duplicated in VCV? And these people spend tens of thousands of dollars to do so. I have four different computers I could use with the necessary DACs to run them all as audio outs to my 18i20 and into my DAW to recreate what the likes of State Azure is doing - all in software for an awful lot cheaper. What am I missing here? Why is it so difficult to come up with a module that will at minimum share the clocks between the different instances of Rack on different computers?
ādo you want to download the form manuals so that you have them all offline?ā
1 Like
Improvements for the module browser would be nice:
- a list mode where youāre not even looking at the module graphics.
- custom tags or categories. The tags as they are right now are just badā¦ somehow Mutable Veils (officially āquad VCAā) is listed as a mixer but not as a VCA, for just one example. Iād really like to create my own categories.
Also, the ability to update modules without having to restart VCV would be nice.
Itād be nice if the plugin version was able to access ASIO, not just the DAWās audio connections. Iād probably use VCV for more things. Right now I mostly use it either for a couple of effects or filters, or as a drone machine, with little connectivity to my hardware modular or anything else. Very different from how I work with Bitwig Grid.
8 Likes
who would have thought 
1 Like
Is it? Why not just mult clock as an audio output from whichever PC you want to be in the driverās seat and feed it as an audio input to the others PCs, with appropriate compensation for latency? Start/stop/reset could trig (or MIDI if the timing is sufficiently tight). Takes a little I/O (less output w/passive mults) but should work fine with existing modules.
If you want to minimize I/O without giving anything up in terms of timing, one slightly fancier approach: for a very niche application Iām working on a simple format Iām calling gatemux (essentially passing multiple independent gates over a single DC-coupled audio channel using a noise-tolerant bitmask)āeasy to write a similar multi-trigger/clock mux without much trouble, allowing full sync over a single channel.
1 Like
Enlarged module preview within browser (on hover). Sometimes I can not see if the module has CV inputs Iām looking for without loading it into patch first. It would just make things quicker.
2 Likes
That is a method, not a module (like what the Stellar Link was supposed to be), and sounds quite complicated to me. Iām adequate at figuring things out but your last paragraph was essentially over my head.
1 Like
Agreed. If Iām working on my surface I have a tough time. Old eyes donāt help but stillā¦
1 Like
Stoermelderās āMBā module does that in āv0.6ā mode, but you have to select the āAuthorsā first, which means you have to know the author/brand, and you canāt filter by keyword.
My first thought was nothing really, but then these comments remind me the browser experience lacks some intuitive workflow, meaning when I type in switch, I should see switches. And a custom tag option would rock too.
3 Likes
Also, when right-clicking modules in patch, add an option that opens browser and quick replaces said module with the new chosen module, moving neighboring modules over, if need be. That would be terrific.
Example: Testing out different filters for the perfect patch sound would save potentially dozens of clicks.
1 Like
SorryāI wasnāt trying to be obscure!
I was noting that if you want to share more than clock between multiple instances of VCV on different computers, and you were using traditional methods (as you put it) instead of custom modules, you would end up having to route multiple cables. For example, even adding simple transport controls by traditional means would take three cables (one for a start trigger, one for a stop trigger, and one for a reset trigger) going to each computer in addition to the existing clock cable. Unless you have a truly serious amount of (ideally DC-coupled) I/O on each computer this is going to eat into your inputs more than youād like.
The āmuxā approach uses a special module to extract clock, triggers, etc. from a single analog signal. Hereās a simple protocol to clarify. Clocks in VCV are 10V pulses. Take the clock signal, but subtract 1V for a start trigger, 2V for a stop trigger, and 4V for a reset trigger. Now, depending on which triggers you have active, you get eight distinct values: zero for no triggers or a negative integer between -1 and -7 indicating a unique trigger combination (-1V is just start, -2V is just stop, -3V is start plus stop, etc.) Thatās the ābitmaskā (2**3 = 8). If the trigger overlaps a clock pulse, you get a period where instead of ranging from 0 to -7, your values range from 10 to 3. You could easily output this in VCV from the ādriverās seatā computer with nothing more than three attenuverters and a four-channel unity summer (although a single module would be more convenient, especially since you would also want to delay these signals by the DA/AD latency before sending it to other modules on the driverās seat computer). On the receiving end, a single module with a few lines in process() could recover and output the original 10V clock and triggers.
Iām writing a version of this for my own use (encoding polyphonic gates in a single signal) which I might someday post about, or even release a module if itās useful. Anyway, I hope this gives you some useful starting points if you decide to network your computers together into a multi-Rack setup.
Iāve been orbiting around your original question: why is it hard to create a module that handles sync between different computers? The answer to that, as I see it, is that sync has very tight timing requirements (if you want to do better than MIDI, that is) and networked methods for linking computers together typically compromise timing consistency for reliability and bandwidth. Audio is actually a very good approach for linking computers together in a precise and reliable way (consider the Expert Sleepers modules that encode MIDI, gates, low-res CVs, etc. as hi-res audio signals and preserve extremely tight timings).
MI Blades in VCV.
Softube module compatibility.
LOL
4 Likes
Can you please explain the meaning of your comment, as simply laughing at peopleās contributions to this thread is just rudeness?
Bruce, you can do much better than this.
3 Likes
Unassign the Backspace key!
Delete key (to delete the module under mouse cursor) is largely sufficient.
1 Like
Itās probably because many/most Mac laptop keyboards, and perhaps some PC laptops as well, only have a backspace key and no Delete key, and the Delete function is achieved by Fn+Backspace which is awkward.
3 Likes
Itās probably because many/most Mac laptop keyboards, and perhaps some PC laptops as well, only have a backspace key and no Delete key, and the Delete function is achieved by Fn+Backspace which is awkward.
Interestingā¦ thanks for this info.
1 Like
Blades would nicely round out the Audible collection.
A standard plugin API (VST, CLAP) equivalent for modules within a virtual rack would be great if it could allow easier interop of modules from different systems.
1 Like