Wanted to get some feedback from people who use Rack 2.0 in Bitwig. For over a year I’ve used Rack exclusively without any DAW for production. I’ve added more hardware to my setup, more VSTs and in general more things that are starting to cause problems sticking to just VCV. I have a lot of issues with sync and timing between my hardware and VCV, and I have issues with Host VSTs that usually rely on DAW BPM for syncing patterns. I’ve tried numerous different methods and some work better than others, but there are always issues (not really what this post is about anyway).
I’ve used Bitwig 8track before and I’m considering buying Studio, and I would get VCV2 pro if that were the case to use it in Bitwig. Are there any quirks or oddities that I should know about? Are there issues with DAW sync? I know that using VCV pro as a VST has an effects VST mode and an instrument mode, are there any unique limitations to those? Performance issues? Just want to get as much info as I can before I spend the money. Thanks.
Bitwig integrates brilliantly with Rack Pro, they are made for each other. If you like the modular approach then Bitwig should feel very natural to you. The sync is spot on. Check out this video from Omri about getting Rack pro set up with Bitwig.
Bitwig is something you need to have in any case. VCV VST runs mega solid with me inside Bitwig. I even sent Ableton LINK via Bluetooth to an iPad with MiRack on it. I receive the clock with Stellare Link, which is also in MiRack. That clock goes to an iConnectMidi which sends midi clock to a TR-8S and an old Yamaha SU-700 and it runs rock solid. Wouldn’t recommend this in a live situation though.
Haha, yeah with new rotary knobs and an SD reader inside. Also have the Kurzweil K2500 working with the SCSI2SD reader in full effect. Still unbeatable warmth and great for sound design, this machine was lightyears ahead.
Thanks for all the replies, definitely feel better about it now. As for sync in VCV 2 I still have issues with MIDI sync although I guess it’s better than in version 1. Typically I use clock sync through my actual audio interface which does work better, the breakdown usually starts to happen for me when I use any VST that has sequencer functionality and it normally gets the clock from the DAW. The only option is to really send clock through the host module within VCV and those VSTs will tend to drift but hardware will stay in sync. I can reroute stuff so those VSTs sync better but then hardware tends to get out of sync. All part of the reason why I feel like I should use Bitwig is mainly just that all those VSTs can live outside of the rack and will have direct DAW sync and won’t ever have issues. I wish VCV had some sort of internal DAW sync like feature that could get pulled from a clock module, seems like the virtual conversion messes with some synced host VSTs. It’s not noticeable if you are just clocking like a delay or something, but it is with a lot of sequencer VSTs I’ve used like Riffer or Scaler. Anyway thanks for the help.
For anybody (like me) who stumbles across this page in the future, I was having an issue with a fluctuating clock/bpm in the VCV VST, +/- 5bpm or so, very rapidly, and regardless of how I configured the clock/multiplier/clock/n. While troubleshooting, I discovered that my sample rate in the VCV VST was being set to 24khz instad of 48khz. Setting the audio sample rate back to 48khz resolved the issue for me and the clock sync to the DAW is very solid now.
