especially instruments
I’m just catching up on all the VST buzz and recently figured out how to play the instruments through N-track with the track/midi/vst insrument selection on the menu.
Now that I’ve figured out how to set up vst instruments for different tracks, I’ve found that the delay between playing notes on a midi keyboard and hearing them is far beyond acceptable.
I adjusted the buffer settings in the preferences dialog box to the minimum buffer though this still doesn’t give me “real time” response. There is still a delay that makes plaing difficult.
What can I do about that?
Also, I’m using a midi synth keyboard as the main controller. When I set up a vst instrument and try to play it without recording, I find the only way to hear the notes is to click on the LIVE button. Is this the only way to play a vst instrument without hitting the record button? Is there some special setup for keyboards that I’m missing?
no cents
Different driver types require you to adjust buffers in different places. For WDm and MME drivers, you will adjust them in N-track. For ASIO, will you adjust these in the mixer application that came with your sound card. In all cases, the smaller the buffer the faster the response… but you can also get pops and clicks in your audio if you set them too low.
To overcome this when recording, I often send the midi output (either from my keyboard or a midi track I’ve already recorded) to a hardware synth (I have an old Yamaha mu50) to cut out any delay.
Then later, for mixing, I switch the midi output to the vst-i I want to use.
You do need to choose a sound similar to what you’re aiming for with the hard synth (including attack etc.) or your playing style may not suit the soft synth you end up using.
Mike F
PS Sometimes I find I like some of the sounds on my MU50 so much that I end up recording THEM back in and using them instead.