ForumsSoftware ← Virta : setting up with DAWS

thought id start a thread on this.. with my experiences so far, and perhaps others can elaborate, or suggest betters ways.

goal: Virta taking audio input and being controlled via midi (i.e. both audio input and midi input)
my experience is with Mac OSX, but I think relevant to windows too.

generally there seems to be 2 approaches:

  • use virta as a effects plugin, then route midi to it from a separate midi track.(most common)
  • create virta as an instrument, then select the audio input as a sidechain input.

Note: when I say use virta as an insert effect, you can almost certainly instead place as a separate send effect , assuming the DAW allows you target midi to the send effect.
this way can be use for multiple tracks.

Live 9.6
a) Create an instrument or audio track , put Virta as an audio effect on the same track
b) Create a midi track, then in the output destination (press IO button to reveal) select track you created in (a), and channel 1.
(limitation: no MPE, without lots of tracks, but thats Live for you ;) )

Bitwig 1.3.6
a) Create an instrument or audio track , put Virta as an audio effect on the same track
b) Create a midi track, then in the output destination (press IO button to reveal) select track you created in a (a), and channel 1.
Note: MPE works, if you select force MPE, the midi channel on the output destination is ignored, so doesn't matter what channel you set :)

Cubase 8.5 Pro
this is not working... is there a better way, or its a bug?
the way i think it should work is (as i use for other plugins) :(
a) Create an instrument or audio track , put Virta as an insert effect on the same track
b) Create a midi track, and target virta which is listed instrument track
(i.e. its similar to lives approach)

This doesn't work, as Virta is not listed as an effect,only as an instrument.... so cannot be selected as an insert etc. as an instrument it also doesn't have anything like a side chain input as far as i can find.

Logic 10.10.2
a) Create your audio/instrument track as normal (i.e not virta)
b) Create a BLANK instrument track then select virta as the instrument.
(under midi controlled effects)
(note: I'm having issues with logic selecting this from the normal new track dialog)
c) create a bus, and send some/all of your audio/instrument track (from a) to it
d) in virta dialog, select side chain input, and select the bus you created in (c)

Numerology 4 Pro
just add virta, route audio to it, route midi to it... simple ;)
... and wow, Virta + Aalto + N4 could have been made for each other, such a fun combination, most fun Ive had so far with the audio mangling side.

OSC option (e.g. soundplane), any daw
if you use OSC input, you don't have to do any of this, just use as an effect.
(but alas no recording)

Harrison Mixbus
(courtesy of phil999)

  • create a stereo audio track. Add a MIDI port to it
  • in that track, right click, New Plugin, select Virta
  • create a MIDI track without instrument, select keyboard input
  • in the MIDI track, click output, select Routing Grid
  • in the Routing Grid, patch MIDI out to audio track

In Traction 7
(courtesy of secretkillerofnames)

there seems to be a number of ways to get it working:
1) Drop Virta on a track - select MIDI input channel - drop audio into the track and it works fine for playing. You can even add a MIDI and an AUDIO input
BUT if you want to record and playback MIDI notes will processing an audio file
2) Create 2 tracks - one for MIDI, one for AUDIO - create a new plugin rack / wrapper for Virta on the MIDI track. Add the AUDIO track as an input to the wrapper and disconnect one of the track outputs (either AUDIO or MIDI - doesn't matter.)
BUT if you want to record live input and MIDI notes
3) change number of inputs to 2 - select MIDI input and audio input in the two boxes - arm them - make sure live input monitoring is selected - press record and go. It records both MIDI and AUDIO to the same track!

FL Studio
(courtesy of levendis)

PDF external link

"in virta dialog, select side chain input"

oh, I missed that one. Well in that case it should work in every DAW. Will try it out tonight.

Edit: hmm, Virta has two inputs, not 3 or 4. So there's no sidechain input.

Virta should be a VST of course. Or two versions, one VST and one VSTi for the synth part only. Then setup in any DAW is without problem.

oh, I missed that one. Well in that case it should work in every DAW.

no, because as far as I understand, cubase (and others) don't support sidechain inputs for VSTi, I guess as common use is for things like compressors which are VSTfx.

... and i guess its fair to say Steinberg (Cubase) own VST, so if they dont support it - hard to say its part of the standard.

EDIT: btw which daw are you trying?
yes, I think VSTi and VST makes sense, but more work... yet more formats too support :(

the VST3 standard supports multiple channels including sidechain. The VST2 standard not, you're right. But even VST3 does not allow audio input in many hosts if the plugin is an instrument, not an effect.

I'm working in Harrison Mixbus and Cubase, on Windows.

Edit: tried it in Logic, and now I understand. You meant the Logic sidechain.

just been through my (many ;) ) plugins, seems all plugs like this (e.g. u-he effects - satin, mfm, filterscape) comes as effects plugins, and where useful as both synth and fx (like virta) they come in both an fx and instrument form (e.g. Reaktor, Kontakt filterscape, virus TI etc )

oh, no mention to EigenD, curious it shows up as AudioUnit Effects and VST synth.

In VEP also ;-)

he he, sorry antonio :)

EigenD, yeah, just connect the audio and midi inputs ... ready to go, but being single threaded, you'll need a fast computer :)

VEP (Vienna Ensemble Pro) , yeah I had tested this, and actually its a problem, but one Ive had before with VEP. so not really Virta's issue - in VEP it can be either an instrument OR an effect. but the instrument can't receive audio, and the effect can't receive midi. so best I can do is use OSC... ok, usually for me, as Im not trying to record (data, only audio) when using VEP.

it was the recording the data part, that sent me hunting through my DAWs to find the right 'tool' for the job (and I thought I might as well detail findings here) ... usually it would be cubase, but that doesn't work at the moment.

setup for Harrison Mixbus:

  1. create a stereo audio track. Add a MIDI port to it
  2. in that track, right click, New Plugin, select Virta
  3. create a MIDI track without instrument, select keyboard input
  4. in the MIDI track, click output, select Routing Grid
  5. in the Routing Grid, patch MIDI out to audio track

N4 FTW!

In Tracktion 7 there seems to be a number of ways to get it working.
1) Drop Virta on a track - select MIDI input channel - drop audio into the track and it works fine for playing. You can even add a MIDI and an AUDIO input
BUT if you want to record and playback MIDI notes will processing an audio file
2) Create 2 tracks - one for MIDI, one for AUDIO - create a new plugin rack / wrapper for Virta on the MIDI track. Add the AUDIO track as an input to the wrapper and disconnect one of the track outputs (either AUDIO or MIDI - doesn't matter.)
BUT if you want to record live input and MIDI notes
3) change number of inputs to 2 - select MIDI input and audio input in the two boxes - arm them - make sure live input monitoring is selected - press record and go. It records both MIDI and AUDIO to the same track!

Nvm.

Here's some methods for using Virta in FL Studio, written to PDF. (This is the first time i've authored a PDF, so please excuse its dowdiness) - Virta in FL Studio.

With Live, if you add Virta to a MIDI track and add a Gate device in front of it, you can set that Gate device to sidechain mode and keep the 'listen' button enabled to feed audio from any other track into the Virta track. This way, you only need one channel, not two. Group them into a Rack and save as a rack preset, then load this rack instead of Virta itself. Works great for me.

Im not sure I get what your doing/gaining @garf
adding a gate and virta to a midi track, sure will get you audio, but you wont get midi through to virta (because its an audio device) ... so being a midi track wont help, the midi is not fed thru. so you'll need another midi track to target virta with the midi out target.

if your just concerned about getting the audio, then I think the easy way is to put virta on a return track. which is what Ive tended to do, so I can send it audio from a number of tracks :)

... and if you want it just on one track, why not just add it directly to the audio or instrument track.

(i'll say, I think for many daws using on a return track is the best approach, as it will often be more efficient due to being place on a separate thread, your daw/project may vary ;) )

yeah @garf i recall that trick, you do get audio processed but cant get midi to "reach" Virta that way. (cheating via T3D its fine...

Oh and it has to be the other way around Gate>Virta no?

heh... you're right, technobear! i wasn't at my main daw computer when i replied and got my plugin routings muddled up (i've been messing a few new easter-sale plugin goodies as well as virta :)

it seems that as soon as you add a device infront of Virta (on a MIDI track), Virta stops receiving midi data - a Live shortcoming.

i'm now using it on a return track as you suggest - didn't know that midi could be routed to devices on return tracks, good to know!

So here the configuration in Usine Hollyhock.
Simply drag an audio source rack(here a granular sampler in rack1) in the rack input of the Virta rack, add your MIDI device, done

http://nay-seven.com/beta/virta%20in%20Usine%20Hollyhock.png

Haven't gotten Virta or the demo yet.

Does Virta report being an instrument, or an effect?

Can you load a VST instrument on an Ableton Live MIDI track, and then add Virta as an audio effect after the VSTi?

Midi and audio routing aren't that hard to figure out in Live.

Using Reaper:

One thing I am running into is the raw audio passing through regardless of Virta's setting. Maybe this is actually intentional, but I don't think so.

Could be how Reaper handles audio going into a track with a VSTi on it since it doesn't differentiate between audio and FX tracks. Might be helpful to have to two versions of the plugin, one as VSTi and the other as an FX, as some other softsynths are doing.

This is how I use Virta with a MAC OSX . I don`t know how it is used on a PC .

REAPER 5.17 (On MAC OSX)

1.Create New Audio Track
2. Load Virta AU as a FX on the track
3. Select the Audio Input (From Sound Card) on the track
4. Arm Record the track
5. Click on the monitor input (small speaker sign) on the track
5a. If you have an audio file you wish to process then put it on the track and switch of the monitor input

Midi Control :
1.Create New Audio Track
2.Choose MIDI as input
3.Arm track
4.Click on ROUTE
6.Add new send to the track where Virta AU is
7.Click on the monitor input (small speaker sign) on the track

Do you hear the raw audio underneath the plugin? I'm using a PC, but I can't imagine it being different at this point. Are you selecting Virta specifically as an FX and not VSTi?

The rest of your setup I had, along with a couple other configs. I doubt that this is a Mac vs. Pc thing, but maybe!

I should note that I am using an RME interface and am quite confident that I have the Totalmix setup right.

"Do you hear the raw audio underneath the plugin? I'm using a PC, but I can't imagine it being different at this point. Are you selecting Virta specifically as an FX and not VSTi?
The rest of your setup I had, along with a couple other configs. I doubt that this is a Mac vs. Pc thing, but maybe!
I should note that I am using an RME interface and am quite confident that I have the Totalmix setup right."

Hi Zegogo ,

Yes, I am selecting Virta as a FX.
I don't use a virtual instrument but a effect plugin so instead of AUI I use AU.
If I use VSTi (instrument then I hera the audio under.

Totalmix can be a problem as well.
On the audio input channel in Totalmix choose on the pull-down menu (under the fader) the output to your speakers (or main out) and then turn it down.

It will work ! And it will be great !

Thanks Rastkopravi.

In Windows, I only see VSTi as an option. TotalMix is solid. The only raw audio is coming through the track with Virta on it. No matter the send/receive config I try, that raw audio is still there.

In this situation, I think it would work perfect as an FX, you can still send Midi to an FX plugin in Reaper without sidechaining or VST3 or what have you.

I did post this on the Reaper forums, but have yet to get a response... Will report if it's solved.

I just tested and this works for Virta and Reaper on Windows:

http://forum.cockos.com/showpost.php?p=1638088&postcount=2

You just need two tracks and some custom routing.

I also posted over at the Reaper forum.

Yeah, this works perfect.

Thanks!

Setting up Virta in Sonar.

This work on Sonar Platinum but should work on earlier versions.

Virta is seen as a VST effect. This needs to be changed. Open the plugin manager and find Virta. Change it from a tempo based effect to a synth. This will allow all midi messages to reach Virta (most importantly the keyboard).

Do not insert Virta through the synth rack or dragging from the browser (X1 versions and above). You need to use the old way to setup the tracks properly.

Insert an audio track and a midi track. I group them in a track folder for organization.

Insert Virta into the FX bin of the audio track. All audio on or routed to the audio track will play through Virta.

Change the midi track output to Virta.

That's it...

Thanks kenzak for posting this Reaper workaround.

Has anyone tried this with Renoise? I use Logic now but I'm considering using renoise for some select things.

Virta works great in Renoise. For the audio path, just drop it in as a track DSP effect. To route MIDI to it, create a VST FX alias instrument and then use the new instrument number for notes. For MIDI CC's and other messages, I think you can use Renoise's *Instrument MIDI Control Meta device.

I will give th vst FX alias a shot. Thanks.

Logic 10.3 Upgrade

The Logic 10.3 upgrade included a feature for instruments to receive sidechains without needing to set up a separate bus.

This means that the Virta setup is much simpler than in thetechnobear's instructions for Logic 10.2.

a) Create your audio/instrument track as normal (i.e not virta)
b) Create a BLANK instrument track then select virta as the instrument.
(under midi controlled effects)
c) in Virta dialog, select side chain input, and select the audio/instrument track you created in step (a)

So, no bus needed if you want one instance of Virta to process one instrument or one audio track!

If you want one instance of Virta to process more than one instrument or audio track at once, then route the instruments/audiotracks/both to a new bus and open the sidechain selector on Virta and chose that bus.

Studio One 3.3

Mac

You can use Virta as an insert on your audio track or instrument.

Create a new empty MIDI track and route the output of this track to Virta. Important - this will only work with the VST version, not the AU version, so do not use the AU version.

Windows

You can use Virta as an insert on your audio track or instrument.

Create a new empty MIDI track and route the output of this track to Virta.

You now have Virta processing one instrument or audio track.

If you use Virta on a fx track, you can easily send the output of several audio tracks or instrument tracks to this fx track. You may want to make the sends prefader so you can decrease the volume of the original tracks.

Note that there is no ability to use sidechains with Virta in either Mac or Windows, but you do not need to, either.