System 8 question about plug out and CPU power

[Audionurd]

I'm thinking about purchasing a system 8, but before I buy it I want to know if I'm able to use the plug out option in the actual keyboard itself and use the vst part of it as a editor of sort..and at the same time conserve CPU power..my main interest for this is to conserve CPU power .

I basically want to use the hardware as the sound source but use the software to edit in real time

[Stormchild]

I'm thinking about purchasing a system 8, but before I buy it I want to know if I'm able to use the plug out option in the actual keyboard itself and use the vst part of it as a editor of sort..and at the same time conserve CPU power..my main interest for this is to conserve CPU power .

I basically want to use the hardware as the sound source but use the software to edit in real time

What's the benefit of controlling the hardware with the software? Do you not have anywhere to put the hardware that's within reach? The VST is useful for transferring patches to/from the System-8, but it can't control the System-8 in real time, and I don't know why anyone would want it to. The main purpose of the hardware is the physical controls, which are significantly nicer to use than clicking the plugin window with a mouse. The best you can do is design patches in the plugin, then transfer them to the System-8. To save CPU, you can use the "Optimize for Lower CPU Usage" option in the plugins. They will still use a fair bit of CPU though.

If you're thinking of buying a System-8 as an outboard DSP processor and don't plan to actually interact with the hardware directly, I think it's the wrong tool for the job and wouldn't recommend it.

[Audionurd]

You misunderstood me I do want to use the keyboard to control things in real-time but I also want to have the ability to use the vst as an editor. So my question is does it work in real time? Even make a change on the hardware does it react to the software

[Stormchild]

You misunderstood me I do want to use the keyboard to control things in real-time but I also want to have the ability to use the vst as an editor. So my question is does it work in real time? Even make a change on the hardware does it react to the software

The software does not control the hardware in real time. The best you can do is transfer the current patch to the hardware. This happens very quickly (takes less than a second), so maybe that will work for you. But the plugin will continue to use your CPU until you bypass or remove it.

[Audionurd]

Thank you for clarifying. That narrows down what I want to purchase. Im looking for a piece of hardware with a vst Editor of sort.. I know it's stupid but it's how I like to work.

[Stormchild]

Thank you for clarifying. That narrows down what I want to purchase. Im looking for a piece of hardware with a vst Editor of sort.. I know it's stupid but it's how I like to work.

Nah it's not stupid. There's no wrong way to work. I think the Access Virus TI might do what you're looking for. I can't confirm as I haven't used one myself, but it does have a plugin that looks like it includes all the controls for the synth, and I'm pretty sure the audio is always being generated by the synth hardware (not your CPU). Take a look:

https://www.virus.info/virusti/overview

[sonarfreq]

The software does not control the hardware in real time. The best you can do is transfer the current patch to the hardware. This happens very quickly (takes less than a second).

Unfortunately this "patch transfer" functionality is no longer working in V1.33 of the PLUG-OUT software and V1.30 of the hardware system software. You simply get a message saying "The data file is invalid"!

[Stormchild]

The software does not control the hardware in real time. The best you can do is transfer the current patch to the hardware. This happens very quickly (takes less than a second).

Unfortunately this "patch transfer" functionality is no longer working in V1.33 of the PLUG-OUT software and V1.30 of the hardware system software. You simply get a message saying "The data file is invalid"!

This bug has been around for at least a year now. As far as I know it only affects Windows. I’ve never run into it on my Mac and it still works fine (I used it a couple days ago to transfer some of the new System-8 presets that were just released on Roland Cloud). It’s really embarrassing and inexcusable that they still haven’t fixed this in Windows though.