Hello!
I wan`t to connect my Pulsar to a Layla (Echo) for use it with Vstlink.
I buy a co2 converter for convert toslink to spdif (layla only have spdif), and i routing the signal, but i only recive noise....
i do something wrong but, what?
I try changing Pulsar as slave and nothing.
I try also to send audio and nothing, the Layla recive noise and pulsar nothing.
VSTLink is crap! Its a big statement but true. I've tried with many different types of interfaces and still couldnt get it to work, but that could be me and my equipment.
Im still using FXTeleport which works very well... some latency issues (at times?). I dont know if its as good as just sending adat to adat and using scope to route the signal to where it needs to go?
This probably doesnt help.. Im sure many on this forum have got it to work?
Hi TFIN,
Just a few corrections to this thread. VST System Link is NOT CRAP! It is one of, if not the most accurate synchronisation and positioning systems available. It is not, however, all that intuitive to set up. The basic theory (which you probably already know) is that System Link uses one of the 24 bits
of a digital audio signal to send synchronisation, positioning and MIDI information between two or more computers. The key thing to remember is that there needs to be a synchronous digital audio connection between the computers in the link. Previously I thought that System Link could not achived through SFP but after I read this thread I went and set up a System Link between two computers within about five minutes, using the SFP environment. Also FYI, System Link works with S/PDIF Optical+Coax, AES EBU, ADAT, TDIF and MADI. If one computer can receive audio from the other via the digital audio connector then System Link will operate.
My five minute setup is as follows.
Computer 1 - System Link and Audio Master : Cubase SX3 using an M-Audio Audiophile 192 (S/PDIF connectors - probably much the same as your Echo)
Computer 2 - System Link and Audio Slave (no pun intended) : Cubase SX2 using a Creamware Luna II EX (S/PDIF connectors - 24 bit ASIO Source + Destination in SFP environment)
* It should be noted that I tried both ASIO 1 and 2, and both 24 and 32 bit and the result was exactly the same. To start off with I slaved SFP to the M-Audio. The basic System Link setup instructions tell you that one computer should be the master clock device for everything else. This is no strictly true, but I'll explain that in a minute. SFP was now slaved to the M-Audio, and in this case I made it a bi-directional connection by connecting the Luna back to the M-Audio (ie in to out and out to in - also not neccessary)
At this point I booted up Cubase on both computers and opened the system Link setup dialog (in 'Device Setup'). I chose the ASIO port I wanted the Link to
be established through (best thing to do is to set in and out to similar ports, such as S/PDIF In/Out #2 (the right input/output of the S/PDIF port). It doesn't matter which port you use, but you MUST make sure that input port of the Slave computer is set to the same port that the ouput of the Master computer is sending sync to. In simple terms, if the master computer is sending Link information to the Right channel of the slave, then the slave must be set to look at the Right channel to receive it's sync. At that point I selected "Active" on both computers and the link came up in the list box below. To achive transport sync, you must go to the 'Transport' menu on the Slave computer, then the 'Sync Setup' dialog and set 'Timecode Source' to 'VST System Link'. Once this is done and 'Sync' is activated on the Transport Bar under the metronome section, when the System Link Master plays, stops, fast forwards or rewinds, the Slave will follow.
* It should also be noted that in a bi-directional System Link, any computer can be the Transport Master. As long as all computers' 'Timecode Source' settings are set to 'VST System Link' then any computer in the Link can trigger playback or any other kind of transport control.
* It is important to be aware that System Link need not be bi-directional. Only the Slave computer/s need to see the Master, the Master does not need to know the Slave/s are there. Of course you will not have the bi-directional transport control that you would have is the Master could see the Slave/s but that's not necessarily important.
* Another aspect of System Link which may not be very well explained it that the Slave computer/s do not have to be digital audio slaves of the Master. That is, the Slave computer/s do not have to be receiving clock from the digital audio connection that is carrying System Link. As I mentioned earlier, there need only be a "synchronous digital audio connection between the computers in the link". Hence, it is implicit that the requirements of System Link are the same as those of the digital audio connection. THERE MUST BE ONLY ONE MASTER AUDIO CLOCK!!! This clock can, however, be derived from any relevant source. I (fortunately) own a Nuendo Timebase. I use it to clock all the digital audio devices in my setup. After I got System Link working as I described, I then went back and tried the connection with SFP receiving WORD CLOCK from the TIMEBASE via the Creamware SYNC PLATE and the M-Audio Audiophile 192 receiving clock through the S/PDIF input from the AES EBU output of the TIMEBASE. The system worked perfectly, though as I mentioned earlier, the loss of bi-directional communication between the two computers (S/PDIF input on M-Audio taken up by TIMEBASE) ment that the M-Audio based system became the exclusive transpoer master. It could only send out Transport information, not receive it.
For those of use who have Master Word Clocks, using these to clock every computer in the System Link makes for a much more stable and accurate Link.
Thanks Tom,
System Link is not my cup of tea, I can see I'll be forced to use it eventually, but I'll avoid it as long as possible. I have the advantage of being supplied by Steinberg, the licence for every bit of software they do on a timed but renewable dongle. The good ol' SRC (Steinberg Red Key) for tech guys in shops. I am actually shortly going to put my money where my mouth is and buy Nuendo 4 so I s'pose you could say VST kinda is my cup of tea. But in the mean time, if I'm being supplied with free product and having bought a Timebase (the last one in captivity in Australia - nice little catch there), if I don't know something about the products then I'm not really worth the money am I?
Cheers again,
