[FEATURE REQUEST] Multichanel Host Audio

[FAUSTINOCRUZELIS]

At this time I think that the proyect is very stable and useful for almost of the audio uses, and i have been trying to boost the utility but my knowledge is poor about programming and... I would like to see an plugin or vaiant of audio host DISTHRO plugin to make new ports, with 6 could be fine for real time dsp processing applications. I am in the process of building of a device based on a SBC x86 to make a dj server. And I think that the ui of Cardinal is the best for live events. So. There is the posibility to do that or there is any other method avaliable with no-code.?

Thanks...

[falkTX]

there is already 18 IO, that is not enough? If you set up a linux box with jack running as the sound server, you can run the main cardinal standalone and get 8 IO plus 10 extra CV, for both in and out.

PS: Cardinal cannot be used for any kind of commercial endeavours, due to many module's artworks having CC-NC clauses on them.

[Vospi]

AFAIK, currently Cardinal does not tell my FL Studio that it expects OR produces multiple outputs. Anything I'm missing?

[falkTX]

dont use the synth or fx variants, those are stereo. use the "main" one, needs to be vst3 as vst2 cannot do CV and flstudio doesnt support clap.

[Vospi]

dont use the synth or fx variants, those are stereo. use the "main" one, needs to be vst3 as vst2 cannot do CV and flstudio doesnt support clap.

Thanks for the tip! I have a problem doing that, though. FL Studio recognizes Cardinal.vst3 as an effect even if I explicitly tell it that it's not (with its plugin manager). Thus, it does not open it "as an instrument". I recently had a similar issue with Infernal Synth. They were able to fix this: https://github.com/sjoerdvankreel/infernal-synth/issues/6

And thank you for fixing the F9 bug, appreciate it so much, I'm on a nightly now and very happy about that :)

[falkTX]

that is a bit of an esoteric feature, on FLStudio you can use patcher as a way to get multi-IO setup in a very specialized way.

[Vospi]

I also can send MIDI to an effect even without patcher, that would be another workaround. Just saying it would be awesome to have it work out of the box, as Infernal Synth did :)

[falkTX]

I kinda blame FLStudio, it has this clear distinction between FX and Synth, and does not allow the same plugin to be both at the same time. Dont really want to have yet another plugin variant for this..

[protectorateindustrial]

I really hope there would be more output channels available in the Synth variant. I use Cubase and in Cubase there is no way use multiple audio outputs from a single instance, since the standard vst3 (non FX of Synth variant) can only be loaded as fx so theres no way to route the additional outputs anywhere. Multiple audio outputs from a single instance would be useful since I'd like to use Cardinal for CV and Gate outputs, you know Silent Way style. Only two outputs (and you lose audio) per instance isn't that much.

[Vospi]

So, as I'm saying, it's fixable as it was fixed by Infernal Synth, AFAIK. Turns out it's not just FL, then.

[protectorateindustrial]

Alternatively, the Main Cardinal variant could be listed as a synth type of plugin. That way the all the additional I/O could be addressed in Cubase. I dont think that its appropriate to blame the hosts for this issue, since its been standard practice to implement the plugin routing this way in most daws. The multi i/o fx processors are ment usually for surround projects and cant necessarily be routed in stereo projects. Like I said ealier, outputs in addition to the main stereo cant be routed unless using a surround projects which is absolutely not an option if you are doing music in stereo.

[Vospi]

The multi i/o fx processors are ment usually for surround projects and cant necessarily be routed in stereo projects.

That's a tangent, but you are wrong. Additional FX stereo pairs can be:

• in output: routed to another mixer tracks as stereo pairs and mixed separately
• in input: be used to input a main channel vs a sidechain (compression is the easiest example, modular extends that to anyting)
• doing other things with two/more incoming stereo pairs (vocoding is the easiest example, stereo vocoding is a thing for more than a decade for sure)

So multichannel i/o in FX for stereo production is absolutely definitely a thing and, sometimes, a must.

[protectorateindustrial]

The multi i/o fx processors are ment usually for surround projects and cant necessarily be routed in stereo projects.

That's a tangent, but you are wrong. Additional FX stereo pairs can be:

• in output: routed to another mixer tracks as stereo pairs and mixed separately
• in input: be used to input a main channel vs a sidechain (compression is the easiest example, modular extends that to anyting)
• doing other things with two/more incoming stereo pairs (vocoding is the easiest example, stereo vocoding is a thing for more than a decade for sure)

So multichannel i/o in FX for stereo production is absolutely definitely a thing and, sometimes, a must.

I dont disagree with you, thats not I was trying to say. What I was trying to convey is that there`s an established way plugins are delivered, because traditionally daws support limited ways you can route your plugin i/o. Fx plugin with multiple outputs isnt supported on all daws.

The way Cubase expects plugin ports is

Fx version - stereo i/o with 1 more side chain inputs for stereo audio projects

Fx version with multiple out - only for surround projects, outputs cant be routed in stereo projects

Instrument version - multi i/o supported, cubase also compensates incoming midi notes for plugin delay(s) of the instrument and possible fx (as far as I know and might be wrong, but audio fx plugins just get the audio input compensated but not midi)

Im sorry to kinda repeat myself, but this like the industry standard way of doing the plugin outputs and compatible with all the hosts and its also crucial for Cubase compatibility of the plugin, so I think that this should be fixed in Cardinal. All that really needs to be done to be compatible is to activate the additional i/o in the instrument version.

[DemandDystopia]

dont use the synth or fx variants, those are stereo. use the "main" one, needs to be vst3 as vst2 cannot do CV and flstudio doesnt support clap.

Thanks for the tip! I have a problem doing that, though. FL Studio recognizes Cardinal.vst3 as an effect even if I explicitly tell it that it's not (with its plugin manager). Thus, it does not open it "as an instrument". I recently had a similar issue with Infernal Synth. They were able to fix this: sjoerdvankreel/infernal-synth#6

Better late than never and IL should 100% improve the workflow around this but: The following method should work for all audio-accepting synths with no separate FX version. I got it to work with Cardinal, Pigments & Minifreak V.

Step by step guide:

• delete Cardinal from your favorites as well as the "installed plugins" folder, get rid of the .fst and nfo too
• do a fast scan. that ensures FL doesn't categorize it as effect or synth
• now you can load it as an effect, do so and favourite it to your effects
• now you can do the same for it as a generator

Now even when doing a full scan and cardinalis listed as a generator it should still load as an effect. If that somehow isn't the case, I believe there's tricks for that with unchecking rescan verified plugins, or creating copies of the dll/vst and favouriting those separately.