Whats the best VSTi host these days?

[newmewzikboy]

Ok, I have got my GPO, EWQLSO Gold and Silver, and Atmosphere alll ready, and now want to play them with Finale.

EEK! I cant seem to play them all at once on my laptop soundcard! hmmm Seems I need a VSTi host to make it work.

Ok...you all..Which one do you think is best? What do you use that ACTUALLY works??

Here is a list I found on another forum:

Forte
EnergyXT
Chainer
VSTHost
Spin Audio VMC
Plogue Bidule
FL Studio
RT Player

Thanks for your help

[Houston Haynes]

1) Chainer
2) Plogue Bidule
3) Everything Else

[Bruce A. Richardson]

Forte is actually very good as well.

[Houston Haynes]

Forte is actually very good as well.
Yup. I would say that there are many good picks on that list. I've tried most of them, and Chainer is among the most simple (and robust) and Bidule is among the most flexible (and still in pre-release).

[cptexas]

I've been looking for a VSTi host myself...just browsing around. I don't need one that bad but would like to have one.
Anyway,
I have GPO and GPO studio does goofy things like sometimes the timing will be off and every now and again (particularly at big tuttis) I get this really, really bad skipping sound. Is this a CPU problem (I have a P4 1.8 ghz)? Or is it the host? GPO studio is powered by Plogue, so I would like something less skippy and timing-offie. :D If this is a CPU problem, then if I had a faster CPU would GPO studio work properly?

I would also like a VSTi host that'll handle more than 8 instruments. 12 perhaps? Or 16? I always run out of instances.
Sorry, don't mean to hijack the thread. I just happened to be looking for a VSTi host myself. :o

Thanks,
-Chris

[Rich Pell]

1 more vote for Forte...Rich

[Andrew Aversa]

FLStudio is fantastic. Extremely low CPU/RAM, streamlined GUI. I use it for 100% of my music or sound related tasks, often loading it up with 100 or more VSTs at one time (my record is about 150).

[gio.g]

Been successfully using Forte for some time now - latest version seems to have fixed some sync issues. Using it on 2 PC's to run various VSTi's including EW Symphonic Choirs/Orchestra, Ultrafocus, Minimoog, Trilogy, Atmosphere., all connected digitally to a Protools HD3 Accel rig.

Can't praise it enough.

Regards

Gio

[newmewzikboy]

Good posts so far. Here's a sort of pseudo summary:

Forte - 3 reference
Chainer - 2 references
Plogue Bidule - used in GPO; skipping issues
FL Studio = Low Latency; allows up to 150 VSTi loads

Still can't decide...

[cptexas]

Here's a free one I found. You can load as many VSTi's as you want. You're only limited by your system.

http://www.hermannseib.com/english/vsthost.htm

There's also some other great useful MIDI stuff there.
I haven't tried it out yet, but give it a shot. It's FREE!!! :D

-Chris

[pheeleep]

Fl Studio is really good. It's the only host I have been using for the last 6 years. I have used many in the past ( Pro tools, Digital performer, Cubase, etc.. )

However, I notice you will be using Atmosphere, and I heard that there are some issues when rendering in Fl Studio with Spectrasonics plugins ( they sound off time in the rendered file ). Aside from that though, I highly recommend Fl Studio. Do you plan on recording a lot of acoustic material, using microphones, or do you plan on mostly making electronic music using VSTi's and samples?

[Andrew Aversa]

Worth noting is that FLStudio may have some problems with the UVI engine used in some Spectrasonics products. I personally have not encountered any issues, but a few people I know have. Luckily you can download a 30MB demo of FL5 with all capabilities except saving to test this for yourself.

GPO works great in FL5. Basically, FL doesn't have a traditional "track" system. Instead, you add "channels". When you add any VSTi, it essentially receives a virtual MIDI port set on channel 1, so you can immediately begin writing or playing it without tinkering with anything. For multitimbral or multiple-out VSTis, you simply add "Midi Out" channels, set their channel and port to correspond with the port of the VST and the MIDI channel of the instrument you want. It sounds a little weird at first, but it's really very simple. So here's an example of how you might use GPO.

* Click on the "Channels" menu, go to "Add", "More" (lists all VSTs that are not in your favorites), select PersonalOrchestraVST

* FL surrounds GPO with the FL Wrapper. In the upper right corner of it, you can set the MIDI port (it defaults to no port). Let's say we set it to 3.

* Load up GPO instruments as you would normally.

* Go to the "Channels" menu, go to "Add", and select "Midi Out". A Midi Out channel, which consumes no CPU or RAM, appears. It has various assignable knobs and sliders, a preset menu, and two boxes for Channel and Port. Set Channel to 1 (or whatever) and Port to 3.

* For each additional instrument you want control over, simply right click on the Midi Out, click "Clone Channel", and on the new one, change the Channel to 2, or 3, or whatever else.

On a side note, FL uses a virtual 64-track mixer with up to 4 sends, separated into groups of 16 (A, B, C, and D). Each individual Mixer channel can have around 8 effects, either the native FL ones, or your own VST/DX plugins. In addition, FL has a "Smart Disable" feature which freezes ALL effects on the Mixer saving massive CPU. No rendering involved, and no delay of any sort, though - it simply turns off plugins that aren't being played the moment. Thus if you're working on a massive project, but only want to tinker with a small part, your CPU load will be minimal. Each set of outs can be set to have its own mixer track, too, which is great.

Plus FL's piano roll is unbeatable. You will never find a better one, I guarantee it ;)

[newmewzikboy]

Wow. Mind boggling opportunities. Can't believe the options available. How to decide...

This is for my laptop, running Finale and an external Firewire400 drive (for samples). ASIO4ALL to built in soundcard.
I'm using this rig exclusively for electronic rendering of acoustical instruments via GPO, EWQLSO GOld and Silver. I'm also using ATMOSPHERE. The prior, mainly for studio work and for live mockups. The latter as an addition for the film gigs.

Primary use is for composing, on the road and in the bathroom.
Secondary use, using FX-Teleport as a server to my DAW when I am rendering final mixes to my other gear (Daw + gigaserver).

Sound like I will have a bunch of trouble with FLStudio and ATMOSPHERE, but I will look for the download. Hate to say no to all that power

[Andrew Aversa]

I believe the problem with the rendering thing is because FL does not have PDC (plugin delay compensation). However, for 99% of plugins not having this makes no difference. If you go to my website and look at my gear list (www.zirconstudios.com/about.php) you will see that I have a LOT of stuff, but I will tell you that I have no trouble with any of it.