USB mode - Room for everything in the bandwidth?

    Hi


    So im wondering about using multiple virus "synths" (in lack of a better word) simultaneously with usb as the only way of transporting the sound into my DAW (logic 9)


    On a recent project i have 4 different synths loaded up and playing. What im experiencing though is that some of them have a tendency to disappear when all of them are playing at the same time. Its like its not enough room for so many synths in the usb, and hence the virus is squeezing some out. In this particular example, im starting with three synths, and the forth is coming in after 16 bars. When this fourth start, the third one stops playing.


    Does the USB mode have limits to what it can do? I mean, the VST thing has 16 different "synth channels"... eq´ed correctly can it run that many sounds through the usb at the same time? And if so, is there any settings to control this?


    I have read the manual for usb setup, and it looks like I am using the usb mode correctly. No other devices is interfering with the high speed usb port which the virus ti use.

    Thanks for feedback on this

    MIDI and automation bandwidth is negligible relative to audio bandwidth. But audio bandwidth is constant since the number of audio channels does not increase with the number of sounds since the sounds are mixed into the audio channels.
    Your problem seems to lie in maxing out the DSP power of the synth. Every synth has a limited number of voices they can play. When a new note is triggered and all the voices are taken, one of the already playing voices is stopped and recycled. The Virus has a dynamic voice allocation engine which means that the maximum is reduced as you use more complex patches. The voices pool is also shared between all of the 16 parts (MIDI channels) of the Virus, so playing one patch might steal a voice of another.
    If you have a long pad that you don't want to be cut while other parts are playing you can increase the part priority of the part that has that pad loaded. But don't go as far as abusing part priority. It's better to be wise about choosing the complexity of your patches (use the 5 bar meter on the LCD), reducing unison, adding effects outside of the Virus instead of inside the Virus, etc.
    Hope this helps.

    Hi there,, thanks for a elaborate explanation, really interesting to read. I had no idea about this, and ok, im not super happy about it, but now at least i know how to work around the issue. And the 5 bar meter indicating the complexity of my patches is maxed out on all 4, so you were spot on there:)


    The reason im using the internal effects a lot is that when i set up multiple timbers in Logic, the external effects i add to the tracks seem to apply to all of them, not only the patch i want it to effect. How do you do it when you apply external effects? Do you wait until its bounced, or is there a way to separate the outputs (through the usb)

    Well, You can choose between having 2 or 3 stereo outputs in the VC plugin. Depending on your version of logic there should be an option to extend auxiliary outputs out of the main VC track. Each auxiliary track can have its own FX chain. In the common page of VC, you can choose which patch goes to which output, and on top of that you can treat each stereo pair as two separate mono outs and gain a few more outs for non-stereo patches.
    Nevertheless, I ALWAYS bounce. I know it's common practice to leave all the plugins running to the very end, but I do it the old fashioned way: compose -> arrange -> record -> mix -> master.
    Hope this helps.