8.0

Synchronization
Activating VST System Link
582
Internal mixing and latency
One problem with mixing inside the computer is the latency issue we mentioned
earlier. The VST engine always compensates for record latencies, but if you are
monitoring through computer 1 you will hear a processing delay while you listen to
signals coming from your other computers (not on your recording!). If your audio
card in computer 1 supports ASIO Direct Monitoring you should definitely turn this
on. You can find the setting on the VST Audio System device panel for your
hardware. Most modern ASIO cards support this function. If yours does not, you
may want to change the Offset Samples value on the VST System Link page to
compensate for any latency issues.
RELATED LINKS
ASIO Direct Monitoring on page 150
Setting up a larger network
Setting up a larger network is not much more difficult than a two-computer network.
The main thing to remember is that VST System Link is a daisy chain system. In
other words, the output of computer 1 goes to the input of computer 2, the output
of computer 2 goes to the input of computer 3, and so on around the chain. The
output of the last computer in the chain must always go back into the input of
computer 1, to complete the ring.
Once you have done this, the transmission of all the transport, sync, and MIDI
information to the whole network is handled pretty much automatically. However,
where you may run into confusion in a large network is in the transmission of audio
signals back to a central mix computer.
If you have lots of hardware inputs and outputs on your ASIO cards, you do not have
to send audio via the chain at all, but can transmit it directly to the master mix
computer via one or more of its other hardware inputs. For example, if you have a
Nuendo Digiset interface or 9652 card on computer 1, you could use ADAT cable
1 for networking, ADAT cable 2 as a direct audio input from computer 2, and ADAT
cable 3 as a direct audio input from computer 3.
You can also transmit audio via the ring system if you do not have enough hardware
I/Os for direct audio transmission. For example, in a four-computer scenario you
could send audio from computer 2 into a channel in the mixer in computer 3, from
there to a channel in the mixer in computer 4, and from there back to the master
mixer in computer 1. This can certainly be tricky to set up, so for complex networks
it is generally recommended to use ASIO cards with at least three separate digital
I/Os.