Can anyone recommend any free hosts?

Hi. I’ve managed to get Transit up and running between myself and another Cubase collaborator and we’re delighted with it. What we want to do now is include a friend who has no DAW nor is in a position to fork out on one, so we’ve been looking for freebies/cheapies.

Does it have to be a DAW they use? Will a Host do? Does anyone know of a simple workable solution?

Cheers,
Crotchety

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I have the same concern. My collaborators are not DAW literate are on both PC’s and MAc’s and do not have an iPad. I find the plugin to be confusing to use for this purpose. Like VST Transit Go for the Ipad, I would like to see a stand alone application for PC’s and Mac’s

I can report that I’ve tried vsthost (free) and it almost works. The Join editor screen appears,and I can log in and upload the project. However, I can’t use the transport buttons on the plugin screen to make it playback or record. If I enable the processing engine on vsthost from the toolbar, the join plugin returns to zero and begins to play the tracks. If this could be solved , it would be a great solution. However, It looks like there is not much development for this host going on.

I tried the demo version of Blue Cat Patchwork ($99 US) and it crashes immediately on plugin load.

I’ve had some luck with Cakewalk, which is free (but limited, obviously) if you sign up for Bandlab. Seems to work fine but not tested thoroughly in the field as my friends are also DAW-illiterate. (Be warned: there is a ‘free’ version of ProTools but you need an iLok (not cheap) to run it and you don’t find this out till you’re halfway through the installation process. Grrr! So not so free after all.)

I’m pretty impressed with VST Transit Join so far, though, especially as you don’t need a red-hot internet connection to use it - wi-fi will do as there’s no live monitoring involved like in VST Connect. I hope Steiny keeps up with its development.

Hope you find this useful. Good luck.

Cheers, C

Does your friend have Windows or OS X? One possibility is Reaper, which works on both (with a Linux version on the way). The main thing your friend will need though is some way to connect the instrument or microphone to the computer.

Thanks, I’d forgotten about Reaper. They’re on Windows with native audio but that shouldn’t be an issue as it’s an editing collaboration. And the main thing my friend needs is to get on with it. Horse…water… :unamused: