VST Connect Pro setup sucks

VST Cloud VST Connect
#1

We’ve been trying for years to get VST Connect to work. What VST Connect Pro, Cubase 10.5, and the Performer app together can do sounds good, but getting things to actually work is a real challenge even carefully following the setup instructions and trouble shooting guide. As an app developer, I have to say the setup is overly complicated and not worth the effort, especially if you use Cubase principally for non-VST Connect projects. It is based on eight year old technology presented and sold as the latest technology. It’s lipstick on a pig, I conclude. With today’s technology, connecting up a “performer” with a Cubase “studio” needs to be a lot simpler and reliable.

We’ve been using Cubase for more than fifteen years. It is a great product. At the moment for most of our projects we have Cubase 10.5 on a beefed up iMac, with a UR44, and various instruments/mics flowing through a Yamaha TF5. We get quality recordings and have for years. But adding VST Connect Pro into a project requires you to abandon your usual inputs/outputs configuration. If you do manage to get VST Connect Pro to work, or should I say almost work, and then save the project, it seems you have to do major configuration surgery to get back to a regular project. Steinberg needs to make the configuration save with the project. And, yes, I know you can use individual presets for Inputs/Outputs/Studio, but I think that is not only stupid, but it doesn’t work well. What would be better is a template for a VST Connect project and a template for a non-VST Connect project, with the Inputs/Outputs/Studio configurations saved in the template, thus making it real easy to switch project types. The “Repair” menu button was a good idea, but it does not work for anything other than some simple Cubase-on-a-laptop setup in your bedroom.

Support for VST Connect Pro, at least here in Canada, is very poor. The Yamaha tech in Toronto does not have sufficient knowledge to provide support for VST Connect Pro. After much frustration, I have requested the tech remote to my iMac and do whatever is necessary to make VST Connect work with my remote performers. The answer to the request was to go to the forum. So, here I am. If these folks don’t get this product to work real soon, I suppose my next step will be small claims court.

#2

Instead of just whining about how YOU can’t get it to work and, even though you don’t understand it, posting a lots of incorrect information… why not post your problems and people on this forum will try to help you getting up and running

#3

@ mpeets:
I know from personal experience that spending hours trying to get this thing working is frustrating and often anger-inducing. However I found that if you take the time to calmly set out on here the specific problems you are encountering then you will find the development team and the community will be willing and able to help you. After a lot of frustration In the early days I am now productively using this system daily, not completely without issues, but productively. WithIn the context of lockdown it’s a game-changer.

Alan

#4

I do understand that when you dive into it, it’s not so simple. This is due to the fact that VST Connect has to install some ‘quirks’ in order to work entirely with plugins, as we cannot integrate it deeper into Cubase/Nuendo yet. But we keep working on that and on making it as transparent as possible, such that it feels as much as a regular Studio recording as can be acheived.
We are here to help directly and we can tell from the data that the vast majority is using it at least for longer periods time which indicates that it works for them. The “Create VST Connect” function helps to make it a one-stop setup as long as you don’t mess with it.
Most problems are related to network quality; people accept continuous hiccups with zoom or Skype and the likes, but not with VST connect. Also again and again they use other network tools like those mentioned, or teamspeak, or “remote to my iMac”…not a good idea along with VST Connect. If you haven’t been there yet, we suggest to have a closer look at this collection of recommendations and troubleshooting (also latest versions): https://helpcenter.steinberg.de/hc/en-us/articles/360012899079
Another problematic area is that most users are not familiar with the Control Room. They have been recording themselves for years, but since the early days of broadcast, the Control Room system with cue, talkback, dim etc has been mandatory for recording somebody “next room”. Once you get the hang of it, it’s actually quite easy to set up and use.
So, “connecting up a “performer” with a Cubase “studio” needs to be a lot simpler and reliable.”…here, I create an empty project, apply “Create VST Connect (PRO)”, Performer starts VST Connect Performer and we connect by double-clicking friends name after login on either side (or use ID method). What would you suggest to make it “simpler”? It also works reliably even with a connection half around the globe, but network quality (not speed, nor bandwith) and avoiding other network-intensive apps are of concern. And as said, we’re here to help and take suggestions.

#5

@mpeets

hey, first of all please be kind and nice to everybody. I also understand your frustration, we all do!
Personally, i work very intensively with VST Connect (and the Performer APP) and yes there are some issues here and there, but the development guys are very kind and very helpfull over here! Not to mention all the other here in the forum!
I managed to work with VST Connect in a way that almost no other tool can do. If you need help to integrate it into your routing/ workflow let us know. I also integrated it in my starting Template/ Workflow and it is not really as VST Connet would set it up by itselfe, so it is for sure possible to have it integrated and have it work!

So just give us a detailed routung setup, and maybe explain your session template and I/we will be very happy to help you!
Even some test connections could be arranged.

As we germans say: “it never hurts be be nice in the first place”, please calm a bit down and lets talk about it and get it sorted :wink:!

cheers

#6

HI Musicullum,

So it appears that you are one of the developers. And you asked the question - What would you suggest to make it simpler? You proceeded this by giving a breakdown of the connecttion/setup process:

“connecting up a “performer” with a Cubase “studio” needs to be a lot simpler and reliable.”…here, I create an empty project, apply “Create VST Connect (PRO)”, Performer starts VST Connect Performer and we connect by double-clicking friends name after login on either side (or use ID method).

Actually this is what the manual/videos need. This kind of simple outline is the kind of thing someone who has been involved with anything for extended periods often fails to appreciate a need for. For example, I would posit that the various ID, >- buttons on the VST connect GUI and complication of either the Steinberg email/password or ID login are not clear. And, the manual does not clearly explain the ID method, or the studio key process.

You have people with problems, and yes they are frustrated and yes that often brings out the worst in people, but they are also getting upset for a reason.

Joe

#7

You are right about lack of proper documentation. We asked for it, but Corona got in the way.
The ID method was the initial one. We then added the “VST Transit” way to simplify it. I think that’s ok, it’s obvious that you log in at the top right, get presented a “search” page immediately and then double-click the friends name, seems not so hard. Admittedly, if that fails, and the ID method is recommended, it’s a bit harder, but then that is covered in the manual and several posts here.
We are also planning a new UI altogether which - of course, along with better documentation - should make things even simpler. It just takes time and resources are limited, sorry for that. At least said link should provide every known information whatsoever.

#8

An Issue in Cubase Pro 10:

When i connect to VST Connect with my “MxSteinberg” Account, it seems to work, but the green light, on the right side, want lighten up! I can see my partner (he also uses Cuabse 10 Pro) in the “Network / Friends list” with a blue light in front of his name, but if we want connect, an failure pops up: “Friend is running VST Connect. Connection is not possible”! Can anyone help us with this problem? Thank you

We just start to try this tool and don´t know really nothing about it!

My bro has to hear and see the actual project, in his cubase 10 pro. We want work togehter on that project. We just use Vst Plug ins and some Hardware synth. We don´t need to record voices or guitars from, not yet!

#9

Best start a new thread :slight_smile:

The way VST connect works is that one side (the studio) uses Cubase/Nuendo and the other side uses the FREE VST connect Performer application. You cannot BOTH use cubase.

As both of you have cubase then you can just install:

https://www.steinberg.net/index.php?id=downloads_vst_connect_pro&L=1

You really do need to read the documentation - both the PDF and this page:

https://helpcenter.steinberg.de/hc/en-us/articles/360012899079

Note that even though you don’t want to record voices or guitars - you’re probably going to want microphones and webcams at both sides so you can use the video conferencing features…you could get away without them but it’s worth setting them up.

#10

Ok :slight_smile: Thnaks you for repplying!

We checked it out with the performer. And yeah it worked. Juhu! And in combination with “Team Viewer” we can work nicely togehter.

Cool

#11

Are there any tips/tricks/network settings that can optimize the connection? I have bandwidth-limited every device on my network except my computer to guarantee that I’m not competing for bandwidth with other devices. Internet connection is a 150 down / 10 up cable internet, wired connection.

I have tried numerous times to ‘Check and Repair Connection’ with the only result being the error message 'VST Connect setup is wrong. Repair? I have gone through the troubleshooting steps, including deleting the preference / .ini files. I’m going through my own troubleshooting points to see if my setup needs to be tweaked, or MIDI files need to be rendered to audio, or if things like Vienna Ensemble Pro can’t work at the same time because of a possible conflict…

Also, is there a way to change the behavior of the knobs from circular to linear?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

#12

network: speed is almost never a problem, but network quality is. The main stepping stone is your provider (or that of the Performer), but anything in between can get in the way.
You don’t say what your problems are by any detail, so all of this is guessing.
As always, we recommend to start with an empty project, apply ‘Create VST Connect’ and take it from there. If you create within an existing project, there are too many obstacles to say what can get in the way. However, ‘Check and Repair’ should basically work. I suspect that you have created too many Cue channels in the Control Room, you might want to delete all those not required and make sure one is left for VST Connect. If you still have problems, let us see screenshots of your Control Room and Mixer so we can have a look.

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#13

What @musicullum said. ^^^

I’ve been able to run sessions with performers who only had a 1mbs upstream connection, because the quality of the connection was good.

I’ve also had failed projects with clients who had superfast connections 200mbs plus. I know my connections good and test it prior to any session, and always run a pre test with clients these days to avoid disappointment.

We so often hear about fast connections but rarely about ‘quality’ stable ones. I wish there was a better guide for this from suppliers.

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#14

Thank you for your responses. After a fair bit of experimentation, I may have been too ambitious with my original attempt to use VST Connect… I was attempting to use it in my Midi arrangement session, which includes a moderately-sized Vienna Ensemble local machine setup.

After rendering everything to audio tracks and removing midi instrumentation, I disabled direct monitoring and Asio Guard. After all of that, I had a remote session from my place in the southern US with a guitarist in Canada with ZERO connection issues. Video was a bit sketchy so I disabled it, and we were flawless for the following 1.5 hrs.

The future of remote sessions is looking brighter for me!

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