yes
unless it creates a loop, yes
Not yet.
you can record MIDI, also work in Cubase and import and use Devices/Actions. More remote control options to come soon.
Very instant (when using preload feature), “parallel processing” don’t know what you mean, if you refer to multicore-processing, that’s in the making.
As from some comments here, very much so. But we keep repeating that VST Live itself uses very few CPU, it is always down to plugins used.
What I mean is that in MainStage you can have a controller connected to a parameter, but the way it moves the parameter can be ‘non-linear’. What I mean by ‘non-linear’ you can see in the screenshot. As you move the controller it follows the blue line (which you can draw). So moving a midi foot pedal or mod wheel can increase a parameter but halfway along the movement it can increase more quickly or decrease, or jump to zero. You can also link the same controller to more than one parameter (that’s the grey line).
This allows you to do all sorts of amazing and very useful things. Eg: you can move a modwheel and it can increase one parameter (eg a send to a delay), while decreasing a different parameter (eg moving a filter on the send channel) and right at the end of it’s movement it can turn on a second send (eg adding a huge reverb) or switch something else on (eg switcha delay to infinite) etc… etc… The creative possibilities are endless. Once you have this ability it opens up so much that I just couldn’t live without it. This feature is especially great for guitar players who need to control everything with pedals or keyboard players who don’t want to work with lots of controller knobs. These controller maps or ramps can be saved with patches, so they can change for every patch if you need to.
We don’t have automation of that type yet, but it is on the list.
Thanks for the information, this sounds promising! 
Once it can spread processing across multiple CPU cores and has the controller features mentioned I’ll jump over!
Mainstage is great except that the designers never imagined how people would use these kinds of things in the future. So Mainstage works wonderfully with simpler setups but soon as you build something that’s too complex it gets flakey. It never crashes, but it gets flaky in other ways. People are very used to creating complex parallel FX chains in mixes these days, they are going to want to do that live as well. I think that’s where the future lies. So I hope you are building VST Live with that in mind too. 
The video on VST Live I’ve seen show VIs. Can you also use it for live processing of an audio input in the same way? Ie send an audio input to parallel FX chains etc…?
Stacks should provide what you want. You can also edit mixer channels of audio tracks etc.
Thanks. So if I sent live guitar signal into VST Live could I do the following scenario?
Send the guitar input to several FX channels eg:
Would all this be easy to do and save as a patch. And then loading a different patch could load a completely different configuration of FX channels and sends?
Thanks.
Most of this you could do with Stacks. That would cover all serial (inserts) which are to be applied to all send targets (your first step I guess). Then further fx sends in the mixer. No time to follow your specific routing in detail, as long as you don’t send to a channel that has sent there already (feedback loop) you can create as many group channels as you like. And you can send to multiple outputs. However, Group and Out channels are global, so “save as patch” would mean save entire project, so your final wish could not be done that way. But you may get far with Stacks and see if that is sufficient when using global fx.
Thanks. Are FX sends from the mixer global or can they be saved with patches?
What do you mean by “patches”? Mixer Groups (Fx Channels) are global, and everything is saved with a VST Live project.
What I mean by “patches” is that when you open a (previously saved) project you have a list on screen which you select from. Each item in the list loads a different mixer setup (different sends to different FX) and different Stacks (with different chains of effects).
So without having to load a new project, you can have “patches” (“presets” might be a better thing call them) for different songs or different sections of songs, which you can switch between (more or less instantly).
Eg:
Verse: live guitar sends to 4 different FX channels (reverb, delay+reverb+EQ, pitch shift, looper).
Chorus: 3 different FX channels (delay, flanger, pitch shift). All of these FX channels send to a reverb.
So at the click of a button different FX with different settings and different send routing is loaded instantly, for different parts of the song.
Then switch to a whole new song with it’s own setup (variation on above) without having to load a new project.
If you take a modular softsynth for example, choosing a different “patch” / “preset” changes all the connections between modules and all settings on all modules more or less instantly. This is how MainStage works and it’s amazing what you can achieve with that flexibility in a live setting.
You can probably accomplish most, if not all of this.
A Stack is a complete submixer (per Part, which would resemble “Patch” in your case) ,consisting of an Input Channel, audio channel with 4 inserts, and 2 sends to 2 fx (group) channels with one insert each, plus the resulting output channel (large fader) which is visible in the mixer. There, you can add additional inserts; as that channel belongs to the Stack, it will also change with each Part change. You can further send from that channel to Group channels, but those are global. As you can have an arbitrary number of Stacks per Part, you can also process your guitar several times in parallel. Hope that helps.
Thanks for this information. Unfortunately this does sound extremely limited compared to MainStage or Gig Performer.
Mainstage gives you a full Logic mixer (with as many groups, FX channels and plugins and sends from input and from FX channels to each other as you want). Each of these is saved with a ‘part’ ‘patch’.
Gig Performer (which would be great except it’s very limited by it’s inability to spread across cpu cores) is more like a modular synth approach, again there are no limitations on how many FX channels, plugins per channel or sends you have and it’s all saved in a ‘part’ ‘patch’ .
For VST Live it would be great if you could remove the limitations within a Stack. Allow unlimited (or at least large) numbers of FX channels, numbers of plugins per channel and sends (from the input and from FX channels to each other).
I think the demand for this kind of flexibility is only likely to grow as more and more musicians and DJ/producers embrace live ITB processing. So it would be great if VST Live be at least equal to what’s already out there in terms of flexibility. Thanks for listening. 
I used VST live on a live Open Air a week ago. So i want to share my experiences with you.
I used Elements in version 1.0.31.
For our gigs we use backing tracks to support us with missing instruments and vocals.
So i can practice with backing tracks at home. But the tracks at the gigs didn’t come from my laptop but from our band leader’s.
I’m a keyboard player, so i set up at least one part per song with the vst instruments I use.
I’m playing the songs with a standard 88 keys Keyboard with MIDI Out.
Sometimes it is only one piano, at another song a synth pad as second layer is added.
For some few songs i have a second or third layer with a brass section or organ which I play with a second MIDI Controller, the Komplete Kontrol M32.
With the knobs of the M32 controlled the volume faders of the layers.
I could add the DAW Mode of the M32 as a third MIDI input in VST Live so i could use the big 4D Encoder to switch the parts.
This all worked perfectly.
I had no issues with latency (set up the buffer size to 128) or crashes while practicing at home or the gig.
Even if I closed my Laptop to see what would happen, VST live worked again after I opened it.
What I knew, I would not be able to use is the possibility to change VST instrument parameters during live play. So I set up all parameters, saved it a seperate parts und switched to them during the songs with the M32.
What I would like to had was the ability to control the group faders in the mixing view.
I have group channels for different reverbs. But it was not possible to set a control to move the group channel’s faders.
So i hat so copy parts, set the fader, save and switch while playing, if i want to have more reverb or less for different parts of a song.
The question, how VST Live could improve my performance is very easy.
Before I used cubase pro, there I have all instrument tracks loaded at once.
Before every song I had to check, if the feaders for all channel stand at the correct level. That all parameters were set properly, which may differ from song to song for the same instrument.
Or I had to add a Instrument while playing with the monitoring button on the channel.
E.g. the intro starts only with synth, at first verse a piano is added.
In cubase all this was a bit tricky, i had to configure a plenty of buttons at my midi controller to activate the instruments I want to play or add to the actual instrument.
Before every song I had to control every single parameter for the instruments. That was stressful.
With VST Live i had set this up in quiet at home or could adjust this at our rehearsals.
At the gig I only have to switch from part to part (or back).
That was only one click during the songs.
No pre song stress anymore.
For my purposes it was a very good experience to use VST Live.
I wish (as many others to) the ability to control more parameters for the VSTis.
I used the mixer view while playing. Unfortunaly the channels have a max width so I had very much free space at my window. Maybe it could be possible to have a more free configuration of the views in future releases.
Thanks a lot for your report! There is nothing like real-world experience 
We will add remote and action control (MIDI, MODs, keyboard shortcuts) for almost everything.
Just to make sure that you are aware that every view can be “torn” into its own window (top right arrow)? The layout of those is also saved with the viewsets (see view menun) and project.
Thank you for being a Pioneer, and it’s great that you were able to work within the parameters, that the program currently allows. When I have an issue, I just tell people, ‘Bloody Apple, everyone tells me how good their product is etc.’
Dying for a trial and have been checking the site almost daily. I would LOVE to test this thing out and see if it can do what I need. I am so excited by the potential but don’t want to be bitten by regret if I buy and load this thing and it doesn’t do what I need it to. Though to be fair I’m sure if I don’t find what I need during a trial, it would possibly be added later.
I have scoured google and youtube for more in-depth tutorials and reviews with use case scenarios but to no avail. I guess for now I can just ask a couple questions if that’s ok.
If I have 3 midi instrument plugins layered to be played live on a song, can I have 1 of those instruments on the verse and then slowly automate the other 2 in (volume-wise) as we approach the chorus? Or in another case, have the cutoff filter of instruments automated as I play and things of that nature? I guess what I’m really asking is can I write in automation to be read on playback?
From what I’ve seen, I CAN have midi instruments auto switch between a verse and chorus (which is pretty sweet) if I’m not mistaken but that’s a hard cut from one sound to the next correct?
I hope I’m wording my questions coherently. Any insight would be highly appreciated.
Just to make sure that your expectations aren’t exceeding what exists so far: when changing Parts - which change all Layers and thus potentially all sounds/presets etc - the current Part will remain active until all keys and sustain pedal have been released, plus an adjustable sustain time. During this phase, all instruments (and their controllers when operated remotely) remain active along with those of the selected Part.
However we don’t have full automation yet, but automation for the lifetime of a Song (even when switching parts) is planned, so it depends on how you will want to structure your project.
A lot more features have been added to the next version, which will also offer a trial.
Nice. Thanks for the details <3
