But you won't effect what is recorded - just the input monitor signal.

You actually wouldn't want to effect the recorded signal, because you could not change it afterwards, and would not know if the effect was going to cause clipping until too late.

geoff

input monitoring is well documented in the vegas pdf on the downloads page.

Thankx a lot .

Be aware that not all plug-ins will work correctly with real-time input monitoring. (That fact is not obvious, at least to me.)
The Sonic Foundry track optimized effects do work well. Others, which do not operate "in-place", i.e. they don't put out the same number of samples that they take in, will cause popping and clicking with real-time monitoring. Some of the Waves plug-ins are this way, as well as many others.
bgc

perhaps one day, machines will be powerful enough to input monitor eight channels of drums through all the necessary plugins.

Maybe I'm dreaming, but that would be great!

I'm not talking half-ass 'track optimized' plugs, I mean the ones I use on mixdown.

Until such a time, through the outboard still seems the best way to me!

Jason

This has nothing to do with the available power of a machine, but is completely dependent on how a plugin is written.

No amount of CPU speed will permit you to record audio that has not yet been made/played/sang/clanged/whatever, and this is the problem.

To record and monitor in software a plugin must produce x number of samples on output given x number of samples on input. If not, then input and ouput cannot be completely synchronous and you get the results described.

Think about it. If your recorded input produces 100 samples, but your FX needs 200 before it produces 100 samples, your input will be delayed by 100 samples. Worse, if you are monitoring against existing tracks, you will get silence in between the buffers because playback can get its data ahead of realtime input.

BTW: There is NOTHING half-assed about our track optmized plugins. They are FULL DX plugins with a simple optmized interface that we can communticate with in special situations. This optmized interface has NOTHING to do with being able to use a plugin during input monitoring. Whether you like what they do in the context of an "FX" is subjective and not a point of contention (and has nothing to do with input monitoring in software.)

Peter

Sorry Peter, I didn't mean to offend with the half assed comment. I simply phrased it wrong.

When mixing drums I tend to use plugins that use much higher CPU: Waves Linear phase EQ, Renaissance Compression, and the Universal Audio 1176, LA2A etc.

Linear phase EQ I find preserves transients better.

I'm not commenting on the quality of the Sonic Foundry plugins, which I find to be excellent, and the low CPU overhead is outstanding. I use the track EQ a lot still, but only on certain things. It's nice to be able to choose different plugins for different aspects of the mix. My dream would be to input monitor through the plugins that I choose to use on mixdown, so as I'm tracking I can work on the sound.

So technically, would it be possible for Waves and Universal Audio to optimize their plugins correctly for track monitoring or is it just technically not possible due to the amount of time needed to process?

Would this improve if the sample rate was increased to say 96Khz from 44Khz?

Again, apologies if I offended you, it was not meant that way!

Jason

Actually, after the Waves 4.0 update, I find that more and more of Waves' plugins have an inherent latency in them that didn't show up before. If I insert a LinMB on a drum track in Logic, it will now become delayed. This didn't happen in 3.6 (or, rather, the delay compensation seemed to work better), so my guess is that Waves care less and less about the delay in their plugins.

Edit: My bad. I forgot to run the "UseDelayCompensation.reg" file. Works flawless now, but obviously it won't help live monitoring, just pre-recorded material.

You are, however, correct in assuming that you would hear less of this delay at 96 kHz.

Sorry!!
What`s API driver ?
I use SB live 5.1 ??

ASIO driver...

but using a soundblaster, it may not have them.

Either do a search for the KX project alternative drivers... or buy a more professionally orientated soundcard.

No offense was taken. I was just trying to clarify the issue.

The vendors could modify their plugs to work inplace, but that is unlikely. There is no other solution to this problem.

Peter