Working with FX Teleport

Every time you want to use a plug-in on your slave computer, first launch FXT Server on a slave (if it's not already running) and only then choose the plug-in with the (LAN) suffix from the VST menu on your host machine. FXT wrapper will establish a network connection and launch the plug-in on the same server that was last used to run it.

To select the desired server machine, use the special menu in FXT wrapper. Since server names are saved along with all plug-in settings in your song files, you might like to create template songs containing any combination of plug-ins running on particular servers.

To connect to a server that is not yet available in the menu, select "Search…" and your network will be scanned for the presence of new servers. If you choose "Local" in the same menu, the plug-in will be launched on your host machine - in this case the plug-in will work exactly like a normal VST plug-in.

If you open a song, containing teleported plug-ins which reference a server that is no longer connected, FXT wrapper will prompt you to search the network, and if you choose "Local Mode" or "Local Mode for All" will launch the plug-ins in local mode. Thus you can easily open your teleport-enabled song in the absence of any servers.

Working with teleported VST plug-ins requires a certain amount of time for the data to stream to the server, be processed, and return to the host machine. Similarly to using VST DSP cards, data processing causes some latency. Note that, since VST protocol uses buffered data processing, the network latency cannot be less than the size of the audio buffer size in the host application (usually it matches the buffer size of your audio card).

Network latency depends on the speed and traffic of the network as well as the way the network card is connected to the motherboard / your chipset / processor speed, etc. Since the network packet roundtrip time is not constant, FXT uses a pessimistic value when setting latency.  In the case of a packet arriving earlier than the set latency value, the FXT wrapper will buffer that packet. This totally eliminates jitter and the need for any kind of synchronization - as the system works totally in the digital domain. The whole FXT system performs with sample-accuracy, correct to the latency value. In the case of a packet arriving late, a dropout occurs (which is just like working with any ordinary audio card). If you set a buffer size that is too small for your system to handle, dropouts will occur as well. Increasing the buffer size will solve this problem.

Auto detection

On first launch of any teleported plug-in, or when changing the host audio buffer size, the procedure of automatic setting of the latency value is initiated (very similar to what happens when you install an ASIO card or change its modes). During the procedure, the computer's icon on the FXT wrapper will flash, and the audio outs will be muted. When the procedure is finished, the icon stops flashing. This means that the latency has been set, and the system is ready to work.

You can initiate or cancel auto-detection by clicking on the 'Computers' icon. Additionally, there is a 'Profile time' option in the FXT Wrapper's 'Options' dialog. Set it to "0" to prevent the automatic start of latency detection.

Controlling latency

During your work with the system, you should make a habit of periodically watching the latency indicator, which shows the difference between the actual latency and the value set by the system. If the indicator is to the left of the center or at its edge, you don't have to worry - but if it's in its red sector, this means dropout has occurred. This is normal when some action that puts a load on the system is being performed - for instance saving the song file, opening an editor window, etc.  If the system is experiencing lots of dropouts (the indicator flashes in its red sector or stays there all the time), you need to readjust the latency value. This may be caused by the opening of a large number of teleported plug-ins, or some extra activities on the network.

If the latency indicator is always showing small values, it may mean that your network conditions have improved. In that case you can set lower latency.

There are a few ways to set the latency: