Using windows PC as a standalone VST effects host...

[eh91311]

Has anyone tried using an older PC (700-1ghz) with an 8 in/8 out digital sound card running VST plugins/effects as a realtime effects module? I read about using the obsolete Gadget Labs Wave Pro 8/24 card, running FXpansions free VST Host software, and new 3rd party WavePro 8/24 ASIO drivers to lower the latency in order to process in realtime... 4 stereo VST effects at once.

Anyone tried something like this, even with another card?

[cassembler]

I haven't tried it, but thought about it with a laptop. Basically, my problem was that I wanted to use it for live shows, and I would have depended on it more that I think it was able to handle, stability wise, forcing me to rely on backup tracks (and lip syncing w/ guitar), and that kinda blows for me...

But good luck, I'd really like to know how it goes.

Oh yeah, I have been able to do this with one channel on my desktop, running some VST plugs real time while playing guitar... Really trippy feeling, no noticable latency...

[mofolotopo]

I have done a little bit of this just screwing around with my Seasound Solo in Sonar, but never in a live performance situation. I was using my theremin in combination with my guitar going through a vocoder and some other stuff...made some really kickass sounds. I've been giving a lot of thought to maybe doing some of this with the next band I'm in if I can talk my wife into letting me buy a laptop. IMHO I've never heard a VST effect that I liked as well as the real thing, when such existed, but the plain fact of the matter is that I will never be able to afford the real thing so it's a moot point. I think this sort of option offers a lot of potential for those of us on a microscopic budget.