Rack Performer is a high-level modular environment hosting VST plugins and internal modules (over 100 and counting), with MIDI support, multi-channel audio I/O and internal processing, complete automatic patch-delay compensation, sample accurate sequencing, low jitter and latency.


As a platform dedicated to stage performance, Rack Performer helps the live musician at every step from the rehearsal to the concert.


Patch

• In Patch mode, load and connect any number of effects and instruments
• Create patches easily and smoothly in a fast OpenGL-rendered patcher
• A large choice of built-in modules is available, with various mixing and processing effects, filters and many more
• VST plugins are fully supported, including MIDI sequencers and MIDI effects
• All connection schemes are possible, like multi-channel and side-chain routings
• Most internal modules support multi-channel streams (up to 7:1) on their inputs and outputs

Edit

• In Edit mode the application interface is full-screen without scrolling or overlapping windows
• Dispatch all module interfaces on up to 8 virtual screens, each holding its own rack of modules
• Select GUI wrappers to build custom control surfaces to focus only on important parameters
• Modules have their own presets bank where their state and configuration can be stored and recalled at will
• Quick MIDI controller mapping supports advanced types like 14bit CC and NRPN, along with mapping curves
• Easily create keyboard splits, layers and merges or transpose notes on the fly by using the provided MIDI effects
• Incoming MIDI events can be filtered by type at three levels: per MIDI input device, per input channel or ultimately per module

Perform

• High-precision sample-accurate engine allows for low jitter and ultra tight control and synchronization
• Events sequencing, automation and processing is completely sample-accurate from end to end. All nuances of the performance are more faithfully conveyed, recorded and reproduced
• Full sample accuracy also permits to have a complete patch delay compensation (PDC) that is not merely limited to delaying audio signals as all controls events are properly aligned
• Scene Snapshots are an original way to save and recall any instant of the performance in a flash
• Allocate dedicated audio output channels for audio monitoring, ideal to cue sounds on headphones before playing them
• Complete multi-channel real-time audio recording support. The recorder can stream to disk any number of channels from any point(s) in the patch
• Transport bar with auto-hide and a very slim design keeps all synchronization and master clock controls always accessible
• Use the Live Sync and Full Slave synchronisation modes to lock to external master clocks, using any standard protocol
• Synchronize to any source exactly like a DJ would do, with the manual sync controls, including Tap Tempo, Sync-to-Push and tempo skew

Key features

• High-level modular host
• Over 100 internal modules
• VST plugins support
• Scene Snapshots
• Virtual Screens
• Low jitter sample-accurate sequencing engine
• Multichannel audio processing
• Multichannel HD recording
• Dedicated audio monitoring
• Audio: up to to 32 inputs and up to 32 outputs, full-duplex
• MIDI: up to 128 inputs and up to 128 outputs + routing
• MIDI Clock / MTC / MMC / MSC external sync

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New modules in 1.0:

• K-Series Console x16 (16 channel mono/stereo mixing console with 3-band EQs and internal PFL/AFL monitoring)
• 3-Band Equalizer (this is the K-Series Console equalizer in standalone form, to process up to 8 channels)
• 4-Band Crossover (split signals into 4 frequency bands on separate outputs)
• 3-Band Crossover (split signals into 3 frequency bands on separate outputs)
• 2-Way Crossover (split signals into 2 frequency bands on separate outputs)
• Ping-Pong Stereo Delay (classic bouncing stereo delay, with optional asymmetry and pre-filters)
• Dub Delay (analog style delay with filter and saturation)
• Delay (10 seconds delay with optional feedback)
• Long Delay (60 seconds delay with optional feedback)
• Ring Modulator (with internal or external carrier and leakage control)
• Amplitude Modulator (with internal or external carrier)
• RC Hipass 12 (high-pass correction filter, -12dB/octave, non resonant)
• BPM Meter (real-time BPM display with detection parameters)
• Beat Meter (beat visualization with detection parameters)
• CamoMute x1 (simple mute control for up to 8 channels)
• Overdrive Mk1 (soft overdrive/distortion)
• Overdrive Mk2 (soft overdrive/distortion)
• SuperPunch (punch overdrive)
• SkyDrive Mk1 (distortion)
• SkyDrive Mk2 (distortion)
• Black Fuzz Mk1 (hard fuzz-type distortion)
• Black Fuzz Mk2 (hard fuzz-type distortion)
• Pink Fuzz (very strong asymmetrical distortion)
• Sasquatch Distortion (strong dual-distortion unit, clearly on the heavy side)
• ParaShaper (parametric waveshaper covering a wide range of extreme distortions)
• PolyShaper (versatile waveshaper, harmonic exciter)
• Phase Correlation Meter (display average cross-correlation product for any signals pair)
• M/S to L/R Converter (convert a mid/sides signal back to stereo)
• L/R to M/S Converter (convert a stereo signal for mid/sides processing)
• Haas Pseudo-Stereo (create or modify stereo image by using precedence effect)
• N to 1 Averager (downmix N sources then divide volume by N)
• Asymmetrical Saturation (asymmetrical soft saturation/overdrive)
• Soft Clip Mk1 (symmetrical soft clipping)
• Soft Clip Mk2 (symmetrical soft saturation with variable hardness)
• Spectrum Inverter (low becomes high, works well with drum kits)
• Infinite Limiter (hard waveshaper, removes original amplitude envelope)
• Half-wave Rectifier (asymmetrical waveshaper)
• Full-wave Rectifier (asymmetrical waveshaper, octave doubler)
• Bit Quantization (waveshaper, variable bitdepth reduction)
• DC Offset (waveshaper, adds variable DC offset)
• Asymmetrical Gain (asymmetrical waveshaper)
• Amplitude Inverter (hard waveshaper, inverts original amplitude envelope)
• Asymmetrical Clip (asymmetrical signal clipper with optional automatic gain compensation)
• Hard Clip (symmetrical signal clipper with optional automatic gain compensation)
• Latency Calibration (special two-parts module to perform round-trip or point to point latency calibration)
• Remote Fader x2 (assignable controls)
• Remote Switch x4 (assignable controls)
• Remote Knob x4 (assignable controls)
• Remote Presets (remote display and control of any module presets port)
• Remote Display (remotely display any control port value in the patch)

Upgrades in 1.1:

• Added a special "Out Offset" control port
• Presets port max bound is now exposed
• Intuitive 1:1 mapping with 7bit MIDI controllers
• Floating windows positions and visibilities
• Improved multi-monitor workflow
• Main menu in "Edit" mode is now displayed on the monitor on which the main application window (Patcher) is located.
• Adding label modules to the patch no longer restarts the wave engine.
• Improved PolyShaper module performance.
• Individual ASIO channel names are now displayed in the "audio devices" config tab.
• MIDI input is now enabled even when there are incorrect device mappings (ex: unplugged controllers).
• New hidden option to select ClearType (default) or Standard fonts anti-aliasing method
• To display properly, application now automatically enables fonts anti-aliasing when it is running (plus hidden config option to disable this behavior).
• Added new ticker events filter option to show/hide keyboard scene snapshots change events.
• To make technical support easier, VST plugins black-listing reasons are now saved in the DB and included in the logs.
• Various bugfixes

Upgrades in 1.0:

• All internal modules are now intelligently muted/bypassed (much less CPU load while still maintaining the same live playability and sample accuracy when cutting)
• Various improvements around automatic patch delay compensation (PDC)
• Improved the "racked" VST GUI-wrapper (now sports a top control bar giving access to many controls as well as visual feedback)
• Improved the "thin rack" VST GUI-wrapper (now includes a title bar with module name and a shortcut to the module context menu)
• Following the "perform mode" refactoring, changed the keyboard shortcuts for mode changes ("Tab" toggles between patch and edit, F12 toggles power and F11 toggles perform mode)
• Application can now be used in fixed installations, fully automated with no screen and no mouse nor keyboard
• RoboControl and Automation modules (ex: LFO) phase is saved/restored with presets, scene snapshots and when saving the document
• RoboControl and Automation modules target changes are now sample accurate
• Controller-class modules (automation etc) can now target global application control ports

New Modules and updated in v0.99 Beta2

• New Audio Recorder with associated floating window and global application control ports for external mapping (source/volume/enable/cut)
• Any-point Recording allows to record audio from any patch location(s), pre or post processing level, and stream data to disk in real-time
• Monitor groups and associated groups management dialog (allow record source switching and complex source selections)
• Follow-clock recorder option makes the audio recording start and stop with the master clock (sample accurate)
• One file for all channels or one file per channel recording option
• Application can export audio to EBU RF64 file format (all bitdepths, including IEEE Float32)
• Application can export audio to WAVE file format (all bitdepths, including IEEE Float32)
• Audio recordings above 4GB in size are automatically converted to RF64 format
• Various other improvements and bugfixes

New Modules and updated in v0.99 Beta

• External MIDI Gear (special module to control external instruments and effects via MIDI output)
• Dual-Stereo Clear-Path Master Module (2x2 in + 2x2 out + clock)
• Octo-Channel Clear-Path Master Module (8/8 + clock)
• 16-Channel Clear-Path Master Module (16/16 + clock)
• 32-Channel Clear-Path Master Module (32/32 + clock)
• MIDI Output is now fully functionnal (up to 8 devices for a maximum of 128 output channels)
• MIDI Output turbo mode option (allocate one core to greatly improve MIDI output timing precision and reduce jitter)
• MIDI input messages can be filtered per type at different levels (global, per device or per channel, and also per module)
• MIDI effects can be applied individually to all modules that can receive MIDI
• Notes transpose MIDI effect (transpose all notes inside configured range)
• Notes range MIDI effect (excludes all notes outside of configured range)
• Message filter MIDI effect (filter incoming messages by type)
• VST plugins with MIDI output can send MIDI to other modules (interlinks)
• Pure MIDI processing VST plugins are now supported (ex: sequencers with no audio I/O)
• Optimized patch live-updating (faster and less ressource intensive)
• Refactored advanced thread affinities configuration (now 3 possible choices: OS managed, balanced and strict)
• Optimized multi-core load balancing (in strict and balanced affinity modes)
• Holding a modifier key (shift or control) when creating audio patch links allow to connect multiple pins at once
• All modules having name labels on their GUIs now properly update when the module is renamed
• Added support for two new keyboard physical layouts (US 104 variants)
• Module and control context menus now display ticks when mappings are active
• Improved presets XML loading to allow better forward compatibility
• Improved MME and DirectSound polling wave engines performance
• Selecting a hard drive root directory as VST plugins path is now prevented
• New hidden option to remove all document save confirmation prompts (some of you hate those, use at your own risk)
• Added some integrated help and instructions to the monitor groups management dialog
• Thread priorities configuration is now hidden deeper in the advanced config tab (new dialog)
• Optimized VST plugins MIDI input (more efficient handling code)
• Fixed regression in Rapier DX and Trident DX (single) DirectSound wave engines
• A fix introduced in previous version led to a regression in the way VST GUIs dimensions are retrieved (some GUIs had wrong size in wrappers, ex: dblue Glitch)
• SyncToPush and other events coming from the synch engine did not trigger clock location change flags
• Changing VST control rate in config without reloading document would crash
• Partially incorrect clock information was sent to VST plugins, leading to some sequence looping issues (ex: Superior Drummer)
• Finally resolved the long lasting bug around MIDI input (falsely identified as a timing bug in previous release, now properly fixed)
• Resolved a nasty bug leading to the "problem with the modules" error message
• Sometimes patch was not live-updated after using undo/redo history
• Fixed a bug that prevented disabling MIDI routings (driver-level thru-mode) after a config change with engine running
• Fixed some edge cases around presets management when operating on disabled or non-powered modules
• Too many VST plugins do not support a tempo value of zero, a tiny value is sent instead to avoid crashes
• Module popup context menu is no longer displayed for internal modules inside a PopUp Design GUI wrapper (led to bad things)
• Fixed slight font display issue in two RMC modules as well as the RMC LFO

New Modules and updated in v0.98 Beta

• Full-slave synch mode
• Live synch mode
• Master clock transport control
• 5 different synchronization schemes
• Transport control input using standard MIDI protocol (Start / Stop / Continue / SongPositionPtr).
• Transport input control using MIDI Machine Control protocol (Play / Stop / Locate / Reset).
• Transport input control using MIDI Show Control protocol (Start / Stop / Set / Zero).
• Transport input control using first MIDI note received (start only).
• Transport input control using space key on local keyboard (Ctrl+space to restart).
• Clock Input control via MIDI Timecode protocol
• Clock Input control via MIDI Clock protocol
• Metronome with LED display GUI (useful for drummers) bar/beat/sub enable and volume controls.
• Metronome internal MIDI mode (sends notes to any internal instrument to use as a metronome).
• Module execution order can now be altered using the new Patch execution order dialog.
• Master clock location can be displayed in timecode format on transport bar.
• Tempo in quarter notes per minute (QNPM), beats per minute (BPM) or compound beats per minute (CBPM).
• Various other improvements and bugfixes

New Modules and updated in v0.97 Alpha

• RoboControl LFO (modulate any parameter in the patch)
• PopupDesign (x8 and x4 GUI wrapper)
• PopupDesign Compact GUI wrapper
• Matrix Mixer (16x16, 8x8, 4x4, 1x16, 1x8, 1x4)
• Matrix Router (16x16, 8x8, 4x4, 16x1, 8x1, 4x1, 1x16, 1x8, 1x4)
• Multi way switch (16, 8 ,4 , 2 ,16to1, 8to1, 4to1, 2to1 switches)
• DC Blocker
• Brown Noise BNG1
• Pink Noise PNG1
• White Noise WNG1
• Label (1x1, 2x1, 4x1)
• Delay Compensated Retard
• Non Compensated Retard
• Latency Report
• Cross-Fader and Fader-Cross
• RMS Meter
• Presence Meter
• Stereo Pad
• Stereo Balance
• CamoGain x1
• X/Y Control Pad Mk1 and Mk2
• Remote Switch and Knob
• Fader Box x6 and x12
• Various Detail enhancements
• Various Bugfixes

New Modules and updated in v0.96

• Octo-Channel Clock-Free Master Module (8x8 master)
• 16-Channel Clock-Free Master Module (16x16 master)
• 32-Channel Clock-Free Master Module (32x32 master)
• Camo Mixer x4 (simple 4 channels mixer)
• Camo Mixer x8 (simple 8 channels mixer)
• Camo Mixer x32 (simple 32 channels mixer)
• Stress Tool (special stress-load test module)
• More uniform fonts and enhanced readability
• Various GUI speed and performance optimizations
• Master module state is now saved in scene snapshots
• CPU overload protection can be set from config menu