Question / Help Using VST plugins with USB mic?

[Razor457]

Hi guys,

Given my problems with using a fire wire interface i've had enough I just think it'll be easier to use a USB condenser microphone.

Is there any way to apply VST plugins to a usb microphone some way? I basically just want to add compression to my condenser i'm a pretty energetic guy and end up clipping all the time so compression would be amazingly useful.

Anyone have any ideas?

 

[XeiZ]

Route it through adobe audition or VSThost with plugins using VAC or VB cable (free). For audition there is a tutorial in the guides section and for vsthost too somewhere in some ts3 noisegate thread...

 

[Razor457]

I'll have to give that a try.

Does anyone do this? How much latency does this introduce? is it worth it / work ok?

Thanks

 

[XeiZ]

vsthosts and vac depends, many people use vac just fine, i had a lot of desync issues with it.
vsthosts itself should introduce a small delay too which you can just counteract in obs by trial and error while audition has a setting for that which you can set the same in obs then.

 

[Cryonic]

Why should you use VAC? Pure analog routing dont have any delay, so it will stay in sync.
My configuration is a bit different:
Ableton Live 9 (VST-Host, any programm that can handle VST will work like Audition).
ASIO Soundcard (XLR mic) for the low latency, i can work with 5-7ms latency without much CPU usage.
VST-Plugins (compressor, limiter, EQ etc).
Line-In on my onboard soundcard.


Using a usual soundcard (WDM/Wasapi driver for windows) will give you a higher latency, like 20-30ms or even higher.
For a USB mic you want a second soundcard (just a simple one, nothing special - it should be able to handle stereo out with nice quality).
Configuration will look like - USB mic > VST-Host>VST-plugins>VST-Host output (second soundcard)>line input (onboard audio used in OBS). And just select line input in OBS and enjoy low latency audio.

This can get expensive, but software is expensive too and its the only way to get low latency, about.
With my setup i cant tell a difference listening to the mic directly (cue-out on a mixer) and 5ms delay routing it through Ableton with 3-5 plugins used (thanks to ASIO).

Last tipp: ASIO4ALL driver. It works with almost ANY soundcard out there, but as usual for asio, it will only work in 1 application. If you use it in Audition, it will not work with windows or anything else running on the same rig, thats why you need a second soundcard. But this will give you some options like buffer size & latency config, so you can try it and get a lower latency than with WDM or Wasapi(shared) driver.

Forget all the virtual cable applications, they produce more problems than anything else. Try professional hardware if you want to work with VST and DAW (digital audio workstations).

And as a DJ i need the low latency - its like first person shooter, but only for your ears. With high latency you will miss it :-)

 

[Razor457]

Hi,

Thanks for input cryonic,

I tried the method you talk about via cubase, problem is my soundcard (Steinberh mr816x) really DOES NOT LIKE working with OBS when a webcam is on. I did your method and routed the line out of my steinberg into my creative soundblaster sound card. It sounded pretty good, but like I said soon as I introduced a webcam on OBS boom.... crazy audio stutter.

I made a previous thread, I just get crazy audio stuttering for no reason when webcam is on.... even when not using the mic I found when I slowly removed everything back down to bare bones and just using my interface as an output.. It's a bug in OBS i think, if I reinstall everything I can use my interface with OBS and mic with no cubase or VST on, but if i touch anything stuttering comes back, so I just thought USB seems so much easier and so many streams go usb route.

Luckily my mic has a low cut on it anyway so I can cut out all low end rumble, all I really wanted as just some compression but I guess I can live without it.

 

[Cryonic]

Yeah your webcam problem and stutter has nothing to do with audio. Try to get some help here and get some logs & dumps with the problem, at least 5 minutes recorded.
Audio interface is a rare thing and working around it can be pretty hard, there might be a driver problem.
I dont know your microphone.. But if you can use with your creative soundblaster and forget the steinberg, this should work (it can add some delay, depends on your settings).
Or you can try Audacity or a different free DAW, maybe its cubase.
And try ASIO4ALL driver instead of Steinberg ASIO, this will work (your latency will be a bit higher and it is not 100% stable like a dedicated driver).

Just try different settings, if you need your steinberg interface to get your mic running, try to change anything else around it.
Its pretty hard to get a VST host working with usual software on the same rig, i had more than enough problems with my DJ software and Ableton Live running on the same rig with browser open etc. There is no right way to fix it, every system is different, specially with really rare audio interfaces used.