VCV Rack 2 - Review by MATTHS for Sonic LAB

‪@matthsmatthsmatths‬ has been producing and releasing one track a month for the whole of 2021 using his bespoke modular system.
Here he takes us through the latest release of VCV Rack Pro discussing the ins and outs of the software, sizing it up against the real thing! To hear more of MATTHS music and to watch more livestreams visit www.matthsmatthsmatths.com and you can also become a MATTHS VIP member over at Bandcamp and receive all of his released music plus hours of extra releases right away for only £3 a month here : matths.bandcamp.com/vip-membe...
#soniclab #vcvrack2 #matths
00:00 Intro
01:26 VCVRACK Plug-in setup (Bitwig)
04:45 How does it sound?
06:33 Polyphony
08:50 Loading module combinatiions
11:50 Adding VST FX
12:50 Navigation
14:40 Modules browsing and adding
19:25 FX processing mode
21:30 Drums device
28:55 Automation and MIDI CC
31:05 Conclusion
Exclusive extra content on Patreon
/ sonicstate
\
Frozen Reverbs Racks for Live: bit.ly/freezemachines
Subscribe to Sonicstate on KZbin for new content!
bit.ly/SonicYTSub
Watch Sonicstate's Exclusive Series:
Sonic LAB: bit.ly/SonicLab
Meet The Makers: bit.ly/SonicMakers
Sonicstate Performances: bit.ly/SonicPerformances
Sonic TALK Podcast: bit.ly/SonicTalk
NAMM 2020: bit.ly/NAMM20
Website: www.sonicstate.com
Twitter: #!/sonicstate
Facebook: / wwwsonicstate
Instagram: / sonicstateuk
Podcast/iTunes: goo.gl/4uOFA5

[@nrosko]

Great informative video Matt although the constant camera changes are a bit disengaging imo.

[@matthsmatthsmatths]

Yes - I agree. Need to be a little more chill on the edits next time 😆

[@mikeexits]

@@matthsmatthsmatths I think a corner face cam would've worked well.

[@xTheOxx]

Matt, about your concern at 27:15: purchasing the VCV Drum Machine doesn't just give you the large module you used here, it also gives you separate modules for every sound. You could have, for example, a simple kick-clap-closed hi-hat setup with an unmixed output for each sound. It also takes up less space on your screen.

[@HOLLASOUNDS]

I'm a Reason user and there is already a substantial amount of realistic modular emulsions including the cables.

[@TerekkiTerekki]

Great overview Matt, ty

[@benbainbridge]

great review thanks Mat

[@matthsmatthsmatths]

Glad you found it useful Ben 👍

[@tommyk88888]

I like how you stuck your modular system to the wall

[@laxplanet6046]

What I would really like to see is an overview of using the clock sources to run sequencers and the like inside VCV. What is the latency like, how do I sync to song position etc. Great video though, thanks 😀

[@Rockky67]

I agree it’s a bit annoying not being able to sidechain individual modules in the VCV Drum machine, but when you buy that module you also get individual per drum modules you can use. I tend to just use individual modules for both the extra flexibility and takes up less real estate as I hardly ever use more than five or six.

[@HOLLASOUNDS]

It's cool but I use Reason which has always had this realistic hardware approach.

[@ndf3]

@@HOLLASOUNDS ok

[@unclechrome1095]

Thanks for this Matt and SonicState. Version 2 has been highly anticipated in the community for the Pro version's VST support, but as a Windows user, the killer feature is support for multiple audio interfaces. Being able to have all my i/o under VCV control now means I can bring in analog channels from my Steinberg and Motu interfaces and ultimately output to my HDMI home theater for monitoring and recording 7-channel surround mixes. Since I use VCV as my DAW, I only need the free version with $$$ invested in modules.

[@matthsmatthsmatths]

Nice! I’m pretty sure something like that can occur on Mac OS using an aggregate audio device. Nice!

[@wavesequencer]

Nice overview.

[@matthsmatthsmatths]

🙌🏻

[@tribaljazz1977]

I think there are 1800+ free modules (empty plates included) now.. It's mad...

[@jenniferw8963]

Thanks for this vid :) If I was starting out with VCV Rack 2 plugin and Bitwig, which MIDI keyboard controller would you suggest I get? Keystep 32? 37? Keystep Pro?

[@Paintopia_VR]

Great review Matt, nice to see maths down in the bottom left there in your skiff. One module to rule them all, and in the darkness bind them!

[@matthsmatthsmatths]

There is in fact 2 of them 🙂 See if you can spot the other one!

[@Paintopia_VR]

@@matthsmatthsmatths ha you can nice never enough maths, ill try find it!

[@maxine2798]

@@Paintopia_VR unless you’ve got a Serge DSUG? The OG

[@lulwutmusic]

Fair review but I'd like a review done by someone that's spent more time with VCV. I feel like it's been sold short here. I love Matt and the channel, but this review was kinda limited

[@stephenroldan5107]

This plus Bitwig.. Great!!!

[@SimonJackson13]

As a free module developer I'll try to add more docs. Still slowly adding labels to the ins and outs for V2. :D

[@SimonJackson13]

Although developer docs does say a 1 line description works for more lines in the tool tip.

[@raulbasurto3631]

What DAW do you recomend to work in combination with VCV and the E9 ?

[@Neuri]

gunna eat mi tea to this

[@braaimanook]

Why the constant changing camera views, the view of your left ear (lovely though it is) is very offputting?.

[@matthsmatthsmatths]

It was to cover up my edits where I stutter etc. Im no natural at all of this. I will definitely try better next time. 🙂

[@FuZZbaLLbee]

Now all you need is to be able to stick rotery encoders on your screen

[@matthsmatthsmatths]

Yes please! :-)

[@mariorobles87]

There is not a lot of information out there about performance on new m1 macs. How big can ypu go with a patch and how important is ram and graphic card?

[@stephenroldan5107]

Got a mbp running m1 on Monterey. And is working very well. No hiccups as of now.

[@mariorobles87]

@@stephenroldan5107 and how big is the patch until it starts to get to the limit? And how much gb?

[@Death_By_Media]

I can go fairly “ Flying Spaghetti Monster “ big “the way we think of gods as big “ on my 2019 Mac mini , that said I can go “ Keith Emerson “ big on my old 2010 iMac so M1 , M1 pro, Max if you hit the limit your hitting the limitations of the simulation and should be ashamed of your imperialistic greed of realities bandwidth .

[@LarsBjerregaard]

Rack works wonderfully on the M1 machines, as well as you would hope.

[@eddy_sonik]

👍i LoVe ! 💙⚪❤

[@Claidheambmor]

Don't sell the Pulsar! Great review mate. :)

[@matthsmatthsmatths]

Sadly just sold. I’m poor. 😞

[@sammadden5540]

Linux compatible? Wonder how a pi4 would fair running a basic synth voice

[@geoffroytremblay340]

There are discussion about running VCV headless on raspberry pi. 'i think this would be more the use case, over having the whole UI sucking up most of the resource. You'd definitely want to go with an external audio interface, I thinking to start experimenting with the PiSound and VCV

[@sammadden5540]

@@geoffroytremblay340 is there a place I can follow people attempting to get it to work? Would be a great solution for me

[@LarsBjerregaard]

It runs on Windows, Mac and Linux. A Pentium 4 CPU you say? WOW, that's old! But sure, you could run a very basic patch.

[@ThreeBeingOne]

Software is superior in every aspect for me. Get way way more done, more variety, creativity etc…. + max for live is just magic.

[@fatalsystemera]

I've pretty much ditched FL Studio for VCV Rack. The only time I use FL Studio is to time stretch samples.

[@HOLLASOUNDS]

Can it be automated because that's the real fun. Can I press record and then have it save everything as modulation? Reason the Daw does this.

[@Death_By_Media]

Matt that room is synth wave Valhalla .

[@matthsmatthsmatths]

Hahha - not sure what that means but cool!👍

[@Death_By_Media]

@@matthsmatthsmatths the teal blue vibe lol

[@voyageDnB1]

impossible to watch with all that camara shot flicking back and forth -

[@matthsmatthsmatths]

Yes I’ve learnt a lesson there. Need to chill with the camera angles in future 😊

[@HOLLASOUNDS]

Reason DAW has had realistic modulater divice and pack cabling emulsions since the start and builds more and more every year its self and 3rd partys also add to it (Not for Free most if the time) and is the best for this sort of modular cable packing software and the first. There is literally endless ways to cable and make sounds. Because of Reason I understand real hardware and would know what to do because I have done it digitally. EDIT VCV Rack 2 is free? That's dope.

[@jackcimino8822]

The software itself is free, but you have to play $150 to use it as a plugin. You also have to pay $30 to host plugins in VCV Rack. There is a free plugin fork called Cardinal, but it only has a self-contained library.

[@annother3350]

This is nothing like Reason and isnt trying to be. This is like building the insides of one reason synth from the ground up using your own design

[@markhall3323]

I couldn’t watch past 1 minute due to constant camera changes

[@Heathcliff_hensel]

Its okay but its basically just a more boring way of using modular.

[@robinr22]

It's a hell of a lot cheaper...

[@Heathcliff_hensel]

@@robinr22 yeah true

[@mariorobles87]

Sure spending time in the post office sending moduled back and posting pictures of awsome studioracks is not going to make any music better. Watching Omri Cohen patching is a hell of a lot fun. being able to go infinite polyphonic with as much through zero oscillators as you want is one of the must fun things I've done in a while. Using three Saichs from Instruo, the new Noemi amongst several delays feedbackpatches and a bunch of reverbs and still everything synced to my gear is definetly fun imho...

[@matthsmatthsmatths]

@@mariorobles87 omri is the dude ✌🏻

[@HOLLASOUNDS]

To someone who dont have alot of cash then it's great.