Peripheral Equipment

Since it’s best to run the DVZ Core Engine software and our libraries on a computer other than the sequencer, you’ll need hardware to get the audio to the sequencer computer, and you’ll need a Gigabit Ethernet network to get the MIDI flowing bi-directionally between the sequencer and sampler computers. If you use the strongly recommended Vienna Ensemble Pro software to convey digital audio over Ethernet, then the same Ethernet will handle the MIDI data and audio. Otherwise you’ll need audio cards and cables to bring audio from the DVZ sampler computer to the sequencer computer. If you’re performing live without a sequencer and the DVZ sampler computer output is going directly to the sound system, then you simply need an audio card in that computer.

Other than the Ethernet network equipment and sound card options, no other periperhal equipment is absolutely required by the DVZ Core Engine software or the 70 DVZ Strings library (or any Audio Impressions libraries coming later). Naturally you’ll want to use your favorite MIDI keyboard. However, you may very well want to use an auxiliary MIDI keyboard as a keyswitch controller, and you may want to use various other MIDI controllers such as foot pedals and foot switches.

Keyswitch Controller Keyboard

70 DVZ Strings and the DVZ Core Engine are designed to be complimented by a 2-octave USB MIDI keyboard that also has 8 rotary or slider controls available. This is not necessary, however, and you may your 88-key MIDI keyboard for accomplishing some of these functions if it has 8 continuously variable controllers. We have used M-Audio’s older KeyRig 25 and the newer Oxygen 25 models for this purpose, and other brands and models should be equally usable.

Ethernet hub

A hub is a device that allows connection of multiple computers to the same local area network (LAN). We specify Gigabit speed Ethernet, also known as 1000-base T Ethernet. Specifically, we also recommend you use what is known as a switched hub (or simply an “Ethernet switch”) as this tends to be faster and have fewer data collisions than a standard hub. Most Gigabit hubs are switched hub these days. To ensure you get the highest speed possible, you should use category 6 cables (Cat 6) with 8-pin modular connectors rather than Cat 5 or Cat 5e cables. You can connect a sequencer and sampler directly together using Cat 6 cable and no Gigabit Ethernet switch, but then there is no easy way to also connect them to the internet.

Foot Pedals and other MIDI hardware

DVZ’s Collective Controller function allows you to designate up to 8 different hardware MIDI devices to control it’s 8 large real-time articulation sliders and the smaller Sul Pont-Sul Tasto slider. While you can use only one external MIDI controller at a time (per Collective Controller scene), you can instantly switch between MIDI devices by changing the scene. Use your favorite foot pedals, thumbwheels, etc, so long as each can be set up on a different MIDI channel and CC.