2021-12-04 14:31:55 +02:00
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# RACK PRO VS CARDINAL DIFFERENCES
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2021-12-04 14:23:56 +02:00
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2021-12-04 14:31:55 +02:00
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This document describes the differences between VCV Rack Pro plugin and Cardinal.
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2021-12-04 14:23:56 +02:00
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It is not possible to know all the internal details of the official plugin due to it not being open-source,
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so more technical details are best-guesses based on its behaviour.
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The obvious big difference is that the official plugin is a commercial, closed-source product while Cardinal is free and open-source.
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Also, the official plugin works pretty much like the free standalone where you login and download modules.
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This is intentionally not allowed/enabled in Cardinal, as the target is to make a self-contained plugin binary.
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Online access is also not allowed.
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Bellow follows a list of features comparing the official plugin to Cardinal.
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2021-12-04 14:31:55 +02:00
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| Feature | VCV Rack Pro | Cardinal | Additional notes |
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|--------------------------------|---------------------------|---------------------------------|------------------|
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| Open-Source | No | Yes | |
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| Free (of cost) | No | Yes | |
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| Officially supported | Yes, if you pay | No, but you can fix it yourself | |
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| Contains internal modules | Core only | Everything is internal | |
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| Loads external modules | Yes | No | |
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| Supports commercial modules | Yes | No | |
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| Plugin in LV2 format | No | Yes | |
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| Plugin in VST2 format | Yes | Yes | |
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| Plugin in VST3 format | No | WIP | |
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| Multi-threaded engine | Yes | No, uses host audio thread | Intentional in Cardinal, for removing jitter |
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| Supports ARM systems | No | Yes | Yes, This means Apple M1 too |
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| Synth plugin variant | 16 ins, 16 outs | 2 ins, 2 outs | |
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| FX plugin variant | 16 ins, 16 outs | 2 ins, 2 outs | |
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| Raw-CV plugin variant | Unsupported | 2 audio IO + 8 CV IO | Available in JACK, LV2 and VST3 formats, not possible in VST2 |
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| Arbitrary parameter automation | Yes | No | Unsupported in Cardinal, tricky to do for many plugin formats at once |
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| Integrated plugin host | No, Host payed separately | Yes, using Carla or Ildaeil | |
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| v1 module compatibility | No | No, but with less restrictions | Modules can load resources at any point |
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| Online phone-home | Yes | No | Online access is strictly forbidden in Cardinal |
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| Proper dark theme | No, only room brightness | Yes | CC-ND respected by leaving files intact, dark mode applied at runtime |
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| Proper Linux headless mode | No, always requires X11 | Yes | |
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2021-12-04 14:23:56 +02:00
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Additionally, Cardinal contains the following built-in modules not present in the official plugin or standalone:
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* Aria Salvatrice modules (except Arcane related modules, due to their online requirement)
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* Carla Plugin Host
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* Ildaeil Host
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* Host Parameters (24 host-exposed parameters as CV sources)
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* Host Time (play, reset, bar, beat, tick, bar-phase and beat-phase CV sources)
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* Host CV (for the CV IO variant, allows direct CV access to/from the DAW)
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