Rand Reichenbachpi-Stomp has always intended to be a platform. One of its main advantages over commercial units, is that it runs Linux, and thus can run additional software.
Last week I made a firmware change to allow the hardware to work independently of the recommended MOD software. So now, you can use pi-Stomp hardware with other audio hosts!
You can even MIDI-map the pi-Stomp controls and footswitches to control effect parameters in the host.
I’ve tested two such hosts so far. They both work great.
Rakarrack – an awesome (Free) guitar oriented virtual pedalboard (shown here running on pi-Stomp with the display shown via realVnc)
Carla – a Free, full featured modular audio host. It supports multiple plugin formats including LADSPA, DSSI, LV2, VST2, VST3 and AU, plus SF2 and SFZ sound font files!
For more details and installation instructions, check out the Wiki Page
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Thanks Craig. How do they compare? I tried each for about an hour, so my impressions aren't deep yet. But here goes...
Rakarrack is made for guitarists. Out of the box, it has oodles of good presets. Some of the effects (simulators and reverb) are very CPU hungry so you have to use those sparingly. It's a serial FX chain, so Mod has it beat if you do complex routing. Also, I don't believe it offers plugability. You get the set of effects that it comes with.
On the other hand, Carla's strength, IMO, is it's support for so many plugin formats. Unfortunately, not many plugin makers compile plugins for ARM platforms. I believe if creators use a plugin framework like Juce or Faust, compiling for an ARM target should be fairly simple for them, but I've talked to a few who have told me there's no market for Linux platforms. I think they're could be, but maybe not if they all have that attitude. Seems like someone could lead the market and become the de-facto standard.
Anyway, back to Carla. If the source code for a plugin is available, you'll likely be able to compile it yourself for pi/ARM. That's what I did for MVerb as a proof of concept. Compiling a VST for ARM7 worked a treat. So I am encouraged that plugins could potentially be used even if the creator had no intention of it ever running on pi.
That said, I'll likely still use Mod. It does most of what I need it to do.
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Superb feedback as always matey. Mod is definitely my favourite at the moment, but it's good to know there is potential for a platform to grow for Carla in the future, perhaps.
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This is an awesome update man! I've always been intrigued about getting Carla running on a Pi; a plugin host in your pocket is just a superb tool.
How do you find these two platforms compared to Modep?
Also I've started toying with Reaper on a separate Pi for recording. Very soon I'm going to have a full board of Pi's ha ha
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