multiple in/outputs of vst instruments

[fury]

I'm confused by the in and output specifications of vst instru
ments. In the context of softsynths: what does it mean that
they have 4 stereo outputs?
Why do they need loads of in and outputs if you can load several
instances in the host's track mixer?
When does multitimbrality come in?
I mean, if a softsynth is 16 parts multitimbral, and it has 4 stereo outputs
can you divide the 16 notes between those 4 outputs or is the
nr of outputs not equal to the number of instances you can load?
What's the use of multiple outputs?
It's important for a host to feature multiple outputs for plugins,
why, what do hey mean by that?
Are there any good tutorials on the net cos my search didn't yield
anything useful.
Thanx in advance!

[shroud]

Fury - thanks for posting. Let me first address the 16 part multitimbral aspect of your question - I think you are confusing this w/polyphony. 16 part multitimbral is the number of timbres (or instruments) that the synth can produce...polyphony references the number of notes.

In order for a virtual instrument to become part of the final recording session to be mixed down, you actually have to have output from the instrument to the host program (Cubase, ProTools, DP, etc) track mixer and lay down an actual audio track within that application...

PS - if you buy from Sweetwater we offer lifetime technical support & your sales engineer can talk you through some basic concepts to get you on the right track. Kind of a hard thing to find elsewhere, don't you think?

[TeeCee]

Here's a "how and why" for the multiple stereo outs...

The 4 stereo outs in DR-008 are nice for me because I can put all my drum parts in it, sequence it with a single MIDI track, route the bass out to one channel, the rest of the normal stuff out to another channel, and some FX out to a third channel. I can compress the hell out of my bass outputs, put some crazy delays on the sound FX, and maybe a little verb and echo on the regular stuff (I don't like to reverb the bas much as it can get muddy).

SONAR will let me do this, Acid will not. One out per VSTi only.

There is a community dedicated to this stuff, K-v-R VST (http://www.kvr-vst.com/) I'm not sure how professional and helpful the community is but some software companies host furms there.