@Another User said:

Using VI IN LOGIC IS THE WORSE YOU CAN DO ; it does not share memory between instrument and it is using much more CPU than VE PRO/VE PRO SERVER

In the evening, I will try routing Logic to a standalone instance of VE via IAC to see what I can do. Actually, I can't work without freezing tracks with my current rig, and if using VE pro through IAC is preferred for Logic/Mac setups, it's not going to help me much. But I'll just test it and write here what I find out. I hope standalone VE and VE pro are behaving similarly.

(I wish there were some kind of benchmarks about these things. It would be great if there was something like "recommended settings" and measurements for different kind of PC or Mac configurations.)

Also, if VE pro is absolutely necessary to get a proper performance from VSL products, I guess I might consider getting a PC slave and using my Macbook pro in the clamshell mode as a master. But I would really like to have a one machine setup. Let's see! I'll be back with some observations. 😊

Thanks for all the info so far, it's really helpful!

@Oguz Sehiralti said:

[when VE is used as an instrument in Logic, Logic basically treats it as a single instrument no matter how many VIs there are in that VE instance.

Ok, we're back to this. This: "as an instrument in Logic". The only time I connected {Logic} to VE Pro (and I do not believe there is a fundamental difference vis VE not-Pro) I had the VE Pro Server opened already. I don't know what the clause 'as an instrument' really represents; I was connecting to something outside of Logic, in other words. Is this bit something you are unaware of? I'm sure that you do not have to have it in Logic's process, as I don't even know how it can be merely an instrument in Logic like you believe it is. IE: it IS an 'instrument' to any DAW, but the plugin works to connect [Logic] to essentially a bridge, to another independent process which supports the VE or VE Pro host.

VE as 'an instrument in Logic' is not like VI as an instrument in Logic.
In any case, your instruments are going to be happier in VE than in Logic.

You open VE Service and then when you instantiate it 'as an instrument' you connect to it as a different process than Logic, which means that Logic is not the actual host of the VIs and its process determines nothing about CPU/cores.

Also, VE does work as a network. Open the 'Service' and when you connect to it, you are connecting to your computer as local host.
Also, too, I don't know anybody but Cyril that prefers using IAC. To me it's somewhat exotic.

@Oguz Sehiralti said:

[when VE is used as an instrument in Logic, Logic basically treats it as a single instrument no matter how many VIs there are in that VE instance.

Ok, we're back to this. This: "as an instrument in Logic". 

(...)

VE as 'an instrument in Logic' is not like VI as an instrument in Logic.
In any case, your instruments are going to be happier in VE than in Logic.

You open VE Service and then when you instantiate it 'as an instrument' you connect to it as a different process than Logic, which means that Logic is not the actual host of the VIs and its process determines nothing about CPU/cores.

Also, VE does work as a network. Open the 'Service' and when you connect to it, you are connecting to your computer as local host.
Also, too, I don't know anybody but Cyril that prefers using IAC. To me it's somewhat exotic.

I meant putting the VE connection to the "instrument" slot of a software instrument track in Logic, as opposed to running the standalone version. I didn't know how VEP is used and I thought people were using the standalone version but I was wrong. So, you're right, when I use VE, the core distribution seems to be handled by VE. I realized that the CPU meter of Logic and the CPU meter of the activity monitor are not the same, and VE distributed them equally to my 4 threads.

I also tried connecting to the standalone VE through IAC and route the sound back via Soundflower. The performance was worse than using VE server. So I'm back to the beginning. 😊 Later on, if I have the time I'll try to demo VEP and compare it, but I think I should get a somewhat similar performance.

@Oguz Sehiralti said:

[I also tried connecting to the standalone VE through IAC and route the sound back via Soundflower.

You do not need Soundflower.

IAC is not exotic [H] as it is an inside of MAC OS

In the Audio/Midi app you can also define a Network Midi (I have not tried it yet with VSL)

civilization 3 : you dont have pop and drop outs but you are using the BIG buffer ; but do to 512 or 256 you will have pops and dropout. If you have time it maybe worth trying IAC with 512 or 256. 

I do not trust Logic Meters

@Oguz Sehiralti said:

the VE connection to the "instrument" slot of a software instrument track in Logic, as opposed to running the standalone version.

However if you ever do VE Pro as audio input, it is now an external device and printing its result offline doesn't happen, it's realtime or nothing.

Standalone, that is something other than a plugin and it does not use the LAN to talk to other modules. The model for 'standalone' is really Gigastudio which got MIDI into it from, and audio back out of it to, the sequencer by external means. Cf., Kontakt used as a live instrument connected to controllers and audio out to amplifiers. I don't know why someone would connect a DAW to a standalone VE, don't need to know, don't care.

@civilization 3 said:

 I don't know why someone would connect a DAW to a standalone VE, don't need to know, don't care.

Instrument are sharing memory

Less CPU load

"don't care."

Ok, as to IAC. First, @ Oguz, the reason you do not need Soundflower is that VE Pro is already getting audio back to Logic, whether through gigabit ethernet or local host. Typically using IAC, one does not have this going on.

Cyril: You believe it's more efficient to send MIDI through ports in IAC to VE Pro than through VE Pro.
How, why? So far you seem to have asserted that through being internal to the OS it is. That doesn't show me. I can equally find someone saying that IAC isn't priority to the OS like VE Pro.

IAC would be a thing for a Logic person as you get additional MIDI ports through it rather than this Event Input kludge. I hadn't given it any thought but given that, I think if I was using Logic for VE Pro I would be doing IAC to some extent.

Civilisation,

Having click and pop with Event input I have try IAC, no more problems, less CPU load

VSL have agree that IAC is more powerfull exempt you cannot bounce in backgroud

It's not hard to believe it's better than Event Input. However I don't need Event Input, I'm using it as VST 3.

@Another User said:

Having click and pop with Event input I have try IAC, no more problems, less CPU load

VSL have agree that IAC is more powerfull exempt you cannot bounce in backgroud

Does VE pro have the option to use IAC as an input even when VE pro is used as a plugin in Logic? If so, that might be another difference between VE and VE pro.

To your last question, yes.

This shows how to do it. You're replacing the output with IAC Bus. It's easier than this in Cubase, it was just a matter of enabling IAC and it appeared as a choice in MIDI output and then enabling it in VE Pro, after a restart it appears in the ports assignment.

VE Not-Pro - edit: *SERVICE*, what you connect to as plugin - apparently has no option for external MIDI so IAC isn't possible. Yes, that is a difference.
Note: it's the getting audio back to the DAW that has me caring not at all about its (standalone's) performance, here is too many moving parts to even remotely consider. Since I believe VE Pro does what it says on the tin in the first place.

@civilization 3 said:

To your last question, yes.

This shows how to do it. You're replacing the output with IAC Bus. It's easier than this in Cubase, it was just a matter of enabling IAC and it appeared as a choice in MIDI output and then enabling it in VE Pro, after a restart it appears in the ports assignment.

VE Not-Pro - edit: *SERVICE*, what you connect to as plugin - apparently has no option for external MIDI so IAC isn't possible. Yes, that is a difference.
Note: it's the getting audio back to the DAW that has me caring not at all about its (standalone's) performance, here is too many moving parts to even remotely consider. Since I believe VE Pro does what it says on the tin in the first place.

IAC is working very well betwen  Logic use the tutorial I have made  http://www.cyrilblanc.fr/VSL/tutorial.zip

@Cyril said:

IAC is working very well betwen  Logic use the tutorial I have made  http://www.cyrilblanc.fr/VSL/tutorial.zip

Thanks! I will check it out.

This tutorial show all the possibilities of connection from Logic to VSL

• Event input
• IAC input
• Audio input