DISTRHO Cardinal Rack (Virtual Modular Synthesizer) v24.12 VST VST3 AU LV2 CLAP STANDALONE LiNUX WiN MAC [FREE]

15/12/2024 | VST VST3 AU LV2 CLAP STANDALONE LiNUX WiN MAC | 0.68/0.89/1.94 GB
Cardinal is a free and open-source virtual modular synthesizer plugin, available in AudioUnit/CLAP/LV2/VST2/VST3 plugin formats and as a standalone app for FreeBSD, Linux, macOS, Windows and the Web. It is based on the popular VCV Rack but with a focus on being a fully self-contained plugin version. More specifically, this is a DPF-based plugin wrapper around VCV Rack, using its code directly instead of forking the project, with the target of having a self-contained, fully free and open-source plugin version of Rack.
See the why section below for the reasons Cardinal exists, also for frequently asked questions check this FAQ document.

Cardinal contains Rack, some 3rd-party modules and a few internal utilities all in a single binary.
All "Core" modules from Rack have been replaced by Cardinal equivalents, simplified to better work for an audio plugin.

Cardinal does not load external modules and does not connect to the official Rack library/store.
All VCV branding has been removed (to the best of our knowledge) in order to avoid any trademark issues.

Module browser



Plugin variants
Cardinal provides 3 plugin variants - "main", Synth and FX.
They are all equivalent in performance and behaviour, with only the IO and metadata that changes.
This is because some hosts are very strict on which plugins are allowed as instruments vs FX, so separate variants of the same plugin are needed.

FX and Synth variants both have 2 audio outputs, while "main" has 8.
All variants have MIDI input and output support.

Basic patching



Main
This variant provides 8 audio inputs and outputs and 10 CV inputs and outputs.

NOTE: Due to AU and VST2 formats not supporting CV ports, this variant is not available for those formats.
NOTE: This variant is not available in CLAP yet, to be added in a later release

Synth
This variant provides 2 audio outputs but no audio inputs or CV ports.
Plugin type is set as "instrument".

Carla and Ildaeil plugin hosts



FX
This variant provides 2 audio inputs and outputs, but no CV ports.
Plugin type is set as regular "effect".

Mini
This is a special variant with a very small, hand-picked module selection and limited IO (2 audio ports plus 5 CV).
It only exists as LV2 and Standalone plugin.

Custom Fundamental modules design



For now the list of selected modules is quite small, intentionally. We will add a few more as the need appears.
All included modules support polyphony, reducing confusion for new users not yet used to mono vs poly approach in Rack/Cardinal.



The main reason for this variant to exist is being able to support DSP/UI separation, which is only possible with more simple modules.
The DSP/UI separation means we can run the DSP on a different machine than the UI.
This is particularly interesting for running Cardinal on embed systems, being controlled remotely via a web browser or a native desktop application.
Such setup is already in use in Cardinal Mini for MOD Audio.

Changelog:

v24.12
Add a small example using pianoroll sequencer
Fix AU midi input for channels != 0
Fix AU midi output
Fix AU missing time position from some hosts
Fix mouse scroll behaviour on macOS
Fix wrong scale factor in web builds
Log number of modules and plugin collections on start
Tag MPE as supported (used in CLAP and AU)

Modules changes:
Added Admiral modules
Added MUS-X modules
Update AaronStatic
Update BaconPlugs
Update Befaco
Update Bidoo
Update Biset
Update ChowDSP
Update CVfunk
Update DrumKit
Update EnigmaCurry
Update forsitan-modulare
Update JW-Modules, remove Cardinal's custom dark mode
update HamptonHarmonics
Update LyraeModules
Update LittleUtils
Update Meander
Update ML_modules
Update NonlinearCircuits
Update orbits
Update Sapphire