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Blue Cat's Connector
Blue Cat's Connector
"The Virtual Cable For Your Virtual Studio And Beyond"
Price: 49€ or $49 (tax incl.)
Blue Cat's Connector - Audio and MIDI Streaming Plug-In (VST, AU, VST3, AAX)

Blue Cat's Connector is an audio & MIDI streaming plug-in that can be used to transmit audio and MIDI signals in real time between several computers or applications, or create your own routings within a single application, with minimal latency.

MacOSUniversal BinaryWindows Vista or newerWindows x64 (64-bit)VSTVST3AAX64-bit AAXAudio Unit
Also in Bundle: All Plugins Pack

Have you ever dreamt to overcome the limitations of your favorite DAW and draw virtual audio and MIDI cables between any places that accept plug-ins?

Have you ever been frustrated not to be able to create feedback loops with plug-ins?

What about connecting multiple applications together, on different computers?

The wait is over! Blue Cat's Connector lets you do all of this, and more! It can stream audio and MIDI data in real time, between any locations that accepts plug-ins: one or several applications, or one or several machines connected to a network (even thru the Internet!).

With precise buffering control, you can achieve the lowest possible latencies: down to 0 samples, when used in a single application.

Its built-in resampling and drift compensation algorithms let you create seamless connections between locations with different sample rates and unsynchronized master clocks: it just works!

Main Features:

  • Universal connection plug-in available in VST, VST3, AAX or Audio Unit formats.
  • Create your own audio/MIDI routings inside your DAW (feedback loops allowed).
  • Create connections between any audio software on multiple computers.
  • Minimal latency, with full control over buffering.
  • Supports multiple sampling rates on a single connection (built-in resampling).
  • Built-in drift compensation.
  • Send and receive back audio/MIDI with a single instance.
  • UPnP support for automatic Internet router configuration.
  • Free Windows ASIO driver for seamless integration with audio applications.
  • Optional audio compression to reduce the bandwidth (powered by Wavpack).

Blue Cat Audio Standards:

  • Available in most plug-in formats for Mac and Windows.
  • Full MIDI control and automation support, MIDI Learn.
  • No CPU load on idle: processing shuts down when fed with silence (optimal CPU usage).
  • Customizable user interface with transparency & zoom.
  • Smooth Bypass: noiseless plug-in activation / deactivation.
  • Undo/Redo.
  • Full featured integrated presets manager.
  • Copy/paste the state of the plug-in between instances.
  • Any sample rate supported.

Typical applications: Audio/MIDI streaming, DAW routing, remote plug-ins processing, feedback loops creation, remote monitoring, remote MIDI control, remote recording, online jamming.


Blue Cat's Connector - Audio and MIDI Streaming Plug-In (VST, AU, VST3, AAX) Blue Cat's Connector - Audio and MIDI Streaming Plug-In (VST, AU, VST3, AAX) Blue Cat's Connector - Audio and MIDI Streaming Plug-In (VST, AU, VST3, AAX)

User Comments & Reviews

"The ever-innovative Blue Cat Audio has come up with another unique tool, one that you might find more useful than you'd think on first encounter. [...] I would not be surprised to see a Patchwork/Connector bundle become available at some point. These two pieces of software are great to have in combination." - SoundBytes Magazine [Read Full Review].

To add your own comment about this product, please contact us.

Demo Limitations:

  • Limited number of instances of the plug-in per session.
  • The plug-in is regularly bypassed for a few milliseconds.

System Requirements

MacOS

  • An Intel or Apple Silicon processor.
  • Mac OS 10.9 or newer.
  • Any VST / Audio Unit / AAX compatible application (64-bit) .

Windows

  • An SSE2-enabled processor (Pentium 4 or newer).
  • Microsoft Windows Vista, Windows 7, 8 or 10.
  • Any VST / AAX compatible host software (32 or 64 bit).

For more information about supported platforms, see our Knowledge Base.

Versions History

V1.3 (2024/01/16)

  • Improved network connection performance and reliability at low latencies.
  • Audio can now be compressed (lossless or lossy) to reduce network traffic.
  • Improved network efficiency: can now be used over Wifi networks (with higher latency).
  • Automatic re-buffering: receiver will automatically adapt when sender sends packets larger than expected.
  • Estimation of network latency is now displayed in a tooltip when hovering the mouse over the network icon in the receiver (network mode).
  • Fully compatible with previous versions and the new Fader Hub software.
  • Fixed GUI performance issues on MacOS Sonoma.

V1.2 (2023/08/22)

  • New uPnP (universal Plug'n Play) redirect option to automate port forwarding to accept connections from the Internet.
  • The plug-in now displays the public IP address for remote Internet communication (uPnP required).
  • Improved integration with MIDI controllers.
  • Faster plug-in loading time, especially when in network send mode and the destination cannot be reached.

V1.12 (2023/02/07)

  • Improved resampling and drift compensation when the plug-in starts streaming audio.
  • The plug-in now reports when more than 100 dropouts occurred.
  • Improved user interface meters refresh performance.
  • The plug-in has now been tested for long distance communication and online jamming. More information and setup instructions can be found in this tutorial.
  • Fixed VST3 MIDI input not detected by Ableton Live 11.

V1.11 (2022/12/12)

  • Added Apple Silicon support for AAX Plug-in Format.
  • Fixed VST3 version not always loading properly in Ableton Live 11.
  • Improved VST parameter value display in some host applications.
  • Added an option in global & preset input settings to send MIDI events when MIDI-enabled parameters are modified in the plug-in (to update control surfaces accordingly).
  • Improved undo management and automation when using the mouse wheel to move knobs.
  • AAX: Fixed erratic mouse behavior in Pro Tools on Mac.
  • Mac: installers and plug-ins have been notarized to avoid security warnings on Mac OS Catalina and newer.
  • Windows ASIO driver: fixed I/O names not displayed in some hosts that do not initialize the driver before listing the audio I/O (Cantabile, vMix).

V1.1 (2022/05/10)

  • New MIDI activity meter for send and receive.
  • Free Windows ASIO slave driver for Connector: install the driver and use it in any ASIO-compatible app. Connect with the Connector plug-in anywhere and stream audio to and from the app directly.
  • Fixed burst noise that could be heard randomly upon first reception.
  • Fixed unexpected 1 sample-latency upon reception.
  • VST3: fixed parameters update issues in some host applications.

V1.0 (2022/01/20)

First version