Could there be a possibility in the future of making a software-only version of the MOD ecosystem - partly so it could be loaded as a VST into your DAW software? I’m thinking along the lines of the Bias2 FX from Positive Grid - where they have the Spark and the bigger amp hardware, but also have the software version that can run on your computer.
Another potential- often I might have ideas for a pedalboard that I want to try, but I might not be near to my Dwarf at the time. Could there be a “designer” on the web to allow you to mock up a pedalboard to then try later? Or to make adjustments in between gigs without the pedal being connected?
Additionally we have been testing a live-usb version of the MOD system, where you reboot your pc and boot it up via USB, and you get an environment that is pretty much identical to a MOD device but on your local machine.
Let us know if you are interested.
A standalone version that works as VST or application could be doable with virtualization, but performance is always going to take a (likely substantial) hit.
None would work as a replacement for the real device, so worse performance is not a big deal for me.
What I would have use for, is as a playground/test lab for plugins and pedalboards.
For example, it happens to me sometimes during breaks at work to browse the pedalboard store, and sometimes to spot an interesting pedalboard. Of course I can not take out my guitar and Mod at work. for some strange reason I’m sure my boss wouldnt like it. Strange person.
But a VST MOD system would be great. Just to try and experiment with some prerecorded stuff I have on the PC or maybe a virtual instrument.
A VST/plugin wouldn’t make much sense (knowing somewhat how the software stack works), but if you are on Linux then you can run mod-host and mod-ui locally.
Unfortunately at work I’m on Windows most of the time, so something that does not require reboots would be the most ideal solution. If thei is not technically possible, the usb boot option would I guess be the second best.
Virtual Machine?
Can possibly boot the live-USB in a VM too, it will be even less performant. but enough to play around a bit. Do note that the plugin-store does not work in the live image.
If the store does not work in the live image then it’s not of much use.
The perfect thing would be having a PC based way of running a MOD system that allows to do everything a real MOD device can, even with much degraded performance, and “synced” in some way (plugin store account?) with the device. So that pedalboards could be created, tested and tuned on a PC whenever the device is not available. That would be wonderful.
Again, similar to BIAS FX, but this would of course be a saleable product as well to sell alongside the rest of the portfolio. I honestly believe that there could be quite a demand for this sort of thing - but of course there are other competitors doing similar (such as Positive Grid, Line 6, Native Instruments, and others)…
I feel it is certainly worth considering if there is a call for this type of product in the future.
By the simple nature of how PCs are and work, this is just not possible. While we can have pretty much all the plugins that run on MOD run on a PC (already the case with the live-usb stuff), commercial plugins are simply too difficult to secure properly.
On a real MOD device, the commercial plugins authenticate based on unique device identifiers. Trying to make this work on a desktop/PC is just not possible, any security put in place would be easily be broken simply due to the open nature of the platform.
If we skip the commercial plugins this then becomes possible, but I would bet most users would not be too happy with that.
I am interested in the live-usb version of the MOD system.
Even though I do have a Dwarf, I like the idea to have such an alternative.
Where do I find the image to download?
