The only way I could foresee this happening is by using Terminal Server. I see a couple of problems with it though. Doing things this way would mean one machine would be running all sessions, also I'm not sure that Sequoia is capable of running remote sessions as this would mean drivers would have to be loaded from the remote computer. Which also means, Sequoia would have to be able to recognize multiple sessions at once using several different drivers for the respective interfaces.

That all being said, you might be better off just spending a couple hundred dollars on two copies of Cubase 4 Essential.

Edit: I should clarify that I don't know Sequoia.

Wouldn't one PC be the master and the others slaves?

audiokid wrote: Wouldn't one PC be the master and the others slaves?

Yeah. I think, you're right on that. It should load into the remote as it's own session. Still, I'm not sure how you would do this or if it is supported by Sequoia. Terminal server would definitely be the way to go. Unfortunately I have yet to reach that level in geekdom. I will have to defeat a few more Orcs I think...maybe if I roll a D-12 with a +3 Mace of code breaking.

audiokid:
Just a thought....FWIW...cuz I'm thinking about multiple DAW's on multiple PC's on a closed home network too!
Have you tried setting up one of your PC's (your most powerful one) as a DAW "server".
The Vista Pro maybe? (is this Business or Ultimate?) I think either can be set up that way.

If your network is all setup and all computers sharing all drives, with permissions etc....you could create a shortcut on one of the other PC's pointing to the .exe file of the DAW application on the "server" and see if it starts a session on the other PC.

One thing about creating a server and workstations in this audio network is that you'd be able to set any admin permissions to any app or drive or plugin....if it works. Unfortunately some applications won't allow you to launch sessions from a network connection, that's the kicker. If you give it a test it will let you know....but it would be worth a try...if it works and you get a session open then you go from there and check how much access you have to the rest of the system i.e plugins, outboard gear.....
Not sure if this is what your thinking or not, but that wouldn't be hard to test out? The biggest hassle will be setting up your network!

I have Ultimate 64 running for the studio system now but its not the most powerful DAW, but they are all close in speed.

I need help with the entire setup. Never done this before. What do you need for hardware? Router, really long cat 5 or 6 cable? This part I'm clueless on. I hate to spend money one things I don't need.

I realize this isn't much help but, here is a page on [[url=http://[/URL]="http://www.howtonet…"]setting up terminal services[/]="http://www.howtonet…"]setting up terminal services[/]. I imagine you should be able to set it up via a router or switch.

I wish I knew more about this. What I can tell you from when I was working in marketing is that although we had terminal services set up to run some basic remote software (mainly inventory related), any CPU intensive software such as Photoshop, Quark or Illustrator was run natively on each workstation. I don't know if that is because the software was too resource dependent or if it was because the majority of the company did not run that software.

Also, the software that we did access via terminal server was run from a central server cluster. The instance of the software is independent but only access was available from your workstation, the software still runs on the main server cluster.

audiokid - you are going to find it difficult to get DAW software to run remotely. Audio I/O is simply not designed to run on a client/server setup for licencing reasons and also because the low-level timings are so unpredictable.

This is one situation where hardware dongles are an advantage. You could have all the different DAW software loaded on each machine and simply plug a dongle into whichever one you wanted to use at the moment.

What you may be able to get to work at low-to-medium track counts is a networked drive for your audio data. In this way you could be running a DAW natively but writing the audio to a remote drive on another computer. It's not something I would recommend doing, and the advantages over transferring the data off-line after recording on a local drive are far from clear, but it would allow you to capture on one machine and process on another.

My preferred suggestion would be to have local DAW capture on each PC then use KVM remote control of your chosen editing DAW using networked drives. There are many KVM remote packages to choose from. You would need to pipe a stereo monitoring feed between the various rooms so you could perform local monitoring, but that's much easier than running whole microphone snakes.

I agree with Boswell that it will be difficult if not impossible to run the software remotely.

I see though that you use Sonar. The EULA for that allows you to install on more than one PC but you can only use one copy at a time. As it is not dongled it will be no problem to set up on another machine. Projects can then be simply moved around off line over the network. I do this often using a simple peer to peer network. At least you will be able to use one of your software packages easily!

First off...for those who know or remember who I am.... WHAT UP ALL :lol:

audiokid, VNC or Radmin. That would be the way to go. If all systems in your house are on a network install the server edition on the main computer and the client on the rest.

It's better then terminal server as it won't lock out the normal user and you can get admin rights.

Granted this is simply accessing the computer from a terminal so to speak..

Just another way of looking at what you want to do.

Opus

I agree with Opus on radmin or VNC. (radmin is my personal preference) I think the biggest issue you have is essentially creating a meshed network for monitor outputs (assuming I am understanding your requirements correctly). Two suggestions I have:

1. Run balanced cable between the rooms and use use something like a mackie big knob or presonus monitor/input selector switch. Probably the simplest route.

2. If this is for the kids and fidelity isn't the biggest concern since this is more of a learning project for them, you could use a couple of barix instreamer units to convert an analog stereo output to a streaming mp3 across your LAN.

Just my two cents.