Vienna Ensemble Pro has long been the backbone of professional studios worldwide, connecting virtual instruments, effects, and computers into one powerful network across Macs and PCs. With Vienna Ensemble Pro 8, this concept reaches a new level of intelligence and reliability, offering smarter server networking, faster loading times, advanced performance monitoring, crash protection, a modernized interface, new included FX plug-ins and so much more. Whether on a single machine or across complex multi-computer setups, Vienna Ensemble Pro 8 excels as the creative hub at the heart of your studio.

New Features

• Channels & Presets
• Group Edit for all Synchron Player instances – Copy-Paste settings between Synchron Player instances, including Mixer Presets, Tuning Tables, Controller Settings.
• Integrated Synchron Stage Reverb SO – convolution reverb recreating the ambience of Stage A of Vienna Synchron Stage with pre-defined positions (stereo orchestra)
• Now includes all plug-ins from Vienna Suite Pro directly integrated in FX inserts
• New Channel Sets Library – manage and insert factory or user-defined channel setups instantly.
• Enhanced plug-in preset browser – lists all presets of each available plug-in.
• Redesigned preset control bar – improved usability and preset management similar to Vienna Suite Pro.

Performance & Workflow

• Faster project loading – When loading project data into an instance that already contains similar plug-in configurations, Vienna Ensemble Pro 8 intelligently reuses existing plug-ins instead of recreating or reloading them, greatly improving load times and often reducing the need for the “Decouple” feature.
• Crash Protection – If a project file (.vep or .vesp) crashes during loading, you can selectively disable the element that caused the crash on the next load attempt, with the option to disable other elements as well (for example, all plug-ins of the same type). Large templates remain accessible and editable, preventing a single faulty plug-in from rendering an entire project unusable.
• Activity Monitor – Displays a detailed, sortable overview of CPU and performance usage for each instance, channel, and plug-in, allowing you to quickly locate heavy performance hitters or plug-ins that have hung during processing.
• Search function – Use Ctrl/Cmd+F to quickly find plug-ins, channels, or parameters within an instance and Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+F across the entire server.
• Undo/Redo History – track and revert changes directly from the Edit menu.

Networking & Connectivity

• Servers are now identified by name instead of IP address – no need for static IPs.
• Automatic connection by Server Name for seamless template switching between machines.
• New “Accept new connections” option in Server Preferences for better control while switching host projects.
• Improved reliability of server discovery (no longer dependent on Bonjour).

Other Improvements

• Major GUI refresh – modernized, more responsive, and easier to navigate.
• OSC interface fully documented

Existing Features

• Connectivity
• Cross-platform MIDI and audio LAN solution for Macs and PCs.
• No audio interfaces, no MIDI interfaces on your additional networked computers – All you need is Ethernet with a Gigabit connection.
• AU/VST/VST3 (Mac) and VST/VST3 (PC) hosting – Instantiate any VSL and 3rd party VST and AU plug-ins (works with nearly all available VST/AU plug-ins and supports multiple outputs).
• VST3/AAX Native/MAS connector plug-ins – Supports up to 48 MIDI ports and 768 audio ports per instance.
• VST hosting on the Mac, allowing for full compatibility with Windows
• Audio input plug-in – Route audio signals from your DAW into Vienna Ensemble Pro, e.g., to turn it into a virtual FX rack on your networked computer.
• AU/AU3/VST/VST3/AAX Native/MAS plug-in or stand-alone.

Core Features

• Preserve Instance – Disconnect Vienna Ensemble Pro from your sequencer while keeping all of your instruments and samples loaded, and re-connect to a new cue or project without loading again.
• Full surround support up to 7.1 with integrated plug-ins for surround-to-surround balancing and mono/stereo-to-surround.
• UPDATE: FX Plug-ins – All Vienna Suite Pro plug-ins, with convenient GUI displays embedded in the mixer channel view: Compressor Pro, Equalizer Pro, Exciter Pro, Limiter Pro, Analyzer Pro, Hybrid Reverb Pro
• Also included: Pro versions of our surround-specific Vienna Suite plug-ins: Matrix Mixer Pro, Surround Balance Pro, Surround Pan Pro.
• Frozen/Disabled channels allow unloading all plug-ins (including their allocated memory) from a selected channel, while keeping data intact
• Faster saving times – Instance data is compressed/decompressed to increase saving speed with demanding plug-ins like NI Kontakt.
• Plug-in latency compensation ensures full sync of all plug-ins inside each Vienna Ensemble Pro instance.

Usability Features

• Simplified Automation – Detailed clear names of all automatable parameters available in Vienna Ensemble Pro and all inserted plug-ins.
• Extended with Channel Sets in Vienna Ensemble Pro 8: Channel grouping allows assigning channels to a group, with option to link selected parameters to the entire group
• Favorites Manager – Create a list of your go-to plug-ins (FX/instruments)
• Favorites (auto-populated) – Always see your recently most used plug-ins on top of your plug-in list
• Customize plug-in use in the Vienna Ensemble Pro Preferences
• Improved plug-in scanning for a smoother experience with troublesome or incompatible plug-ins
• Combined now: Instance & Folder disabling (automatable)
• Copy/paste channels – For flexible template adaptations (Comm. C/V, Ctrl C/V)

GUI Features

• Extended with new Activity Monitor in Vienna Ensemble Pro 8: Instance CPU Usage – Realtime read-out of the specific CPU load
• Instance MIDI/Audio activity – Better overview, easy to observe and to control MIDI and audio activity
• Vertical Instance List – For a quicker overview of all available instances (in addition to the tabbed view)
• Articulation Display – The currently playing articulation is displayed directly in the channel (works for Vienna Synchron Player, Vienna Instruments Pro Player).
• Missing Patches are indicated by a red frame (works for Vienna Synchron Player, Vienna Instruments Pro Player).
• FX Mini GUI Displays – Watch some of your integrated FX plug-ins right in the channel view.