NORMSONIC RACK 0.1.0-beta.3 — Windows x64 standalone + VST3
Free personal, educational and commercial audio use. See LICENSE.txt.
Product: https://normsonic.com/rack/
Help: https://normsonic.com/support/#rack-help

START THE STANDALONE RACK
Extract the complete ZIP. Keep NormsonicRack.exe next to the ui/ folder, then
open NormsonicRack.exe. Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime must be installed for
the controls: https://developer.microsoft.com/microsoft-edge/webview2/
The Runtime is normally present on Windows 10/11; it is not included in this ZIP.

Choose Sound setup, select inputs/outputs on ONE physical audio interface, and
turn Audio on. Inputs may be omitted for a file-only source. WASAPI is the
standalone backend; ASIO and multi-card aggregation are not included. Input and
output on unrelated devices cannot be combined into one interface. The Windows
driver determines the real period and monitoring latency; a requested block
does not guarantee that the driver accepts it. Use a supported single interface
for both live input and output. Exclusive access is an optional device setting.

LIVE EFFECTS
Connect Input -> effects -> Output. Add compatible Windows x64 VST3 or CLAP
plugins using their installed files. RACK does not bundle external effects or
replace their licenses/installers. The supplied native Input/Output modules
refer to the selected device or, inside a DAW, the enclosing DAW audio ports.

FILE PROCESSING AND TAILS
Add Player and Recorder and choose a source WAV and a new destination. Connect
Player audio -> effects -> Recorder -> Output if you want to monitor it.
In Cables view connect Player's purple Sync output to Recorder's Sync input.
Click Recorder's Arm for Player, then start Player. Recorder prepares the file
before the common start, records through the effects and finishes after sustained
silence or the configured maximum tail. Keep audio processing on until the file
is finalized. Record now provides independent live recording. The tail needs a
maximum limit because noise, feedback or some effects never become fully silent.
Export currently runs in realtime; there is no faster offline/batch renderer.

RECORDER INPUT LEVELS AND RECORDING STATUS
The input meters work whenever the host is processing audio, including while
Recorder is not armed or recording. They show the actual signal at Recorder's
input after any upstream effects, without adding gain or changing the sound.
Peak follows the largest absolute input sample, with a 350 ms release. RMS shows
the signal's measured root-mean-square level; the native RACK module adds a
350 ms display release. These are input peak/RMS meters, not calibrated analogue
VU or LUFS loudness meters. Levels use dBFS: unity amplitude is 0 dBFS and silence
is shown as minus infinity. Reduce upstream gain if levels are excessive.

Mono shows one meter; stereo shows left/right. For wider inputs the first two
channels and the highest peak across all active channels are shown. The
full-scale warning covers every channel, including channels beyond the first
two. A finite sample at or above absolute amplitude 1.0 lights the warning for
about two seconds of processed audio. This warns about full-scale levels: the
32-bit float WAV can retain values above 0 dBFS and is not clamped by Recorder.
A later conversion or hardware output may clip those values.

The REC indication uses actual capture state rather than merely a requested
button state. The elapsed recording time is accepted audio frames divided by
the recording sample rate; it includes captured effect tails and is not a disk
worker progress estimate. ARMED/READY means prepared but not yet capturing.
TAIL means an effect tail is still being captured. FINALIZING means buffered
samples and the WAV header are being completed. A saved/finalized status applies
to an actual destination, not to an unused Recorder. Check drop/error status;
buffer overflows or disk failures require attention.

Stopping audio clears stale level and full-scale indications. A completed
take's duration remains visible. Meters freeze if a DAW suspends callbacks:
the host must keep processing for live metering and automatic effect tails.

PARALLEL ROUTING AND MIXING
Distributor copies a signal to separate effect branches. Digital Summing adds
the branch outputs with no hidden average or analogue coloration. Fader Bank
has 1-64 independent mono/stereo strips, each with its own input/output, level
and mute; it never sums strips. Add Summing explicitly when you want a mix.
Channel Breakout splits a wide bus into mono channels. Channel Matrix maps
channels between layouts. Connect equal-width ports; use these modules for
width/channel conversion. Click a cable to disconnect it; drag module headers
to arrange the patch. Front view shows controls; Cables shows connections.

INSTALL THE VST3 PLUGIN
1. Close your DAW.
2. Extract this complete ZIP into a folder you can keep.
3. Copy the complete .vst3 folder (not only the inner binary) to:
   C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3
   or another VST3 folder your host explicitly supports. The system folder can
   require Windows administrator permission.
4. Rescan plugins in your Windows x64 DAW and insert the named NORMSONIC plugin.

Audio inputs/outputs inside a DAW belong to that DAW. These plugins do not open
another hardware driver or clock. Additional buses are usable only when the
host exposes and routes them; a stereo-only host cannot expose 64 independent
strips. Select mono/stereo layouts through the host and the plugin's strip
controls; the host may suspend/reconfigure audio for layout changes.

RACK INSIDE A DAW
Insert NORMSONIC RACK as a VST3 effect. It uses the DAW device and clock; there
is no second physical engine. Main stereo plus seven optional auxiliary buses
per direction are available, with host-negotiated layouts and a 128-channel
aggregate limit per direction. Extra ports must be exposed by your DAW.
Save the DAW session to retain the rack state. The same Front/Cables editor is
provided. Note events enter the rack; a general outer MIDI-output interface is
not included. Internal event cables support notes and NORMSONIC Player/Recorder
Sync. Independent NORMSONIC Player/Recorder VST3s can also exchange their custom
Sync messages inside RACK; other DAWs must route the SysEx messages themselves.

SAVE AND REOPEN
Save/Open stores the patch and plugin state. Normal standalone closing confirms
and saves the last patch in LOCALAPPDATA/NORMSONIC RACK/last-rack.nsrack. Reopening
restores the patch with audio/playback/recording stopped; recordings are not
silently resumed or overwritten. Save explicitly during long work; forced
termination/power loss is not autosave.

CURRENT BETA BOUNDARIES
Windows x64 VST3 and CLAP hosting; no VST2, AU, AAX or x86 bridging. The inner
graph uses float32 even when the DAW or hosted plugin uses a float64 bridge.
Audio routing/parameters run in the callback without host graph allocation,
disk I/O or host mutexes; each external plugin retains its own realtime behavior.
Audio/event delay compensation aligns parallel paths and host outputs. Reported
plugin latency still contributes to real monitoring latency.

128 graph nodes, 64 channels per port, 4096-frame maximum graph block. Feedback
cycles are rejected. Graph/port changes rebuild plugin instances and may reset
effect tails: arrange connections before recording. Native Player loads WAV
PCM16/24/32 or float32 up to 512 MiB with linear rate conversion; it is not a
timeline editor. Recorder writes bounded RIFF float32 WAV files below 4 GiB.
Native editors or generic parameters depend on each plugin. Automated tests
cover our modules, real DLL hosting and selected validation scenarios, not every
third-party plugin/DAW or physical analogue round-trip latency.

PACKAGE
NormsonicRack.exe + ui/ are the standalone application. The complete
NormsonicRackPlugin.vst3/ bundle includes its own Resources/ui. The eight utility
VST3 products are separate downloads; native equivalents are built into RACK.
There is no test fixture, private profile, developer SDK, publisher C++ source,
installer or automatically downloaded plugin in this release.
