MP Host aims to make plugins feel like hardware

MP Host aims to make plugins feel like hardware

MP Host by MP MIDI is a new controller designed to control all your software plugins from this single device.

The MP Host has a 21.5-inch IPS 1920 x 1080 monitor and 32 endless encoders.

When a plugin is active the display will show its full interface on the screen.

If the software has additional pages you can scroll to these pages too.

The encoders are automatically mapped to the parameters, provided you have the template.

It’s won’t be the prettiest looking piece of gear in your studio but it could be the handiest.

How MP Host works

The MP Host hardware device is managed via a VST3/AU/AAX plugin that runs in your DAW.

To use the hardware device, you’d need to open the plugin within the MP Host plugin as an instance and each one needs to be opened as a separate instance.

This seems like extra work to be honest and what about extra CPU usage?

Notwithstanding these reservations, the fact that you can have up to 32 encoder mappings per page and four pages – that’s a total of 128 encoders – means you really do have full tactile control of your software instruments and effects.

We can see this being really handy for software instruments and possibly for sound design within synths but would one load every insert effect for every channel into the host plugin every time?

Possibly not, one would have to test the practicality of the usage.

When one opens up the host plugin it does scan your collection and displays everything in a list.

So, once you’ve included this in your workflow it is possible that this could be a practical solution.

The controller has total recall so the minute you open the plugin the current settings are transmitted to the hardware.

The MP Host will ship with ready-made templates for some of the most popular plugins on the market.

Sadly, no price or availability yet so it’s best to keep a watch on their website.

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