Muse Research Receptor is a hardware that is capable of running VST Plug-ins and VST instruments without the need of a computer. It can be connected to a computer via ethernet or can be used through its own interface with a standard monitor. MIDI instruments can be directly connected to Receptor. You aren’t limited with the pre-installed plugins. New VST plugins can be installed by a simple drag & drop action into the plugins folder of the unit.

With its own harddrive, CPU, RAM and soundcard, Receptor provides a more stabil environment for music production compared to a computer. However, besides the stability, the selling point of this equipment is actually its ease of use so that you don’t have to go through many menus and setup screens and start playing right after you switch the power button.

Is it essential? Well, no. But it’s about comfort and charisma! In a concert for example, a computer would look quite weird on the stage. You got the idea.

When it comes to performance, VST is based on sound recordings called samples and the performance is mainly dependent on how quickly you reach the data. It’s possible to get similar results from a high-end PC with a superb fast harddisk like Western Digital Raptor and a CPU such as a dual core AMD X2. But again, comfort and charisma must be there with you on the stage!