ReWire
More info
- Creator
- Propellerhead Software and Steinberg
- Released
- 1998
- Type
- Protocol
A protocol that let two music programs run as one: one drove transport and tempo, the other piped its audio straight into the host's mixer.
Propellerhead Software built ReWire with Steinberg in 1998, originally so ReBirth — a software emulation of Roland's bass and drum machines — could play in time with Cubase. The host owned the timeline, the client followed with sample-accurate sync, and up to 64 audio channels plus MIDI moved between them without leaving the machine.
For a couple of decades it was the standard way to use Reason alongside another DAW, since Reason refused to load VST plugins and nothing else could load Reason. Once Reason itself became a VST plugin the reason for ReWire disappeared, and the protocol was retired around 2020. Its modern successors share only tempo over the network, not audio.