Cantabile 4 Performer newbie here - but not new to DAWs/Plugins. Newly installed Cantabile 4. Set up all plugin folders. Cantabile doesn’t find the DLLs for Addictive Drums 2 and Kontakt 6.3 (neither 32 or 64) The DLLs are in the folders where Cantabile finds all my other DLLs.
I can manually browse to the folders with the respective plugins and load them successfully by selecting each DLL separately.
These plugins are found by all my DAWs
Thoughts?
In cantabile “options” for “plugin options”
(menu —> tools -----> options ----> then select plugin options
add the path C:\Program Files\Common Files
The vst3 for kontact is in there
Also add the path C:\Program Files\Native Instruments\VSTPlugins64 bit
and (if you use it) C:\Program Files\Native Instruments\VSTPlugins32 bit\
Check you’ve added C:\Program Files\Steinberg\Vstplugins\
then run a quick scan and this should show kontact in the list.
Thanks for the suggestions Laura. I’m afraid your input does not apply to my situation.
I store my Kontakt 32 and 64 DLL are in a different folder - that was already added to Cantabile. My version of Kontakt 6.3.1 did not offer a VST3 - but the standard VST3 folder location was added to Cantabile as well. I also store my Addictive Drums 2 DLL in the same folder as my other VST32 and 64 Plugins
Cantabile found all other plugins in all my custom plugin folders - but Kontakt and Addictive Drums were not found or listed.
When adding an Object/Plugin - and use the “Browse for Plugin” option at the bottom of the Plugin list, then browse to the folder where all my plugins are and select Kontakt or Addictive Drums, the Plugin is added and function as expected. (see screenshot)
All other DAWs find Kontakt and Addictive Drums in the folders as expected
Does Cantabile block plugins for any reason? Not sure about next steps / options
Hi @Hume,
you could have a look at the log file, to see if the plugins are at least considered by Cantabile (and maybe discarded for some reason).
Use the menu Tools->Open Settings Folder
to access the folder where log.txt is located.
Then quit Cantabile and open log.txt (for instance in notepad) and search the file for the names of the plugins you are interested into. If Cantabile has found the plugin, you should also find some hints about why it is not listed.
Hope this helps,
Gabriel
Funky - both Kontakt and Addictive Drums work without a hitch in my setup.
Have you tried doing a complete re-scan (not just a quick scan)? Sometimes this helps.
Cheers,
Torsten
Ah! The log file revealed some interesting info.
Running the x64 version of cantabile:
he Log revealed that 32 bit VSTS for Kontakt, AD2 (and every other 32 bit VST) could not load. Little did I know I must 1st buy & install jBridge to run 32 bit VSTs on the x64 version of Cantabile? Maybe I missed that requirement when installing the app, reading the basic docs or watching the setup video for new users? Seems shortsighted to release a x64 version that won’t run 32 & 64 bit VSTs natively. jBridge is not required for Ableton Live or Cakewalk - and I assume most other up-to-date DAWs? Am I the only person who doesn’t know this and never installed jBridge for any other apps?
At any rate, this issue does not explain why the 64 bit versions of Kontakt and AD2 are not discovered and listed, nor are they listed anywhere in the log file - but they will load when I manually browse for, and successfully load them in a rack.
Curiously, when I launched the x86 version of Cantabile, it discovers all my four 32 bit VST2’s, including the 32 bit Kontakt and AD2 as expected - but it of course does not discover any 64 bit VSTs or VST3’s.
I suppose I could buy / install jBridge for a cheap $15 - if I need to pick 32 bit versions of Kontakt & AD2 from a list on-the-fly - and when I’m spending time to configure things, manually load the 64 bit versions as a work-around?
Think this should be reported as a bug? I don’t think it’s a user error - although I have not yet installed Cantabile on my laptop I use for a live rig.
Complete recans multiple times. No change. Thanks!
TBH, the manual is pretty explicit on that. It speaks about 64 vs 32 bit immediately in the “Installation” section, with an extra in-depth section on the topic linked directly from there. Seems a bit petty to blame the developer or call this a bug - sometimes it’s actually useful to read the fine manual…
In short: a 64 bit version not recognizing 32 bit architecture plugins is not a bug, but expected behavior, as for most DAWs that don’t have their own internal bridging mechanisms.
BTW: the 64 bit version of Ableton Live doesn’t run 32 bit plugins either - they also refer you to jBridge in their manual. For all of us who have been around the block for some time and had do deal with 32 vs 64 bit versions, this is a common topic, and we know how to deal with this. Steinberg just patch this over with their internal version of a 32 bit bridge, but they also encourage users to migrate to 64 bit only.
It’s easy to overlook something like this when setting up your system - but it isn’t good style to immediately blame the developer for your oversight, especially when you’re new to the forum.
This is usually a really knowledgeable and helpful crowd, so by all means ask your questions, and maybe we can help you solve your issues together. But please stay corteous and polite here, OK?
Now maybe a hypothesis on how to address your issue: I assume you either have the un-bridged 32 bit version of Kontakt and AD2 in your VST plugins folder with the rest of all your 64 bit plugins, or, if you have them in a separate folder, you have the path to your 32 bit plugins in Cantabile’s plugins folder list, so Cantabile is trying to scan these plugins. This may be the cause for Cantabile not discovering the 64 bit version of Kontakt and AD2 due to a conflict between the 32 bit and the 64 bit version.
So try this: make sure that Cantabile 64 bit is NOT scanning your 32 bit plugins - it won’t know what to do with them anyhow. So move all your 32 bit plugins to a separate folder if they aren’t already, and make sure that this folder is NOT in the plugin path list of Cantabile 64 bit. Then do another full plugin scan and see if Kontakt and AD2 (in their 64 bit version) turn up in your plugin list.
Worth a try…
Cheers,
Torsten
“the manual is pretty explicit on that… please stay courteous and polite here, OK?”
Very good points! Thanks for sharing your perspectives and insights - and for gently coaching me on becoming a better communicator and Cantabile user! I clearly didn’t do a deep-enough dive into the documentation prior to installing the app, and since I’ve been lucky enough to have never encountered a plugin conflict - I was clearly clueless. Lessons learned!
“Now maybe a hypothesis on how to address your issue …make sure that Cantabile 64 bit is NOT scanning your 32 bit plugins”
Solved! Thank you! Most of my plugins are in their respective 32 bit and 64 bit subfolders under a top (root) level folder called VSTs. I bet that’s a rookie mistake…
Fortunately for me, only Kontakt and AD2 use the exact same file name for both their 32 and 64 bit VSTs. So even though the 32 and 64 bit VSTs are in separate subfolders, by pointing Cantabile to scan the top (root) level folder caused the app to FIRST scan and reject all the 32 bit versions, and when it then scanned the 64 bit folder, the scan may have skipped the 64 bit Kontakt and AD2 VSTs - possibly because the app had already identified and failed to install the 32 bit with the exact same name.
That also might explain why when I launched Cantabile x86, which was also only pointing to the top level VST folder - and not the subfolders, the app first successfully scanned and loaded Kontakt and AD2 VST’s in the 32 bit VST folder - and then scanned and failed/rejected all the 64 bit VSTs in the 64 bit folder.
Rather than go through the pain of moving my 32 bit VSTs to a new top level folder, I simply followed your sage advice, removed the top (root level) VST folder from Cantabile and pointed the app to only the subfolders with 64 bit VSTs.
I’ll now be more mindful about the potential VST conflicts I create by creating a single top level folder for all VSTs – even if I put separate 32 bit and 64 bit subfolders under it.
I sincerely appreciate everyone’s quick and helpful responses - thanks for being kind and patient about the unnecessary/unpleasant tone of my very first post!
Thats ok,
What I wrote was assuming default install paths for the vst3 and dll’s.
I wonder if there’s a difference between 6.3 and 6.6.1
Great that you got this solved! And good that you shared your insights about 32 bit vs 64 bit from the look at the Cantabile log - giving as much context as possible is essential for other forum members to be able to help you. Too often, we have posts like “I DON’T GET ANY SOUND - CAN YOU HELP”…
BTW: the “typical” place for VST2 plugins is C:\Program Files\VstPlugins (or C:\Program Files\Steinberg\VstPlugins if you are a Cubase user) for the 64 bit versions, and C:\Program Files (x86)\VstPlugins for the 32 bit versions. Helps to not confuse them.
But of course it is perfectly OK to have one overall VST folder for all plugins, with sub-folders for 32 and 64 bit versions, as long as you keep your plugin path settings clean within your audio software.
Unfortunately, some VST2 plugin vendors are not as flexible, and they force a certain plugin path - Roland being an example, whose installation manager refuses to cooperate, unless the plugins sit in C:\Program Files\VstPlugins. But that’s another story…
A word on jBridge: when you use jBridge, you usually need to create explicit “bridging” wrapper plugs in the 64 bit folder that point to the corresponding 32 bit dll in the 32 bit folder. This process of creating these wrappers is called “jBridging”. But note: Cantabile doesn’t need you to jBridge your plugins, because jBridge support is built into Cantabile - once jBridge is installed, Cantabile 64 bit can directly scan and recognize your 32 bit plugins without the need to create the 64 bit wrappers.
But to use them in other DAWs, you might need bridging - see @Derek’s post: 32-Bit VSTs in 64-Bit Cantabile - #3 by Derek . So your VST folder might need three subfolders: “64 bit”, “32 bit”, “32 bridged”.
In any case: when you’re using jBridge, be absolutely sure that you don’t have the same plugin in 32 and 64 bit version in your plugin scan path - this is a potential source of issues, so steer clear…
Cheers,
Torsten
What I wrote was assuming default install paths for the vst3 and dll’s.
I wonder if there’s a difference between 6.3 and 6.6.1
Good question Laura. Your recommendations and assumptions about the location of Kontakt’s VST based on the default paths were correct. That’s where they would have been installed had I not modified them during the installation - which I generally do when installing most plugins. My goal is to keep all plugins in a common location where I can easily find them.
Otherwise, plugin developers sometimes suggest a range of default DLL paths. That said, I don’t change the default paths for VST3s.
And because I work with the same plugins on up to 5 different computers, my use of “common folders & paths” approach theoretically enables me to easily save, document, find, manage and troubleshoot all plugins on all 5 computers and across a network - assuming I always knew what I was doing - and this approach didn’t create other problems…
Ironically, if I had not changed the default paths for Kontakt an AD2, I wouldn’t have encountered the problem I created for Cantabile! So, I may have to rethink my approach based on this issue - and perhaps to minimize other issues I don’t even know I’m creating. Fortunately, the solution for Cantabile was easily implemented without needing to move the 32 bit VSTs to a new location.
