Started this new topic to address these mysterious problems introduced in build 4197 that seems to be affecting some VST 3 plugins (mainly Kontakt 7, but a few others too).
Quick backstory:
Before 4197 there was a performance issue with some VST 3 plugins due to Cantabile querying the plugin for its channel count on each and every audio cycle. Most plugins work fine like this, but with some (Vienna Imperial) this call is very slow causing audio dropouts and poor performance.
Build 4197 introduced a change to use Cantabile’s cached channel count instead of constantly querying the plugin. That fixed the performance issue, but there was a bug in that code.
Build 4200 fixes that bug, but I’m seeing occasional crash reports still with Kontakt 7 that I haven’t been able to narrow down - mostly because it seems to work fine here.
I’m still looking into it. In the meantime, it’s safest to stick with 4196 until I figure it out.
To help diagnose this and to confirm I’m on the correct path in narrowing this down I’ve added a new setting in Tools → Options → Diagnostics, called “Slow VST3 Buffer Prep”. This is a temporary setting that will be removed once the issue is resolved.
When enabled, it reverts the behaviour to that of 4196.
When disabled, the functionality is the same as 4200.
I’m interested to hear from anyone who’s having issues with 4197 and later whether toggling this setting makes any difference.
Hi Brad
Using versions 4197 and 4199 caused Cantabile to crash when I tried to change songs in the set list (using mouse click or pressing a Stream Deck button) (I sent the usual crash reports). I’ve installed version 4201 and run it with your new option deselected and got the same behavior as 4197.
I’ve then selected the slow vst3 load and Cantabile seems to work OK. I can change songs in the set list without crashing Cantabile.
I hope this helps.
Regards
Baz
I have read elsewhere, possibly on the Kontakt forum, that it does tend to start soaking up the available memory, but that isn’t a set pattern for how and when it does so. I did wonder if that was what we are up against, but I am having the same problem with the Wavestate Native vst as well.
I’m starting to narrow this down. I don’t believe it’s related to memory usage because it happens on the first audio cycle of some instances of Kontakt.
For some reason, Cantabile thinks one of Kontakt’s audio busses has over 1 billion audio channels. Not sure why yet.
Question for those seeing crashes: are you being prompted to send a crash report?
After coming home from this mornings live set I upgraded to build 4201, but the crackling problem persists. I started Cantabile and loaded this mornings set list, then left the system for half an hour, which usually caused the problem, and yes, it was there. So I went into Diagnostics and turned “Slow VST3 Buffer Prep” on, and for now it seems to have worked. So I decided to watch couple of Youtubes and then go back to Cantabile, only to find that now there is a problem with the Youtube audio - it sounds like what you her when speaking into a fan! And it presists even when turning “Buffer Prep” back off again. I have to close Cantabile before Youtube sounds “human” again.
Wondering if it was a general sound issue, I then tried this with with audio via Facebook, both audio direct from a meme, then a link to a Soundcloud mp3, then a Youtube linked via Facebook, and all of them worked fine. But as soon as I went back directly to a Youtube video, it was back to the “fan-voice” effect, nd again, it only clears by closing Cantabile down.
It won’t be much of a problem for me, as I don’t use Youtubes during a live set, ut it does suggest ther are still issues to be resolved.
I doubt the issues/changes being discussed here would affect audio from other programs. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of Cantabile doing that.
So I suspect there’s something else going on - perhaps you’re just over-taxing your machine? What audio driver are you using?
I am using the Steinberg Audio Interface and driver that is in the Yamaha Mx61 keyboard which I have always used. Also, I am not over-taxing my machine - I have recently upgraded to an i7 2.8GHz processor with 16Gb of Ram, and the problem exists whether I am using one song or a set list, 4 plug-ins to 29 plug-ins. I only discovered the Youtube issue yesterday by chance. The crackling generally occurs after Cantabile has been ticking over with no playing for a few minutes, so I decided to fill some time in watching Youtube videos before coming back for another play. And I have watched Youtubes before while Cantabile is running without issue, and the problem disappears once Cantabile has been closed down. It won’t bother me too much - as I said earlier I don’t combine the two during a live set or rehearsal, only during private practice, so I will simply have to switch the “Prep” off before “Youtubing”! The main thing is that the crackling now does not occur, so I am well happy, as the noise was quite disruptive during worship time!
I have tested all the VST3s I use on the gigPC with Cantabile v4199,
both with “Show VST3 Buffer Prep.” on and off.
I found no noticeable difference, no performance issues.
Then I repeated the tests with the unofficial v4202. Still no any changes, all works smoothly… My VST3 list:
N.I. Kontakt 7. Jon V Audio FirComp2. AAS Lounge Lizard EP-4. Gforce SEM. The Surge Team Surge XT. Universal Audio Minimoog, Waterfall organ, Lexicon 224 Reverb, PolyMAX synth. Waves IR1 Efficient (reverb).
