DanielK's Forum Page

So, I have just tested eXT2 VSTi with Reaper. It works flawlessly there,
so we can assume MIDI from eXT2 is working.

Yes it is the built-in arpeggiator. I don’t know how to make sure it outputs MIDI from the plugin,
since I can’t insert a MIDI monitor etc. in the Podium chain.
All I know is that I can hear an arpeggio sound in the Podium track from a synth VST
that is loaded inside eXT2. But no MIDI gets recorded afterwards.

I want to record a plugin output straight to the track,
in this case arpeggiator’s MIDI output, so that I can then experiment
to my heart’s content with what comes out 🙂

I wanted to avoid any heavy third party software to workaround it,
but if that’s the only way, then I probably have no choice?

Yes, it still crashes upon disabling plugin multiprocessing, however Nebula 3 seems to be rock solid stable. The reason I used Nebula 2 was I’m going to buy it because of it’s large vector sample set (100+) of great hardware for just 20 euros, and I’m not sure if they will work with Nebula 3 Free (100 euros for full version). It sounds splendid! Reverbs and Preamps are outstanding. I don’t think any VST can come close to this sound. Reverbs have a silky soft tail, they don’t make you work harder on your mix, instead they help to blend. Preamps are just beautiful. Very analog and warm sounding. I recommend it. The only drawback is, it is a CPU hog, so it means a lot of rendering and Preamp analog saturation often needs 2< instances of Nebula in chain to really hear the difference.

@Zynewave wrote:

I think this is due to the way the Microsoft Synth works. When the MS Synth is enabled, it will allocate its output to the default audio device as configured in the Windows Control Panel. Most ASIO drivers will not initialize if the soundcard is locked by another application, in this case the MS synth. Tricky 😮

Yeah that pretty much explains it 🙂 Thanks 🙂

Would it be possible to add a message box to let the user know that two outputs fought each other, so no one thinks it’s a bug anymore?

@Zynewave wrote:

Do you mean it makes no difference to the crash caused by the pitch bend track?

Yes

I have sent you the project file. Let me know if you can recreate the bug.

Daniel

@Zynewave wrote:

Please describe the appearance of “negative CPU usage”. Can you post a screenshot?

It’s very hard because those negative spikes only appear for a split second and at totally random moments.

I have created some screenshots for you to take a look.

http://i41.tinypic.com/157zpxk.png – everything is OK, only 1 core is running

http://i44.tinypic.com/2vbk8qs.png – everything is OK, only 1 core is running here as well, ASIO driver report

http://i41.tinypic.com/1zno2o3.png – 2 cores, problems start here, it takes 2-10 seconds for the transport to respond to first time PLAY or after being stopped. Also see the CPU meter.

http://i41.tinypic.com/34nk70y.png – 2 cores, same problems here, take a look at CPU meter.

http://i42.tinypic.com/zj9bi9.png – 2 cores, take a look at the ASIO driver report and compare.

http://i43.tinypic.com/11vmwbc.png – 2 cores, transport does not start upon pressing PLAY, the timing bar does not move from 0:00.

http://i39.tinypic.com/2pqko7a.png – 2 cores, transport does finally start after 20-30 seconds. Notice the CPU meter.

http://i40.tinypic.com/egtkpw.png – 2 cores, managed to catch the CPU spike on a screenshot here.

@Zynewave wrote:

Instead of limiting the processor affinity to one core, try disabling the “plugin multiprocessing” option in preferences. Does this also work to get rid of the spikes? If so, try with a new arrangement using other plugins. The spikes may be caused by a plugin that is not coded to be multiprocessing compatible.

Disabling / enabling multiprocessing was the first thing I checked before posting here. I have tried 3 other VSTs from different makers, same effect.

@Zynewave wrote:

You can set up multiple tracks with VSTis, and then make phantom copies of the sequences on the tracks. Changing the note sequence in one track will then automatically be reflected in the other tracks.

Thanks a lot, worked like a charm!
Daniel