Kontakt 5 problem - FIXED!!! How about THAT?!!!

[BillW]

I installed the 64 bit version of Mixcraft (and still of course have the 32 bit version).

In opening a project in the 64bit version, I get this message regarding Kontakt 5:
This project was generated using a a newer version of the application. Please upgrade your copy to recall the project.

So I tried the 32bit version and get the same message.

OK- it would seem that by installing the 64bit MX, it replaced whatever Kontakt 5 I had with an older version.

So what do I do?

(By the way, I now also have a different problem with another plugin, but I'll address that one later.)

[BillW]

Update - still a problem though:

I loaded Kontakt 6 and made sure the VSTs went into the folders I commonly use rather than its suggestions.

I still get the same error. An error clearly caused by my loading Mixcraft 8 Pro Studio 64bit.

I use Chris Hein Horns a lot in my projects. I have several templates set up with horns set in a way I've determined through a lot of work sound the way I want.

ALL of that is now lost. I have no idea what - if anything - I did wrong.

Kontakt 5 shows in my vst list. As now does Kontakt 6. But for the instruments I had set up, they simply down't play.

I love Mixcraft - don't get me wrong. But I don't know how / why loading the 64bit version would essentially wipe out a lot of my work.

Hopefully there is an easy answer to this. Software should be easy to use.

[BillW]

Had to edit the above. I typed "all is not lost" when I meant "all is NOW lost". Big difference.

I think it's a matter of somehow getting back to the version of Kontakt 5 I was using instead of the one that apparently comes with Mixcraft.

But how?

I'm very disappointed - I get such little time as it is to use this and I've been set back so far it's made it rather "unfun".

In some sense this may be a Kontakt issue I suppose. I fear there is no real solution other than throwing away the work I've done with the horns and starting over.

The version of Kontakt 5 that I get now after this new install doesn't even show Chris Hein Horns. But Kontakt 6 (which is now simply called "Kontakt") does. (EDIT - I was wrong; the Kontakt 5 version that is there DOES show Chris Hein; but it doesn't show the instrument I assigned to that track)

Still - it's a LOT of work to get it all back to how I had it. I didn't keep notes on what settings I used because I figured the templates were my notes. So I'd literally be starting from step 1 - hoping I remember what I set and why. I doubt I even remember which of the several trumpets I used and why.

I don't mean to criticize a product I've loved for years - and would still heartily recommend - but this simply should not have happened and to be honest I have very little interest in spending the time it will take to recover all this - given how busy I am with my two jobs and other things.

[BillW]

One final post for the night -

It is likely I'm wrong in saying some version of Kontakt comes with Mixcraft. I don't see it anywhere in its 3rd party DLL / VST folder.

So it even more of a puzzlement why installing 64bit MX created this error.

I come to find I now have at least 3 versions of Kontakt on my machine. The one in the project is a version 5, but there is a newer one (standalone) that I have as well. Presumably the issue is in mixing up those 2.

I've since installed version 6 as well.

Given that certain VSTs only work inside of Kontakt as a player, and given that DAWs load Kontakt and not the software being triggered, it gets pretty confusing in a hurry. And since upgrading the player in effect creates a completely separate additional VST (rather than upgrading the one that's there) it gets worse.

So I have to concede that maybe none of this is a Mixcraft issue.

Which doesn't make it any less frustrating. Actually, it's worse than that. Given what I'm staring at - I have lost all interest in this. Too much frustration and time needed to get back to where I was. So many of my projects are of little use anymore.

So - like I needed to do when I switched machines and could not recover any of my old projects (since the files were scattered in a non-intuitive way and I did not organize things efficiently) I may simple reload Mixcraft and act like I have no previous projects.

There simply must be a "best practice" way of organizing projects, files, VSTs, VSTi's etc. I suspect there are tutorials on this somewhere. If I'm literally going to start over, I may as well do it right/better.

[JonInc]

Very unlikely it's a Mixcraft issue.

You should uninstall Kontakt 5 and 6, including all VST (DLL) files, and start over. (Sample libraries are not VSTs. Kontakt itself is a VST as well as a standalone program).

You should probably just install one version or the other. If you have any projects with K5, then definitely stick with that for now. Though K5 and K6 can exist side by side, there's no practical reason to install both when you are experiencing problems and trying to troubleshoot.

Bottom line, K6 is not a "fix" for K5. Figure out why K5 isn't working right in MC, then once you've done that, upgrade to K6 if you wish.

This tutorial on using Kontakt in MC7 might help:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_2H83s1vsE

[BillW]

The problem is simple to state - impossible to determine the fix.

I've used Kontakt 5 many times in projects for the horn software I have. I was ignorant of what version it was, nor did I think it mattered. It worked.

Then I installed 64bit Mixcraft. I opened my most recent project and got the error I typed in the first post.

i had NOT installed any other version of Kontakt, made no changes to anything at all.

I suppose it couldn't hurt to uninstall Kontakt 5 and reinstall it with the latest version. I will try that.

In the VST list for that instrument, it shows it's assigned to Kontakt 5. But the flute from Chris Hein Horns is not assigned. So when I play that track, it's silent. Again, it says I created it with a newer version.

How / why is it loading or assigning that track to an older version of Kontakt 5?

I realize Kontakt 6 is essentially a totally separate VST. And it shows as such in the list of VSTs (as simply 'Kontakt'). So loading that didn't help, but didn't hurt either.

I can't 100% agree it's not a Mixcraft issue when the problem arose ONLY from installing 64bit Mixcraft. At best I will concede that perhaps somehow Kontakt isn't playing well with Mixcraft. But I've upgraded my 32bit to the latest build without this issue (though of course that's a different install process)

Bottom line - no matter whose "fault" it is -
Installing 64bit Mixcraft left my projects and templates that use Kontakt broken.

[chibear]

Here's something to try:

First of all duplicate your project just in case.......

Install a later version of Kontakt 5 (try to remember which you were using pre-problem as after 5.3 each version comes with its own set of bugs). Keep 6. You'll want it for any future Kontakt installations.

Load your project and ignore all the error messages.

For all the Kontakt tracks that don't work, load some other nonKontakt instrument, then load Kontakt 5 and the appropriate instrument and it should work. You will have to reprogram any CC# and host automations you added to Kontakt and will probably have to redo any host automations in Mixcraft.

IF for some reason you cannot access your Kontakt library from the 'Library' tab, try doing it through the 'Files' tab and it should work.

I know, big pain in the ass, but at least you should have your projects back.

[JonInc]

Bill, the reason I maintain it's not the fault of MC 8 x64 is that Kontakt 5 is working just fine in MC 8 x64 on my system. Also, to my knowledge, no one else on the forum has reported this issue.

Let's go back and take a look at your VST settings....

Native Access annoyingly chooses its own VST paths when installing NI products. For a 64 bit system, that would be here:

C:\Program Files\Native Instruments\VSTPlugins 64 bit

If you didn't add this folder in Mixcraft's VST prefs (or run an autoscan for VSTs), then MC can't possibly see it.

If you did do all that, then, again, I would go back and reinstall K5 using Native Access. It wouldn't hurt to start everything with 'Run as Administrator" to see if it makes a difference.

[Acoustica Greg]

Hi,

A customer recently wrote about problems loading Kontakt libraries, and in his case, installing 64-bit Kontakt helped (he was using 32-bit Kontakt in 64-bit Mixcraft), so that's another factor to consider: match the bit depth of the plugin to the host (32-bit Kontakt in 32-bit Mixraft and 64-bit Kontakt in 64-bit Mixcraft).

Greg

[BillW]

JonInc -
I appreciate the response and suggestion. But understand that I can get these instruments back from the Kontakt 5 it DID find - as well as Kontakt 6 which I decided to load even though it didn't help.

But in some cases I have to remember which instrument I used. For example, Chris Hein Horns has several trumpets, saxes, and trombones. And then I have to remember what articulations and other settings I used.

BTW way when I installed 6 I put the plugins in the VST folders I set up rather than NIs

BUT - maybe the issue IS a part of this. Maybe I don't have the 64bit Kontakt 5 VST for the version I used before in the project - but DO have it for the older version. So it tried to use that and of course couldn't get it set up as before.

Still - then why now won't the project load right in the 32bit version where it was originally created? Note that I never saved the project that opened incorrectly - I quit out without saving it - so it should be back to its original state - and is, as evidenced by always getting the error message.

I have no doubt Kontakt 5 works in 64bit - it's just that I guess I have multiple builds of it and for some reason it gets confused. That's clearly on NI - they shouldn't keep an old build of the same product (5) around if I upgrade to a new one.

To be fair - I realize I'm essentially out of options other than perhaps uninstalling Kontakt 5 AND 6 and reinstalling Kontakt 5.

Can't hurt anymore.

Again, thanks for the suggestions and reading through my "rants"!

[starise]

Good luck with this Bill. I'm at work or I would attempt to duplicate some of what you describe.

If you see what appears to be multiple copies of Kontakt in your folder this is usually because they are single and multiple output versions of the same version and program. Why NI doesn't make them say "8 out" "16 out" and so forth is beyond me. I have had to go in and rename them so I could identify them since they only read "Kontakt"

NI has had recent updates. If you updated through their software app it might have made some changes to file locations which you might need to redirect. Hopefully it didn't.

Concerning the saving of programs and configurations as you mentioned you've done with your brass libraries. This is usually saved and retained within Mixcraft. If Mixcraft can't find the setup something has obviously changed since the last time you used those layouts or things would have launched. In any case I highly recommend against uninstalling or changing anything until you uncover any other possibilities. Doing so might cause you to loose valuable work. Adding Kontakt 6 into the mix might have further confused the issue. With computers the less you do the better if something was working. Many times after NI release an update they might issue another patch soon after discovering that what they did caused another issue. For this reason I try to stay away from new versions until they have been out awhile.

[BillW]

The project I first tried is one I have been working on off and on recently - as recently as a few days ago. So it's not that.

I truly feel - since I've lost all the settings for the horns I settled on - I may as well start clean. And by clean I mean way beyond just Kontakt. As I said, I have VSTs all over the place - probably duplicate and triplicate copies and probably different versions. (Free ones I mean)

But even paid versions. I probably only have the 32 bit ones.

Projects and files and sounds used etc not in an optimized organization (whatever that actually is).

So since most every template I have with horns is broken - and old projects can't be remixed if I ever had the inkling to do such - I'm in effect a fresh user of Mixcraft. May as well archive all the old stuff (or delete it, like I finally did when I messed up moving to t new computer) and start all over - including VSTs.

That is- if I can ever find the time. And motivation. i guess the real issue is the fact this IS just an occasional hobby for me - and I don't know enough to keep me from messing up like this.

Maybe I'll take up bird watching or stamp collecting.

[Thomas]

It seems Kontakt wasn't agreeable with the move to 64 bit. I would give Kontakt support a call (or email) to see what they have to say.

[mixyguy2]

If I didn't know better I'd say NI and Avid were the same company...they both have that Microsoft "we know you're hooked so we don't care if our stuff is buggy and/or user-unfriendly as hell" attitude. Plus I've seen enough of it as well as headaches others have had to know they'll likely never have me as a customer...anyway...

Sorry Bill don't have an answer but hope you get it untangled. I agree with Mark on uninstalling all Kontakts you have and starting fresh w/the last version you know worked...you might want to try cleaning out your registry as well, as often apps don't "totally" uninstall and leave junk in there which may be tripping you up (I'd say odds are not but it's not so far-fetched).

[Thomas]

There still might be a chance that you can recover your templates so for that reason I might want to talk to NI before I uninstalled anything. Just another 2 cents.