Issue with Sidechain using VSTis

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formerbusinessowner
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Issue with Sidechain using VSTis

Post by formerbusinessowner »

I had a project behaving very strangely and eventually figured out the issue was an instance of Acoustica 31 band EQ I was using to affect a bass synth volume via a side-chain to a kick from omni-sampler (sidechaining the kick to the volume knob of the plugin)

Oddly the instance of Omni-sampler and the bass synth (dist bass in impulse) were the only things working correctly in the project - interacting with ANY other VSTi track (even the submix parent tracks of other VSTis - things like resizing and muting these tracks, playback, even trying to delete these tracks) caused mixcraft to freeze/not respond

The project is working normally after deactivating the EQ plugin (I'll re-activate it and remove the instance now I know the problem). Is there a problem using MIDI instruments as audio sidechains for VST parameters? or is this a unique case?

Will update if I run into more issues
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Acoustica Greg
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Re: Issue with Sidechain using VSTis

Post by Acoustica Greg »

Hi,

Do you have Mixcraft v9.0 build 452?

By sidechaining, do you mean you're using Mixcraft's audio control feature to send audio from an Omni Sampler track to control the volume control like this?
Using audio control on 31 Band EQ
Using audio control on 31 Band EQ
audiocontrol31bandeq.png (56.86 KiB) Viewed 3650 times


What other VSTi plugins were involved? I can't get the problem to happen.


Greg
Mixcraft - The Musician's DAW
Check out our tutorial videos on YouTube: Mixcraft 10 University 101
formerbusinessowner
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Re: Issue with Sidechain using VSTis

Post by formerbusinessowner »

Yes that's exactly what I was doing, same thing happened when I tried the same thing using a different plugin's volume. I disabled all third party plugins and they made no difference, even with just the EQ plugin and audio control it was crashing the project - no crashes once removed. I'll see if I can replicate it in a new project to isolate the issue further

Edit - Yes I'm definitely using the latest build
formerbusinessowner
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Re: Issue with Sidechain using VSTis

Post by formerbusinessowner »

I was able to recreate the crash on a separate computer - same setup with the audio control turning down another VSTi instrument's output gain each time the sample hits. Everything works fine with those two tracks alone until I add a MIDI clip to a third VSTi track - at that point interacting with that third VSTi track (e.g. playing individual MIDI clips on that track, playing the whole project) crashes mixcraft

After playing around a bit more it looks like the problem is using undividual sub-tracks (i.e. 1.1 Omni Out 1) from the 8 out version of Omni-sampler as the audio controller. The problem didn't occur using when using the parent track
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Acoustica Greg
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Re: Issue with Sidechain using VSTis

Post by Acoustica Greg »

Hi,

That last bit was it! I can duplicate it by trying to use the audio from a multi-out child track to control another plugin. It doesn't have to be Omni Sampler. I also got it to happen with EZDrummer.

Thanks for reporting this! I'll file a bug.

Greg
Mixcraft - The Musician's DAW
Check out our tutorial videos on YouTube: Mixcraft 10 University 101
formerbusinessowner
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Re: Issue with Sidechain using VSTis

Post by formerbusinessowner »

No problem! Glad we figured it out
sparella
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Re: Issue with Sidechain using VSTis

Post by sparella »

I'm having this same issue with EZDrummer 3 when using a kick drum track as the sidechain for MAutoDynamicEQ. Since trying to sidechain the kick, I've had crashes, a corrupted project file, and strange routing behavior: the audio from EZD3 can only be heard when solo'd. Unsolo'd there is no activity on the vsti track's vu meter and the only drum sound comes from a reverb send.
I'm pretty sure this is the exact same behavior I had earlier this year when demoing TrackSpacer plugin to do the same thing. I reported the issue on the forum here the only help I got was in the form of the question: are you using the latest version. Yes, definitely using the latest version. (Clicking on update reports that both the program and the loop library are up to date.)

This bug was reported and confirmed two and a half years ago. What is the news?
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Acoustica Greg
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Re: Issue with Sidechain using VSTis

Post by Acoustica Greg »

Hi,

When you say you have the latest version, is it Mixcraft 9.0 build 470?

I just tried getting the problem to happen, but I couldn't. I don't have that Melda plugin. Does it have to be that MAutoDynamicEQ, or does it happen if you control any plugin? Is MAutoDynamicEQ VST or VST3? Does it happen with both?

Greg
Mixcraft - The Musician's DAW
Check out our tutorial videos on YouTube: Mixcraft 10 University 101
sparella
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Re: Issue with Sidechain using VSTis

Post by sparella »

Yes, build 470. VST3s. The same thing happened with Wavesfactory Trackspacer VST3 when I demo'd it. With Tokyo Dawn Nova GE VST3, the behavior is the same.
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Acoustica Greg
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Re: Issue with Sidechain using VSTis

Post by Acoustica Greg »

Hi,

The original problem reported in this topic two and a half years ago was freezing, and that seems to be fixed as far as I can tell.

The soloing problem you mentioned makes it sound like another track is soloed. Make sure that no other tracks are soloed if that happens again.

For the crashing and/or corrupted project files, if that happens again, quit Mixcraft and send us your mixcraft-log.txt file.

To find the mixcraft-log file, highlight the following line and press Ctrl+C to copy it:

Code: Select all

%appdata%\Acoustica\Mixcraft\
Press the Windows Key+R to pop up the Run box in Windows. Click in the Run box and press Ctrl+V to paste in the line from above. Finally, click OK to go to the location of the mixcraft-log.txt file. Submit an Acoustica Support Request and attach the log file along with a brief description of the problem.

Greg
Mixcraft - The Musician's DAW
Check out our tutorial videos on YouTube: Mixcraft 10 University 101
sparella
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Re: Issue with Sidechain using VSTis

Post by sparella »

The file corruption was the crash recovery project, screenshot attached. Maybe thats just an unsuccessful recovery and not related?

Concerning the routing, I am sure that nothing is soloed. (Though, it would be easier to be certain of that if one could right click on the solo button and then select "Un-solo All".)
In the image below, it can be seen that EZD3 is generating output signal, and there are no plugins on the audio-generating track 4.1.2.5.1 to interfere, yet there is no audio on the EZD3 track's vu meter (track 4.1.2.5). This is representative of what I am hearing, or rather not hearing: No drum sound other than reverb send (on 4.1.2.5).
EZD3 No Output.jpg
EZD3 No Output.jpg (538.41 KiB) Viewed 2342 times
Only when the virtual instrument track is soloed does the audio output correctly. See how the track's VU meter is showing activity as it should in the image below. This odd behavior started when I attempted to use the kick drum track as the sidechain input for a compressor.
Some Output.jpg
Some Output.jpg (732.97 KiB) Viewed 2342 times
Attachments
FIle Corruption.png
FIle Corruption.png (71.59 KiB) Viewed 2342 times
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Acoustica Greg
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Re: Issue with Sidechain using VSTis

Post by Acoustica Greg »

Hi,

Yeah, file recovery projects are sometimes be corrupted, if the crash interrupted the saving process. It's better to open the original project, or a backup project (inside the Backup folder inside your project folder).

To automatically un-solo all other tracks, hold down the Ctrl key and click on a solo button.

Greg
Mixcraft - The Musician's DAW
Check out our tutorial videos on YouTube: Mixcraft 10 University 101
sparella
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Re: Issue with Sidechain using VSTis

Post by sparella »

Thanks for the tip to un-solo all!

Do you see the issue with the routing that I am talking about?
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Acoustica Greg
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Re: Issue with Sidechain using VSTis

Post by Acoustica Greg »

HI,

My suggestion didn't help with the routing issue? Did you try it? If not, try that.

If it doesn't help, please send the project in and we'll check it out.

Greg
Mixcraft - The Musician's DAW
Check out our tutorial videos on YouTube: Mixcraft 10 University 101
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