You're welcome!

From recollection, I don't think it matters whether it is 'Run As Administrator' or not - what is key is that both Cubase and VEP had to have the same setting as each other to avoid the error.

Cheers,

David.

Hi Chris,

Sadly, already tried that. There is clearly some difference between Cubase 8 and 7.5, in that I only get this issue with Cubase 8. Even if your solution worked for me, it wouldn't solve my problem. Say I had reached the mixing stage and found there was an issue with a particular instrument and I wanted to just replace that instrument. Normally I would load the project in Cubase and then VEP, so that opening the project would not trigger opening all 20GB of instances when I only wanted to re-record just 1 350MB instrument. I use 2 slaves, but all my brass is still hosted on the DAW.

I have raised a ticket with Steinberg with disappointing results - it took 2 weeks for their first response which was effectively a 'turn if off, turn it on again we assume you're an idiot standard response' with an 'it's VEP causing the problem so it's not our fault anyway' footer. I replied immediately pointing out why it is an eLicenser issue as much as a VEP issue and that they should maybe be a little more helpful (but more polite than that!) 8 days ago and so far - tumbleweed.

I haven't raised a VSL ticket at this point because the problem only occurs with CB8 - but maybe it is worth a try. I guess I'm assuming that VSL don't necessarily understand the inner workings of the eLicenser (which is of course, as the error messages show, the bit that is falling over).

Originally Posted by: chrishawk

I've had this exact issue on two separate builds; using Win7 x64 and Win8.1 Pro x64. Only when I recently moved over from Ableton to Cubase and the latter did not start up (since it needs eLicenser) did I realize that VEP Pro is the culpit. In my previous build, Ableton would fail to open any plugins requiring eLicenser. In my current build with Cubase, Cubase simply won't load and shows the error message as reported in above posts.

All in all, over the last year, I have spent more time updating eLicenser, rebooting the computer (according to the error message), changing USB ports for the key, than what I have spent in VEP Pro and Vienna Instruments Pro!

Since VEP is the only program that seems to cause this issue, I would not be so quick to blame Steinberg, Paul.

Thanks a lot for the proposed fix, Stiltzkinz! Attempted this last night, but Win8 gave me some issues with "SeLicenser.sel" being object protected. Will try to find a way around that though. Maybe I will be able to finally use VEP Pro after a year and a half of crashes :)

Regards,

Christoffer

Did you arrive at a solution for this problem?

I have the reverse situation with Cubase 8. If I launch Cubase 8 then attempt to launch VEP I get the attached errors as described above. Replacing SeLicenser.sel, uninstalling and reinstalling all products has no effect. Any suggestions welcome.

OK, at least for me, I have found a solution.

Bearing in mind the experiences of others I decided to try one single instance on the 'bad pc' with only the bass drum loaded in a single Kontakt plug-in. It worked fine.

So I then set about a process of trial and error with the project metaframe (2 instances VEP, 13 Kontakt, 4 Massive, 1 Zebra 2) deleting, switching off sync and so forth until I arrived at a culprit. If I have Soundiron Rust 2 'All Untuned Ensemble (Lite or Full) loaded with Kontakt tempo sync switched on (for that particular hosting Kontakt plug-in) then all instruments on that VEP instance exhibit the tempo change related drop-out (even though the Rust instument has none of it's sync features 'switched on' in the GUI). Interestingly, despite seemingly identical functionality within Rust 1 and Rust 3, they don't cause any problems.

So from there it's pretty straight forward to come up with a work-around. The lesson I guess is that a single instrument can cause performance deteriation for an entire VEP instance - so the trial and error approach is always worth a try - even if it doesn't seem to make any sense. As I don't host any Vienna Instruments on that slave I wasn't able to see if VIP would have been immune - but as the issue seemed to be affecting VEP, I suspect it wouldn't.

If VSL has a working relationship with Soundiron this might be worth a mention if any other Rust/VEP users can replicate my issue. Similarly, if so, it might be worth bringing NI into the loop so they can issue guidence to developers to avoid whatever scripting causes this issue if they want to be VEP-friendly.

Cheers,

David.

Hi,

Just tried it with both Zero and 4 (my usual setting is 2) - results identical, no difference.

I just spotted this thread:

https://community.vsl.co.at/forums/t/32858.aspx?PageIndex=1

Key differences in my case:

1. Seems to afect all plug-ins
2. Processor jumps to zero during glitch, not 100
3. Turning off Kontakt sync has no effect
4. Issue only affects one Slave - the other is fine

Cheers,

David.

Update:

More results; not necessarily any clearer.

I have tried hosting on a different slave PC - no issues, everything plays fine. All settings for VEP identical. All settings for Kontakt identical. Only 66% of memory used.

I then tried running a Taiko instrument on the 'Problem Slave' using Best Service Engine instead of Kontakt - issue replicated; then tried a Taiko from Stormdrum 2 using Play 4 - same result -  so it doesn't seem to be Kontakt related - but seems instead to relate to running via VEP on this specific slave.

Both 'Good Slave' and 'Bad Slave" are running Windows 8.0. 'Bad Slave' is an i7/ 2.67 GHz/ 64bit with 12GB RAM and samples on a SATA III SSD drive - so it should be butch enough to run smoothly. The Ethernet adapter is up to date and the Ethernet cable new and tested there is a dip in ethernet activity shown in the task manager graph during the glitch - which I guess indicates that VEP isn't transmitting at that point.

The glitch occurs at the exact moment the display at the bottom of VEP changes from 72 to 144, which is about 1.5+ seconds after the tempo has changed in Cubase (the tempo change for 'Good Slave' is about 0.20 sec later than Cubase).

Hope someone has more lights switching on than I have

Hi,

I'm experiencing an odd issue and wondered if anyone had any ideas.

I have a point in a cue I'm writing where 'business picks up'. I make a tempo change in Cubase 7.0.6 (PC Windows 7) to double the tempo. I'm using the Soundiron Apocalypse bass drum ensemble to introduce a beat. At the same time as I change tempo (jump) from 72 to 144 I change time signature from 6/4 to 7/4.

My BDE hits (1st bar of new tempo/time signature) are on 1,2,3,4.5,5.5,6.5. The first hit plays fine, the second cuts out after a few miliseconds then the release plays at the right place, the third skips entirely and the rest play fine. In the second bar (identical rhythm) all hits play fine.

If I don't do a tempo change - everything plays fine. If I host Kontakt 5.2 directly in Cubase and keep the tempo change evrything plays fine. I have tried a couple of other drum libraries and the result is the same - so it isn't unique to Apocalypse. I am using VEP 5.2.12808 and Apocalypse is hosted on a Slave PC running WIndows 8.0

Can anyone think of a setting I could consider adjusting to make this problem go away?

Thanks,

David.

PS. 13:16 2013 11 04: I just tried it hosted in VEP locally and it works fine so the issue just seems to be with the remote slave. All machines are Gigabit Ethernet.

Hi Danny,

Barring disasters, I operate a set up that includes one master and three slaves (though I only need all if it's a big orchestral cue with choir and sound design). However, as I already said, I get the problem just running the master PC on its own.

VEP 5 and Kontakt 5 don't seem to play quite so nice together as the version 4s did. They have both made some architecture changes which, as the issue with Kontakt reloading samples when you first selected tracks demonstrated, these have introduced the potential for new conflicts. Of course, as I understand it, you have been having these issues since before those versions were released.

Since Cubase 7 I also have Kontakt issues where instruments spontaneously transpose without showing any settings changes, in Cubase 6 - that used to spontaneously transpose even when the transpose insert wasn't active. And all versions randomly zero the main volume on Kontakt instruments unless you set them to ignore incoming volume & pan messages.

Having said all that, I wouldn't be at all surprised to find that the culprit was Windows! ;-)

Hi,

I am using Kontakt 5 in all my projects, although for me the problem is more recent - I certainly didn't have it in say the Sept 2012 version of VEP5, but I suppose it may co-incide with Kontakt 5.1 which is about the same time period of the last couple of VEP updates?

In the case I'm talking about, the problem occurs more often in the instance loaded on the DAW not on a slave. I do use slaves sometimes, but I don't recall having had this problem with a slave based VEP server - always seems to be local and always after a period of inactivity (never had it happen while working).

Hi,

In the past couple of versions of VE Pro 5 I am experiencing a similar issue. After a period of inactivity Cubase will generate midi, the activity light will flash on the VE Pro plug-in but no midi is received at the server end. I am using 1 instance locally and no EW products are included anywhere in the set-up. I have a fixed IP address.

If I attempt to play an instrument in Kontakt using mouse and keyboard no sounds are generated (as if the server is not connected). The server interface shows the 'slave' to be connected - the server instance shows as connected to localhost as does the instance and the instance GUI is responsive - just doesn't receive midi or instruments make sound. Both Cubase and VE Pro are capable of saving.

After that, the symptoms are the same - any attempt to switch engine off and on and so forth will cause both Cubase and VE Pro to crash. If I attempt to disconnect, Cubase will crash. If I hard quit Cubase and re-open the project file, force disconnect the VE Pro server in order to reconnect, both Cubase and VE Pro will crash on attempted reconnection.

The only solution seems to be to force-quit both and re-open the project from scratch. As there have been a couple of updates to Cubase during the same period and I have added new plug-ins there could be a number of causes - but VE Pro is where the symptoms are produced.

Cheers Andi, I think I can live with that solution

I merely suggested a development opportunity as Steinberg's product clearly outputs the data, as demonstrated by my ability to use it with Kontakt and CS2. I naturally assumed there might be an opportunity to adapt VI Pro and Dimension Strings so it does too

Thanks Andi,

On the expression maps you have released you have the string assignments listed as if they were articulations (i.e. in Group 1 as Directions). If say I were using Legato Vib as an articulation having started using the 'Regular' matrix and then switched to Sul G - would the result be Legato Vib Sul G? If so, then I could probably live with having to reselect Regular before changing articulation. If the only option is 240 articulations in a map - then, I would agree, it's unworkable and it would make more sense to switch between string assignments the 'old skool' way using midi notes (I assume that would work?)

For future development, it would be very useful if the matrix selection keyswitches responded to Group 2/3/4 attribute assignments

Hi,

I don't really use Expression Maps for scoring notation but for controlling VSTi. I would like to have all my articulations in say Group 1 but then be able to choose between strings as attributes or directions in say Group 2 (I use a similar method for CS2 switching between low and high position) but this doesn't seem to work. Is this sort of functionality not possible - i.e. I would need to create 6 x articulations to be able to switch string assignments 'on the fly'?

Thanks,

I discussed this with support back in March (Case 100978), and we pretty much exhausted all the options they could think of at that point. I hope by putting this forum related stake in the ground that if anyone else has the same issue and a solution can be found, I might get in on the action.

I suspect there is something my network set up is doing which clashes with some aspect of the VEP functionality, but as I didn't design either, I'm not really sure where to start. I guess if I'm the only one with this problem then that suggests the fix should be simple (just changing a setting or a piece of hardware to match everyone else).

For reference:

DAW - ASUS P6T SE Motherboard, using built in ethernet running Windows 7 64

Slave - ASUS P9X79 Motherboard using built in ethernet running Windows XP 64

ADSL Router - Netgear DGND3700 (this has been changed recently, but the behavior was the same using its predecessor)

Switch - Netgear GS608 v3 (this has been changed recently, but the behavior was the same using its predecessor)

All cables have been replaced.

I'd love to hear from anyone using that set up who isn't having this issue so we can compare settings etc.

Cheers,

David.

Reporting back, lasted 8 hours before disconnecting itself. Same behavior, slave still believes itself to be connected - DAW knows it isn't.

Any ideas where to go from here?

Thanks,

David.

OK, done. If it remains connected until tomorrow then it will have made a difference!

In the meantime, would you mind explaining why you believe a fixed IP address will change this behavior? Do you believe my slave is temporarily disconnecting in order to verify the ip address?

Hi,

I have a similar issue with my slave randomly disconnecting.

The DAW is running Windows 7, the slave XP64.

When the disconnection first occurs, the DAW notices immediately, but the Slave shows itself to still be connected. If I force disconnect and reconnect then everything goes back to normal. If I wait until the slave realises it has been disconnected then Cubase will crash 50% of the time when I try to reconnect.

I am not using a fixed IP address on the PCs, but they are allocated specific consitent IP addresses by the router.

Could the network adapter randomly connecting and reconnecting cause this kind of behavior?

Hi,

Using Cubase 6.5 I'm getting a gradual build-up in use of memory for Cubase at a rate of 100-300 MB per hour. This can end up at over 10GB memory usage for Cubase without it hosting a single sample.

This doesn't happen when I am only using a VEP instance on the slave PC, only when Cubase and VEP are running on the same PC. I am using latest builds of all software and only host samples in VEP.

As a side issue (but equally irritating), periodically Cubase will disconnect from the slave PC - using during an autosave (i.e. the instances become shown as disconnected in Cubase - but on the slave the VEP Server initially thinks it is still connected). I have to forceibly disconnect the instances on the slave before being able to re-connect again. Curiously, once I have done a mixdown - the problem goes away.

Happy to give more details - but first I just wondered if I was the only one with this issue and if anyone had any theories.

Cheers,

David.

Similar problem here;

If I load a previously saved project at some point in the load up an instance of Play will freeze ('preparing to load 0%) and the only route out is to use task manager to close Cubase - then load the project in Cubase with no VEP Servers running, then load the Metaframes, then re-connect.

I guess although maybe it is true that loading VEP and Cubase separately is quicker - it does mean I have to set up 3 separate slaves (finding and loading the right metaframes), which I'm sure uses up any loading time advantage - plus, as I say above - the one click load option allows me to get on with something else while Cubase chugs away.

Hopefully some miraculous update will get released which returns things to the old behaviour (without anyone having to admit it was their previous update that broke the workflow in the first place )

Cheers,

D.

Hi orchetect,

Could you be a little more specific? Which Kontakt based library (or libraries) is working with which version of Kontakt within which version of VE Pro?

Hi,

Is anyone else experiencing an issue where the Cinebrass GUI (specifically the Mapping buttons down the left hand side) don't function when Kontakt is loaded as an instance in VEP (but do work with Kontakt as stand-alone)? I think they used to work fine [not entirely certain] , but haven't for the last 2 VEP updates

Tested with Kontakt's 4 & 5 running on VEP 4.1.8861 - both 32 & 64 versions.

I'd like to start off by saying thank you to VSL for allowing me to announce my new website/composer community here on their forum. I think it speaks well of their openess and positive attitude towards giving the best possible support to their customers.

http://www.slb-o.com (Sample Library Bake-Off.com) is a site I decided to build to meet needs I have as a user of sample libraries and which I hope will prove useful to many of my fellow VSL user peers. The basic issues I am trying to address are as follows:

• When I visit forums I hear a lot of opinions about libraries, but how do I know which opinions to listen to when either trying to decide what to buy or whether the investments I have already made were good ones?
• Most Vendor websites offer demo tracks (this more than most!), but they are often using the instruments in a way I don't intend to or in a style of composition I don't produce. In my template I have samples from several vendors which I often layer, on vendor sites I can't hear demos prepared in that way, so I can't judge how the instruments will sound when used in my template
• VSL is I think alone in offering 'tutorials' for some of their demos. In addition to reading the manual, I spend hours of trial and error often before I get the results I want from a new purchase. How do I know I need a new library? Maybe I just need to learn how to get the best out of the ones I have - but that's not really a 'silver bullet' when I'm up against a tight deadline

The basic purpose of the site (following the 'bake-off model') is that members can post challenges in the form of midi files or musical notation of the kind of composition they feel they struggle to programme effectively with their current set up. Other members can then use that challenge in order to respond with a version produced using their set-up and libraries. They can also use the site to offer tutorials on their 'challenge responses' - which they can sell or offer gratis - so members not only discover what libraries to buy but also how to use them to get the sound they're looking for.

At this point I want to make it clear that there is no mechanism on the site to rank responses or libraries or determine which is best. It is down to each member to listen to what is posted and make that decision for themselves. My role is to organise the 'work in progress' posted within the site's forum onto the main site in a structured way that makes navigation quick and easy in a crisis.

So how is SLB-O different from this forum or VI Control (for exmple). Firstly, it is vendor neutral, so you can hear all available libraries in one place, back to back, reproducing the same compositions - a level playing field. Secondly, it's primary function is not discussion - discussion is restricted to a specific area in the forum; so if like me you don't want to have to wade through the 'holy wars' between advocates of different sound palettes to get to the useful information - then you don't have to.

Anyway, I have rambled on enough - there is comprehensive information about the concept and how it works on the site if the above makes you think it may be worth a look. To start things off, I have posted a challenge entitled 'Sinematic Siegfried' ( details of which you can find at http://www.slb-o.com/ind...es/6-Sinematic-Siegfried! ) which is a sectional brass challenge I have responded to using my own template. I would love to hear a version of this bit of Wagner created using DImension Brass - or in fact any of the VSL products, on their own, or as I have, combined with other libraries.

Thank you for taking the time to read this announcement and once again thank you to VSL for letting me post it. I would welcome feedback on anything I can do to make the site better meet your needs, so please get in touch.

Cheers,

David.

Hi,

Is anyone else having an issue whereby when you open a project, Hybrid Reverb has forgotten your chosen latency settings. I'm using it as a bus effect on Cubase 6 PC (W7) - whenever I reopen a project the latency has reset back to 512 and I have to go back through each instance and adjust to whatever latency I'd set the last time I saved. This issue does not occur with Convolution Reverb.

On the upside - In HR I don't have to load every IR twice before it holds like I did with CR; so I'm at about workflow effect neutral on balance!

Love the product though - it helps so much in the mix to be able to tweak so many parameters so everything can find its frequency / spatial home.

Cheers,

David.

I think it is always good to explore new things, and Zimmer et al have added to the musical palette with a blending of orchestral, electronic and sound design. On the other hand, I think the 'Zimmer style' in question (and I have no knowledge to suggest he's incapable of any other kind of writing)  fits a particular type of project - and if that kind of project is commercially successful then studios will want to replicate it - and they'll want what we are describing as a  'Zimmer style' score to go with theirs. From a commercial perspective - 'if it ain't broke...'

I have yet to see any of 'Pillars of the Earth' - but if it is along the lines of similar recent productions I can see why a Zimmer 'King Arthur' treatment would be called for. If the production style were more like I Claudius then maybe not.

Where I'm not convinced is that a classical pastiche would not be appropriate for a new Jane Austen adaptation just because it isn't 'with the times' or that the next Austin Powers shouldn't pastiche the film scores of the '60s. I think it is healthy for a composer to have a pallete which incorporates contrapuntal legato divisi string writing as well as scraping razor blades along piano wires and the use of the arpeggiator. My biggest concern is that a love of the current 'electronically assisted' writing techniques produces a generation of media composers who never get around to acquiring the more traditional skills - which you never know, may come in handy in the future (who'd have thought flares would have ever come back into fashion ?

The strange irony for me is that before this thread (which for those of us free from personal attack has had its entertaining contributions!) I didn't even know arpeggiators existed (that's how old school I am ) and have just acquired one (VST) to add to Cubase to play with. For me of course it's only likely to get used if I'm asked to write a techno track and have no idea what I'm doing - but it's always cool to play with a new toy. While I was looking for information I stumbled upon another thread which featured the traditional 'which is best, VSL / LASS / EWHS' debate. One school of thought expressed was that if you wanted to programme a Mozart symphony - you'd need VSL, the other two would be useless! Ever since I've been imagining some guy saying 'Karl Bohm's interpretation is so lame, and those Vienna Philharmonic guys are really unrealistic - I'll load up my new VI Pro and show 'em how it's done!

I am therefore consoling myself that in this community - being the guy who wishes John Williams had scored all the Harry Potter films but being quite content Hans Zimmer scored POTC and Da Vinci Code puts me somewhere in the middle