Matthew Sorrels

The instrument is the .st4i file but the samples are .pak files in another directory. I think it builds the database from the .st4i (and .st3i) files. But it doesn't care/check that the samples are there when it does that.

With a SQLite browser you can also check out the database Cakewalk is using to store plugin categories. It's %APPDATA%\Cakewalk\Library\Library.db Of course the entries are a bit hard to use, since they refer to plugin_clsid's in the registry. Lots of apps use SQLite for local databases.

For just backing up I think you'd be fine. I was thinking about more along the lines of "moving" favorites from one machine to another.

Not sure about "easy" -- it's hard to tell for sure but I think the id field isn't unique. So two computers would have different values. So you have to use the path (name isn't unique enough by itself). Still it wouldn't be hard to build something to dump out your favorites to a csv file and import them in. You could definitely do it with already existing SQLite tools, though I'd most likely just do it with something like PHP.

If you really want to look at a crash dump, install Microsoft Visual Studio 2019 community edition. It's free. Open it up. Skip the project wizard (pick continue without code) and then do File->Open->File and find the .dmp file (or right click it in the explorer and choose open with Visual Studio 2019). It will come up with a minidump file summary. On the right is an action "Debug with native Only" Pick that. It will then load the crash and show you exactly where it crashed. You'll want to make the Call Stack window visible and most likely the threads window (open those under the Debug->Windows menu item). The Call stack shows the location of the crash and the functions that were called that got the CPU to that point. Here's the crash from the first message, the call stack is at the bottom right, the active threads on the bottom left.

The Favorites for Sampletank 4 are stored in the SQLite database instruments.db in your user Documents\IK Multimedia\SampleTank 4 folder. The favorites are in the table "Instrument", the column is_favorite Use your personal favorite SQLite DB tool to check it. Handy note, Cakewalk uses a SQLite database for the Browser Categories also.

There is an option to hide VST2 plugins if you have the VST3 version also. You have to disable that in order to see both.

No you need every generation (some with multiple versions) installed. Some software still uses each generation. You have to have them all really or you could break things. Which is why it's such a headache. And yes this is crazy (these are just the pre 2015-2019 version): Then you need: And you need 32 and 64 bit versions of all of them too. In theory every thing you install should also install what they need, but plugins often fail to to do that. Or they do it badly.

You may also want to update your Visual Studio Runtime's (which don't get updated with Windows Update): https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/2977003/the-latest-supported-visual-c-downloads Each evolution (Visual Studio 2015, 2017 and 2019 is one installer, Visual Studio 2013 (VC++ 12.0) has three installers, Visual Studio 2012 (VC++ 11.0), Visual Studio 2010 (VC++ 10.0) SP1 and lastly Visual Studio 2008 (VC++ 9.0) SP1) has a separate installer. Honestly you might want to just install them all. Having them updated and current can solve lots of problems. You might also try this instead: https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/visual_c_runtime_installer.html It is basically a bulk installer of all the runtimes. It saved my bacon when a poorly written install app trashed my visual studio runtimes. Normally I recommend people go to the source, but Microsoft has made it so hard anymore these kinds of installers can be big time savers. Major Geeks is pretty trustworthy.

If you don't want to show all the VST2, you could just delete/move the Sampletank VST3 out of c:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3. I usually just move things like this to a "BAD PLUGINS" folder. If you want it back it's easy to move it back (vs deleting and having to reinstall). Just remember to put it back before running any installers. As for a crash after loading lots of different instruments, I've not seen that one. It looks like in the screenshot you are loading a Sampletank 3 sound. That might be a factor. Other than making sure you have the most recent Sampletank 4 there may not be much you can do about it. I do know they have fixed some Sampletank 3 instrument issues in the most recent Sampletank 4 (but it looks like you are running that). I looked at your crash dump. There isn't really much there. It's crashing deep in Sampletank 4. But the version of MFC140U.dll you have doesn't match mine. A lot of your OS dll's don't match my fully updated Windows 10 system. I think you are running Windows 10, Version 1903? You might want to update that to 1906. And install all the newest/newer VC runtime's Your also using ASIO4ALL as a audio driver. As a rule I'd say that is not a great choice. If your audio card doesn't have a native ASIO driver, use the Windows drivers in Cakewalk rather than ASIO4ALL. It could be the source of your problem. Sampletank has always needed a higher buffer setting to run stable than most other instruments. At low values it has crashed on me (though not usually loading instruments but during playback) Update every single thing you can and then see if you can work out a way to reproduce the crash. If you can get it to happen on command is your best chance at narrowing it down and fixing it. Good luck.

There is a lite/free version of Ibrido Cinematica you can get here to enter this contest with. https://metapop.com/pages/promos/scoring-with-sonokinetic?p=1

The register link is there below the login box but the color/font choice makes it almost invisible.

It's pretty awesome. It's what I had thought Spitfire's eDNA Earth should have been.

I liked Massive X's sound, more or less, but after so many years I think I was expecting something more. Right around the same time it finally shipped I bought VPS Avenger. In comparison Massive X seemed kind of weak. As a result I may not have given it a fair chance.

I can think of a lot of better ways to spend $58 than for three expansions for a synth that is at best blah. Massive X is/was pretty disappointing.

I don't think that page for this deal has the crosscheck validity checker like the main Massive X order page does. If you order it and don't own a Massive license you may find it doesn't authorize. Also be sure your computer CPU supports AVX otherwise you won't be able to run Massive X at all.

Or get it for no extra cost (not free) with eXplorer-6 ?

I couldn't get the subscribe option on the page with the free instruments to work. But if you go to the main product page https://www.analogueinstruments.com and scroll all the way down, that subscribe option did work for me.

Same full retail price as EZKeys and EZDrummer 2. Right now EZDrummer is 33% off, which I think is normal for Toontrack. Good chance if you are willing to wait you should be able to pick this up for $120ish. Less if you can order in GBP and have VAT removed. For SD3's release Toontrack forced Time&Space to stop selling to US customers in non-US funds to avoid that currency discount. But I don't think they are doing that any more, may have just been for the SD3 roll out.

I'm not surprised they claimed no support for Cakewalk. However the pro channel feature is part of their product and they broke it. My fear is their solution to breaking it will be to just remove it.

ROLI also just sold JUCE to Pace/iLok. Off hand I'd say they are dissolving.

You can also use a virtual MIDI cable, like LoopBe You feed the one MIDI track to it. And then feed the output of that virtual MIDI cable device into MIDI tracks that go to the synths and turn on echo.

Those can be sort of hit or miss. If you really want to look at a crash dump I'd recommend installing Visual Studio 2019 Community edition (it's free at Microsoft). Then inside it do a file->open and pick the .dmp file. Then start debugging. It will let you see everything involved in the crash that it can pull out. It's exactly what I did with your crash. There is only so much you can do without the symbols for the programs you are debugging though, but you can at least get a feel for what may have happened. Cakewalk uses a DLL for video and it was loaded in your crash, but I think it's always loaded (even if you don't have a video as part of the project) but crashes painting the screen like that aren't all that common unless some video driver is a problem. Reading a crash is kind of like solving a puzzle, a lot of it is just guessing though. Good luck.

You need a debugger to read a dump file, you can't just open it. Your crash is inside Cakewalk, not inside a plugin, only someone from Cakewalk could tell you more about what exactly crashed. But looking at the dump your version of mfc120u.dll, mfc120.dll and mfc140u.dll aren't current. You may need to update your Visual Studio runtimes. Since Cakewalk uses MFC having older versions can cause issues. I'd consider updating them. The other interesting thing is the main Cakewalk thread is doing a GdiPlus.dll!ConvexRasterizer which is an operation for drawing on the screen. It's not crashing in that thread, but the fact it's doing something with the screen usually points to a problem with your video card drivers. Do you have an embeded video in the project? My simple advice, run Windows Update and update every single thing you can. Then go here https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/2977003/the-latest-supported-visual-c-downloads And download and install at least the Visual Studio 2015, 2017 and 2019 64-bit version and the Visual Studio 2013 installer (the first one in that section should be fine). Then go get the most recent version of your video card driver and install that. Then see if Cakewalk still crashes.

If you need film/movie/video/game sound effects I recommend these guys very highly. They have bundles and they offer upgrade prices to the bundles that take into account what you have already bought. The sound effects are really good, though they only cover some what limited areas (weapons and robots originally and now a bunch of horror and UI). They also have some audio plugins and Reaktor things as well. Those are interesting if you are doing sound design.