NealClark

I had a similar thing happening with my recently purchased Focusrite Scarlett 18i8. After days of testing with help from Focusrite support, including replacement unit sent out from them, it turned out to be a USB driver playing up. Deleting the drivers and re-installing from scratched cured it. Sometimes it can be the simplest of things but these audio glitches can be so annoying. I worked out that if the "clicking" is a regular time and does not change with the tempo of the project it may be hardware / driver related. Whilst your issue might not be the same it's worth taking a considered approach to testing things as it can save a lot of time. Change your interface onto a different USB bus if available. Then test again. Try changing samples / buffers settings. Then test again. Check and try different sample rates if your hardware supports them. I always use 48Khz or above. 44Khz can sometimes have strange anomalies like you describe. Work through any possible options that could be in your audio path and test options available. If any changes don't rectify it always revert back and then move onto the next possible option. Always .... and this is important ... don't go changing more than one things at each stage of testing. You could introduce something else into the equation and make tracking down the cause of your issue more complicated.

After exchanging a number of emails and Dump files from the BBS SO Discovery crashes within CbB Spitfire Audio provided me with a few different new builds of the VST3 DLL none of which cured the issues I have been experiencing. They have now stated they have been made aware that other software vendors have also reported issues with VST3 plugins running within CbB and thus they are convinced its an issue with Cakewalk itself. They have suggested I just use the VST2 version of their plugin until the Cakewalk Developers can rectify the issues. Seems I could be waiting a long time as Cakewalk seem convinced that the issue lies with the plugin.

I've had quite a number of exchanges with the Spitfire Technical support and they are working hard to iron out the issues. They said they are aware, as they have had a number of reports, that there are quite a few experiencing problems with the VST3. Hopefully they will manage to get them sorted fairly soon.

@msmcleod I don't use OneDrive or Google Drive on this PC so there shouldnt be any issues there. I haven#t made any specific file exclusions on my AV checker, I normally leave this at it's default settings which I think would scan any executable (exe or dll), but will make some changes to see if that has any impact. Thanks for the suggestion it is much appreciated.

@msmcleod I downloaded the 2020.08 Hotfix Sneak Preview that you suggested may include a fix to cure this. Sadly it didn't. Spitfire Audio are still investigating the issue. It does seem to me that it may be more Cakewalk related now. Originally the plugin loaded without issue when I first got it. Since update to 2020.08 Build 100 and the previous version it has constantly crashed, If I start a new project from a template that I created when I first got the plugin, this template includes many instances of the BBC SO VST3, it all loads and works fine. It seems to be a very random and inconsistent error. When I do as shown in the video that happens 100% of the time. So I am leaning towards the fact that it may be a Cakewalk problem. I have sent CrashDumps to Cakewalk support and they just said "it's a plugin problem" and I should seek help from Spitfire. Which kind of leaves me stuck in the middle. I can only provide the files to support and wait to see what they come up with.

@msmcleod 2020.08 (Build 100, 64 BIt)

I am having similar issues with the BBC SO Discover VST3, Cakewalk suggested the problem is related to the plugin. I contact Spitfire Audio, provided them with CrashDump and log files and they sent me an updated dll plugin. However the issue still persists but is inconsistent as can bee seen in this screen capture.

I have managed to find that this is saved as part of the workspace rather than the project. So I may have overlooked the obvious answer. Ooops

As far as I am aware you can send midi data from a single track to multiple midi channels of the same Midi driven plugin. ie., one midi track can drive many channels of the TTS Plugin. I don't think however that it possible to change the output to a different MIDI driven plugin. If it is however the same plugin that accepts midi data on many channels, such as Onmisphere or Kontakt, it shouldn't be a problem to edit the corresponding midi data to be sent to channel 2 of that same synth. Hope that makes sense.

When I make modifications to the meter display settings for the console view it seems these settings aren't retained the next time I open the project. Is there any way to set the default view of the Console Channel and Bus Meters so that I don't have to change them every time I edit a project ? Any help on this would be appreciated as I can't seem to find an option in Preferences that sets the defaults.

Sounds like a latency issue causing the break up. In most cases this isn't apparent when just playing audio. It's when recording that the issues show up. Are you using low latency ASIO driver mode in cakewalk ?

I understand all about the C++ run time libraries as I worked as a software developer for more years than I care to remember. I will take a look though just to make sure everything is as it should be. The odd thing is that if the libraries weren't correct then these errors would happen all the time. But they don't. As I mentioned previosly it's all a bit random at times.

I have noticed a slightly odd behaviour of the control surface implementation. I am using a Behringer X-Touch as a controller using Mackie Control protocol and it all works exactly as it should. The odd behaviour is that if I put tracks in folders, then minimise the folder, all the faders that were controlling tracks in that folder return to Zero. Also the highlight bar at the side of tracks that are in folders currently being controlled by the Control Surface does not always match with the tracks being controlled along the bottom of the Console view. The tracks view may show I am controlling track 20-27 whilst the console view shows I am controlling tracks 1-8. This is very confusing. Has anyone else noticed these odd things happening?

Its the Legacy that we all suffer after Gibsons mismanagement while they owned the Cakewalk brand. Sound on Sound magazine always covered Sonar in their monthly tips and tricks section, not sure it is there nowadays though. Maybe we as users and consumers should be asking the people we buy these Vst's from that very same question. It would be interesting to know exactly how big the Cakewalk user base is now ... I am sure their are enough of us that our collective buying power should warrant that they make us part of their inclusive club.

Thanks for the Info, much appreciate the help, I will check those out.

I have already explored most of the things you've suggested. If it was in anyway hardware related then I would expect to see similar issues with other DAW Host Software. Ableton, even though I hate it, works as expected and without encountering any of the problems. I also use Davinci Resolve ( by Blackmagic Design) for video editing, colour grading and VFX on the same PC and that is really hardware intensive, so if anything I would expect that to show up any hardware problems. The Fairlight module in Resolve is a very basic DAW for mixing and processing audio for video, it can also host VST FX and Instruments and the same plugins work just fine there, It has me baffled. I guess it's something I will have to live with and work around. Once again thanks for your input and suggestions.

I haven't as yet. As I have SPlat on the same OS install and I know that there are a number of shared components between the versions I don't want to potentially risk breaking that Install. As I said everything was working fine so It could of course be that MS, in their normal way, have changed things and introduced a bug that is now causing issues with my system. Updating to the Windows 10 2004 release seems to have been okay with most other software I use though. That said MS do keep making "improvements" that relate to Audio and Video handing that may be slightly questionable. For now I guess I will just have to wait and see what support recommend, if anything, and make a mental note to always save projects regularly before adding any additional Instruments tracks. Just to give you an idea of how inconsistent these crashes can be ... Yesterday I created a new Template including Kontakt as the first plugin with 16 Instruments loaded, then added 66 instances of the BBC SO VST3, all with different instruments and articulations. Fifteen Spitfire LABS Instruments. Addictive Drums, Three Addictive keys instances ...... plus various busses with reverb, compressors and FX plugins. Audio tracks with instances of Guitar Rig all ready to use. I managed to get that all done, saved, working, tested and today being used. Without one crash. Today I try creating a similar thing and it's crashed numerous times. I originally asked the question just to see if it was my setup .... which it may be, although I have no idea why. Having used Cakewalk products for such a long time I can normally find out where and why things go wrong. I also have years of working with PC's as an IT Technical Consultant. So I pretty much know my way around the technology, OS and related hardware. Just seems way too random in these instances though and has me baffled. I've checked through all the windows logs, ran USB monitors to check it wasn't MIDI over USB related. I have learned over the years how to get the most from Cakewalk and always keep my systems and setup as simple as can be. whilst still have a completely usable and capable setup that meets my requirements. Thanks for your feedback and suggestions though. I'll struggle on with the random crashes and see how it unfolds.

Sorry I missed your other reply on this and replicated what you had already said. Ooops

I do understand that. However Dimension Pro is a Cakewalk product so they should be fully aware of what the plugin is doing. It's all a tad confusing as I said, it was working, but now on the latest CbB release it's a bit like I feel I am taking a chance inserting certain plugins. Crashes aren't consistent with any particular scenario other than the one I mentioned in my original post. As a further test I have tried the plugins in an alternate DAW on the same PC and they do not crash.

A Cakewalk project will hold a reference to the exact location of the video file. For Example "C:\my videos\video1.mov" if that file is not in the exact same location it will obviously fail to locate it. It will still however show the file name of where it "thought" the file was from when the project was last saved.

You are getting confused by trying to "Save" your project as an MP3. This is not the method. You should go to File > Export Audio where you will be presented with the option to save in various formats, including mp3. Then as scook described you will see the bitrate options etc and be able to select the 320kbps you require.

Thanks for the reply. I have opened a case with Cakewalk support. After examining the dmp file they tell me that the issue when using BBC SO Discovery is caused by the plugin and I should therefore contact Spitfire regarding this. I then realised I also had the issues with Dimension Pro that I explained in my original post. I have again supplied the Dmp file to support and am yet to hear back from them Seems slightly confusing to me that the answer from Cakewalk is that it is a plugin issue. I could understand that if it was just one plugin, but it's not it's several of them. My system is based around an i7 CPU, 16GB RAM, GTX-1060 6GB GPU, SSD Drives. I have a brand new Focusrite Saffire 18i8. I am running Windows 10 Version 2004 all fully patched and up to the latest release as are all the drivers. Using 24bit / 48Khz. Buffer size = 256, ASIO. I am an experienced Cakewalk user. From version 8, 8.5, X1, X2, X3 and SPlat. I wasn't having the issue I described with Dim Pro until recently. The BBC SO was only a recent addition to the system so I don't have any history with that. Dim Pro however has always worked just fine for me, for years and years, so it's odd to suddenly start getting errors with it. It's also not a consistent error. Adding it into an existing project as a new instrument track may or may not cause the error, it's very random in its behaviour. By doing exactly as I described in my original post it happens 100% of the time, the same with the BBC SO VST3. It's odd to say the least and getting in the way of me getting on with some video scoring projects I am working on. Incidentally I tried it on my old Windows 7, on the same PC, where I also have a SONAR X3e Producer x64 installed. Everything seems to be working fine. I aslo have CbB on that install, and I know CbB isn't supported on Win 7 any more, but it exhibits the same crashes as the Windows 10 install. So it would seem that it is not directly OS related. Hopefully I can find a solution or work around soon. I appreciate your help. Thanks,

Just a couple of questions to try and understand the issue. When you say, some tracks wont export at all, do you mean that they export as silent tracks or don't actually create the expected file. When exporting tracks do you have them all selected ? CTRL-A to select everything ?

I have been experiencing quite a number of crashes when inserting Instrument tracks. A quick example is I open Cakewalk, from the start screen I create a new empty project, add an instrument track, in this case Dimension Pro (x64), with my Cakewalk by Roland A-500 Pro as the midi input, then select the first instrument in the guitars section, as soon as start to play I get the first few notes and then it crashes with this error message. This has happened with a number of plugins now. BBC SO Discovery VST3, Kontakt and Dim Pro are just a few that I have had this issue with. It's only recently that I have experienced this so I am wondering if it part of the latest release that has caused the problem. I have also get the exact same error within Sonar Platinum which was working fine with these instruments until recently. If anyone has any ideas I would appreciate any feedback.

I use a Behringer X-Touch as my control surface and have it set to Mackie Control, this works perfectly, and not as you have Mackie Control XT. There are also option within the X32 itself to set the control protocol that will be used. Details of how to change these can be found on page 55 of the user manual. Hope that helps.