Latest Softube Update Breaks their Pro Channel modules.

[Vernon Barnes]

There is a thread in the deals forum

Basically since the most recent Softube update prochannel modules are not functioning correctly and attempting to open a project with them in will cause Cakewalk to crash to the desktop.

I reported this to Softube who say in their initial response.

In theory, any 64-bit VST, VST3, AU, or AAX (11.0.2 or higher) compatible host application should work. However, due to plug-in host differences between DAWs - and our own rigorous testing standards - we only officially test our plug-ins and instruments in the most recent versions of Pro Tools, Logic Pro, Cubase, Live, Studio One, Digital Performer, Reaper and Sonar.  Softube plugins are not tested in the non-listed systems, but they most likely work as long as the system requirements are met. We cannot guarantee a solution for issues in unsupported systems.

I have now contacted Cakewalk support with a crash dump in case they can help.

For the time being I would recommend against updating Softube products if yo use them in the Pro Channel. Also I would tend to use the VST versions in the FX bin until some clarification or solution is found.

Do Softube support Cakewalk by Bandlab particularly with regard to Prochannel? Their list mentions Sonar but scook says the problem also occurs in Platinum. It maybe the particular service person at Softube was unaware of the link between Sonar and Cakewalk?

 

 

 

[Vernon Barnes]

Just a bump on this. I have not received any further replies from Softube support and was wondering if anyone else had heard anything.

I can confirm that projects can be opened in safe mode and the offending Prochannel modules removed. It should then be possible to replace the Prochannel versions with VSTs in the FX bin. A bit of a pain if you mix was well advanced.

 

[Starship Krupa]

The fact that their boilerplate response still refers to the most recent version of "Sonar" is telling. Also the fact that they drop a list of plug-in formats that doesn't include the one in question. Planet Earth calling Softube support: your boilerplate is failing. Repeat: your boilerplate is severely compromised.

BTW, they say that they test in those hosts. They don't say that if their plug-in crashes the host during the testing whether they do anything about it. ?

I wonder how well their stuff works in Samplitude, Reason, FL Studio, Sequoia, Waveform, Mixcraft, Mu-Lab, and Mixbus. In theory I suppose.

[scook]

I got a reply from them last week.

There is a problem with the Vermona Random Rhythm module for Modular along with the PC modules.

While their suggestion (disable Open GL support) did not fix the problem and I told them so, there was no indication they did not support CbB or the PC format.

 

I figured out why my Saturation PC module was OK. I have an older dll for the Saturation plug-in in my PC module folder. When I renamed the old dll, the plug-in broke like the other PC modules.

This lead me to a (hopefully) temporary solution for the rest of the Softube PC modules. Here is what I did -

• excluded the VST2 plug-ins in the plug-in manager
• installed the previous release of the plug-ins
• copied the VST2 dlls into C:\Program Files\Cakewalk\Shared Utilities\Internal
• ran a scan and validated the PC modules worked
• ran the latest installers
• ran a scan and validated the VST3 plug-ins worked with the PC modules

 

[Jean Corivo]

On 4/23/2020 at 2:34 PM, Vernon Barnes said:

There is a thread in the deals forum

Basically since the most recent Softube update prochannel modules are not functioning correctly and attempting to open a project with them in will cause Cakewalk to crash to the desktop.

I reported this to Softube who say in their initial response.

 

 

I have now contacted Cakewalk support with a crash dump in case they can help.

For the time being I would recommend against updating Softube products if yo use them in the Pro Channel. Also I would tend to use the VST versions in the FX bin until some clarification or solution is found.

Do Softube support Cakewalk by Bandlab particularly with regard to Prochannel? Their list mentions Sonar but scook says the problem also occurs in Platinum. It maybe the particular service person at Softube was unaware of the link between Sonar and Cakewalk?

 

 

 

Here is the message I sent to David Gustafsson from Softube...

After several hours of investigations on the compatibility of the latest versions of softube plugins in ProChannel mode in Cakewalk here are my conclusions:
Version 2.4.96 is totally incompatible with the ProChannel version of Cakewalk, i.e. the 64-bit versions of Active Equalizer, FET Compressor, Focusing Equalizer, Passive Equalizer, TSAR-1R Reverb. In addition, all projects that were created with earlier versions of Softube (which worked relatively well) can no longer be opened. They literally crash the system and we are forced to reboot the computer, regardless of the sound card used (Apollo UAD, Focusrite Clarett, Tascam, Roland V-Studio 700).
I already noticed that since versions 2.3.xx occasional instabilities appeared. But since version 2.4.xx and subsequent versions, the problems have worsened, becoming completely inoperative with version 2.4.96.
It is mandatory to use the plugins in standard vst mode (vst2 or vst3) to be able to use them. This in itself is not a problem for projects that have used the standard versions of the plugins, but highly catastrophic when trying to open projects in which the plugins have been used in ProChannel mode.
I wondered how the Saturation Knob plugin (64-bit) in ProChannel mode, which is in the standard Cakewalk installation, didn't crash the system, even though I'm installing the Softube plugin series from version 2.4.96, of which Saturation Knob is a part.
Cakewalk installs in a particular folder all the plugins that will be recognized in ProChannel mode whose path is the following one: C:\Program Files\Cakewalk\Shared Utilities\Internal. All the ProChannel plugins installed in this folder and recognized by Cakewalk will bypass the more recent versions installed elsewhere, such as in the Vstplugins folder. for example. To my knowledge, I have never seen any Softube plugins other than Saturation Knob installed in this folder. All other plugins made by Softube, are installed in the standard Vstplugins folders, even for the ProChannel versions of Active Equalizer, FET Compressor, Focusing Equalizer, Passive Equalizer, TSAR-1R Reverb.
The current version used by Cakewalk of Saturation Knob (64 bits) is 2.2.84. It bypasses the ProChannel version of the plugin, but if I use the standard vst version, I end up with version 2.4.96.

Workaround:
The only way I found to retrieve my projects with Softube ProChannel plugins was to unzip an old 64-bit version of the Softube installer (2.2.79) I found on my server to extract the faulty plugins and copy them to the C:\Program Files\Cakewalk\Shared Utilities\Internal folder. 

I do not touch in any way the normal installation of Softube plugins which can be found in the following folder C:\Program Files\Cakewalk\Vstplugins\Softube.

Now everything works perfectly, I have access to the saved settings and presets. Moreover, I found a stability with Cakewalk (Bandlab) that I hadn't known for a long time. 
On the picture below I inserted 6 various plugins on 64 tracks without any kind of problem

 

It would be imperative for Softube to work on this or give indications about known bugs with the ProChannel versions of their plugins...
 

Edited May 27, 2020 by Jean Corivo

[Cecelius2]

Jean:  Thanks very much for this workaround.   I tried it and it worked perfectly.   Now I have my old Softube Mix Bundle working in the Prochannel, but for the vst 2 and vst3 audio effects I have the updated Softube products.

Thanks  for a great save.

C2