Serious Issues with EastWest Opus (Composer Cloud+) Playback

[Stephen Power]

Hello All

I've just started subscribing to to Composer Cloud+ (Opus engine) from EastWest. I'm experiencing playback issues in Cakewalk and wondered if anyone had resolved something similar?

I installed a sample on a midi track and it plays fine, but ONLY ONCE. The next playback is silence (all other non-Opus tracks will play). I go back into Opus, reload the sample and it plays again. ONCE.

My setup: Opus files are stored on a 1TB SSD drive (20% full). Midi controller is Nektar Impact LX25+. PC is Acer ConceptD 300, 16GB RAM, i5. Berhinger UMC22 interface.

'Zero Controllers When Play Stops' (in Edit>Preferences>Project>Midi) is unchecked.

I contacted EastWest and Lorenzo said...we don't support Cakewalk, here's how to cancel your subscription if you want to do that. (I don't).

Any suggestions on what might be happening and how to resolve it are very welcome and thanks in advance.

 

Edited October 14, 2023 by Stephen Power

[JnTuneTech]

That definitely sounds frustrating, and hard to deal with!  Your basic information is very helpful, but a few things should also be examined:

Does the activity meter on each MIDI track respond the same each time you play through? Save before playing after loading the sample(s) - does the Cakewalk project show as "dirty" - changed - after the first playthrough?

Can you confirm in the sampler GUI that the settings seem to remain the same each time you play through, -especially of course after the first play through?

Are there any instructions in the sampler documentation that refer to specific MIDI configuration considerations?

 

I would try to narrow down the source of the playback change. Is it volume somewhere in the process, or is it a change in the MIDI response, etc. Try testing it with one track - instrument in a test project. Turn off MIDI input/echo, and just place notes in a blank MIDI track manually in PRV. Play that back, look for changes you or Cakewalk didn't accidentally introduce somehow. That would be my first suggestion.

Edited October 14, 2023 by JnTuneTech
additional clarifications - info

[Stephen Power]

11 hours ago, JnTuneTech said:

That definitely sounds frustrating, and hard to deal with!  Your basic information is very helpful, but a few things should also be examined:

Does the activity meter on each MIDI track respond the same each time you play through? Save before playing after loading the sample(s) - does the Cakewalk project show as "dirty" - changed - after the first playthrough?

Can you confirm in the sampler GUI that the settings seem to remain the same each time you play through, -especially of course after the first play through?

Are there any instructions in the sampler documentation that refer to specific MIDI configuration considerations?

 

I would try to narrow down the source of the playback change. Is it volume somewhere in the process, or is it a change in the MIDI response, etc. Try testing it with one track - instrument in a test project. Turn off MIDI input/echo, and just place notes in a blank MIDI track manually in PRV. Play that back, look for changes you or Cakewalk didn't accidentally introduce somehow. That would be my first suggestion.

Thank you very much for the detailed information. I've got to go on (another) learning curve before I can respond to your points fully. For example, I don't know what I'm looking for to know if/when the project would show as 'dirty'. To me it always looks the same even after playback. 

I'm fairly sure, though, that the instrument GUI has not changed. In fact, in the Opus Browser, the instrument is still listed exactly as it is when downloaded, and I have to delete it and reinstall before it will play again.

UPDATE: I've now done a full reinstall of all the instruments I had installed into the Opus browser and gone through all the tracks to replace them. So far (he said hopefully), they are playing. But that said, Cakewalk is not open right now. I could go back in to find they are all silent again.

UPDATE 2: Still playing.

Edited October 15, 2023 by Stephen Power
updates to post

[57Gregy]

7 hours ago, Stephen Power said:

For example, I don't know what I'm looking for to know if/when the project would show as 'dirty'.

There will be an asterisk beside the project name at the top.

 

[Stephen Power]

8 minutes ago, 57Gregy said:

There will be an asterisk beside the project name at the top.

 

Thank you!

[msmcleod]

Given that there are known issues with EastWest and CbB, one thing you could try out is BlueCat's PatchWork, which is a VSTi that can host other VSTi's:: https://www.bluecataudio.com/Products/Product_PatchWork/

Basically,  you insert PatchWork Synth as your synth, then load EastWest inside PatchWork. 

This means that EastWest is no longer talking to Cakewalk directly, but instead talking to PatchWork.  There may be sufficient differences in the way that PatchWork leverages the VST3 API to keep EastWest happy.

It's not a cheap plugin, but it does allow you to do a host of parallel processing that you couldn't otherwise do in Cakewalk natively.  

They provide a demo download, so please try that out and check that it works before committing to buying it.

[Keni]

43 minutes ago, msmcleod said:

Given that there are known issues with EastWest and CbB, one thing you could try out is BlueCat's PatchWork, which is a VSTi that can host other VSTi's:: https://www.bluecataudio.com/Products/Product_PatchWork/

Basically,  you insert PatchWork Synth as your synth, then load EastWest inside PatchWork. 

This means that EastWest is no longer talking to Cakewalk directly, but instead talking to PatchWork.  There may be sufficient differences in the way that PatchWork leverages the VST3 API to keep EastWest happy.

It's not a cheap plugin, but it does allow you to do a host of parallel processing that you couldn't otherwise do in Cakewalk natively.  

They provide a demo download, so please try that out and check that it works before committing to buying it.

That's an interesting approach!

 

Quite an idea for many things... Something to look into further...

 

Thanks Mark!

 

Edited October 15, 2023 by Keni

[Stephen Power]

3 hours ago, msmcleod said:

Given that there are known issues with EastWest and CbB, one thing you could try out is BlueCat's PatchWork, which is a VSTi that can host other VSTi's:: https://www.bluecataudio.com/Products/Product_PatchWork/

Basically,  you insert PatchWork Synth as your synth, then load EastWest inside PatchWork. 

This means that EastWest is no longer talking to Cakewalk directly, but instead talking to PatchWork.  There may be sufficient differences in the way that PatchWork leverages the VST3 API to keep EastWest happy.

It's not a cheap plugin, but it does allow you to do a host of parallel processing that you couldn't otherwise do in Cakewalk natively.  

They provide a demo download, so please try that out and check that it works before committing to buying it.

Thanks again @msmcleod, I'll certainly look at Patchwork and see if I can a) understand how to use it and b) afford it

[Eric Heberling]

I had the same issue. For me, it was because CC1 reverts to 0 after playing. Insert a CC1 into your MIDI track with a value of say, 100.