BigTick

aMUSEd · Post by **aMUSEd** » Tue May 28, 2013 4:09 pm

Looks like it's just the Arturia ones that got rejected - doesn't matter anyway as none of those are in the database it seems (pity because they have some of the crappiest preset managers of them all).

Big Tick · Post by **Big Tick** » Tue May 28, 2013 4:12 pm

I tested them though, and they worked fine so it's just a matter of uploading the presets (and tagging them). They should work perfectly with Zen. Can you just try dropping one of the dll into Zen plugins list (on the main page, not the settings page) ?

aMUSEd · Post by **aMUSEd** » Tue May 28, 2013 4:24 pm

OK yes tried with Modular and SEM - both are loading. However preset import doesn't work as it sets them all to the same name (default)

Big Tick · Post by **Big Tick** » Tue May 28, 2013 4:29 pm

Yes this is Arturia not reporting the name properly. However you can work around it because Arturia presets are actually stored as fxp on the disk. Just go to the Arturia folder, find the presets, and drag/drop them into Zen.

aMUSEd · Post by **aMUSEd** » Tue May 28, 2013 4:42 pm

Big Tick wrote:Yes this is Arturia not reporting the name properly. However you can work around it because Arturia presets are actually stored as fxp on the disk. Just go to the Arturia folder, find the presets, and drag/drop them into Zen.

No they are not - they have a proprietary format - the SEM are all obsp and the others don't even use proper filenames - they are just numbered and impossible to tell which file corresponds to which preset (some crazy database thing)

Big Tick · Post by **Big Tick** » Tue May 28, 2013 5:51 pm

Ah, you're right. It's the GForce ones who are available as fxps.

There's not much that can be done for Arturia unfortunately. They have to implement GetProgramName() so we can retrieve the current preset name properly.

I am willing to bet their current program name doesn't display properly in Ableton either.

Breeze · Post by **Breeze** » Wed May 29, 2013 3:03 am

The crashing/freezing I'm experiencing seems to be because of the way standalone Zen is cashing multiple instances of the VSTis. U-he's Ace is particularly bad. With Ace you can easily get a bunch of instances going by changing presets before older ones fade and it's relatively easy to get Zen to freeze up. With others, changing presets can cause loud sounds that seem produced by synth parameters in an arbitrary state.

In all of these cases you can see the number of cached plugins multiply and in some cases more than one can remain active (green) after there's no output from the synths; and when stuck, right-clicking doesn't clear them like it should.

I don't see why an instance can't just be silenced before a new patch is called up. That seems less "dangerous" to me. I'm not sure what the advantage of keeping an older patch playing is in this context... unless you have ulterior plans...

Big Tick · Post by **Big Tick** » Wed May 29, 2013 10:43 am

That's how it worked before - silencing the new patch. Problem is, well, it silences the patch, so you couldn't hold a note, change preset and have the note still play.

If you don't hold notes and change presets, the green ones should eventually disappear - unless they aren't detected as being silent for some reason. I'll give it a try with ACE.

I tested it with a pretty powerful desktop (8 cores/32Gb ram), so I didn't experience any freezes. But yes, if some plugins are not detected as silent and keep adding up, it would quickly lock up I guess.

I'll whip up a quick update with the smooth transition feature optional.

Breeze · Post by **Breeze** » Wed May 29, 2013 1:44 pm

Big Tick wrote:I tested it with a pretty powerful desktop (8 cores/32Gb ram), so I didn't experience any freezes.

Same gear but with freezes...

BTW, what happens if I use the uninstaller from the previous version? Will it affect the new one?

Big Tick · Post by **Big Tick** » Wed May 29, 2013 2:32 pm

It won't uninstall everything.
If you want to uninstall manually, just remove:
- the zen dll and standalone exe in your vst folders (both 32 and 64 bits)
- the Zen folder in C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Big Tick\Zen
- any Zen folder in C:\program Files\Big Tick or C:\program Files (x86)\Big Tick

Breeze · Post by **Breeze** » Wed May 29, 2013 3:16 pm

Big Tick wrote:It won't uninstall everything.
If you want to uninstall manually, just remove:
- the zen dll and standalone exe in your vst folders (both 32 and 64 bits)
- the Zen folder in C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Big Tick\Zen
- any Zen folder in C:\program Files\Big Tick or C:\program Files (x86)\Big Tick

I just want to uninstall the bits from the older 1.66 version files that I don't need anymore. I don't want this to get confusing, and in the end I have tons of room for extraneous or redundant data... But my old shortcuts for the 32-bit and 64-bit standalones were bringing up the 1.66 versions which are in "C:\Program Files\Big Tick" and "C:\Program Files (x86)\Big Tick" (I changed them now).

So if I just want to uninstall the old version and keep the new one, I can just erase the "C:\Program Files\Big Tick" & "C:\Program Files (x86)\Big Tick" folders, and get rid of the Start Menu entries? Or is it just the old standalone execs that should be erased?

The duplicate database folders maintained for the older versions have been managed by the installation of the new version?

And the only locations for new Zen files other than the database are the VST folders?

Sorry for being a stickler...

Big Tick · Post by **Big Tick** » Wed May 29, 2013 3:28 pm

Just remove the old standalones and menu shortcuts. "C:\Program Files\Big Tick\Zen" & "C:\Program Files (x86)\Big Tick\Zen" are still required since this is where the uninstaller is stored.

Besides the database and support files in C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\Big Tick\Zen, it installs the plugin and standalone inside your VST folder (s).

By the way - I don't mind answering support requests here, but it gets messy very fast. Consider submitting support requests through https://bigtick.uservoice.com instead, and keep this place neat and tidy

LGK_Dude · Post by **LGK_Dude** » Mon Jun 03, 2013 11:22 am

Oh no!! I just realized that this only runs as a VST in your host, and I use Logic pro (AU)!

Actually oddly enough I tried running Vienna Ensemble Pro which IS a VST host, and Zen didn't show up in there either.

Does this mean us Logic users are out of luck? I was REALLY looking forward to this tagging/rating system as I feel its a GREAT idea!!

aMUSEd · Post by **aMUSEd** » Mon Jun 03, 2013 11:24 am

LGK_Dude wrote:Oh no!! I just realized that this only runs as a VST in your host, and I use Logic pro (AU)! Actually oddly enough I tried running Vienna Ensemble Pro which IS a VST host, and Zen didn't show up in there either.

Does this mean us Logic users are out of luck? I was REALLY looking forward to this tagging/rating system as I feel its a GREAT idea!!

No there is an AU too - so it also works as a VST to AU wrapper.

LGK_Dude · Post by **LGK_Dude** » Mon Jun 03, 2013 12:23 pm

aMUSEd wrote:
LGK_Dude wrote:Oh no!! I just realized that this only runs as a VST in your host, and I use Logic pro (AU)! Actually oddly enough I tried running Vienna Ensemble Pro which IS a VST host, and Zen didn't show up in there either.

Does this mean us Logic users are out of luck? I was REALLY looking forward to this tagging/rating system as I feel its a GREAT idea!!
No there is an AU too - so it also works as a VST to AU wrapper.

Thanks for the info! So people have had success running a VST to AU wrapper in Logic? If so which one do you recommend?

BigTick

KVR Audio

Zen 1.7 update