Enjoy this one...:
* Countless stability fixes and performance enhancements.
* 64bits OSX version..
* Smooth transition between presets.
* New standalone host on Windows and Mac.
* Plugin scan runs in a different process - no more crashes while scanning !
* Presets database can be shared across systems and architectures.
* Option to automatically scroll to the top of the list when search results change.
* Option to clear the plugins cache.
* Presets changes are now saved when saving from a host.
* Increased the number of user controls from 8 to 8*4.
As usual, send features requests to http://bigtick.uservoice.com
'Tick
Zen 1.7 update
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- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 3388 posts since 29 May, 2001 from New York, NY
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- KVRAF
- 35295 posts since 14 Sep, 2002 from In teh net
Cool, must try
Biggest problem on Mac apart from lack of au support is several Windows plugins that preset databases are available for are not recognised by Zen as the same plugin so can't access the shared database.
Biggest problem on Mac apart from lack of au support is several Windows plugins that preset databases are available for are not recognised by Zen as the same plugin so can't access the shared database.
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- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 3388 posts since 29 May, 2001 from New York, NY
Zen is available as an AU, so you can use it in Logic - actually, with it you can load VST's in Logic !
What you can't do, is host AU's in Zen. Frankly, I have yet to find a good reason for doing that, since virtually every instrument is available as a VST. Which instruments would you need supported in Zen, that are not available as a VST ?
The problem with Windows/Mac compatibility, honestly, is more on the individual plugin's developer side. If a plugin is cross-platform and has the same VST ID on both platforms, it will work. Having said that, I am planning to add some workarounds to deal with these uncooperative plugins.
What you can't do, is host AU's in Zen. Frankly, I have yet to find a good reason for doing that, since virtually every instrument is available as a VST. Which instruments would you need supported in Zen, that are not available as a VST ?
The problem with Windows/Mac compatibility, honestly, is more on the individual plugin's developer side. If a plugin is cross-platform and has the same VST ID on both platforms, it will work. Having said that, I am planning to add some workarounds to deal with these uncooperative plugins.
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- Banned
- 10196 posts since 12 Mar, 2012 from the Bavarian Alps to my feet and the globe around my head
BTW, what is if I'm offline? Then I cannot use (the databank of) Zen, am I right?
Because when I produce music I prefer it to be offline to save CPU and RAM...
Because when I produce music I prefer it to be offline to save CPU and RAM...
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- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 3388 posts since 29 May, 2001 from New York, NY
When you are online, it downloads presets and tags. When you are not, whatever you have downloaded is still there, so you can still use it.
You can use it without ever going online, but then obviously, you will have to add and tag all the presets yourself.
You can use it without ever going online, but then obviously, you will have to add and tag all the presets yourself.
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- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 3388 posts since 29 May, 2001 from New York, NY
By the way, I assume it is Synth1 you are referring to. This one has a different ID on Mac and PC. Are there any others ?Big Tick wrote:The problem with Windows/Mac compatibility, honestly, is more on the individual plugin's developer side. If a plugin is cross-platform and has the same VST ID on both platforms, it will work. Having said that, I am planning to add some workarounds to deal with these uncooperative plugins.
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- KVRAF
- 35295 posts since 14 Sep, 2002 from In teh net
Synth 1 definitely is a big loss. But also can't seem to get imposcar 2 on Mac to play ball - it just crashes when I try and load a preset. Also I scanned all my Diversion presets but they won't seem to upload. Tried with Aalto too but they won't scan.Big Tick wrote:By the way, I assume it is Synth1 you are referring to. This one has a different ID on Mac and PC. Are there any others ?Big Tick wrote:The problem with Windows/Mac compatibility, honestly, is more on the individual plugin's developer side. If a plugin is cross-platform and has the same VST ID on both platforms, it will work. Having said that, I am planning to add some workarounds to deal with these uncooperative plugins.
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- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 3388 posts since 29 May, 2001 from New York, NY
Just out of curiosity, if you save a project containing Synth1 on, say, Ableton Live PC, and try to load it back with Live on Mac - does it work ? Because if the host uses the VST unique ID to identify the plugin, it simply can't work with Synth1.
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- KVRer
- 4 posts since 26 May, 2013
I'm away from my studio at the moment so don't have the exact error message I received. It was something along the lines of:-
Effect ID mismatch.
This occurrs when I try to load Absynth 5 (the only VST I've tried so far). Any suggestion, sir? I'm on Windows 7 64 bit. If the error message is insufficient, I'll let you know the full one when I get baqck to the studio.
On another note, any chance of adding the VirSYn synths to the database, please? I really have high hopes for Zen so best wishes to you.
Effect ID mismatch.
This occurrs when I try to load Absynth 5 (the only VST I've tried so far). Any suggestion, sir? I'm on Windows 7 64 bit. If the error message is insufficient, I'll let you know the full one when I get baqck to the studio.
On another note, any chance of adding the VirSYn synths to the database, please? I really have high hopes for Zen so best wishes to you.
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- KVRAF
- 35295 posts since 14 Sep, 2002 from In teh net
Not tried that. It is fairly easy to hack a plugin's ID though, so if it isn't the same I might try rewriting it.
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- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 3388 posts since 29 May, 2001 from New York, NY
Synth1 Mac is 'VxS2'. Synth1 PC is 'S1Vs'. This is the cause of all your troubles 
LittleBoog, for Absynth I think you need to load the "Absynth 5 stereo" version. If you run a scan, it will pick it up automatically, but if you specify the path to the plugin yourself, make sure you select this one, and not "Absynth 5" or any other version.
LittleBoog, for Absynth I think you need to load the "Absynth 5 stereo" version. If you run a scan, it will pick it up automatically, but if you specify the path to the plugin yourself, make sure you select this one, and not "Absynth 5" or any other version.
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- KVRAF
- 35295 posts since 14 Sep, 2002 from In teh net
Yes, looks like it's not as easy to hack the plugin on Mac as it is on Windows. On Win all you do is open the dll in a hex editor, find the plugin ID string and change it. However on Mac I can't get the plugin to open in a Hex editorBig Tick wrote:Synth1 Mac is 'VxS2'. Synth1 PC is 'S1Vs'. This is the cause of all your troubles
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- KVRian
- 756 posts since 3 Apr, 2013 from Belgium
Hello,
thanks for the update, great new set of features !
But for now I encounter some little problems.
When the installer finishes, I check to "launch zen" box but it doesn't work because it is then trying to launch Zen from "c:\program files (x86)\BigTick".
My AVG antivirus recognizes pluginscannerx64 as a threat making it crashing.
First time Zen was ran the vst list in the option panel was empty only showing "blank squares" characters... 2nd run and it was ok.
I cannot scan my vst folder at all, I tried to change the paths in zen.properties files without success. I don't know if it is normal but the path is written like this "c:audioVST" instead of "c:\audio\VST".
Finally, after deactivating my AV, when I load manually ax64 synth everything is fine, Zen is starting downloading presets. I can load the synth and play sounds.
But for 32bits plugs Zen tells me that "Plugin file ... not found".
Thanks for any help ^^
thanks for the update, great new set of features !
But for now I encounter some little problems.
When the installer finishes, I check to "launch zen" box but it doesn't work because it is then trying to launch Zen from "c:\program files (x86)\BigTick".
My AVG antivirus recognizes pluginscannerx64 as a threat making it crashing.
First time Zen was ran the vst list in the option panel was empty only showing "blank squares" characters... 2nd run and it was ok.
I cannot scan my vst folder at all, I tried to change the paths in zen.properties files without success. I don't know if it is normal but the path is written like this "c:audioVST" instead of "c:\audio\VST".
Finally, after deactivating my AV, when I load manually ax64 synth everything is fine, Zen is starting downloading presets. I can load the synth and play sounds.
But for 32bits plugs Zen tells me that "Plugin file ... not found".
Thanks for any help ^^
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- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 3388 posts since 29 May, 2001 from New York, NY
Let's see... Did you have another version installed, or is this a fresh install ?
Zen.exe should have been installed in your VST plugins folder too, right next to Zen.dll (it is really just a small wrapper that loads Zen.dll).
I'm not sure what happened with the VST path, but it should be using forward slashes, like this:
C:/audio/VST
Note that there are 2 paths, one for 32bits and one for 64bits.
'Tick
Zen.exe should have been installed in your VST plugins folder too, right next to Zen.dll (it is really just a small wrapper that loads Zen.dll).
I'm not sure what happened with the VST path, but it should be using forward slashes, like this:
C:/audio/VST
Note that there are 2 paths, one for 32bits and one for 64bits.
'Tick
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- KVRian
- 756 posts since 3 Apr, 2013 from Belgium
Thanks for the hints !
It was a fresh install, I tried to put the / in the properties files and it seems working, right now it is scanning my vst folder, will take a while ^^
I have zen-x64.exe and zen-x64.dll in my vst folder. Maybe I should have installed both 32 and 64 versions if I want to handle both ? For now it seems to crash with every 32 bits plugs, I'm waiting the scan to finish before trying to load a synth.
I will tell later how it worked.
It was a fresh install, I tried to put the / in the properties files and it seems working, right now it is scanning my vst folder, will take a while ^^
I have zen-x64.exe and zen-x64.dll in my vst folder. Maybe I should have installed both 32 and 64 versions if I want to handle both ? For now it seems to crash with every 32 bits plugs, I'm waiting the scan to finish before trying to load a synth.
I will tell later how it worked.
