Latest builds ACE, Bazille, Diva, Hive (rev. 8791) - addresses sluggish GUI

[tasmaniandevil]

Hi everyone,

after a long pause, it's finally time for a new round of latest builds.
This time we have ACE, Bazille, Diva, and Hive for you.

As you may have noticed, some of Apple's changes in macOS Mojave led to a lag in the responsiveness of our plugin GUIs on certain Macs (sluggish GUI).
We think we found a solution to the problem, and thus are releasing these latest builds primarily to gather feedback from affected users.
We only had one single Mac which showed these symptoms, and on this Mac the situation has vastly improved.
Additionally, we were able to significantly improve the GUI performance on Windows as well.

Besides that, there are also big improvements in the VST3 MIDI functionality.
You can now MIDI learn directly from within the VST3 version.
And it responds on all 16 MIDI channels.

And of course, we also fixed some bugs in all of the plugins (see changelog).

Note that, while these are stable builds, they are still beta versions, and have not undergone the complete testing cycle. Thus they might not be free of bugs.
If you are in the middle of an important project, wait until it's finished before you install and test them.
The most important reason for posting these builds is to get feedback about the GUI performance on Mac and Win.

Please download the latest builds here:

ACE 1.4 latest build 8791 Mac
ACE 1.4 latest build 8791 Win
ACE 1.4 latest build 8791 Linux

Bazille 1.1 latest build 8791 Mac
Bazille 1.1 latest build 8791 Win
Bazille 1.1 latest build 8791 Linux

Diva 1.4.3 latest build 8791 Mac
Diva 1.4.3 latest build 8791 Win
Diva 1.4.3 latest build 8791 Linux

Hive 2.0 latest build 8791 Mac
Hive 2.0 latest build 8791 Win
Hive 2.0 latest build 8791 Linux

Changelog:

Ace 1.4 & Bazille 1.1 (changes since revision 3898):

* Improved GUI response time on some Macs running Mojave (sluggish GUI)
* Windows UI performance improved (less CPU load with open GUI)
* MacOS Mojave compatibility
* Mac installer improved to prevent permission issues
* New Preset Browser (no tagging yet)
* Pitchbend range is now +/−48
* New user defined MIDI CC sources replace fixed expression and breath modulation
* Mouseover shows parameter values in Data Display
* Plugin format and OS info shown next to revision number
* Improved VST3 implementation
* Windows installer now certified
* Init preset can be loaded from Data Display (for Win users: also works via right-click)
* Increased maximum number of installed skins from 10 to 20
* Improved handling of 14bit MIDI CC assignment
* Sustain pedal now working according to standard (0-63 = off, 64-127 = on)
* Fixed possible crash in Cubase when selecting presets (Mac OS X only)
* Fixed an issue where VST3 did not remember preset name in Data Display (Windows only)
* Fixed rare crash when trying to reopen a host project
* Ace: List of automation parameters unified between Mac & Win
* Bazille: Fixed DC buildup issue in distortion module
* Various small fixes and improvements

IMPORTANT: Due to the new preset browser, please install the update for ACE and Bazille into the same location as the previous version, and select all previously installed plugin formats during installation. Alternatively, you can remove the old files, and start over with a fresh installation. It is crucial to not install old and new plugin versions side by side, since the old versions can not cope with the new preset browser, and will crash (or otherwise misbehave).

IMPORTANT INFO FOR ACE WINDOWS USERS:

In ACE, the list of parameters reported to the host for automation was not identical on Mac and Win. The latest build fixes this by correcting the list on Windows. Thus, if you try to load old host projects, you might now see some wrong parameters being automated.
You can manually correct this by reassigning the parameters in the projects.
To help with this, you can find a conversion table inside the Windows installer zip file, named "ACE Automation Parameter Conversion Table.pdf".
The NEW parameter is the corrected parameter, as it will appear in your project after you updated to the latest build.
The OLD parameter is the one you originally automated in the project.
This way you can easily see which parameters you might have to exchange in the project.

ACE AND BAZILLE GUI:

If you get GUI glitches when switching presets, either close and reopen the GUI, or simply avoid using the cable style "natural".

Diva 1.4.3 (changes since revision 7422):

* Improved GUI response time on some Macs running Mojave (sluggish GUI)
* Windows UI performance improved (less CPU load with open GUI)
* Mac installer improved to prevent permission issues
* Fixed rare crash when trying to reopen a host project
* Selecting init preset does not switch folder selection anymore
* Sustain pedal now working according to standard (0-63 = off, 64-127 = on)
* Fixed issue where using duo voice mode with sustain pedal could lead to hanging notes
* Fixed issue with VST3 reporting only one MIDI channel to host
* Ctrl A/B now working correctly in VST3
* MIDI learn now working in VST3

Hive 2.0 (changes since 8676):

* Improved GUI response time on some Macs running Mojave (sluggish GUI)
* Windows UI performance improved (less CPU load with open GUI)
* Scope now running smoother on Mac and Win
* Fixed automatic switching of unipolar/bipolar sources in scope
* Fixed wrong and missing entries in Funtion Generator input menu
* Known issue: random modulation source not working on effect parameters

[Cepheus]

Unfortunately, instant crash with Bazille VST2 and VST3 in latest Reaper 64 bits, windows 10 64-bits, Focusrite Clarett 4 Pre USB, ASIO.

[tasmaniandevil]

Unfortunately, instant crash with Bazille VST2 and VST3 in latest Reaper 64 bits, windows 10 64-bits, Focusrite Clarett 4 Pre USB, ASIO.

This sounds exactly like the crash you get when something went wrong with the installation, and the host still tries to open the old plugin versions.
Either remove all instances of ACE and Bazille you can find (plugins, ACE/Bazille.data shortcuts, and the actual ACE/Bazille.data folders), and do a fresh installation. Or send a mail to our support, so we can help you fix the problem.

[Cepheus]

Yep, that did it. Cleaned out all the Bazilles, infused some extra antibiotics in the operating system, no resistant files found. Fresh install and healthy expression now on the Seaboard. Great stuff

[tasmaniandevil]

Hooray for antibiotics.

[Cepheus]

Actually, is this also the moment where we ask what Howard was cooking?

[tasmaniandevil]

That would be delicious, as I am getting hungry.

But technically, this is just a beta version, and not a real update.
And since not everyone will want to install a beta version, we cannot release the cookbook yet.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

On Windows 10 here: the meters in Cubase used to slow down if I kept Bazille's GUI open [with the Tokyo Ghost Theme anyway] but that's not happening anymore. Much appreciated!

I'd been using VST2 for all U-he instruments up to date. Any reasons for or against transitioning to VST3 at this point? Seems like the big hurdle (MIDI Learn) was resolved so I'm wondering if I should stick with something that ain't broke, or might see some small benefit from going VST3.

[EvilDragon]

If it ain't broke...

I'll be using VST2 until there's no way to use them anymore. VST3 implementations seem to be just wrapped VST2 most of the time, or just not done properly utilizing fully all the benefits of VST3 (very rarely supporting sample-accurate automation, say, which would be one of the rare benefits of using VST2... or, say Roland Cloud plugins constantly munching CPU even when no notes are playing, instead of shutting down processing when there's no MIDI sent to them and no voices are active...), and can often come with their own set of bugs different from VST2 versions...

[Howard]

Actually, is this also the moment where we ask what Howard was cooking?

Aha! Yes, the MapGen function "Spectralize" is included in this version... While it would make little sense to release a Cookbook that only applies fully to a beta version, the deadline for non-beta release is 2019, so I'd better dust it off now and make the necessary edits (new browser etc.)

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

If it ain't broke...

I'll be using VST2 until there's no way to use them anymore. VST3 implementations seem to be just wrapped VST2 most of the time, or just not done properly utilizing fully all the benefits of VST3 (very rarely supporting sample-accurate automation, say, which would be one of the rare benefits of using VST2... or, say Roland Cloud plugins constantly munching CPU even when no notes are playing, instead of shutting down processing when there's no MIDI sent to them and no voices are active...), and can often come with their own set of bugs different from VST2 versions...

That's been my thinking to date. I've been transitioning effects over to VST3 since switching to Cubase (mostly due to their piss-poor sidechain implementation/workarounds for VST2) but I've been sticking with VST2 for instruments to date. If Urs or Viktor said, "nah, don't worry, VST3 at least as stable as VST2 now [for U-he plugs], AND supports sample accurate automation" I'd probably make the switch with the U-he instruments. But if it's basically "no real benefit over VST2, maybe even more bugs" like you've said, and I've suspected based on past experiences, I'll stick with what ain't broke.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

Also, is it on the to-do list to tighten up the Windows installer in regards to file paths? I kind of feel like a lot of the "installed to the wrong folder" crashes could be mitigated by a better installer. I installed all the updates last night and...

1. The VST (64) Plugin Directory will default to the location of the last U-he plugin you installed. So with you guys, my VST folder looks like this: VST Plugins\U-he\[Product Name]. The installer doesn't like the product name part. So if the last U-he plugin I installed was Hive, but now I'm installing Bazille, it will try to put the Bazille.dll in the Hive folder by default. I guess I could eliminate the Product Name portion, but I'm already deep into this methodology and don't want to further screw things up or take all the extra time to delete+reinstall things.

My suggestion? Just write a registry entry or keep a log somewhere that future installers can read from to properly direct any update installs.

2. Now, the .data locations are usually remembered, which is great. Except: sometimes they're not. For instance, on the Bazille installer, it decided to move the data folder to my 32-bit VST Plugins folder. This led to the crash on install. Note: I paid zero attention to the data folder location on that installer because all the other ones just worked and by the time I got to Bazille, I just assumed it would work too. I only noticed because the Plugmon skin disappeared and I was asked to reauthorize. Had to delete+reinstall [twice actually] to get it working again.

3. Also, the first time you install a U-he plugin, the Data folder location chooses something weird by default (from memory, I think it wants to put the data folder where your last U-he data folder was - so if I'm installing Twangstrom, it may try to put that in my Hive folder).

Not a huge deal, and I normally know to look out for this stuff and know what to do if I screw it up, but if you guys could tighten up that process somehow, I'm certain you could cut down on support requests.

[tasmaniandevil]

Also, is it on the to-do list to tighten up the Windows installer in regards to file paths?

Your prayers will be heard. We already improved the Winstaller significantly in the last months, to hopefully avoid many possible installation errors. All those improvements are still in the testing phase, but will hopefully lead to a more fail-safe Winstaller experience in the near future.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

Excellent! Thanks Viktor and co.

[fdco]

I cannot use symlinks anymore - Reaper and Logic crash instantly -
My u-he user preset folder is in my dropbox that I symlink to /Users/me/Library/Audio/Presets/u-he
OSX 10.13.6