slow to unload Kontakt plugins

[ineedauniquename]

windows 7 64 bit, cantabile 64 bit and Kontakt 4

On my system Cantabile can load up a fairly complex rack setup (6 racks) with each rack containing one or more Kontakt instances - and this all works fine, its a 4 second load but that is perfectly acceptable

however the unload time (in order to load up the next session) is weighing in at 13 or so seconds. This is a potential show stopper for me - any thoughts?

(incididently I have turned fast session switching off because it is quicker with it off and the stand alone kontakt instance can switch between fairly meaty multis without this rather long unload time).

[humphrey]

Hi,

this really sounds strange to me. I also use Kontakt 4 on win7 64bit an I also run cantabile as native x64 host. The load time in my case strongly depends on the used samples (f.e. scarbee clavinet takes more than a minute in my case), when loading it first time in a session. I have to confess that I disabled the preload function in kontakt due to terrible behavior with missing notes). After kontakt loaded a sample for the first time in a session, the next load-procedure only takes 2 or 3 seconds.

What I don't observe is something like an "unload time" - how does this show up?

In general there is a problem in cantabile with samplers: if I use sessions, the complete sample content is loaded when calling a new session. I could use subsessions (here it is possible to disable this - means cantabile has to load all samples that are needed afterwards when calling up the session, calling up sounds works by using program changes). But here my problem is I'm missing lots of the functions I have available in the sessions.

So I think we have to wait for brad being available again and hopefully implementing some of these features.

regards, humphrey

[ineedauniquename]

indeed the size of the samples does have a bearing but the PC is a Sony VPC with 128Gb solid state disk (made up of two 64Gb in raid 0) so is pretty darn fast. So a scarbee Mk 1, string ensemble, violin ensemble, viola ensemble, vienna piano, cello ensemblea glokenspiel and finally a reaktor instrument all in one cantabile session loads in about 5 seconds. However exiting cantibile from this takes about 12 seconds - or if switching from one session to another in a set list it will be 12 seconds before cantabile starts to load the next session (well 14 since I have to have the delayed programme change switched on since I'm using a Nord Stage as a midi controller and it has a rotary programme switch).


Kontakt multis don't have the same problem so unloading is not an inherent problem with Kontakt.

I do have a work around which is to dispense with cantabile set lists altogther and have batch files name after the patch number (1-2.cmd, 10-2.cmd and so on) these can issue a taskkill command which unloads the existing cantabile instance instantly then loads the required session - this also solves the problem of changing programme using a rotatry dial which I hate because get it wrong and one has to wait 15 seconds to load the wrong programme

So take your cantabile session with that scarbee clavinet and press the close box top right in windows - how long is it before cantabile closes?

Many thanks for the reply
Robert
(... and yes you read that right I'm using a Nord Stage merely as a controller keyboard - oh I feel soooooo evil )

[humphrey]

Hi,

I closed cantabile (I prosume this is what you wanted to know) and it took about 3 seconds to exit it ccmpletely. When changing from one session to another it takes about one second till new sound begin to load then (depending on the size) 2-3 seconds for the load process - that's it.

regards, humphrey

[ineedauniquename]

Hi,

...I closed cantabile (I prosume this is what you wanted to know) and it took about 3 seconds to exit it ccmpletely...

regards, humphrey

Thanks humphrey, very odd indeed then - which version of Kontakt if I may trouble you a little more (help->about then the top left on the splash screen).

Cheers
Rob

[humphrey]

Hi Rob,

sorry, I'm at the job at the moment so no chance to have access to my laptop. But I can tell it's Kontakt 4 and definitely the latest update.

regards, humphrey

[ineedauniquename]

Hi Rob,

... sorry, I'm at the job at the moment ...

regards, humphrey

You too ? on a bank holiday as well - so was I ... I commute to London from Birmingham and I kid you not I was the *only* person travelling on the train at 7:08am ....

Cripes no need to apologise I am allready very gratefull for the information you have given. So you are using Kontakt 4.2.x - eeek, aside from the issues with the vintage organs I found that 4.2.x hardly worked at all with Cantabile, it kept crashing.

Reaper seems to take some time (not as bad as Cantabile) to unload Kontakt VSTs too, more along the lines of the 1 to 2 seconds you are observing.

Time perchance to go to Cantabile support ... though I do keep seeing 'when Brad is back' in this forum, is he ill or in some difficulty do you know?

Cheers
Rob

[humphrey]

Hi Rob,

you're right: I'm on Kontakt 4.2.x and it's funny as there was exactly the vintage organ thing I was reading about in the NI forum that reminded me to have a look on the version number yesterday in the evening.

What I can't confirm are permanent crashes of Kontakt as you describe them. I mostly use only one instance in a session beside one instance of omnisphere - maybe this is an explanation. This is due to the fact I use 2 separate instances of cantabile - one for each of the two keyboards I use. The advantage is, I'm fast in combining sounds when I'm in a session.

Concerning brad: there was an information some months ago (dunno if it was from brad himself or from TiUser) that brad would be busy for a while in his real job (as far as I understood cantabile is not the product he makes the money with to buy bread and butter). On the other hand contacting brad could be a good idea. I had a problem with the integration of OP-X Pro II and although he wasn't available in the forum he was very helpful and cared.

Good luck and regards, humphrey

[humphrey]

Hi Rob,

me again. I did some further testing here as I wanted to know if a rollback to 4.1.3 would solve the drawbar thing with vintage organs -> worked. So far so good, but when I called up a session list and changed from a session with kontakt in it to one without kontakt instances I got the same effect as you described: the unload process takes much much longer than before: in my case more than 1 minute! To confirm I upgraded to 4.2.2 again and the effect was gone again.

regards, humphrey

[ineedauniquename]

Hi Rob,

.... rollback to 4.1.3 .... I got the same effect as you described: the unload process takes much much longer than before... upgraded to 4.2.2 again and the effect was gone again.

regards, humphrey

Oh ye Gods ... a bit of a nightmare then - mind you I did say elsewhere on this forum that if one is going to use VST in a live setup then once one has built up the live rig as it were *never* change it (at least not by installing or upgrading)

happily I have a working solution in so far that I have batch files that kill the existing cantabile session and load the required one - lucky for me I'm a programmer.

Thanks for the information - I really do appreciate it and will take this up with Brad I guess.

Cheers
Rob

[ineedauniquename]

.... or NI actually since I suspect its an NI problem not a cantabile issue