Problem VST Plugins - Can we start an ACTIVE DATABASE?

[Mr Coffeehouse]

What about this idea, Waveform users, gurus & developers..

Create an ONLINE DATABASE to report and review problematic plugins in Tracktion Waveform.

Categories such as:

- User's Waveform Version
- User's Computer Manufacturer
- User's Computer Operating System
- User's Amount/Type Memory
- User's Hard Drive Type / Memory
- Plugin Manufacturer
- Plugin Name / Version
- Plugin Type - VST2 / VST3
- Symptoms
- Temporary fixes, workarounds
etc, etc, etc..

What do you think? Love to hear your thoughts
Wouldn't this help getting answers to problems in a super proactive way?

Best, Michael at The Coffeehouse

[SonnyBoy]

I'm in.

[rpm]

I'm a bit sick of plugin problems in Waveform. I love the recent sandboxing thing so I rarely have to quit or restart the computer anymore, but there are a lot of plugins with GUI problems. I would contribute but I don't know if it would solve anything. I reported to Tracktion before and they did have a convo with me but it didn't lead to a solution. I reported another time to a plugin maker (whose entire set of plugins do not function in Windows 11 with any of my DAWs) but no response. I asked around the NVidia forums thinking it might be my graphics card but nothing... Blerghh..

[UnionS8]

I have been reporting plugins for years and nothing has changed. For years. People were able to reproduce the issues with no effort, but no official answer appeared. Do you believe the Tracktion team would check some other site, when they have serious problems to answer the official forum here on KVR?
Also, you could add maybe 50 % of all VST3's without doubt on that list.

[Watchful]

You could easily start a category called "Display or GUI issues," put about 95% of the complaints into that, and send it to the developers of JUCE, who originated the issue (especially with VST3s...although many VST2s repeat the problem).

Display issues (partially rendered graphics, improperly scaled UIs, etc.) are almost entirely caused not by Waveform but by JUCE. Tracktion has been hollering about this for years; everything was really good for a while, but then something changed in the backend with JUCE, and overnight the display issues started--well after it was too late to pivot on a different infrastructure.

There were a lot of reminders about this when it first started, but I think the Tracktion devs got tired of repeating themselves and just stopped responding to those requests here--but I do believe they're still submitting trouble tickets of their own to the JUCE developers.

About a year ago--maybe more--Jules wrote an entire essay here about the issues they'd been having, as well as with third-party devs who don't obey the VST rules (the latter is more a problem with VST2s, I understand).

[Mr Coffeehouse]

Hey there Watchful and others.. much appreciate your insights.. I've had and have a few of the issues you have mentioned with VST3s and GUI graphics problems.

I guess in many ways I wish the Tracktion Developers would start and maintain and draw from the database I first mentioned. I would guess they have something similar behind the scenes. Hope they see this and please consider a public one so we all can help them and us.

Best, Michael at The Coffeehouse

[Watchful]

Agreed! I think people get tangled up in plugin issues--understandably, because one bad plugin can kill an entire project--and don't realize they're asking the same questions that others have asked (and sometimes even answered!), but am not sure how a database would work on a forum. People have been just adding to various Problem Plugin threads, and they get to be long and unwieldy--and instantly unhelpful to anyone!

I'm sure someone here knows a way to do it in a forum-style post, but I have no idea how.

[vitocorleone123]

I have been reporting plugins for years and nothing has changed. For years. People were able to reproduce the issues with no effort, but no official answer appeared. Do you believe the Tracktion team would check some other site, when they have serious problems to answer the official forum here on KVR?
Also, you could add maybe 50 % of all VST3's without doubt on that list.

Most plugin issues in my experience are on the developers of the plugins - they don't perform QA of their products on Tracktion. It just isn't popular enough. Much less common is an issue due to a Tracktion bug.

Have you been reporting plugin issues in Waveform to the plugin developers for years?

For example, I know FabFilter don't (or hadn't as of a year or two ago) test against Waveform. And a certain well-known and loved developer of software synths (and effects) took years to fix an issue I reported in Waveform because it simply isn't important to them in comparison to all the other things, and supporting the primary DAWs.

This is one of the downsides of using Waveform. And one reason I've largely switched to Studio One Pro (which is still not one of the most popular, but it's at least toward the bottom of the list instead of off the list). I did just spend $50 to update from 11 Pro to 12 Pro, but that was more for supporting the company than for me to use on a daily basis (I struggle with Waveform + external hardware sometimes but not in Studio One... once I figured out the complex setup in Studio One).

[christol]

I'm curious why we don't have a search feature for this forum. I've found a lot of good information here, finding it has been quite tedious. Each of these threads are already stored in a database, so creating a search feature would be a piece of cake.

Anyway, thanks for all you supporting authors

[fde101]

I'm curious why we don't have a search feature for this forum.

It is the magnifying glass icon along the right side of the bar just above every post and index page on the forum - just to the right of the "PM" mailbox.