KVR Audio

bharris22 · Post by **bharris22** » Mon Mar 13, 2023 5:21 pm

Hi Everyone,

I bought one of the Korg SQ-64 sequencers recently on clearance, and am trying to set up a quick scratchpad with three different VSTis that I could use to flesh out ideas. Ideally, I would like to use the Korg as the master, as I would like to control the transport and the tempo with the hardware. However, I can't seem to get the transport in Reaper to start with a button press on the Korg, and using the hardware as the tempo master for Ableton, Bitwig and Kore 2 seems to cause significant CPU spikes.

Thus, I have three questions:

1) Is it normal for there to be CPU spikes when a DAW is controlled by external hardware?
2) Is it more efficient, CPU-wise, to have the DAW act as a master?
3) Which DAW is generally viewed as the best for syncing with external hardware?

Thanks in advance!

billcarroll · Post by **billcarroll** » Mon Mar 13, 2023 6:02 pm

bharris22 wrote: Mon Mar 13, 2023 5:21 pm Hi Everyone,

I bought one of the Korg SQ-64 sequencers recently on clearance, and am trying to set up a quick scratchpad with three different VSTis that I could use to flesh out ideas. Ideally, I would like to use the Korg as the master, as I would like to control the transport and the tempo with the hardware. However, I can't seem to get the transport in Reaper to start with a button press on the Korg, and using the hardware as the tempo master for Ableton, Bitwig and Kore 2 seems to cause significant CPU spikes.

Thus, I have three questions:

1) Is it normal for there to be CPU spikes when a DAW is controlled by external hardware?
2) Is it more efficient, CPU-wise, to have the DAW act as a master?
3) Which DAW is generally viewed as the best for syncing with external hardware?

Thanks in advance!

I'm biased, but i would definitely use Bitwig.

What OS are you on, firmware for the KORG, what plugins are you using, and what versions of each piece of software in the mix?

Have you updated your KORG SQ-64?

https://www.korg.com/us/support/download/product/0/872/

Assuming you're talking about Native Instruments Kore 2 in your setup, I'd be tempted to dig in here to troubleshoot after updating firmware.

I'm guessing you've watched this video. Doesn't get into troubleshooting.

I would definitely hit up Bitwig support support@bitwig.com and I believe they would be happy to help especially considering you are experiencing CPU spikes.

bharris22 · Post by **bharris22** » Mon Mar 13, 2023 6:26 pm

This is very helpful information - thank you! I am running Windows 11, but I need to check the version of Bitwig I am currently using (I think it is the next to latest version - I did not install the latest dot update yet).

I had not seen that video, so thank you for sending it. In addition, I did not realize that there was a newer version of the SQ-64 firmware available (I believe I am still using 2.0) - I will update that when I get home from work, as well, and will also let you know the other software versions as well.

Generally speaking, is it less CPU intensive to have Bitwig act as a master or the external gear as a master? Does it matter?

billcarroll · Post by **billcarroll** » Mon Mar 13, 2023 7:03 pm

bharris22 wrote: Mon Mar 13, 2023 6:26 pm This is very helpful information - thank you! I am running Windows 11, but I need to check the version of Bitwig I am currently using (I think it is the next to latest version - I did not install the latest dot update yet).

I had not seen that video, so thank you for sending it. In addition, I did not realize that there was a newer version of the SQ-64 firmware available (I believe I am still using 2.0) - I will update that when I get home from work, as well, and will also let you know the other software versions as well.

Generally speaking, is it less CPU intensive to have Bitwig act as a master or the external gear as a master? Does it matter?

I doubt it matters much in terms of CPU, and comes down more to what gear you want running the show. It's probably fun to play and experiment with both, and definitely fun to experiment with the KORG SQ-64 to see what it can do. Looks like a really cool piece of gear.

bharris22 · Post by **bharris22** » Mon Mar 13, 2023 7:10 pm

Thanks again! I am just starting to wrap my head around the SQ-64 (and Bitwig). The SQ-64 is a little quirky, but fun. Reverb is still blowing them out at $129.99

.

billcarroll · Post by **billcarroll** » Mon Mar 13, 2023 7:28 pm

bharris22 wrote: Mon Mar 13, 2023 7:10 pm Thanks again! I am just starting to wrap my head around the SQ-64 (and Bitwig). The SQ-64 is a little quirky, but fun. Reverb is still blowing them out at $129.99 .

Damn, that's tempting. Insane price, especially with free shipping.

https://reverb.com/item/58231193-korg-s ... pping-only

bharris22 · Post by **bharris22** » Tue Mar 14, 2023 12:43 am

Back home now in front of my music computer, and it appears that the CPU spikes have been caused not by the midi sync (or the SQ-64), but rather the particularly CPU-heavy Kontakt library I was using (Slate + Ash Cycles). When I changed to a different library, the CPU usage was much lower, and all good.

Separate question, though, if you have any thoughts - Kontakt 5.8.1 crashes in Bitwig when I try to load a particular vendor's libraries (any of several different .nkis). Any idea why that would happen? This same vendor's instruments open with no problem in Reaper and Ableton in this same version of Kontakt. Very strange . . . .

billcarroll · Post by **billcarroll** » Tue Mar 14, 2023 1:01 am

Have you tried the free Kontakt 7 player?

Slate + Ash Cycles supports running in the free Kontakt Player.

bharris22 · Post by **bharris22** » Tue Mar 14, 2023 1:13 am

I did try that - Cycles running in free Kontakt 7 player is still a CPU hog, even on modern systems such as mine. Unfortunately, many people have experienced this

.

The repeated crash of Kontakt 5.8.1 came when trying to load what should be a relatively low CPU library in the Elixer series from Beautiful Void Audio. The strange thing is that these very libraries/instruments load fine in Kontakt 5.8.1 when I run Kontakt in Reaper or Ableton. Bitwig is the only DAW I have where these are crashing.

billcarroll · Post by **billcarroll** » Tue Mar 14, 2023 1:22 am

bharris22 wrote: Tue Mar 14, 2023 1:13 am I did try that - Cycles running in free Kontakt 7 player is still a CPU hog, even on modern systems such as mine. Unfortunately, many people have experienced this .

The repeated crash of Kontakt 5.8.1 came when trying to load what should be a relatively low CPU library in the Elixer series from Beautiful Void Audio. The strange thing is that these very libraries/instruments load fine in Kontakt 5.8.1 when I run Kontakt in Reaper or Ableton. Bitwig is the only DAW I have where these are crashing.

I don't believe Kontakt 5.8.1 is supported on Windows 11, so I would expect issues and use Kontakt 7 player when you can for any DAW. First supported version would be Kontakt 6.7.0.

https://support.native-instruments.com/ ... ility-News

bharris22 · Post by **bharris22** » Tue Mar 14, 2023 2:09 am

Strange though, as these libraries open fine in Reaper and Ableton on this same computer - seems like a Bitwig issue.

These particular libraries also require the full version of Kontakt, not the Player (but they'll run in demo mode for 30 minutes). Kontakt 5 is the latest full version I have, so I'll need to wait until the summer sale before I get to upgrade to Kontakt 7 full

.

billcarroll · Post by **billcarroll** » Tue Mar 14, 2023 3:00 am

You can try opening Kontakt in Komplete Kontrol. That’s how I normally run it. I’m also on a Mac though

bharris22 · Post by **bharris22** » Tue Mar 14, 2023 1:04 pm

Thanks again for all your help! Strangely enough, after shutting down the computer last night and starting it this morning, Kontakt 5 and this particular library seem to be opening just fine in Bitwig

. In addition, jumping off your idea about Komplete Kontrol, I tried loading this library in Kontakt 5 within Kore 2, and opened Kore 2 as a VST in Bitwig - also seemingly without issue. Thus, I think we can put a fork in this one.

I really appreciate your assistance!

Best DAW for Scratchpad/External MIDI Sync?