MAutoDynamicEQ automation unreliable in Reaper

[tingshuo]

MAutoDynamicEQ is unreliable in following automation in Reaper. This generally occurs in large multi-track sessions with many instances of the plugin. It is often fine when I start a new session (even from a template with many tracks/instances) but gets worse over time as a session's automation becomes more dense/complex.

MAutoDynamicEQ v16.07
Reaper v6.80
MacOS 11.4

Here are two short videos hosted on YouTube (unlisted) showing issues occurring:

[Hexspa]

Do you have 'intelligent sleep on silence' enabled in settings? Not sure if that's available in mac or it you're using AU.

I also get some issues with MADEQ with large sessions, mostly graphical bugs though.

[tingshuo]

thanks Hexspa, it is on the Mac version but pretty sure I have that off as I also suspected it could be causing the issue. I should have mentioned I'm using the VST3.

I'll double check tomorrow when I'm back at the studio.

[Hexspa]

thanks Hexspa, it is on the Mac version but pretty sure I have that off as I also suspected it could be causing the issue. I should have mentioned I'm using the VST3.

I'll double check tomorrow when I'm back at the studio.

Yeah check that and I think - not sure - that reaper has some fx sleep features which may be interfering. I forgot if you tried but experiment with a fresh project if you haven't. Sometimes big projects just get buggy ime from either the reaper or melda end.

[tingshuo]

Thanks. Confirmed that I have 'Intelligent Sleep on Silence' and 'Intelligent Sleep on Silence (global)' turned off.

I am using Reaper's 'Auto-bypass FX that report tail length...' but I just tried disabling this and it didn't improve the buggy behaviour from MAutoDynamicEQ (even after closing/re-opening the project).

I've had variations of these automation issues with MAutoDynamicEQ for quite a long time and have re-built my project template multiple times. The issue always comes back. As you mentioned, it seems to become increasing buggy as I work on a the session - adding automation, etc. Unfortunately I'm working with large post-production sessions and rebuilding a project half-way through isn't really an option. I believe the bugginess comes from the EQ as everything else in my session continues automating perfectly.

To be honest, I'd just ditch the Melda EQ altogether rather than deal with this, but it's insanely CPU efficient and I'm very used to the workflow... I otherwise love the plugin!

[tingshuo]

Just adding a video showing that a newly inserted instance of the plugin will operate perfectly even on the same track that contains an instance that has become buggy after being in the project for some time. Not sure what to make of this.

[Frankie.T]

I think they should fix it.

I see you are automating the on/off feature. Did the same happens with just a normal gain automation on a band that it's always on?

[tingshuo]

I think they should fix it.

I see you are automating the on/off feature. Did the same happens with just a normal gain automation on a band that it's always on?

Actually, the ON/OFF parameter is often the first to start ignoring automation as an instance begins to become buggy. However, I've just re-confirmed that the issues persist even if the EQ bands are set permanently to ON.

[Frankie.T]

I'm working on a project from a while and i have different automations too with MADEQ, i just checked and everythings seems to work as intended.

My Reaper version is 6.75 and 16.04 for Melda
Would be interesting to see if with these versions you always have issues or not. Just to understand if something got broken in the mean time somewhere.
Maybe just trying just with the last Reaper and .4 Melda, then last Melda and .75 Reaper than both older version.

[tingshuo]

I'm working on a project from a while and i have different automations too with MADEQ, i just checked and everythings seems to work as intended.

My Reaper version is 6.75 and 16.04 for Melda
Would be interesting to see if with these versions you always have issues or not. Just to understand if something got broken in the mean time somewhere.
Maybe just trying just with the last Reaper and .4 Melda, then last Melda and .75 Reaper than both older version.

I'll try but I'm not sure I'll have time for these rollback tests as I'm about to head in to another large project and don't like to mess with my system while working. That said, I've had these automation issues for a long time with MADEQ in Reaper, certainly further back than Reaper 6.75 and Melda 16.04.

Part of the reason I haven't posted about it before is that it's intermittent and presents as different 'symptoms' (all related to following automation envelopes) at different times. Note that it is generally only in my very large post-production templates with upwards of 110 instances across many tracks. In those sessions, some instances will start getting buggy while others are still functioning normally. I haven't noticed it occuring in smaller sessions, although those are usually finished quickly and perhaps too fast for the bugginess to begin.

[tingshuo]

Just checked an email from a conversation I had with the dev Vojtech ages ago around a related intermittent automation issue. That was on Reaper 6.32 and a late version of Melda V14. So it's been around for quite a while. Unfortunately it looks like I didn't get back to him at the time with screen captures (it used to be less regular and therefore harder to capture), so the conversation didn't go anywhere.

[Frankie.T]

Since you had these issues back in time probably isn't anything new. I hope they will check it out!

[Hexspa]

Like I said, I've had strange issues with melda and automation also I believe; definitely the graphical glitches at least as I mentioned. The reason I've never mentioned it is because it's not easily replicable as in I can't point to a sequence of events and say, "There it is."

As far as I know, I've used melda as long as I've used reaper so I have no experience to compare. Either way, for professional use, this is substandard whoever's software is responsible for it. We need dependable tools so I hope the devs can make automation rock solid in big projects.

[MeldaProduction]

Found and will be fixed in 16.09. The reason is that currently there's a limitation that if more than 100 parameters are automated at the same time, it's considered "a bug in the host", probably left from the early days of VST3.

[tingshuo]

Brilliant, thanks very much.