Hi Guys,
I use Keyscape and 3 other VST plugins in GigPerformer for more than 2 years now without any noticeable issues. Only one thing was a bit uncomfortable which was the a mapping of MIDI CC messages to volume bars in Keyscape. Once mapped it worked fine but as soon as I reopened Keyscape in GigPreformer the mapping was “lost” and reset to some default. So I was checking for Keyscape updates some days ago and updated Keyscape software components to the latest versions. Btw. I did no other changes in my system, no other SW installations or updates and no Windows update. Also HW/Audio/Midi interfaces have not been modified.
I happily found this update solved the MIDI message mapping issue. But unfortunately after the update I heard heavy audio clicks, pops and dropouts I never heard before. In order to isolate this I closed GigPerformer DAW, opened Keyscape standalone application and heard the same clicks and long dropouts like complete sequences of missing notes/tones especially when sustain pedal is used, which is making Keyscape unusable for me.
Two days of analysis and discussion with Spectrasinics have shown, that the missing notes are very strongly related to the maximum “VOICES” setting in keyscape. The missing notes issue is gone when VOICES is not set exactly to maximum value of 64. Just a simple 1 step decrement to 63 is enough to solve this. Very likely a software bug from my POV. So as a workaround I will apply this new limmit of “63” to all my Rackspaces using keyscape and hope this will be fixed by Spectrasonic soon.
But there is still another remaining and very hard issue which are the audio klicks and pops. Some testing in keyscape standalone application has shown the following:
On initial startup or when switching to another instrument, keyscape starts loading the samples. This is done in 3 steps indicated by a progress bar right under the “Utility” and “System” buttons. This bar shows:
- “Please wait” for ~1 sec on my system. This is very short and I even would not expect usable audio.
- “Preview Ready” this takes about 20…26 seconds on my system when I switch e.g. to LA Costom C7.
The exact duration dependson the setting on “Pre-oad Memory Size” in “System” dialogue. - “Complete” means samples are loaded.
Before the Keyscape update, I was able to play the selected instrument already in “Preview Ready” step. But now with the latest Keyscape version, I hear heavy clicks and pops during this “Preview Ready” and 20…26 Seconds are much to long to wait for applications live on stage. If I use multiple Instances of Keyscape plugin within GigPerformer, then this load time even rasies up 2 or 3 minutes when I switch of prediction. If I use prediciton I get 20…30…40? seconds load time when I switch to another rackspace which needs some reloading for prediction. It looks like the Keyscape update is a bad game changer which does not allow me to use prediction any longer on stage.
But this is not the whole story! The very bad thing is, that GigPerformer does no longer show me how long Keyscape is in it’s “loading phase” where playing notes creates clicks and pops. My typical “GIG” configuration with prediction switched off need 2-3 moinutes for loading samples on startup. This startup loading time has now been shrinking down to 15 seconds (I wonder why???)! But after this 15 Seconds are done I can not start playing Keyscape sounds immediately, I hear nothing or unpredicable sound with klicks and pops. I checked the task manager and saw GigPerformer was still in a high cpu usage (20…30% on a 6 core i9) for another 2-3 minutes. Only after cpu usage has gone down to typical idle values (2…3%) I was able to hear the Keyscape sounds when playing notes. So this means, keyscape is no longer indicating it’s “Loading” status to a VST-host??? Very ciritcal !!!
So I’m asking if anyone here has done the same Keyscape updates already (most recent versions in all 3 components) and if you have encountered simmilar or same or no issues? This would help me a lot since Spectrasonic says I’m the only customer who is reporting these kind of audio issues only related to the latest software update.
Btw. I use an UR44 with buffer size 32 samples. No clicks an pops in the past but even if I increase to 128 or even 512 samples now it does not solve the problem!
For the shake of clarity I want to add my computer spec:
- Model: Acer Predator, PH517-51,
- OS: Windows 10 (latest updates)
- CPU: Intel(R) Core™ i9-8950HK CPU @ 2.90GHz,
- Graphics: GeForce GTX 1070
- RAM: 32 GB Ram
- System drive: 500GB SSD, Toshiba (M.2)
- STEAM drive: Samsung SSD 970 PRO 1TB (M.2)
- Data Drive: USB 3.0 Toshiba 1TB
Thank you!