Occasionally delayed notes

Hey everyone,

I’ve used GP4 on Windows for several years and recently switched to macOS (MacBook Air, M2), still using GP4. I encountered some issues on macOS initially, but all except one have been resolved (mostly thanks to this forum). Now there’s just one issue left that’s bothering me, and I can’t figure out where it might be coming from.

When I’m playing, sometimes a single note (or chord) seems to be delayed. There are no cracks or anything; the sound is just late, as if the notes had a significant amount of latency. All the other notes are perfectly in time. The first time this happened, I thought I might have just hit the keys late, but it has occurred a few more times since then.

I never had this problem on Windows, and I moved my gig file from Windows to macOS without knowingly making any changes.

When I bought the MacBook, I tested two models (a MacBook Pro M1 and the MacBook Air M2, which I eventually purchased). I experienced the exact same issue on the MBP M1, so I don’t think it’s a hardware problem.

As I mentioned, I have no clue what might be causing this. I’ve been wondering if there might be an issue with my audio interface—maybe some sort of driver problem (even though I hoped to leave those behind when switching to macOS)? I’m using a Steinberg UR44c at 44100 Hz and 128 samples.

I’m running two Native Instruments piano sounds via Komplete Kontrol in the global rackspace. So far, I’ve only noticed the issue with those plugins, but I’m not sure if it’s absent with other plugins or if I just don’t notice it due to the characteristics of the other sounds (mostly pad, organ, or E-Piano).

I haven’t done any systematic debugging yet (like using the plugins in standalone mode or in another DAW). I might eventually have to do that, but since the delayed notes don’t occur that often, it would be very time-consuming.

As always, any help, hints, or questions are appreciated.

Try using the piano sound without Komplete kontrol.

I sometimes have this issue. In particular with Soundpaint Tenor Saxophone.

So, where I use it (it sounds pretty damn good), I hit a note before the songs starts.

I tried have a note hit automatically to “fix” this (as an “Action Item”) when I get to that song part where the plugin is used. But it did not do the trick.

I think the developers believe I need to delay the Action Item note in order to fix this. I believe they are working on an update to that include this option (to trigger something upon opening a rackpsace, but with some delay).

In my case it’s not always the first note. I might have been playing for 5 minutes without problems and all of a sudden one note is delayed.

I’m using The Gentleman and The Grandeur pianos. How do I use those without KK? I always thought I needed KK to run them.

Do you have Kontakt?

Yes, I do.

Then load Kontakt and in Kontakt load the instruments

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I tried Kontakt Player, same thing here. At first, I thought it had disappeared but eventually it happened again.

Then I tried Kontakt, same result :frowning:

This is happening only with Kontakt? E.g, if you put another plugin in parallel with Kontakt, does the other instrument sound happen when expected?

Gotta go to work now… I‘ll do more testing tonight.

Okay, so I just did some more testing, and here’s what I found out:

  • I used the KeysOfThe70s plugin in parallel with Kontakt and also occasionally experienced delayed notes.
  • I tested both plugins (Gentleman Piano via Komplete Kontrol) and KeysOfThe70s in a completely empty gigfile. I did this because I use the Plugin Persist scriptlet by @npudar (thanks for that, by the way—it’s awesome!) and wanted to make sure my problem wasn’t related to that. It wasn’t; I had the same issue with both plugins in an empty gigfile.
  • I tried the Gentleman Piano in Komplete Kontrol in standalone mode outside of GP. I played for quite some time (about three times as long as it usually takes for delayed notes to occur), and there were no delayed notes. Still, I can’t say with 100% certainty that the problem doesn’t exist in standalone mode, but it certainly seems like it doesn’t.

Even though this might be a clue, it leaves me even more confused. As I see it, everything that comes before GP (audio interface, MIDI input device, etc.) can be ruled out, as well as any issues with a specific plugin. I’m not sure what this means, though, because I can’t imagine GP being the root cause. I just don’t see GP randomly manipulating MIDI signals. :man_shrugging:

Why are you using Komplete kontrol?

I just looked through the posts more carefully. You don’t say which version of GP4 you are using.

In particular, are you running the native version or the Intel version on your Mac?

I’m on version 4.8.2, pretty sure it’s the native version, but couldn’t find where to check that.

Because I always have and it always has worked for me. I haven’t dealt with this in depth and it might not be the best way to do it. Maybe it makes more sense to run it in Kontakt.

But considering I have the same problem in Kontakt and even with other plugins as well, I don’t see the need to discuss this here and now, to be honest.

OK, just a test:

Can you use a DAW and send MIDI via IAC Driver to Gig Performer to see if delayed notes also occur?

Another test, you can install Gig Performer 5 trial and see if the problem occurs.

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Well, we need to know that….in particular, if you are running native mode but are using Intel AU plugins which require Rosetta, that’s a problem. Alternatively if you are running the Intel version on Apple Silicon, then the whole thing is running under Rosetta, which can cause issues

Also, are your audio drivers properly certified for that system?

I’m not using any AU plugins, only vst3, since my gigfile was built on Windows.

Is there any way I can find out which version of GP4 I’m running without having to reinstall it?

I’ll check on my audio drivers tonight. I’ll try to do the other tests suggested by @npudar and @pianopaul as well tonight if I can find the time.