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Metropolis Ark 1/Kontakt issue with note dropouts just in this library

PeterBaumann

Active Member
I've just uploaded an unlisted video to my youtube in the hope that someone on here knows what the issue is. I'll also message Orch. Tools directly.



I'm having some issues with MA1/Kontakt, where notes are dropping out, the HD meter goes red briefly, and then when I let go of the keys, the note continues very briefly, like the tail sample has been activated. This doesn't happen every time. Sometimes when I play short notes, no sound will be triggered, until I press a random note that seems to reactivate the samples - I couldn't get an audio example of this when I was doing the screen recording sadly.

The HD meter doesn't go anywhere near the limit with any of my other libraries, and the load times are extremely slow compared to other libraries. I've batch re-saved with no improvement.

Here's a breakdown of the video:

3:30 - an example of the audio dropouts and then tail sample being triggered (samples are still loading at this stage).

4:00 - samples finally finish loading (0.55GB)

4:11 - sample dropout after samples have been loaded. Midi keyboard is still being pressed, kontakt is showing the keys being pressed, but the sound stops.

4:18 - same again, and shortly after again.

4:50 - same again.

5:11 - Disk shows flash of red for stacc notes.

7:52 - I load Tina Guo Legato sample, which takes less than a minute to load (and is larger than the lower strings patch), in comparison to 4 minutes for Metropolis Ark.

7:56 - System Specs on screen

9:00 - Legato samples played quickly show little to no movement on Disk meter at the top. No note dropouts.

9:57 - load Schwarzdorn Horns a9 Multi and that is a little faster than the lower strings patch I think.

10:18 - Disk speed test hits 697mb/s write speed and 681mb/s read speed.

10:50 - Batch re-save of library. Takes about 3:40 to finish

14:40 - Samples still loading slowly.
 
I don't have as much problem as you, but yes loading time for Metropolis is wrong sometimes for me too. After batch-resaving twice it's very slow sometimes, but sometimes it's ok. I'm on Windows 10, so I don't think it's a system issue. It's probably a bug with script.
 
i have quick loading times with a batch resave but i still experience intermittent note dropouts on any kind of sustained note, most noticeable on the legato patches.
 
3:30 - an example of the audio dropouts and then tail sample being triggered (samples are still loading at this stage).

Yeah - that doesn't mean anything. Of course you have dropouts there - the instr. has not yet fully loaded. Not sure why you didn't start the vid @ 4:10; anything prior to 4:09 is completely irrelevant.

I see your system specs, but I don't understand why people ask for help with these issues without posting what sound card they have.

So, first off, the reason you are having dropouts - I assume you have seen the disk reading in Kontakt? That's the reason. Question is, why is your disk so high.

1. You do not have an ASIO compliant soundcard, or you are using ASIO4ALL. You MUST have a good, solid ASIO compliant soundcard for this stuff to work properly.

2. As I am not a Mac guy, I cant tell exactly what your vid graphics are reporting. Is that a standalone vid card that can be removed from the MOBO? Or are you using onboard graphics? If the latter, that could be your issue right there.

3. There is something else going on with your system. Do you have any other libs, that when loaded, use 1/2 GB of RAM? If so, try loading one of those, and playing as many voices as you have with Met, and see if you get the same results.

Also, what is K's preload buffer size set to?
 
Well, the fact that you are on W10 doesn't mean you don't have a system issue. W10 is not system issue proof; you can still have a system issue w/W10.

I think he meant that, since the OP is on a Mac and they are having similar problems, the issue is likely not system specific, but a problem with the instrument itself.
 
I think he meant that, since the OP is on a Mac and they are having similar problems, the issue is likely not system specific, but a problem with the instrument itself.
Yes, I meant exactly that. I have a lot of different libraries from various developers and after batch resaving all of them load very fast. Unfortunately Metropolis is the only one with this slow loading problem. So yeah, I'm pretty sure that it's not a user error.
 
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Yeah - that doesn't mean anything. Of course you have dropouts there - the instr. has not yet fully loaded. Not sure why you didn't start the vid @ 4:10; anything prior to 4:09 is completely irrelevant.

I see your system specs, but I don't understand why people ask for help with these issues without posting what sound card they have.

So, first off, the reason you are having dropouts - I assume you have seen the disk reading in Kontakt? That's the reason. Question is, why is your disk so high.

1. You do not have an ASIO compliant soundcard, or you are using ASIO4ALL. You MUST have a good, solid ASIO compliant soundcard for this stuff to work properly.

2. As I am not a Mac guy, I cant tell exactly what your vid graphics are reporting. Is that a standalone vid card that can be removed from the MOBO? Or are you using onboard graphics? If the latter, that could be your issue right there.

3. There is something else going on with your system. Do you have any other libs, that when loaded, use 1/2 GB of RAM? If so, try loading one of those, and playing as many voices as you have with Met, and see if you get the same results.

Also, what is K's preload buffer size set to?

My sound card is listed in my signature - it's the UR22 audio interface.

2. I don't have anything special graphics wise, just the standard stuff that ships with the 4GHz iMac 5k, which I believe is a 2Gb graphics card.

3. I mainly use EW Hollywood on a slave, so the only kontakt libraries I have are free ones, or MA1 and Tina Guo Legato, which is the same size as the strings patch I'm loading, and loads much faster with no noticeable issues, and the disk speed is barely moving at all (see 9 mins).

I emailed Orch. Tools but still haven't had a response :(
 
My sound card is listed in my signature - it's the UR22 audio interface.

2. I don't have anything special graphics wise, just the standard stuff that ships with the 4GHz iMac 5k, which I believe is a 2Gb graphics card.

3. I mainly use EW Hollywood on a slave, so the only kontakt libraries I have are free ones, or MA1 and Tina Guo Legato, which is the same size as the strings patch I'm loading, and loads much faster with no noticeable issues, and the disk speed is barely moving at all (see 9 mins).

I emailed Orch. Tools but still haven't had a response :(

Since it's the weekend, you may want to wait to hear from them, they are usually good with support. If it's a wide issue I'm sure they are already working on a fix, if not they will walk you through getting it sorted on your system. I'm on a Mac here (Mavericks OS, Kontakt 5.51) and the patches are loading and playing fine, but I also use VE pro. ;)
 
Since it's the weekend, you may want to wait to hear from them, they are usually good with support. If it's a wide issue I'm sure they are already working on a fix, if not they will walk you through getting it sorted on your system. I'm on a Mac here (Mavericks OS, Kontakt 5.51) and the patches are loading and playing fine, but I also use VE pro. ;)

Ah yes, totally forgot it was a weekend, my bad! What are your system specs? I use VEPro too, which is where I actually find it's worse than in standalone
 
Ah yes, totally forgot it was a weekend, my bad! What are your system specs? I use VEPro too, which is where I actually find it's worse than in standalone

Mac Mini 3GHz quad core, 16 GB Ram, all SSDs. But I'm on Mavericks, perhaps there is a Yosemite issue. Have you tried it on your PC slave? (Or if you are already, using it directly on your Mac?). Moving your sample drive (if it's external) then playing it off the other system might tell you something, or help the support guys if the problem changes or remains the same. I assume you also tried it directly in Cubase (without VE Pro), but try Kontakt stand alone as well. I've had performance change when trying different configurations, but if it's all the same then you probably do have a patch issue or system conflict. Otherwise check your email for their support response Monday or Tuesday. :)
 
My sound card is listed in my signature - it's the UR22 audio interface.

2. I don't have anything special graphics wise, just the standard stuff that ships with the 4GHz iMac 5k, which I believe is a 2Gb graphics card.

3. I mainly use EW Hollywood on a slave, so the only kontakt libraries I have are free ones, or MA1 and Tina Guo Legato, which is the same size as the strings patch I'm loading, and loads much faster with no noticeable issues, and the disk speed is barely moving at all (see 9 mins).

1. Didn't see that before - my bad!

2. Could be your problem.

3. You seem to be approaching this from, "well, the TG lib uses the same amount of RAM as does Ark, so that means they are equal". Not so. Just b/c two libs are the same size in RAM count when loaded, does not mean they both require the same amount of resources.

Cheers.
 
1. Didn't see that before - my bad!

2. Could be your problem.

3. You seem to be approaching this from, "well, the TG lib uses the same amount of RAM as does Ark, so that means they are equal". Not so. Just b/c two libs are the same size in RAM count when loaded, does not mean they both require the same amount of resources.

Cheers.
Thanks for the response.

2. What influence does the graphics card have on audio processes?

3. I had assumed that was the case. I'll have to have a look but I don't think I've got anything on my host mac that's of a similar size, like a lower strings patch. Got some on my less powerful slave PC that run without issues, but nothing like that on the mac. Might have to have a dig around.
 
2. What influence does the graphics card have on audio processes?

In the PC world, instead of the vid card being located on the motherboard, it's tied directly to the CPU. You take a performance hit there. Furthermore, onboard graphics cards have RAM limitations, and will therefore have to grab some of your system RAM, forcing you to take a performance hit there as well.

I am assuming this works the same way in the Mac world; maybe a Mac person can step in and confirm.

Cheers.
 
In the PC world, instead of the vid card being located on the motherboard, it's tied directly to the CPU. You take a performance hit there. Furthermore, onboard graphics cards have RAM limitations, and will therefore have to grab some of your system RAM, forcing you to take a performance hit there as well.

I am assuming this works the same way in the Mac world; maybe a Mac person can step in and confirm.

Cheers.
He doesn't have onboard graphics card. It says AMD Radeon R9 M290X in the video, which is pretty good for mac standards.
 
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