Could be a shot in the dark, but...
 
Anyone here use EastWest Quantum Leap sample libraries, specifically Hollywood Strings?  I've run into a handful of issues and I'm not sure if it's the PLAY software, something happening in Sonar, or a strange byproduct of my hardware.
 
Most samples/articulations work great, but there are a handful of string patches (usually on the bow change articulations or true legato articulations) that cause dropouts during playback.  I'll load an instrument into PLAY, lay down a track, and move on.  Then when I go back to that previous track, there's no sound and I have to go back into PLAY, force it to reload the instrument, then it plays back fine.
 
It's gotten to the point where once I've done this several times and finally have a performance I want, I'll freeze the track and cross my fingers that I don't have to go back and do meticulous MIDI editing since Sonar/PLAY keeps dropping out.
 
However, that brings up another issue.  When I freeze the track, quite often the resulting audio has dropouts as well.  I understand how a live playback could result in some dropouts, but the main purpose of freezing a track is to free up resources so you DON'T get dropouts, etc.
 
So I end up unfreezing the track, soloing it, playing it for several bars, then freezing it again, and eventually I'll get the complete performance bounced, but it can take a LONG time with all that back and forth.
 
This will occasionally happen with the Hollywood Brass library, but the main culprit is Hollywood Strings.
 
I'm running Sonar on a solid state drive, and my sample library is on a separate 10,000RPM drive.  CPU/RAM performance meter doesn't take much of a hit when I'm playing the samples, so I don't think it's my PC setup (i7 2600K, 16GB RAM).  I do have my interface buffer set to 64 samples when tracking (I record most performances in real time, so latency is an issue if I increase the buffer setting), and I know that can contribute to some dropouts, but I don't think it explains why I'd have to reload the instrument in PLAY to force it to refresh.
 
One last note: I don't run into any dropouts/hiccups when I play the stuff in the standalone PLAY, only within Sonar.
 
Anyway, in the off chance there are other EWQL Hollywood users out there running into similar issues, I'd appreciate some feedback!  Thanks.

What version of Sonar? There was a bug that was fixed a couple of releases ago that could cause midi notes to be skipped, cutoff early or even to hang.
 
Regards,
Dan

dcumpian
What version of Sonar? There was a bug that was fixed a couple of releases ago that could cause midi notes to be skipped, cutoff early or even to hang.
 
Regards,
Dan

I'm on the newest Everett release, although I've been working on other projects recently and haven't used the EWQL stuff since probably Cambridge or Dorchester?  I know I ran into it all the time with X3 Producer and also when I first upgraded to Platinum.
 
I guess I missed the release notes about the MIDI fixes...maybe that's it? Although it's weird that it only happens with some EWQL instruments...none of my other virtual instruments showed this type of behavior at all (AD2 & Pianoteq being the most commonly used).
 
I actually tried testing it in Pro Tools 11 as well (got it "free" with my Eleven Rack), but I could never figure out how to get a virtual instrument set up in PT. :)
 
Thanks for the info - I'll give it a try with the new Everett release and cross my fingers!!

If the problem is dropped MIDI notes and not audio dropouts, the fix is usually setting "Prepare Using nnn Millisecond Buffer" higher in Preferences > MIDI > Playback and Recording. Try 500 or 750. some have reported needing a higher setting than 750.

scook
If the problem is dropped MIDI notes and not audio dropouts, the fix is usually setting "Prepare Using nnn Millisecond Buffer" higher in Preferences > MIDI > Playback and Recording. Try 500 or 750. some have reported needing a higher setting than 750.

Thanks, I'll check the MIDI preferences and see what's there.  The only audio dropouts are what's baked into the frozen track, so it would appear that everything is happening on the MIDI end.
 
However, if I increase the buffer as you've described, isn't that also going to increase latency when I'm recording a MIDI performance through the VSTi?  Or is that particular setting just a "lookahead" that designates how much to set aside during playback (and presumably also during a freeze or bounce)?

The latency most people complain about is on the audio side of things and is caused by the audio interface, the interface driver setting and plug-in delay compensation. The MIDI playback buffer has nothing to do with that. At extreme settings, you might notice a slight delay between starting the transport and the now time actually moving.
 

Okay, cool.  I don't have any latency problems to speak of, so good to know this setting has no impact on real-time recording/performance.  I'll give it a look tonight and report back.  Thanks.

Well, the good news is that with the newest Everett update, I haven't been able to replicate the issue of having to reload the instrument in order to force a refresh, so I'm able to go back and forth between several tracks, and whichever one is highlighted, it plays back the appropriate Hollywood Strings instrument.
 
Unfortunately, when freezing the tracks, I'm still getting dropouts in the rendered file.  And it isn't a specific place/instrument each time (as if I'd done something goofy with the MIDI information while recording or editing).  Regular playback seems to work just fine, but freezing the track doesn't.
 
I checked my MIDI preferences and "Prepare using" is already set to 1000 milliseconds.  I bumped it up to 1500 milliseconds, recorded some additional MIDI, then froze/unfroze everything a couple times and thus far no dropouts, but given the seemingly random nature of the dropouts when rendering, I'm not 100% confident it won't happen again, but at least in this small test everything is working.
 
(I'm only using 4 tracks right now, one for each of the main string groups.  When I do a complete orchestral arrangement, that'll be the true test!)
 
By the way, I have a SSD system drive and my EWQL libraries are all streaming from a separate 10,000RPM internal drive.  Just can't afford to dump all of those libraries on a 1TB SSD just yet, but I wouldn't think that's the issue, especially since I freeze a track once it's recorded to free up resources for streaming samples when recording/editing new parts.

Whether you're playing or freezing you're still streaming the sample.

The actual process of freezing only frees up resources once its completed and it is for the events that will take place that occur after the freeze. You freeze to free up resources.

Could it be that you just need to up your buffers a little bit.