Direkt zum Inhalt

Synfire 1.7.16 Update

Posted

This update is mainly for bug fixes and improved support for OS X Retina screens. Network connectivity and robustness has also been improved, which (hopefully) cures occasional crashes and broken DAW links:

(http://www.cognitone.com/support/article.stml?o=119)


Sa., 26.03.2016 - 16:10 Permalink

Something very bizzare is going with Ableton and SFP after the update. If i start Ableton without SFP Ableton has drop outs and pops every few seconds. If SFP is running everything is fine. I have uninstalled and reinstalled Ableton and the drivers for my interface. Every other audio soft i have is working perfectly. 

Sa., 26.03.2016 - 16:39 Permalink

Oh duderanch! You have just saved me several days of heartache and re-installing everything!  Since this upgrade, I have been getting clicks, pops, droupouts, etc. in Cubase.  Even if I just have Cubase up with no project loaded, the Cubase VST peak meter peaks every 10 or 11 seconds or so.  As Synfire was the only thing that had changed, I tried uninstalling but the Cubase problem didn't go away so I assumed it couldn't be that.  Actually, I may have just reverted to the previous Synfire version, can't remember for sure.

Just seen your post, started Cubase, peaking occurs.  Started Synfire, peaking stops!!  I didn't even think of starting them both at the same time! I've spent the last few days doing nothing except downloading latency tools, etc. and I've even sent a support request to my laptop provider.

I am also in the process of saving files off, as I was going to do a restore to my laptop's original state and re-insatll everything!  Thank God I saw your post before I started that!  I really cannot thank you enough.

At least there's a workaround before this gets fixed, but hopefully that won't be too long.  I'll send a support request to Cognitone just in case they don't see this thread for a while.

Sa., 26.03.2016 - 16:54 Permalink

Glad to help. I was in the same boat and I was thinking of a reinstall but that would take a week. I was at my end last night and just happend to open SFP and try to play something in Ableton. I didnt have any plugins scanned in Ableton so it could not have been the drone. Maybe it has something to do with the SFP engine. dont know. I have never seen a problem like this.

Sa., 26.03.2016 - 20:30 Permalink

Did you observe this on Windows?

If so, how is the CPU load? How many CPU cores do you have?

Is this during DAW playback, or while the DAW is sitting idle?

At first your reports sound like the ReWire Transport is eating a lot of CPU which makes the DAW process hick up. This could be related to it trying to connect to Synfire too often. However, I couldn't reproduce this yet. No CPU spikes. 

Sa., 26.03.2016 - 22:24 Permalink

on windows 7 without SFP running. Ableton will have CPU spikes every few seconds. the spikes are 1000 percent and above causing a total drop out and pop noises. It happens when idle and playing. I started SFP and it sits idle while using Ableton and Ableton has no problems as long as SFP is started. 

Sa., 26.03.2016 - 22:29 Permalink

Is the time bewteen hickups relatively constant (how many seconds)?

If it's regular and constant, this would point to an issue with the connection task.

Sa., 26.03.2016 - 22:33 Permalink

Yes this is on Windows.  My CPU is Haswell i7 2.5GHz 4 Core 8 Threads but the CPU load is zero when this is happening.  It occurs both when the DAW is idle, and during playback.  I'm not using Synfire at the moment as I'm mixing a song in Cubase which is all audio, no VSTs or drones, etc.

So I first noticed the audio was dropping out on Tuesday, just after the Synfire update.  I then found the peaks on the meter were happening with no Cubase project loaded, i.e. start Cubase, open the VST meter and observe the spikes (see attached GIF).  The spikes seem to be about every 10 or 11 seconds.

It wasn't until I saw dude's post that I opened Cubase and Synfire at the same time.  Again, no project loaded in either, no playback, and the spikes stopped.

Let me know if there's any more you need from me and I'll happily oblige.

Attachments

Sa., 26.03.2016 - 22:39 Permalink

I've just timed 5 consecutive peaks (manually with the iPhone stopwatch) and they are all about 13 seconds apart.

Sa., 26.03.2016 - 22:41 Permalink

I have a Intel I7-4790 3.60Ghz Quad core processor. The drop outs occur at 10 second intervals.

Sa., 26.03.2016 - 22:44 Permalink

Ok thanks. This seems to be the network connection that attempts to find Synfire every 10 seconds until it's found.

I have no idea why this is an issue on Windows only. The code is fully cross-platform and there are no such side effects on OS X. Will have to check.

So., 27.03.2016 - 16:38 Permalink

Same issue with dropout/stutter in Live on Windows here.

I "quick-fixed" it by deselecting and de-installing the Engines. (Most of all times I use an external synthesizer with Synfire anyway)

Hope a fix for this will be available soon, though.

So., 27.03.2016 - 21:29 Permalink

Interestingly it doesn't happen with PreSonus Studio One and Reaper.

I could reproduce it now with Live 9, so we can test our fixes. Will let you know when a fix is available.

Mo., 28.03.2016 - 13:38 Permalink

There's an issue with Audio Engine 2.3.0 on Windows (Synfire 1.7.16) that eats 100% CPU every 13 seconds, even if Synfire is NOT running. It's in the ReWire Transport module. This affects selected DAWs only (reports indicate Cubase, Ableton Live).

If you are on Windows, please go back to 1.7.15 until we found a fix. In order to do so, use Windows Control Panel to uninstall Synfire1.7.16, plus both 32 and 64 bit Cognitone Audio Engines (3 apps). This is required to allow you to go back to an earlier version.

There is no such issue on OS X.

Mo., 28.03.2016 - 16:09 Permalink

Some lessons learned from this perhaps, because it's obviously caused a few people a lot of hassle.

I had already tried uninstalling Synfire but the problem remained.  That's because I forgot about the Engines which I didn't uninstall.

  • Is it possible to supply a single installer package for everything, rather than 3 separate installs?
  • The same for a single uninstall package?
  • Is it possible to make the 32 bit engine optional for people who don't use it?  Not related to this perhaps, but most manufacturers give you that option.  I'm not sure why you would want to use both 32 and 64 bit at the same time, and I don't think it's even possible on Windows anyway

Mi., 30.03.2016 - 20:12 Permalink

(Sigh) I'm sorry, but there's still dropouts, now during playback. This needs a couple more hours fixing.

UPDATE: AAAAhhhhhhhrrrgh!!!! (long echoes from a huge desert valley)

This was iZotope OZONE in the global test rack, deliberately producing dropouts because it could not find its authorization! And guess what? The dropouts also came every 13 seconds! Heck. This is not my day ;-) But I'm glad it's not a bug.

Will test a little more and unlock the files.

Mi., 30.03.2016 - 22:05 Permalink

That's interesting, I assume iZotpe is authorised on iLok?  I get that problem sometimes when my laptop doesn't recognise my iLok unless I unplug it and plug it in again.  Same happens with Synfire, although I assume you don't have to authorise your copy of Synfire on iLok Bild entfernt.