Hi All,
I was a happy Scaler 2.x user on Bitwig 3.2.1 before I upgraded to 2.0.8 yesterday. Now, I can add the plugin to a new project, but if load a project with Scaler in it, Bitwig gets stuck on the “Loading plugins…” message in the top right corner of the window.
To reproduce:
create a new project
create a new instrument track
add Scaler to the track
save the project
close the project
load the project
Deleting the plugin and reinstalling occasionally solved the issue, that then came back, so that is not a solution. I am now locked out of a few projects that I can only load if I delete Scaler and put it back from scratch - assuming I remember what settings I used!
I use successfully a lot more complicated plugins than Scaler, from Komplete to Neutron / Ozone etc. so it is difficult to think that Bitwig is the problem.
An update for anyone who may experience something similar.
I have found out that the problem is in some way related to my sound card: an USB class compliant Yamaha AG06. The same projects that fail loading Scaler, don’t fail if the sound card is set to any other sound card I own: the MacBook Pro’s own, the display’s, the RODE USB-Mini, the Boss GT-100… So the issue must be something that puts Scaler and my AG06 sound card together.
The only characteristic of the AG06 that really makes it stand out from the other sound cards is that it supports > 48kHz resolution. The Mac can’t cope with it, but in theory it could
Could it be that - when Bitwig loads the plugins - it queries them for their preferred / supported resolution, and Scaler crashes or something if it gets >48k as an option?
There must be something going on, we still have a few users having intermittent crash when reopening projects etc… like you experienced. I think you are right that it might be hardware related, which would explain why I can’t reproduce those crash here on different config.
We have tested with various sound cards and sample rates, but it seems some hardware is confusing the DAW/Scaler on startup.
Thanks for reporting with the additional info. It will hopefully help us figure this one out faster.
Same problem here: I started with Scaler 2.0.8 after some recommendations and it seems great; I’m stoked to use it! But definitely have the same problem reloading a project with Scaler in it – NOTE: it only affects the VST3 version – plugin loading just hangs on the Scaler plugin. I’m on:
2019 MBP i9
macOS 10.14
Bitwig 3.2.3 (latest)
Scaler 2.0.8
RME Babyface Pro
For Bitwig this is irritating because when both VST3 and VST2 are available, it hides VST2 by default, so you’re left with the one that hangs without [remembering to] clicking to show the VST2 version and using that.
EDIT: also can confirm switching to “MacBook Pro Speakers” seems to allow it to reload; so thanks for that tip!
I can confirm that the VST3 version of the plugin is the culprit. This morning I was having even more serious trouble than the usual, and the only way to recover my work was deleting the VST3 version of the file and re-configure a new VST2 version of the same.
In case anyone needs help finding the files, on Mac they’re in /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3 . Remove the two files whose names start by “Scaler”.
