randy's Recent Posts
What host are you using? On some hosts apparently the default setup for a music effect like Virta is to leak the dry signal through. If you have Ableton Live, you can try the setup shown in the Virta manual as a reference.
There may be some glitches that come up with the current version, especially on Mac Pros. Please try the beta available here: http://madronalabs.com/media/virta/Virta1.2b5.pkg and let me know if it gets any better!
Hi Greg,
There was a thread about that here:
http://madronalabs.com/topics/4500-linnstrument-comparison
With Soundplanes being out of stock right now, an important feature of the Linnstrument is that you can actually order one from Roger! It's going to be a little while until more Soundplanes are available. Please stay tuned for news and development blogging.
I made a beta installer for download. If you had problems with Virta in the past, please give this new version a try and see if they are fixed.
This beta is demo-only, so please download and keep your previous installer to restore your licensed version.
http://madronalabs.com/media/virta/Virta1.2b5.pkg
Virta 1.2b1 release notes - Sept 22, 2016
NOTE:
This is a BETA demo-only version. It is possible to try in demo mode but the website is not yet set up to allow licensing the plugin. If you want to test this version, your help is appreciated. Please download and save your previous installer so you can get back to the previous version.
Hi and welcome to Virta, a sound tool by Madrona Labs.
Virta is a MIDI / OSC controlled effect. This means it can process audio as well as note and controller data. To get the most out of it you need both types of data. In general, Virta will live in a channel insert and have MIDI data routed to it from another channel. Please see the manual for a quick introduction to setup using Ableton Live.
Please see the Virta manual, available on our website, for a complete introduction. For questions or technical support, please try the forums at http://madronalabs.com. If you have purchased a Virta license, you can try us directly by email at .
Macintosh users, please note:
Virta is now Gatekeeper compatible, which allows installation under MacOS Sierra. To install, just double-click the Virta .pkg file and follow the instructions. You can click the lock icon in the upper right of the installer window to confirm the developer signature.
Licensing the plugin
Virta ships as a demo version. The demo has a gentle reminder "wave" sound, and does not allow patches to be saved.
To buy a license for unrestricted use, visit http://madronalabs.com/products/virta and click "Buy now." From the "My licenses" page on the website, you can see the licenses for any products you have purchased. Copy the license, then click on the plugin's upper right registration area to paste the license into the plugin. The license will be saved on your disk.
A license allows you to install the plugin on multiple computers and to run it on any one computer at a time. To run multiple copies of the plugin at once, as in a lab setting, you must purchase mutliple licenses.
Known issues:
- The "carrier thru" formants mode is not documented in the manual. Choose this option to reduce CPU when a vocoder is not needed.
Changes in Virta 1.2:
- new registration system
- UTF-8 compatibility for patch and registration names
- fixed an issue where the protocol type (MIDI, MPE, OSC) was not loading if the plugin editor did not exist
- fixed a issue with plugin output creation in Cubase
- fixed an issue where folder or patch names starting in numbers might not appear
- fixed audio hangs in delay / diffuser and improved sonics
- fix instability issues introduced with Virta 1.0.2
- fixed zipper noise in Virta params
- cosmetic: clear Virta formants display when mode = thru
- fixed an incompatibility with the AU version in AudioMulch
- code signed installer for Gatekeeper / MacOS Sierra compatibility
- tweaked colors some more
Changes in Virta 1.0.2:
- changed VST version to a MIDI-controlled effect, enabling Cubase compatibility.
- improved graphics performance with OS X 10.11 (El Capitan)
- changed preset loading to strip unused settings
- fixed a problem with Reaper always passing through dry audio
- fixed a problem with audio stopping at some parameter settings
- brightened background color
Enjoy!
[edited link so people don't get b1 by mistake]
Noted, thanks for the clear feedback.
Yes, I've had a few requests for this and I'll be happy to do it at some point. Thanks for the feedback.
I can confirm that the behavior has changed since the previous releases. It's not on purpose. I'll try to fix it. In the meantime you can click just below the round handles to cycle through the patch cords.
Thanks for the good words! A bundle is certainly a reasonable idea.
The AUDIO "pre" is patched to the OUTPUT "aux in" in this patch. So if you remove that patch cord, you should no longer hear the dry signal.
thanks garf!
In general, any grain will keep playing until it either ends, or is stolen. As you've noted, when the retrigger rate is 0, the length of a grain is infinite, so it never ends on its own, and things get a bit weird.
When switching to a new preset, certainly I wouldn't want the old grains to end abruptly. I see the ability to "crossfade" presets as very useful. Unfortunately we are left with only the current (new) sample to display. Possibly there could be some kind of indicator that the older samples are no longer in sync with the displayed sample. making the lines dotted for example.
I can see how old samples might "reappear" if the number of voices is messed with. This would be a bug and shouldn't be hard to fix.
There is plenty of room for UI refinement. I'm going to add some kind of numeric entry solution one of these days.
Using the granulator with a rate of 0 is a feature that sort of snuck in against my better judgement. Yes, the modulation multiplies the rate, and in general the rate dial is logarithmic, like the oscillator pitch dials. So multiplying anything with 0 you get 0 again. A separate toggle for 0 might be better.
A new Virta beta:
http://madronalabs.com/media/virta/Virta1.2b5.pkg
Hopefully this fixes the LPG / delay weirdness. The problem was in how the delay responds to silence. I'm not sure how it never came up before! thanks testers.
This will be the last beta unless there are any show stoppers.
I'm making notes of all these things and will get to them ASAP, but after the next update.
The delete key thing never worked properly in all hosts. i spent a bunch of time trying to get it to, because I agree, it was useful! Supporting keyboard input seemed to be a real difficulty with using JUCE framework. That was a while ago, so they have probably improved it. I can look at it again.
Also, I would like to add an interface that works well for tablets. So, maybe you select all the patchcords and you see a kind of menu of what you have selected, with some [X] boxes on it for deleting some or all.
I think this is fixed already. If not I'll investigate after the coming update.
Thanks for the detailed info—I'll investigate this after the coming update.
I am literally working on this today. I will release an update as soon as I can.
Can reproduce the weirdness. Working on it.
NEW BETA: 1.2b3
http://madronalabs.com/media/virta/Virta1.2b3.pkg
This should fix the protocol open bug as well as AU / installation issues. The AU problems were with hosts using an older API to open the component.
If it's happening in Ableton, I am not aware of any workarounds. The release should be very soon.
I have to get these other updates out first. I guess you have seen that I am working on updating all of the plugins with a new licensing system and many other improvements. After that I can get a Soundplane update out. There's a lot going on here and only one developer. Thanks for your patience.
Please write up the problem with the Max loading and email me the details, then I'll make a ticket so I'll be sure to remember when I return to the Soundplane code.
Either once or twice a year.
I tried an auval -a (if that was even helpful) ?
auval is not to fix anything there, but to get me some information I can use to fix any problems. You can also use it to diagnose problems. If you run "auval -a" it will show all the plugins. Then you can look at the name of the plugin you want to test fully and do for example "auval -v aumf Vrta MLbs" to validate Virta.
If the AU is not running please do "auval -v aumf Vrta MLbs" and send me the result in email.
Also you can try clearing your audiounits cache and restarting.
The VST is exactly the same thing as the AU. You can literally copy the .component into the VST folder, rename it to a .VST, and that is the VST. So any problems with loading the VST but not the AU are likely to be fixable in the host. Is it looking in the right directory for VST plugins?
Are you on Windows? There is an issue with some hosts on Windows and I am working on a fix. If you have FL Studio for example you can select "fixed size buffers" to work around the problem. If not please let me know. A fixed version will come soon. Thanks for your patience.
Thanks for writing with the solution. I haven't been able to follow along because I don' t have a Push 2... one of these days!
OK, new beta is at http://madronalabs.com/media/virta/Virta1.2b2.pkg
Loading issue fixed but I haven't looked at the protocol problem.
OK, I'm not using portaudio in the plugin so this is just a build issue. fixing...
eh, odd. I will try installing Sierra here and see if I can duplicate. Meanwhile if you have time, please try restarting, see if that helped, and run "auval -a" and then "auval -v aumf Vrta MLbs" in Terminal and email me the results.
Thanks.
64 bit?
stick around, things are always happening!
Thanks for sharing your experiences. I have yet to test with Sierra. Now that the beta of Virta is out, I will give Sierra a try.
Wow, that's exciting the USB hang seems to have gone away. There's nothing I've been able to do to affect this, which was quite frustrating.
I've been on other stuff, but the touch tracker work will get a debut soon with the next Soundplane update.
Thanks for writing. I have a new hp laptop for Windows 10 and as soon as I get this next release out, I'm going to see about dual-booting it with Ubuntu.