The problem seems to be very specific now. Everything runs perfectly as long as there is no VI Instrument in the project. As soon as I add just one VI instrument the crackling starts and within 5-10 seconds I lose all audio on all tracks. Even removing the VI Instrument deosn't restore it (I'm only using the Bosendorder - optimized at 2MB).

As soon as I close this project and open any other project without VI Instruments - again - no problems. And the plug-in manager tells me I've got 1074 MB in free RAM.

Help?! I'm getting killed on my time management. It's 2007 - shouldn't take 16-24 hours to install a piece of software.[/i]

Crackling problems are usually solved by increasing the audio buffer size. This increases the latency and gives more time for the software to compute results from your plugins. There is a tradeoff between latency for better playback and latency for better responsiveness to striking the keyboard and hearing that sound in real time. If you are just playing back and don't care about real time responsiveness, then set the buffer size to a large value (say 1024). If you want real time responsiveness then set it to a lower value (e.g., 256). But you need to adjust it depending on your instrument selections and real time performance requirements.

My buffer is at 1024. Crackling isn't the only problem. Once the crackling starts (usually 2-10 seconds into the piece), dead silence on all tracks follows within 10 more seconds. Once that happens it is obviously locking up all the memory because even backing out the VI Instrument and replacing it with a Logic Pro piano does not bring back the sound. I have to close out of Logic Pro completely.

Any project I have that uses only Logic Pro and other third party plug-ins works flawlessly. Once I introduce just one VI Instrument the whole project crackles, then loses sound, even though the plug-in manager is telling me I've got 1075MB of free RAM.

I appreciate the help - any more suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

Well, I don't understand what is going on with your sound stopping.

But I also wanted to point out that AU Manager is described in gory detail in the New Features in Logic Pro 7.2.pdf that ships with the Logic Pro 7.2 update.

Another thought is maybe disk streaming is causing your problems. Are the VI samples located on your system disk? If so how fast is that disk? And VSL recommends using a fast (7200rpm) external drive for streaming VI samples.

My VI Instruments are on an external hard drive (not my system drive) - Western Digital rated at 7200 rpms, 8mb cache.

BTW - I always assume any "New Features" pdf is for people who already owned the software and wanted to see what has changed since they bought it. I wrongly assumed that any new features would be found in the manual - turns out they're not. I'm not sure that is a bad assumption (why put out an updated software without an update manual?), but it's nice to know I can find the reference. Thanks.

Any more suggestions or do I cry uncle, get my refund, and go with dripping wet East/West samples? Ugh, would hate to do it, but drippy finished projects are better than no projects at all.

The new features aren't in the old manuals because they don't update the printed copies until a major revision (e.g., version 6 to 7). Point updates always get a pdf that describes new features.

I have no new suggestions.

Still having the same problem today. With no Vienna Insturments installed, everything works fine. Plug in just one VI and it freezes up almost instantly.

Setup - 1.86gHZ Dual processor (MacBook Pro), 2G SDD2 DRAM, Logic Pro hosted on internal drive, VI hosted on external drive (7200 RPM, firewire 400 - 800 is not available with this early version MacBook).

Following is the system requirements from the VSL.com site. My setup is faster/bigger than all minimum requirements by half.

Apple G4 1 GHz (G5 or Intel Core Duo processor recommended)
with Mac OS X 10.4 or higher

* 1 GB RAM (2 GB recommended)
* VST (OS X, Win XP) or AU (Mac) compatible host (also works stand-alone)
* DVD drive for installation
* Fast separate harddrive with 80 GB free space for Special Edition
* 88 key master keyboard (highly recommended)
* ViennaKey (Vienna Symphonic Library USB Protection Device)
* Syncrosoft License Control Center 5.2.6.4 or higher

Help?

Dont give up yet CF - other people have reported similar problems in this forum and VSL's tech staff have been very helpful. I'm sure they will advise you if the problem persists.

Just went back through the VSL official system requirements. It calls for a minimum 1gHZ processor, mine is a 1.86gHZ Dual core. It also calls for a minimum 1g RAM, I have 2g RAM, and it recommends a "fast" external hard drive. Mine is 7200 - fastest available recently.

I understand I might have to optimize, pull some tricks, bounce some things here and there, etc., until I get my next machine with 3-4G of RAM. I'm okay with that. But right now, with double the minimum system requirements, I'm unable to plug in a single highly optimized VSL Instrument (i.e. Bosendorder optimized to only 2MB of RAM, showing 1,074 RAM available). The system starts crackling before I even play the track, and hoses up in the first couple seconds. This with only one instrument.

Just wanted to emphasize I'm not looking for Nirvana on 2Gigs of RAM. Just looking to be able to struggle along, plug in 6 or so instruments, have the system hose up on me once every 15 minutes or even more often, optimize every instrument, etc., but still be able to work. So far, I'm unable to do anything.

Here's the whole system I've got in place:

1.86gHZ Dual Core MacBook Pro - Firewire 400 (early version of MacBook didn't have firewire 800).
2G of RAM
MOTU Ultralite I/O interface.
7200 RPM, 8MB cache external Western Digital HD - 500G for VI Instruments.
Logic Pro loaded on the native hard drive (180G).

Tried piggybacking the hard drive thru the MOTU (MOTU plugged directly into the single Firewire slot), and the reverse (external HD plugged directly into the single Firewire slot - MOTU piggybacked behind the HD drive.)

Help?