Hi, 

I'm afraid disabling a channel does not work with separate AUX Channels but only with the whole inserted plug-in. 

Best,
Paul

Thanks Paul,

Before I head down this path, if I was to stop using Aux channels and assign every instrument as plug-in, in my first instance I would have 140 instruments - so 140 uses of the Kontakt plug-in.   The chances are that I'm going to get to 4-5 instances.  While I will be able to offload all samples, reducing all the RAM would I be correct in assuming there's a downside (CPU?) to this approach?  

Please excuse me if I'm telling you something that you already know but when you disable a channel you're not relieving the sample burden you're just reducing the CPU burden.  Otherwise, when you turn that channel back on again it would have to reload the samples which takes time.

In your case I think the only way to reduce the sample burden would be to reduce the size of your projects (tremplates). Or, use the sample optimization which unloads the samples that your not using, if it's available in your case.  The trick with optimization is not having to go back and redo things because you'll probably have to reload all the samples again.

I actually work the same way you do (one track at a time) but I don't have VE Pro. 

Let's say, I'm writing a piece for Chamber Strings.  Because I layer my strings, I'll  load my large Orchestral String template then delete the channels that I don't need making the template smaller, thus reducing the sample burden.  Then for future use I'll save that reduced template as a Chamber Strings one.

Does that make sense?

Agian, I don't have VEP Pro but I hope this is still helpful to you.

Thanks Jasen - much appreciated.

I'm still not clear on 'disabling channels', confusion arising out of bringing Cubase in.

My experience with Freezing channels in VE Pro 6 is that unfreezing the frozen channel containing Kontakt shows the samples being reloaded.
I would guess that w. no use of eg., Kontakt that may not be so apparent. But if the meaning here is Freeze a channel in VE Pro 6, ie., by the default command command-e (prob. control e under windows) it definitely unloads samples in Kontakt. There is no dialog popup for samples loading per se from a VI Pro 2 instrument apparently.

EDIT: wait, so you don't even HAVE VE Pro? 😮 

@David Tee said:

Thanks Paul,

Before I head down this path, if I was to stop using Aux channels and assign every instrument as plug-in, in my first instance I would have 140 instruments - so 140 uses of the Kontakt plug-in.   The chances are that I'm going to get to 4-5 instances.  While I will be able to offload all samples, reducing all the RAM would I be correct in assuming there's a downside (CPU?) to this approach?  

@civilization 3 said:

EDIT: wait, so you don't even HAVE VE Pro? 😮 

That's correct, I don't have VE Pro but I'm not the one who started the thread. 

I think the OP is trying to economize his sample loads so I had suggested making smaller templates.  I guess freezing tracks is an option too.

"when you disable a channel you're not relieving the sample burden you're just reducing the CPU burden.  Otherwise, when you turn that channel back on again it would have to reload the samples which takes time."

So you are talking about in Cubase? If you freeze the plugin in Cubase VST Rack it unloads the samples. If you freeze a channel with a samples-using instrument in VE Pro, it unloads the samples.

So, again, I'm confused by the notion 'disabling channels', I mean I don't know what it means.

Freezing a Kontakt channel in VE Pro and unfreezing it is reloading the state it was in in VE Pro, with no need to save it before and subsequently reload it in a new instance of Kontakt. However, if you want the Host Automation as mapped in the Automation Mapping in VE Pro, it tends to come back without it connected. Reaktor, same issue.

I guess you mean Vienna Ensemble not-Pro. Yeah, no, it doesn't have this feature. :)

With more interrogation of the issue, it appears it's been clarified by Paul pointing out that the channel with the actual sample in it has to be frozen, which I would have found self-evident. But assuredly, it unloads the samples in a Kontakt instantiation. I'm not tending to be freezing the VI Pro channels for some reason. But the question regarded Kontakt, and as a point of empirical fact these samples are unloaded by _freeze channel_ containing samples, default here is Command-E, probably Control-E under Windows, in VE Pro 6 currently.

@jasensmith said:

I was talking about VE not Cubase. Sorry for the confusion.

AFAIK you can't freeze channels or tracks in VE. Disabling channels has to do with the audio engine feeding the channel. When you turn a channel off you are disabling it but it won't affect the sample load thus it won't affect the RAM.

I think the OP was under the impression that turning the channel off (disabling it) would reduce sample/RAM burden on his system but it reduces CPU load instead.

No, it doesn't only reduce CPU usage. When the channel is disabled it will unload the samples. Enable the channel and it will reload the samples.

VEP7 seems to be leaking memory though sometimes. Adding/removing a Kontakt instance several times increases RAM usage, and it doesn't really free up all the memory, but put in in the avaliable part of the RAM memory. But if you save an instance with a channel unloaded, restart VEP and add the instance again, it will load will 0 RAM usage.

@snattack said:

VEP7 seems to be leaking memory though sometimes. Adding/removing a Kontakt instance several times increases RAM usage, and it doesn't really free up all the memory, but put in in the avaliable part of the RAM memory. But if you save an instance with a channel unloaded, restart VEP and add the instance again, it will load will 0 RAM usage.