Mainstage 3 Crashing Frequently

Hi

I'd say that RAM could be an issue. Check Total RAM usage in Activity Monitor, as well as in MS's Memory Meter.

Which audio interface are you using and are it's drivers OK with El Capitan?

Are all your 3rd party plugins OK with El Capitan?

Which version of El Capitan are you running?

CCT

I have a similar problem with a 2015 2.7ghz i5 Macbook PRO with 8G of RAM. Latest version El Capitan, latest version MainStage.

It's crashing almost immediately even with the simplest setups,

i.e. 1 Wurlitzer or 1 piano will not only crash the software but take me back to my log-in screen at times.

I've tried reinstalling the software with no luck. Logic X on the other hand works fine.

Does this sound familiar to anybody else?

Late 2013 rMBP here.

16 GB RAM, 3.7GHZ i7 (I think), 1TB Flash

Focusrite 2i2 interface - USB class compliant.

I made the grave mistake of taking my laptop to a very important rehearsal WITHOUT a backup pre-amp + effects for my guitar.

Continuous crashes, interface just "stops" giving output in the middle of songs etc. Until this point, I'd only had a handful of crashes though being at home I didn't really understand the gravity of what would happen live.

I ended up using Logic and manually clicking on the next track to change effects etc.

Was a horrible experience. If this was a paid gig, or even an important performance / pre-recording test I would have lost my mind.

I've concluded that software just isn't "there" yet in terms of reliability.

I've been preaching the joys of laptops in a live setup, and been using all kinds of bands and DJ's as references though I've been burnt pretty hard by this.

Cannot go past dedicated hardware, even if it doesn't have as much features as what software can offer.

I don't have a reason to use Mainstage anymore, thankfully it was only $30.

What a dud.

I'll stay tuned in hope that there's a patch or similar in the works.

peSauce, you can't just make sweeping statements like "software just isn't 'there' yet in terms of reliability" or that MainStage is "a dud". I've been using MainStage since v1.0 (2007) and have never, ever had a crash during a live gig or rehearsal....and I use my MainStage-based software gig rig every single week. I've used the same MainStage setup on Snow Leopard, Lion, Mountain Lion, Mavericks, Yosemite and El Capitan on three different MacBook Pro machines but with the same MOTU Ultralite Mk 3. I had some issues in the first few months using MainStage a long time ago with audio distorting but that stopped as soon as a got a very high-quality FireWire cable...the same brand I still use. Interestingly, I hear about/see the majority of crashes/issues these days being encountered by users with Focusrite and M-Audio interfaces, and MacBook Pro 13" machines. Apple obviously has some issues with the latter but I can't help wondering if poorly coded drivers are responsible for the former.

Madddcow -

I do appreciate your feedback as to what you have noticed to be common amongst other users' issues. Any feedback I can get is good, cheers 🙂

That was my personal conclusion. My experience is not incorrect because others have had a different experience.

I have two unrelated issues - one is that the app will crash randomly, and the second issue is that sound output from Mainstage will stop.

This is not a hardware fault, the hardware (USB interface, USB cables, MIDI controller etc) works flawlessly in other apps.

I should add -

*The Focusrite model that I'm using does not use it's own driver, it uses Apple's "Core Audio". It is class compliant.

*I have tried several different USB cables between the interface and the laptop

*When I switch back to Logic, everything worked perfectly all day long. It's MainStage that has the issue

*my rMBP is a 15" (not super important, just throwing that in there)

*I'm only using the plugins that come with MainStage / Logic. I plan on using "Positive Grid - BIAS" when I can get it reliable enough.

I'm coming from a place where I've used dedicated hardware and I want to replace some of that hardware with software.

If I can't just plug in and rock 'n roll then to me, I cannot replace my hardware. So to me, the software just "isn't there yet".

Many would fall into this category.

It wasn't like a small glitch, it was a show stopper.

From your experience, will the "clean up" option have any benefit ?

Re. clean-up option: dunno. I've used it before but have no idea if this actually made any functional difference.

Just out of interest, are you able to try another audio interface to eliminate your Focusrite as the potential problem? I know that it should work properly with MainStage if it works with Logic but then again, MainStage is a different beast...albeit built on similar code. It wouldn't be the first time I've seen/heard of problems disappearing when a different interface is used with MainStage. That'd be my recommended starting point and if possible, I'd be really interested to see if you experience any problems with a MOTU interface.

Re. plugins: I use a bunch of non-Apple plugins and don't think plugins have any bearing on the issues you've experienced.

Hi,

i m also using MainStage since last 3 years.... but its true that it crash any time... of course app is having such a great powerful functions and ability for live performance, but besides this all the time i am scared that n stage time of the show will it load the file without crashing which on which spent almost 3 to 4 hours to prepare the patch for the performance????? SCARRY.....😐😢 this is a kind request to apple to do something about this people don't want loose this good app and there is no any alternate to MainStage .... Come on APPLE you can do this!!!!!!😉

one more strange thing came out is that when i remove 3rd party plugin Real Guitar which is my important plugin for live performance 😐 , MainStage don't crash and even load project quickly.... after removing real guitar not crashing any more... PLASE PLEASE Apple do rectify the problem to save the MainStage's image to continue and go more famous.... i tell you artists will go happy and flawless on the stage once MainStage comes out of this CRASHING Issue...

I guess I'm one of those 13" Macbook Pro user that will never get this software running flawlessly: MainStage 3 - Not a reliable software for live performances

Macbook Pro 13'' retina, 8GM RAM, 128GB flash, from 2015 here.

Focusrite 2i2

Mainstage crashing once at each around 10 minutes. The entire setup works fine with steinberg DAW.

After many crashes, during the last tour, I've decided to use my digital piano output as a backup audio channel to the house. So, when MainStage crashes, it would be possible to slide up my piano main volume and continue to play (but particularly angry). So, after each new crash, MainStage was able to reconnect to the usb interface, and I could continue to play with my main outputs of audio to the show. After a few crashes, simply a new disconnection error appeared and I increased up my piano's volume again. So, in less than a second the MainStage crash made some type of dumb Control Change message go in wrong way directly to my piano, cutting this time the digital piano's sound, despite I was trying to slide volume down and up. So, I had to turn of and on again my digital piano to continue to play. At this point, guitarist toke the song execution for me.

For now, I would like to retrieve my money back. But I'm wondering for a substancial change for the next release.