Major Mainstage midi note buffering issue

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Major Mainstage midi note buffering issue

I'm running Mainstage 3.3.2 with a variety of 3rd party software plugins. When playing a piano patch in Kontakt (for example) often Mainstage will stop playing these notes and spit them all out at the same time a few seconds later. This does not register on the CPU load history window.

This started happening during a concert series, and I tried everything possible to fix it. All the sounds are on external SSDs. I replaced the SSD enclosures with brand new USB3 enclosures plugged directly into the iMac.

I also replaced the audio interface mid-run.

How can I fix this? As it is, it's unusable for me, but I really want to be able to use Mainstage for these live concerts.

iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2017), macOS Sierra (10.12.6)

Posted on Jul 2, 2018 9:12 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

DaCaptain

Level 4

1,048 points

Jul 4, 2018 2:42 AM in response to Steve Lehmann

Please check, if your master keyboard spits out MIDI info, that's not required, like Aftertouch, etc. If so, switch it off in the keyboard itself to lower the amount of data processed by the MIDI engine in MainStage.

Then, you might check the number of threads Kontakt is using. This can be set in the preferences in Kontakt. Lowering them makes Kontakt a more friendly citizen.

If that doesn't help, use AutoSampler to sample the Kontakt patch into an EXS, which is pretty lightweight.

Another unusual thing might be the USB wiring / power supply. I had issues with my audio interface if using the 3-prong plug with the power supply. This seems to lead to a USB ground loop, which causes pretty unpredictable things, like MIDI devices coming and going, audio interface ceasing their services, etc. Once back to the 2 prong plug, all went well again.

Best,

DaCaptain

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Answer 2

lifenoise

Level 4

1,019 points

Jul 3, 2018 4:31 AM in response to Steve Lehmann

Check your audio buffer settings. Go to preferences>audio>advanced settings. Try adjusting the settings to achieve an optimum balance of performance and CPU load. Other issues could be your USB or USB-MIDI cable that connects your keyboard to the Mac. Try a different cable.

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Answer 3

lifenoise

Level 4

1,019 points

Jul 3, 2018 9:21 AM in response to Steve Lehmann

Have you considered updating the OS to High Sierra (10.13.5)? I don't know if that will make a difference. I was able to duplicate the MIDI buffer issue. MainStage doesn't respond well to CC 64 continuous data. I don't know if you're using a pedal that sends continuous data. Switching it to a simple on/off setting (0 or 127) seemed to help. Run MIDI message monitor to see what commands your controller sends that may be a factor.

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Answer 4

lifenoise

Level 4

1,019 points

Jul 3, 2018 6:04 AM in response to Steve Lehmann

What are the specs on your Mac? How much RAM? What version of OSX is on the Mac? Have you updated Kontakt to the latest version (I believe it's 5.8.1)?

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Answer 5

lifenoise

Level 4

1,019 points

Jul 3, 2018 3:46 PM in response to Steve Lehmann

Some MacBook Pro users alleviated problems by setting their hi-res displays to a lower resolution. Worth a try?

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Answer 6

DaCaptain

Level 4

1,048 points

Jul 4, 2018 7:40 AM in response to Steve Lehmann

That might well be. Please report, if switching off autosave does change the situation. If so, you might consider dropping off a report at apple.com/feedback. Maybe a developer reads this and fixes the issue. OTOH, a minute ago I didn't know, that Mainstage has autosaving ..... never missed it.

Best,

DaCaptain

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Answer 7

Jul 4, 2018 8:12 AM in response to DaCaptain

Did you say you were able to make it happen as well? You should see if your autosave is enabled. Mine was set at 5 minutes which I assume is the default.

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Answer 8

Jul 4, 2018 7:14 AM in response to DaCaptain

Maybe it's autosave!! Opensnoop just showed that around the time I was having the error...

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Answer 9

Jul 3, 2018 4:49 AM in response to lifenoise

It's not an audio buffer setting. I've adjusted the buffer to plenty large enough, but it's not a CPU issue because it doesn't show up as a CPU spike. I tested it again, and the rainbow wheel shows up.

It also happens with different controller keyboards and cables.

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Answer 10

Jul 3, 2018 6:10 AM in response to lifenoise

iMac 5K 27-inch 2017, Sierra, 32 gigs ram, 4.2 GHz i7. This machine is stacked.

Kontakt is not at 5.8.1, but I'm 90% sure it happens with other plugins as well. I will do that update though to be sure.

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Answer 11

Jul 3, 2018 11:59 AM in response to lifenoise

I can't really update to High Sierra. I have too many 3rd party plugins and most people in my industry advise against it.

I had a look at the pedal info, and it's only sending 0 and 127.

You were able to reproduce the issue - so I'm not crazy. You'd think that this $6000 computer would be able to handle this. There's got to be a weak link somewhere.

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Answer 12

lifenoise

Level 4

1,019 points

Jul 3, 2018 12:32 PM in response to Steve Lehmann

I have a lot of 3rd party plugins, too. No issues here. Omnisphere, Keyscape, Kontakt Komplete Ultimate 11, Ivory II and American Concert D, PianoTeq, Ravenscroft, Ensemble 88, Acoustic Samples B5 v2, Attack EP88, GG Audio Blue3, Arturia Matrix 12-V. I wish I had a Mac with your specs. I'm using a 2014 Mac Mini i7.

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Answer 13

Jul 4, 2018 6:59 AM in response to DaCaptain

Looking at the midi monitor, the only repeating thing is the midi clock. Otherwise it's basic note and on/off pedal info.

The issue happens with any controller I use (I've tried three).

I tried changing the cores that Kontakt uses, but I was playing again and it happened with a non-Kontakt instrument. The rainbow wheel started up and it all paused again.

It's so strange because nothing else is really going on and it happens mid-song.

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Answer 14

Jul 4, 2018 7:06 AM in response to DaCaptain

On another note, I ran a sudo opensnoop and I'm getting a lot of these errors:

dtrace: error on enabled probe ID 6 (ID 944: syscall::open_nocancel:return): invalid user access in action #11 at DIF offset 24

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Answer 15

Jul 3, 2018 6:43 AM in response to Steve Lehmann

I've updated Kontakt and I had the same issue. I loaded one of my concerts and played for 5 minutes and it gave me the MIDI buffering again.

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Major Mainstage midi note buffering issue

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