Dune 2 and Reason 9.5 Issues

[DonnieAlan]

Thanks, I just downloaded the free set from the link above. In the folder there is a .pdf file, two internet shortcuts and a .png file. I removed those and the patches load fine here.

Perhaps those extra files were causing the crashes.

I don't know. I think I only had the patch file in the soundbanks folder, but I'm not going to worry about it either. I've got Dune2 working in Reason, and that's what I wanted!

I do keep running into CPU problems though. I'd forgotten that Dune 2 isn't exactly light on the resources. Even with i7 2.75mhz processor it can cause hangups on processing depending on the complexity of the voice. Xfer's Serum is kinda the same way. Its probably the wavetables. I"m just going to have to get a faster CPU!

[HYPNAGOGIA]

Glad to hear you have it working

As for CPU usage, experiment with turning multi-threading on DUNE2. Some hosts don't seem to like very much when a plugin is capable of using multiple threads.

[DonnieAlan]

Glad to hear you have it working

As for CPU usage, experiment with turning multi-threading on DUNE2. Some hosts don't seem to like very much when a plugin is capable of using multiple threads.

I don't know how to do that on dune 2. I don't see the setting for it.

[Marcin]

Perhaps those extra files were causing the crashes.

Hmm. I checked them and it works very well, with or without those extra files.
DUNE 2 is looking only for fxp files ignoring any other extension.

And now it all works like it should!

Glad to hear that. Still I am wondering what can crash DUNE 2 at this point.
Do you still have the copy of your Soundbanks directory?

[DonnieAlan]

Glad to hear that. Still I am wondering what can crash DUNE 2 at this point.
Do you still have the copy of your Soundbanks directory?

If you mean me, sorry, I just deleted the folder entirely.

[DonnieAlan]

I found the multithreading option. Guess I never noticed that before. Anyway, I turned it off for each of the instances of Dune I had in the Combinator in Reason. But it really didn't make a difference. Still got the "you're computer is too slow idiot..." message.

In this case, I had 6 instances of Dune 2, 2 each dedicated to the same patch, so layering 3 patches. Sent the audio outputs to the line mixer, so 6 tracks there. Had wanted to try some experimentation in layering some patches with some Reason FX added, etc. Anyway, the CPU load is too much. I have other patches I've created in combinator where I have as many as 12 VIs stacked up with several fx added and no issues at all. But Dune 2 and a couple others (ie Serum), just take too much CPU power to do much with stacking in Combinator. I suspect the faster processors out there won't have that issue.

[Touch The Universe]

Does Combinator run on one track? If so, it might be taxing too much of a single core. Daw's usually split up tracks between cores. The first track would be sent to core one, the second to core 2 etc. Fx chains in general usually tax too much of one core even though other cores aren't used too much and are free, so to speak. Once a single core peaks though, its enough to put a stopper on the project. Best bet would be to spread out those instances and minimize fx chains if running into consistent problems. Cheers.

[DonnieAlan]

Does Combinator run on one track? If so, it might be taxing too much of a single core. Daw's usually split up tracks between cores. The first track would be sent to core one, the second to core 2 etc. Fx chains in general usually tax too much of one core even though other cores aren't used too much and are free, so to speak. Once a single core peaks though, its enough to put a stopper on the project. Best bet would be to spread out those instances and minimize fx chains if running into consistent problems. Cheers.

Yes, Combinator runs on one track. After investigating further, I found a suggestion on a similar issue to change the CPU limit on Reason to "none" instead of a fixed percentage. That helped. Then, I found where to turn off multithreading in Reason as well. For the most part, that eliminated the problem. I say 'for the most part' because every once in a while, the sound can get a bit glitchy in spots if there's too much going on. But, its better than it was. Its clear that no matter what you turn off or on in the system, CPU does have its limits. And I've known for some time I need a faster and more powerful CPU than my current one. I'm planning to upgrade soon, and I think that will eliminate most, if not all, such issues. There's other issues I've had with CPU with other VI's (ie Omnisphere, Serum). I can see my CPU meter peg out when I 'm using Pro Tools with some of these, especially when I'm working on a video score. So, its time to upgrade!

[Foxedge]

I do keep running into CPU problems though. I'd forgotten that Dune 2 isn't exactly light on the resources. Even with i7 2.75mhz processor it can cause hangups on processing depending on the complexity of the voice. Xfer's Serum is kinda the same way. Its probably the wavetables. I"m just going to have to get a faster CPU!

Hmm, odd. I am using an i5-4670 @3,4GHz and I feel Dune 2 pretty light on CPU/Ressources usage.
My last track featured 10 instances of Dune 2 besides several Kontakt 5 instances and didn't caused issues.

Currently I am working on a soundbank for Dune 2 - 35 different patches loaded into the project, no issues.

[Foxedge]

Edit -

[Richard]

I found the multithreading option. Guess I never noticed that before. Anyway, I turned it off for each of the instances of Dune I had in the Combinator in Reason. But it really didn't make a difference.

Yep, it doesn't have any effect in Reason. Making it work in Reason is currently not technically possible. There is a decent chance it will work in the future, but that's up to Propellerhead, not us (as a side note, Reason is the only host we know of with this particular issue).

Note that Reason itself does multi-thread, so if you open several instances of DUNE 2, you will benefit from that multi-threading of course.

Richard