Problem with Qtractor, plugin presets, and the visual display of plugins.
There seems to be a problem in Qtractor with saved presets and the visual interface for the x42 plugins, zam plugins, LSP plugins, dragonfly reverb, and possibly others that I haven't noticed yet or don't use. Specifically, I've noticed it with the following LV2 plugins: x42 Compressor, x42 EQ, x42 Limiter, zam compressor and EQ, LSP Compressor and EQ, and dragonfly reverb. I think all zam and x42 plugins are affected.
Example:
I add an x42 plugin to a track, adjust the settings, and save a preset using the "Properties" window in Qtractor (right-click on the plugin in the track and then click the Properties button). If I right-click on the plugin in the track again and select one of my saved presets, nothing happens in the plugin's interface. I can't visually confirm the preset selection. Only when I go through the menu again—right-click on the plugin in the track and then select Properties—do I see that I've selected the correct preset, but there's still no visual change in the plugin interface. Only when I click the Edit button in the Properties window, causing the plugin window to disappear, and then click Edit again, causing the plugin window to reappear, do I see the selected preset reflected in the plugin's interface.
The same behavior occurs with the other plugins I mentioned.
With the LSP plugins, the visual control sometimes works and then disappears completely. For example, with Mono EQ, only the dots are visible in the plugin interface, but the line is gone. The buttons, however, seem to be displayed correctly. With the LSP Compressor, the visual controls are present during setup, both in the buttons and the graphic. However, after closing and reopening the plugin interface, only the buttons are correct, and the graphic is faulty or incomplete. Certain lines of the preset are missing from the plugin interface's graphic. The method I described earlier using the x42 example doesn't help in this case.
The Dragonfly Reverb behaves similarly to the x42 plugins.
The x42 Step Sequencer plugin is a completely different case; it stops working after activating the sync to host function.
I tried it with the LSP…
I tried it with the LSP plugins from the MX repositories, but also with the plugins from the test repositories. The latter even crash Qtractor.
I noticed that if you double-click in the track to open the track properties, the display is usually correct again. Sometimes, however, this doesn't help.
Additionally, I noticed that it makes a difference whether the plugin is the only one in the track, or perhaps placed after a synth or another plugin on an audio track. It doesn't matter if both plugins are from LSP. The phenomenon with the LSP plugins isn't necessarily immediately noticeable if, for example, only one audio track and one effect are used.
Only with one or two more tracks, and when switching back and forth between tracks to change or simply view the plugin settings, does the problem become quite clear and reproducible. The crashes occur with the LSP plugins.
With the other plugins, the problem remains unchanged, as described in my last post, and there are no crashes. All elements in the plugin interface are always present; they just don't change directly when a preset is selected.
re. Problem plugin presets, and the visual display...
interesting finding...
however, despite the visuals not being updated to preset changes, does the actual sound effect change prevails?
(I believe it does)
byee
Well, audio is usually…
Well, audio is usually unaffected, except for the Zam plugins, which often produce a glitchy noise when clicked. However, editing the other plugins is affected or even impossible, especially the LSP plugins. The extra clicks and menu diving required for other plugins, like X42 and Dragonfly, are quite a hassle and time-consuming. :-) The crashes themselves aren't exactly fun either. :-)
I can say with certainty that there are no sound problems with the X42 EQ and compressor, as I use these plugins most frequently. While I'm always eager to learn how the LSP plugins work and occasionally turn them on, apart from mono EQ 8, I'm usually overwhelmed by their sheer variety and complexity. I'm sure audio engineers would feel right at home with them, but for the average user, the learning curve is simply too steep. The LSP Monocompressor has two threshold settings, which is quite confusing, and the various multicompressors have so many settings it's dizzying. They also don't come with great user manuals or presets for different situations. Very often there are only presets for drums or bass, but none for vocals, etc. But I'm not giving up :-)
Ummm
I've tried using LSP and it correctly restores presets created with Qtractor lv2.
I don't have the latest version, but I always tried work with plugins provided directly by the developer, and I always install them locally.
I use Ubuntu Studio Noble. Could the audio software be seriously corrupted in the MX repositories? Could they be using unsuitable or outdated audio libraries for compilation?
For me, relying on distributions is crazy... I tried download from the developer my essential apps.
Also, I always install my essential apps locally, where you have control over the software's resources and everything can be in the same folder.
This means learning to compile (which isn't really that difficult) or working with an extracted AppImage.
The model imposed by distributions is dysfunctional...
Relatedly... I'm still working towards my dream of having a completely portable Qtractor distribution with pre-installed plugins, presets, and samples.
I've already achieved a portable app (it's not an AppImage, it's simply portable, like Blender, for example) that saves the configuration file in its own folder. Next up is updating the working path of all configuration files when it's launched from its startup script.
I don't know if I'll finish the project or abandon it... But it's necessary to demonstrate that all these Linux problems can be solved by abandoning the distro model, which has serious conceptual flaws.
A distinction should be made between operating system applications and user applications. The distro should only provide the essential ones for the OS to function; the rest should be managed, downloaded, and installed by the user wherever and however they want.
I tried it with the same…
I tried it with the same plugins in Ardour 9.2.18, and there the plugins behave normally. As I said, simply take 2-3 tracks, whether audio or MIDI, activate a couple of plugins sequentially per track, then select presets or save them and reopen the plugin interfaces on different tracks. Everything works perfectly in Ardour, and the plugin interfaces display everything and react visually to changes immediately. In Qtractor, the problems described above occur.
Re. and reopen the plugin interfaces on different tracks
I've checked the following.
I've managed to reproduce something similar only on audio tracks, and only if they're empty.
It's as if Qtractor detects the possibility of receiving audio to update the plugin UI.
It might be related to automatic plugin disconnection, and perhaps it is a small bug... I'm not sure.
On the other hand,
If the plugin is deactivated, logically the changes aren't visible; I think that's to be expected.
re. LV2 plug-ins UI visual display when switching presets...
prolly fixed in qtractor >=v1.5.12.12git.5d60a6
please test && tell
thanks
Thank you so much! I'll…
Thank you so much! I'll check as soon as possible!
Best regards!
Thank you so much, Mr…
Thank you so much, Mr. Capela!
That went much better and faster than expected! So far, it's working with x42 Compressor Mono, x42EQ Mono, LSP Compressor Mono, LSP EQ Mono, zam compressor, and Dragonfly Hall. I think it's working with all the plugins now.
Only the x42 Step Sequencer is still a bit strange, but it's observably running in sync with the host. I think I just haven't figured it out yet, and that this isn't related to the problems with the other plugins.
Thank you!
Cheers!
re. LV2 plug-ins UI visual display when switching presets...
Works now as expected. Thanks, Rui. Tested with x42 EQ stereo.
Before the fix: Changing presets changed audio but not the open plugin GUI – except for choosing the default preset which updated the plugin's GUI immediately.
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