Behaviour of “suspend when application is in the background”

[composerkaumann]

Dorico Pro 6.1.10 Mac.

Preferences > Play > Recording > “suspend when application is in the background”

is selected.

It works as expected until I open a VST reverb window to fine-tune some settings. At that point Dorico also suspends MIDI input.

A focused plugin window is not “Dorico sent to background”. Dorico is still the frontmost and active application.

For me this behaviour is illogical.

[benwiggy]

@composerkaumann

Dorico is still the frontmost and active application.

When you click on a plug-in, the VST Audio Engine is the foreground process. It’s separate from the Dorico app itself.

Yes, it’s an annoying limitation. TBH, I would leave “Suspend when in background” off, and just make sure you’re not in Note Entry when you switch to another app.

[composerkaumann]

@benwiggy

When you click on a plug-in, the VST Audio Engine is the foreground process. It’s separate from the Dorico app itself.

Thanks. Please teach me how do you verify this.

(This behaviour is still not welcome because from standard user’s standpoint Dorico is still the frontmost application)

[benwiggy]

Well, the clue is in the name: The VST Audio Engine is the process that hosts the VSTs. But on a Mac you can see in Mission Control that the VST plug-in window is in the VST Audio Engine process.