Dorico loses audio constantly

Hello,
I am using Dorico 4 on a daily base and have this “uncommodity”:
When I want to replay some of my notation, there is no sound.
I change into Play mode and check, but all my instruments are properly linked to the built in HalionPro sounds; they are loaded and I can play them on the little keyboard where they are audible.
Still: switching back to Write mode playback will be silent (also in Play mode hitting the Play button results in no sound - instead the playing position jumps back to the first flow - not the one I am working on).
My only way out of this is closing Dorico and reopening the project. Playback will be fine then.
But - I was just away for 30 minutes to have a cup of tea.
Coming back to the computer: no sound again.
This happens all the time since weeks now.
My OS is macOS 10.14.6 - if that is of any relevance.

First step is usually to reapply the Playback Template from the Play menu if you have not already tried that.

And no real diagnosis will be possible by the team unless you share diagnostic reports when it happens, so they can comb through and see what’s going on with the audio engine.

1 Like

Yes Derrek, these are my first steps, and before and after it everything looks fine - still audio will only play after relaunching Dorico.

Thanks Romanos, for some reason the Diagnostics file is 6MB (too big)…
… and if I switch to Silent Playback Template then there is no point in the diagnosis…
So I put the file onto Dropbox, accessible via this link: Dropbox - Dorico Diagnostics.zip - Simplify your life
I’ll delete the link - once its not needed any more.

Thanks for the data @k_b.

Unfortunately there is nothing in there that immediately jumps into my eyes.
But one thing I’d like to ask. Do you use other audio applications that you run in parallel to Dorico?
What if you go to Edit > Device Setup and change the shown sample rate to another value, wait for 4 seconds and switch it back to the old one? When you then close the dialog, does it play then?

1 Like

Ulf,
I tried your suggestion, but to no avail.
There are no other audio applications running on my computer.
I will now try my solution and relaunch Dorico to see, wether that helps:
[edit] yes, sound is back on again. Still not without a small glitch (if that might help):
I relaunched Dorico by double-clicking the saved project file. Dorico showed the usual startup messages „waiting for audio to…“ and others, then the project had loaded.
I waited until the playback controls turned colourful. I pressed Play: no sound.
I checked the „e“ VSL window, ah, sounds where still loading…
Then I put the playhead to the beginning and hit Play.
This time I got a sound, but just the first note, in a sort of loop, that was stuck.
I tried to hit the space bar and the P key; after a while success and the piece played back from the beginning.
I hope it stays on for a while, because my routine is: copying, copying (inputting music, inputting music for a long time) - then sometimes wanting to check something quickly, that looks awkward. That’s exactly the moment, it should work…

Okay, that makes sense.
I don’t know about the loading times of VSL, and it also depends on the complexity of the project, but you do need to give it time to fully load. I know with BBCSO, it can take quite a while until all samples are preloaded and everything plays in full. So please bear this in mind.

1 Like

This problem isn’t solved yet.
I start playback, I notice I don’t get the Cello sound.
I switch to Play Mode, open the Halion window and: Cello is muted, why?

  1. I put the Cello level up to max.
  2. I check with the little keyboard: yes it does playback with the right sound.
  3. I switch to Write Mode.
  4. When I select one of the Cello notes, I can hear them in full glory and with the right sound.
  5. I hit the playback button.
  6. Playback starts - but I can’t hear the Cello any more!
  7. I switch to Play Mode, open the Halion window and: Cello is muted again, why?
    Dropbox - Cello gets muted.mp4 - Simplify your life

[edit] even weirder: I guess, there must be a problem with the Halion Cello Solo Combi. Once I switched the sound to Bassoon Combi, I got playback, but, wait: I used this sound also for the bass singer, and there are Dropouts, some notes get played, some notes are not existent=muted.
As example, I select these bars of the bass singer and hit the play button.
Its in bass clef: The first 5 notes get played, the high B-flat „-tri“ is not playing until the a „me“, then instantly quit for the rest of the bar, then playback again from bar 67: g, f, eb and f. The notes in the green boxes are audible - the others are silent.

How can I solve this mess? It disturbs my workflow…

Can you please make a copy of your project that we can experiment with?
In the copied project please assign a piano sound to every player and check if all notes get played.
This of course is not the solution, but the first iteration of getting closer to the bottom of your problem. Thanks

Thanks Ulf,
I made a copy and am trying to switch everything to pianosound.
But there is a new interface Halion Sonic7 and I can’t figure out, how to get the piano sound. I will have to stop for now and try to find a “how to” later.

Hello, at the end of another threads I posted my recent problem with Dorico, which I have since yesterday, the link to the thread and description of the new problem: Dorico looses audio constantly - #9 by k_b

Basically I can’t check my notation, because the sound is often not there. I made a video with the smartphone (as I can’t seem to capture the sound when doing a screen recording). This is, how it sounds when I want to playback a single instrument. In this case its the bass singer whom I gave the Halion sound of Bassoon Combi:


Where can I go from here? What should I check? I need to be able to playback for checking this arrangement.

I’ve moved your new thread into this one. Please don’t start a new thread for something that is already being discussed an existing thread. It’s a form of bumping and it’s discouraged here.

Please provide your project file itself so we can take a look and see what’s going wrong.

You select as usual the wanted slot on the left side and then on the right side of the window you choose the sound that you want. If the MediaBay tab is open, you first choose from which library you want a sound and then you get the selection. Or you choose the Browser tab and you get the full list of all available sounds.

Thank you Ulf, I managed. Changes keep the brain awake (I hope).
Anyway I have changed all sounds to Yamaha Piano.
I’ll send the project to your email address ulf (at) steinberg.de - if it’s the correct one.
I have a guess while this might be happening:
The lower three systems are supposed to become a narrowed down arrangement of the upper systems/instruments. Because two singers „Basso solo“ and „Basso“ share the same sound and have the same notes, the sound drops out alternatively. The notes sounding in the „Basso solo“ system are silent in the „Basso“ system and vice versa.

[edit] I used u dot stoermer at steinberg dot de

I have a guess while this might be happening:

The lower three systems are supposed to become a narrowed down arrangement of the upper systems/instruments. Because two singers „Basso solo“ and „Basso“ share the same sound and have the same notes, the sound drops out alternatively. The notes sounding in the „Basso solo“ system are silent in the „Basso“ system and vice versa.

[edit] confirmation: I have experimented further, yes when I delete the double of the singer, sound is there always, no dropouts. Same does happen to the organ part though, I have the original, and further down a double of it, which I am trying to arrange. It also has these dropouts while playing back.

Thanks Daniel for moving the other thread to this place (I wasn’t sure if its the same symptoms or something new…) anyway, better everything can be collected here.
I sent the file to Ulfs email address.
Thank you for your support.