Hi Sunday,
we haven’t met yet and it’s nice to meet you. A new 2.1.16 Pre-Release of VST Live is online. This one fixed the “MIDI Device” problematic which was introduced with Version 2.1.14. We are (again) really sorry for that one!
You can download it here . You also can find a Version History there. If you found new bugs or bugs which are not fixed, please create a new thread and title it with [2.1.16].
See you,
Michael.
You both are amazing 
Crazy guys!
Yes, it’s working. Thank you very much!
WOW thanks guys! I didn’t expect so soon!
I’ll use it right in next gig tonight, thanks! 
External keyboards via midi are working again. Thank you!
New user of VST Live on Mac OS Sequoia. In VST Live versions 2.1.10 as well as 2.1.16 pre-release, I can see that VST Live is receiving MIDI data whether from a USB cable plugged directly into an external MIDI keyboard, or plugged into an external MIDI hub (a Blokas MIDIhub), but that MIDI data doesn’t seem to be routed into the chosen VST instrument (such as Steinberg Padshop or Retrologue: the VSTs don’t produce any audio and no MIDI activity is evident from within the VSTs’ own user-interface.
Outside of VST Live, in Cubase or as a standalone app (Halion 7 for example), MIDI is or can be routed into the VST and they respond to the MIDI data and produce audio as well as visual feedback within the VST user interface.
Because I’m a new user of VST Live, perhaps I’m just unaware of a need for or a method to explicitly route the MIDI data from within VST Live to a particular layer’s chosen VST plugin.
Hello and welcome Stephen!
A layer is like a MIDI patch bay. You can use it to put signals into a VST or redirect them somewhere else, e.g. a virtual MIDI channel, and translate channels in the process.
So if you look at a layer you have an input device, an input channel, an output channel and then an output device.
If you set the input device to your MIDI keyboard and play it then you should see the receive indicator light up as you play. The input channel is a filter that will pass any or a single MIDI channel (1-16). Anyway the important thing here is that you are seeing input so leave it set to “any” for the moment.
Set your output device to Halion, or whatever instrument you like, and leave the output channel to “any” which is a one to one match of the input channel(s). Now click on the keyboard icon to open your VST and you should be able to see MIDI coming into it, assuming it has an indicator. It’s now a matter of setting something to play in the channel of your keyboard(s) within the VST.
Finally you need to set the output of the layer to an audio out before you can hear it. You can control the level either from within the Layer, or in the Mixer.
Be wary of the Volume slider: When set to Audio it duplicates the Mixer slider but when set to MIDI it defines a volume message sent to the VST. If set to “not set” then no volume message is sent. I’m fairly sure that the MIDI volume is sent regardless of whether the selector is set to to MIDI or not.
There are some videos on YT about layers that might help - search “VST Live Tutorial”. This is a good starting point https://youtu.be/ju3-EVjC_JU?si=kyOZUx8j5S46k0zt
Feel free to shout back if you need anything else.
Thank you, CliveJ. Very well-written and clear response.
Yes, I can see the MIDI input indicators light up.
This is where VST Live fails on my system (recently-purchased Mac Studio running Sequoia 15.0.1).
In contrast, using Halion 7 as an example, in Cubase 13 or using the Halion 7 standalone app, I choose an active MIDI data source (my external MIDI keyboard or a MIDI hub, either connected to the computer with USB cable) as input to the track (in Cubase) or the Halion standalone app, and can verify that the MIDI data is being received into the DAW, the track or the app. I then choose the instrument and a preset (of Halion 7 VST3 in Cubase, or a preset in Halion 7 standalone app), and can visually see various indications that the MIDI data is being received and processed, and that audio is being produced and output by the VST in Cubase, or the Halion standalone app.
However, in VST Live, while I can see and verify that VST Live is receiving MIDI data from the source I specify, including note-on and note-off data, and although I choose the same instrument (Halion 7 VST3, using the same preset as in Cubase or the Halion standalone app), I cannot see any indication in the VST-instrument GUI or elsewhere that the MIDI data is being routed by VST Live to the instrument I have chosen, and cannot hear any audio. It is as though the MIDI connection is broken between the VST Live MIDI input, which appears to be functioning correctly, and the instrument selected as the Output Device for that particular layer in VST Live.
It’s puzzling, although since I’ve used VST Live for just a few days so far, I tend to question whether it might be a matter of my unfamiliarity with the app and the way it works.
… which indicators are lighting up?
This one in the Transport control?
Or this one in the Layer directly?
And have you checked the Connections? Is your MIDI Port for the Layer correctly configured to your MIDI Device? In my current case the “MIDI IN 1” Input is connected to my external MIDI Device.
And what happens when you mouse-click to the Keyboard of HALion7 directly? Do you see and hear any output? Have a look to the Output Meter of the Transport control.
And have you checked the Mixer. What happens there? Your HALion7 and the Stereo Out channels are running?
Thank you,
Michael.
Thank you, Michael. I had thought of, checked and checked again everything you mentioned before writing my first post above. To answer each question individually–
I’ll bet this issue has a very simple cause and solution, but I certainly can’t determine what it might be from a user’s perspective. MIDI routing and VST performance in Cubase 13 or in the standalone HALion7 app are working fine and as expected without issue.
I also have and use another live-performance VST-hosting app, AudioModeling’s Camelot, and using the same computer, the same external MIDI keyboard or MIDI hub, and the same VSTs (HALion7 or Pianoteq), the MIDI routing within the app between the chosen MIDI input and the VST works fine: the VSTs respond to the MIDI input and produce audio output.
So I’m just not sure what to do next, to try to troubleshoot the issue from a user rather than developer perspective, although I will contirue to try whatever I can think of or whatever might be suggested by others. I’m a new VST Live user and not very familiar with all its functionality and configuration, so I hope this issue is not a stupid user mistake like something being muted or bypassed or deactivated (I’ve tried to double-check for that possibility).
One thing that I have noticed (a completely different issue I guess) is that if VST Live is running and I click the Panic button (the lightning icon at the bottom left of the GUI), VST Live immediately crashes and disappears from the screen.
Doesn’t look like a MIDI problem, if you click the instruments’ own keyboard there should be a sound, so there is a missing connection to the audio output.
In the Mixer, the Halion 7 channel has its destination at its the top (in Michas’ picture, “Stereo Out”). That points to a channel with the name “Stereo Out” (green Output Channel to the right of the picture). The Halion 7 destination channel can be either a Group Channel, or an Output Channel. Make sure the Halion 7 output (top) is connected to an Output Channel first (name of a channel with a green fader).
On the top of that Output Channel (“Stereo Out”), the hardware bus is to be set to a connected Port, in the picture this has the name “MAIN”. Choose your output here.
That output Port must be connected to a hardware bus (“DEVICE”), this is set in “Devices/Connections”, “Audio” tab). Provided that port is working, you will get a signal when pressing keys.
So your signal goes Halion 7 Channel->Output Channel (“Stereo Out”)->Port (“MAIN”)->physical Interface output (whereever your speaker or headphones are connected).
Sage advice from the developers but if you’re still stuck I’m happy to do a video call with you - pm me
seconded!
Thank you, musicullum. Very easy to follow step by step. 
However, the issue remains unresolved.
The configuration in VST Live on my Mac OS computer is very similar.
In Mixer–
HALion 7 channel–>Stereo Out
Stereo Out channel–>MAIN
In Devices–>Connections.–>Audio, name MAIN is sent to “Audio Device: Stereo”
In Mac OS Audio/MIDI Setup app, two audio devices are listed: “External Headphones” and “Mac Studio Speakers.” My headphones are normally plugged directly into the headphone-out port at the back of the Mac Studio computer. In System Settings–>Sound–>Output, I usually select “External Headphones”
If I use Cubase 13 or the HALion 7 standalone app, MIDI input and throughput within each app, and audio output, all work as expected: the selected VST instrument responds to the incoming MIDI and outputs audio, which I hear through the headphones. But in VST Live, the selected VST (in this case, HALion7) produces no audio, even when the virtual keyboard within HALion7 is clicked. In the HALion standalone app, when I click keys on the HALion7 virtual keyboard, I can see the rising and falling audio level meter indication at the top center of the HALion7 GUI window, and hear audio through the headphones. But if I close the HALion7 standalone app, then open VST Live and choose HALion7 as the VST, then open the VST GUI/window and click on the keyboard, I see no indication of audio level in those level meters, and hear no sound in the headphones.
I will be happy to try anything you might suggest, and will continue to try whatever I can think of, in order to discover the (hopefully simple) cause of this issue. 
a) easy to meiss to set a preset in Halion…
b) VST Live shows meters if the bus is connected, else it is not beeing processed and then there are no meter activities.
c) when you start VST Live transport and activate metronome, do you hear the click?
… can you please unplug your headphone from the Mac-Output and send the signal directly to the Mac-Speakers? Does that work?
/Michael…
Thank you. Answers–
I made that mistake when I first began to use HALion7. 
Now I always first choose a preset. Preset chosen for test: Amped Elektra–>Ballad Times
VST Live mixer panel shows meters for “HALion7,” “Song 1,” “Metro” (if I enable metronome), and “Stereo Out,” but no audio activity or amplitude-level appears in those meters, even when I am clicking the virtual keyboard keys in the HALion7 GUI.
No, when I click the Play button and activate the metronome, I hear no audio, whether I’m routing system audio to external headphones attached to the Mac, or routing system audio to the Mac Studio Speakers, using the Audio MIDI Setup app or the Mac OS System Settings–Sound.
I’m going to be very embarrassed if this issue turns out to be caused by “user error.” 
Thank you. I unplugged the headphones, then checked/configured both the Mac OS Audio MIDI Setup app and System Settings–>Sound to route audio to the Mac’s own “Mac Studio Speaker.” Then I launched the HALion7 standalone app, chose the Amped Electra–>Ballad Times preset, and played my external MIDI keyboard as well as clicked the keys on the virtual keyboard in the HALion7 standalone app. In both cases, audio was transmitted to and heard from the Mac Studio internal speakers. But in VST Live with the same VST instrument and preset, no audio, no audio-level indication in any meter in the VST Live mixer, nor in the VST’s own GUI.
I apologize for brining up an issue which might turn out to be very stupid “user error.”
System Info: Mac Studio with M2 CPU, with Rosetta translator installed for those apps that are not Apple-silicon-native.
… while headphones are unplugged …
… what is configured in “VST Live / Menu / Devices / Connections / Audio / Output”. Can you post a screenshot?
… and what about “VST Live / Menu / Devices / Audio Setup”. What is configured to “Audio Output”, Screenshot?
Thank you,
Michael.
