Well, the plug-in sentinel finds Kontakt5 in /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST/ but for whatever reason, it detects it to be problematic and blacklists it, so no wonder you will not be able to select it from within Dorico.
Could you tell me the exact version number of your Kontakt5 installation? So far I’m not aware that a specific version of Kontakt will get blacklisted, but I wouldn’t rule anything out.
I have a Kontak 5.5.2.0 installation here and that loads fine into Dorico.
I don’t have Kontakt 5 – I don’t know where that listing in the whitelist file came from, but it may have been there in the original that was installed with Dorico.
I’m trying to get Play to work with Dorico and that’s what I need assistance with. If it’s at all possible, which on my particular installation it seems it might not be since others have gotten it working and I haven’t been able to. I’m willing to wait for the update from EWQL if that’s what it takes.
Thank you for taking the time to look at my files.
Hi Bailey,
the message about Kontakt was for user arrowspot. For your Play issue please look at this thread: https://www.steinberg.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=246&t=103579
I have Kontakt 5.6.5.
I will upgrade to 5.6 and see if that also then gets blacklisted with me. But it may take some time, very busy at the moment…
I’m now also on Kontakt version 5.6.5, and it works fine with me. And I updated on both, my Mac and Win machine, both fine.
Could you try and force a re-scanning of the plug-ins by deleting the folder /Users//Library/Preferences/VSTAudioEngine ?
That worked! Kontakt 5 now appears in Dorico. Thanks so much, Ulf!
You’re welcome. I’m glad that it works now for you 
Sticking with this - when I loaded up Dorico this morning and tried to open up an instance of Kontakt, I noticed it wasn’t on the list. It has been in the past. Other NI software was, but not Kontakt. So, following the advice here I deleted the VSTAudioEngine folder and, several warning messages later, restarted Dorico and this time Kontakt was available. As an aside, before I deleted the file I shut down Dorico, opened up Cubase and there was no problem finding Kontakt in Cubase.
However, although Kontakt was available, the Play screen had an error with the redraw (some spurious characters at the bottom). This cleared when I clicked on write and then went back to Play. The problem now is that if I open Kontakt using the icon, it flashes up briefly before disappearing again. This behaviour is also true of another instrument I’ve loaded (PIanoteq). In both cases, the instrument panels were moved behind the play screen. If I minimised Dorico and then closed the instrument panels, when I bring Dorico back into focus it tells me that both panels are still open.
Bug?
ETA: I can’t get any sound out of Kontakt. Can load instruments OK, but no sound at all.
Hi David,
do I get you right, apart from the spurious drawing problems on the Play screen everything is working fine again, yes?
Cheers,
Ulf
Hi Ulf. I just rewrote that - the problem of screens being only temporarily visible is back and I’m unable to get any sound from Kontakt. No problem with sounds from Pianoteq. In addition to that, in both cases there appears to be an issue with MIDI - the keyboards at the bottom of both instruments don’t register anything if I play my keyboard controller.
External MIDI is not necessarily always sent to the instruments. In the Dorico preferences are two checkboxes for “Enable MIDI Input” and “Play notes during note input and selection”. Have you both ticked them.
For Kontakt not sounding, well, that is weird. Could you please zip up the folder /Users//Library/Preferences/VSTAudioEngine and post here? Also a simple Dorico project would be helpful. Please first zip it up before posting, otherwise it will get refused.
Yup, both ticked.
The files you asked for are attached. Many thanks for your help with this.
Showboat.dorico.zip (611 KB)
VSTAudioEngine.zip (1.36 MB)
David, thanks for the data. I’ve been looking through and everything looks sane to me.
I don’t have Pianoteq; Kontakt I have only with the most basic sound set from the demo version.
So when I load your showboat demo, I don’t see/hear exactly what you are seeing/hearing.
When in PlayMode, I see Piano and Voice and when I unfold them I can see notes on the ‘piano roll’, but only for Piano. For Voice it is empty all the way from beginning to end. The “voices” that I can see in the Write mode, actually do appear in the Play mode on the first Piano. When I do a “Apply Default Playback Template”, then HALion will be used as player and it starts using a Piano sound and then switches that over to a voice sound. I guess your Pianoteq can’t do that and simply ignores it.
And Kontakt in this case is never playing, because it is never told to do anything. It’s just empty.
When you open the Kontakt editor window and play with the mouse on the on-screen keyboard of that editor window, can you hear sound? If not, please go to Dorico’s preferences and make sure that under General / Play the option “Suspend audio device in background” is unticked.
If still no sound, start out with something new and simple, just one instrument and just one Kontakt instance with a JazzOrgan sound and some arbitrary notes. If still no sound, please post that project here.
HI Ulf - and once again thanks for your help. The Voice data was in the second flow. “Suspend Audio Device in background” was already unticked.
After investigating this for some time, the bottom line appears to be this: I can have one VST loaded and set up channels to hear different instruments (e.g. Halion / 5 different channels for a string orchestra) but I can’t get any sound playing back from a second VST. Even if I set up a completely new piece with just two instruments.
I’ve no idea what’s gone wrong - the only thing I can think of is that I installed Cubase 9.0.10 a couple of days ago.
Hi David, what if you load the attached project? It’s very simple and uses a JazzOrgan from Kontakt and a trumpet (from the GM set) from HALion, sounds that your libraries also should have. Does this play back for you?
Btw, the installation of Cubase (whatever version) shall have no impact on Dorico.
TeeTest.zip (203 KB)
Hi Ulf. The file won’t load - stuck at 50% loading. I’m guessing that Dorico on mac has somehow become corrupted. I have it all backed up on Timemachine - shall I head back to a previous version (it was working well a week ago) - if so, what files?
I just noticed that I created that project with a beta version. Though it also loads fine into a regular 1.0.20 with me, I created a new project (this time on the official 1.0.20). Please try that one and see if it still hangs.
If it still hangs, then yes, a reinstallation might be worth doing. Could also trying with running the clean up script can be found in the second last post in this thread: Frequently asked questions: try this thread first - Dorico - Steinberg Forums
Please report back.
TeeTest2.zip (217 KB)
Nope, still sticking at 50% - even after I’ve run the clean up script.
Would a reinstallation be better than reverting to a time machine backup? If so, are there any files / folders to uninstall before I reinstall?
I’ve never used time machine myself, never had the need for it.
I would reinstall Dorico. Just delete the Dorico.app from the Applications folder and run the clean up script once more, then start the installation again.
