Synthmaster 2 - memory leak (windows)

[robert_p]

Hi, I purchased Sythmaster 2 and I’m very impressed with its capability, however, I found a “memory leak” issue that makes it unusable on my system. The problem is that unloading Synthmaster (without closing the host application) doesn’t clean up the memory, and reloading it again increases RAM usage even more.

I would really appreciate if Synthmaster users working on Windows 10 OS could test it on their system:

• Open your host application
• Load Synthmaster and check the memory usage
• Unload Synthmaster (without closing the host application)
• Check memory usage again to see if RAM has been released
• Load Synthmaster again and see if the memory consumption has increased even more

I tested it with the following host applications (with the same results): Komplete Kontrol, Maschine, Unify, Studio One, Reaper, Bitwig.

I attached a video showing my testing procedure:
https://youtu.be/Dy3FU3FGSn8

[Gercek_KV331]

Hi, I purchased Sythmaster 2 and I’m very impressed with its capability, however, I found a “memory leak” issue that makes it unusable on my system. The problem is that unloading Synthmaster (without closing the host application) doesn’t clean up the memory, and reloading it again increases RAM usage even more.

I would really appreciate if Synthmaster users working on Windows 10 OS could test it on their system:

• Open your host application
• Load Synthmaster and check the memory usage
• Unload Synthmaster (without closing the host application)
• Check memory usage again to see if RAM has been released
• Load Synthmaster again and see if the memory consumption has increased even more

I tested it with the following host applications (with the same results): Komplete Kontrol, Maschine, Unify, Studio One, Reaper, Bitwig.

I attached a video showing my testing procedure:
https://youtu.be/Dy3FU3FGSn8

Hi,

Thank you very much for this information. I am forwarding this video to our developers.

[kv331]

Hi Robert,

Thanks for the bug report, and sorry for my late reply as I've been busy with SynthMaster 3 development.

I looked into this bug, and managed to reduce the memory leak from 160 MB to 60 MB. From your other messages I'd assume that this is still not acceptable for you, you were trashing Synthmaster in your comments. I will still release an update for this fix asap.

[robert_p]

(...) sorry for my late reply (...)

Very late indeed. I'll update you with the results once you release the fix. My comments you mentioned were not about the Synthmaster in general. Rather, they expressed my feelings towards the disrespect shown to me by KV331 as they prioritize their future development over the existing issue affecting their customer. Please note that it took me several days of my precious time to learn your complex software and I wanted to utilize that knowledge by embedding Synthmaster in my projects.

[kv331]

I am doing my best here to fix this issue.

[kv331]

I would really appreciate if Synthmaster users working on Windows 10 OS could test it on their system:

• Open your host application
• Load Synthmaster and check the memory usage
• Unload Synthmaster (without closing the host application)
• Check memory usage again to see if RAM has been released
• Load Synthmaster again and see if the memory consumption has increased even more

This flow is not a typical flow for a user by the way in my opinion. Users instantiate our plugins, then browse through the presets through our presets browser(s). You used Komplete Kontrol in your video, which looks like deleting SynthMaster while moving to a preset which belongs to another plugin.

Deleting the single SynthMaster instance triggers the shutdown of our synth engine where you observe the memory leak. I will do my best to minimize the leaks. I might also change the behavior so that the engine is not shut down when the last instance is deleted, but it's deleted when the DLL is unloaded by the operating system. This would improve the behaviors in Komplete Kontrol.

[robert_p]

I would really appreciate if Synthmaster users working on Windows 10 OS could test it on their system:

• Open your host application
• Load Synthmaster and check the memory usage
• Unload Synthmaster (without closing the host application)
• Check memory usage again to see if RAM has been released
• Load Synthmaster again and see if the memory consumption has increased even more

This flow is not a typical flow for a user by the way in my opinion.

It is when you browse presets within chosen category, i.e. Komplete Kontrol can list "Synth Pad" presets that are made with dozens of different vsts, so there is a chance that you load and unload Syntmaster multiple times. It works the same with Unify.

More common flow is freezing/unfreezing instrument track - the DAW unload and reload the plugin without closing the session - if you do that multiple times you can run out of RAM (especially when you use large library of wavetables which for some reason is also loaded to RAM - additional 900MB in my case).

P.S. The only plugin (apart of Synthmaster) suffering from memory leak is Vital - but its free, so I can't expect much from it. No other plugins I use have this problem.

[robert_p]

I forgot to mention: I also own Synthmaster One and I didn't notice any memory leak when I use it, however, the memory footprint can be quite big when I add my large collection of wavetables to its library. I guess, both synths are using RAM to store a temporary database of waveforms - the difference is that Synthmaster One releases RAM once unloaded and Synthmaster 2 doesn't. I believe that changing the way of accessing wavetables by both Synthmasters would be beneficial to sound designers who would like to work with their own collection of waveforms (i.e. Ocean Swift Synthesis waveform pack has the size of 2.2 GB, Sonic Academy ANA - 1 GB, Phaseplant - 500 MB).

[kv331]

I am currently working on improving the memory leaks, but there are some architectural issues I can not address in SynthMaster 2. SynthMaster 2 creates a database of waveforms / wavetables, and this database adds to RAM usage, even if the waveforms / wavetables are not loaded in the synth. I am planning to change this behavior in version 3. (I will provide you a free license for SynthMaster Everything Bundle which will allow you to upgrade to v3 for free)

I changed the engine unloading behavior though, now the engine will only unload when the DAW app unloads the DLL. This should improve the behavior in hosts like Native Instruments Komplete Kontrol/Maschine. But the downside will be, the synth engine will stay in RAM once the DAW instantiates an instance of SynthMaster 2.

[robert_p]

But the downside will be, the synth engine will stay in RAM once the DAW instantiates an instance of SynthMaster 2.

I think it would be ok as long as Synthmaster engine will unload when the DAW is being closed (so no system restart would be required to release the RAM). Using only essential collection of user wavetables should make it manageable.

[kv331]

+1

[robert_p]

Hi, I purchased the Synthmaster 3 upgrade few days ago (an Early Bird price is a no-brainer) and I can confirm that the memory leak problem has been solved. Also, my custom wavetables library (5gb) doesn't increase the memory footprint anymore. Well done! The Alpha version works well on my system - it's CPU friendly, has some nice new features and it sounds really good.

Would it be possible to add a "gain reduction indicator" to the onboard compressor?