I know this has already been discussed in other topics, but the speed of switching between presets is really frustrating. I wanted to ask if anyone has found a way to speed up this switching. It’s almost impossible to use the instrument live because of it. Another thing that really bothers me is that this serious issue was never mentioned in any reviews of the instrument, otherwise, I honestly wouldn’t have bought it.
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Most reviews I’ve seen accurately state that sounds may take several seconds to activate especially if switching to a multi-instrument patch but that the current/previous sound continues to be usable until that happens.
I haven’t seen any way to speed things up, but it isn’t something that I’ve been significantly stymied by either.
Also be sure you’ve got the latest firmware - a new one was recently released.
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Yes, I’ve noticed that the previous instrument doesn’t cut off, but if I need to switch instruments during a live performance, the change has to be almost immediate. I can’t imagine having to switch a few seconds in advance to ensure it plays correctly. I’ll try updating, hoping they’ve fixed this major issue.
Hi @Domezena ,
I understand what you say - It can be important to be able to change sounds fast when playing live.
However when you use presets that use audio samples over a certain size, then that’s simply not possible at this point in time. It will take time to load audio samples from a drive depending on the samples size and the speed of the CPU.
Also there can be differences in load times in other presets that does’nt use audio samples. The load time of those presets should not be too long. many presets should load instantly.
Using Multies will increase load time.
Arturia can only optimize things as much as it possible to do.
The fact you can load a preset while using another is actually a quite good way to get around this.
How does the preload of a preset work?
Okay, so it’s really a CPU issue, which isn’t powerful enough to change presets instantly… In that case, I don’t think even various software updates will be able to fix it…
Yes, being able to play the previous instrument allows you to avoid a gap between one sound and the next. The problem is not knowing when the second preset will actually kick in.
Even the best CPU would not give you instant preset change.
The disk performance is vital.
Any performance is not absolute instant.
So the preset change the moment it’s loaded?
It’s not like the new preset can be loaded and first change when you want it to do so? That would be as instant change it can get i assume.
The issue is that if you choose a preset and it takes, for example, two seconds to load, and then you switch to another preset, when you go back to the previous one, it will still take two seconds to load. So every time you select a preset, regardless of whether you’ve used it before, it will need a few seconds to load.
I can imagine that the comparison I’m about to make is completely inappropriate, but I also have a Nord Electro 3, and the preset changes, even though they are quite complex, happen instantly. I thought it would be the same with AstroLab
Is’nt it relatively very few presets that do not change instantly in AstroLab?
Which instruments are the presets from? Do they use heavy samples?
Hi,
I have the same problem, when I’m using Astrolab in life situation. Espacially patches I’ve made with my own samples, with for example CMI V.
Also all augmented Instruments which heavily using samples, are loading 1-2 seconds. Thats a killer in life situation.
Other Instruments are loading fast enough for me.
Hi @Hufe. Welcome to the community. Thanks for your informations.
How heavy/ large is those samples used in a preset in total? How much time does it take to load those samples in another application on a computer? Does it take more time in CMI V, so there is room for Arturia to improve? AstroLab can’t do magic for sample loading.
I will assume that that the Factory presets that can take 1-2 seconds to load mostly is some presets from the Augmented instrument series, sometimes when loading a preset from CP-70 V and possible some presets from other instruments like CMI V that can use a heavy load of samples. It look like that’s the case.
(I’m not sure if - or how much - this can be improved. It should be done so it work optimal.)
All other presets should load instantly. That also seem to be the case.
For example loading sample libraries in sample instrument applications can take much longer time than 1-2 seconds.
Arturia have added a feature to help in AstroLab. Perhaps other things can be done too. We will see i assume.
Feel free to contact Arturia support.
I used 6 samples, some a little bit longer(drones).
I have reduced them to 3 and have shorten their length.
Now it is working fine and usuable for life!
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There are sampling systems around that don’t need to preload samples but stream them directly from disk/flash/SSD which would improve preset loading time massively. But as arturia basically ported their plugins to Astrolab which essentially is a optimized computer using ARM based CPU as far as I know, they would have to change the architecture of their software products which would be possible but not easy…
If you were to buy two AstroLabs, you could pass the output into a foot pedal that allows you to fade between the two synths. You would load a preset on the inactive synth while playing the active synth. Something like a Line6 Helix would probably work for such a task, allowing you to plug the synths into the Send Inputs and assigning the pedal to control how much of the signal is used from those inputs. The setup would be expensive and cumbersome, but it would eliminate the preset lag problem and have an added benefit of allowing you to create a smooth fade between presets. You’d also be able to use the Helix for additional effects.