VST3 PC - will it ever happen?

[AndyTheDude]

I cannot believe that program changes via midi have still not been introduced for VST3. All other major amp sims have this ability. Snapshot change is not enough. I now have 6 instances of the Native in my ableton set which affects the loading times.

 

Line6, get your act together, ffs!

[datacommando]

On 2/22/2024 at 9:52 AM, AndyTheDude said:

Line6, get your act together, ffs!

 

Hi,
 

There are no Line 6 staff here, and only very occasionally do they visit these forums - (See the “sticky comment” in the black banner stripe at the top of this page entitled “Welcome to the Line 6 forums”).

 

This link is where you need to go to have any hope of your suggestion been seen by anyone from Line 6:

https://line6.ideascale.com/c/

Before posting any new ideas, please do a search to see if it's already been listed. Multiple requests for the same thing will thin out the votes. Also, post your ideas one at a time. Many users don’t vote for combined suggestions.

Then you should use the “sticky thread” in the main Helix forum to let other users know what your suggestions are, with links to IdeaScale, so they can vote on it if they wish.

 

Hope this helps/makes sense.

[rd2rk]

On 2/22/2024 at 2:52 AM, AndyTheDude said:

I cannot believe that program changes via midi have still not been introduced for VST3. All other major amp sims have this ability. Snapshot change is not enough. I now have 6 instances of the Native in my ableton set which affects the loading times.

 

Line6, get your act together, ffs!

 

All major VST2 amp sims have this feature. NONE (AFAIK) have this feature in their VST3 versions.

Why the Native VST2 version doesn't work with Program Changes I've no clue.

 

It's my understanding of the history of VST that when Steinberg designed the VST code, Program Changes were not specifically designed in. The capability was a happy accident. When they designed VST3, whatever makes VST3 what it is eliminated that capability and they DGAS because they are Steinberg and they SUCK.

Steinberg's publicly stated attitude is that "It can still be done, but it's the task of the application designers to do it, not our problem, because we SUCK and we're proud of it!". Obviously I added the bolded part, but if you've ever had dealings with Steinberg you know what I mean.

 

Thing is that, while it's possible to implement Program Changes in VST3, it's such a daunting task that NOBODY has so far done it.

I HIGHLY doubt that L6 will either. Don't hold your breath.

 

Your unfortunate dilemma is brought about by the fact that you use Ableton, a DAW unlike any other. You basically have two options:

 

1) Buy a MAC and get the Ableton MAC version. The Native AU version works with MAC. Expensive solution but possibly your best bet.

 

2) Get a copy of "ProTools First" (FREE) and use REWIRE to integrate with Ableton. The AAX version of Native works in PT First. I have no idea how practical this is, but at least PT First is FREE. While I've never used REWIRE, I may try this just for kicks. I dislike AVID as much as STEINBERG, so...

 

This is an interesting problem and I think I'll try both solutions 2 (NOT gonna buy a MAC!) just for fun.

You should look into it too. We can compare notes and maybe come up with a solution that will benefit the entire Helix and Ableton community!

 

Here's a video on doing that. I haven't watched it yet but will later and get back to you if I get it working.

 

Setting up ReWire with Pro Tools and Ableton Live (youtube.com)

 

[rd2rk]

REWIRE is no longer supported by Ableton since v11.

So, unless you're still on v10 you're screwed unless you want to go the MAC route.

 

With all of the other amp sim options available, and if MIDI Program Changes are essential to your performance, do you really NEED to use Native?

Also, would going MAC be cheaper/more practical than just getting a Helix Floor/LT and then being able to integrate Helix's significant MIDI capabilities, including the ability to control Ableton functions via MIDI or HOTKEYs? I have a Helix floor, and this works really well.

 

Anyway, sorry I couldn't help.