I have many Steinberg and Native Instruments VST's. Quite a few of them get used daily. Very few ever showed up in BIAB. Even with VST2 support. Only ...
Dark Planet Symphonic Orchestra Triebwerk
Symphonic Orchestra (VST2) will load but won't change patches or play.
I can not scan or use any VST3 that I have. BIAB just crashes when I scan. I can locate and get, for instance Halion Sonic VST3 in the list but BIAB crashes immediately if I try to use it.
I'd have to say that VST support, of any kind, just hasn't worked here.
Last edited by dathho; 12/08/2412:16 PM. Reason: Correct grammar
BIAB Audiophile 2025, Cubase 14, Ardour, NI MK3. i7, 32GB, 5TB. RME, Focusrite Yamaha, Novation, and Roland
RustySpoon# has asked an excellent question. We need to know what version / build you are running as this makes a big difference to how helpful replies can be provided to suit your version. New features and functions are added every year.
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.
Thank you for reporting the issue with VST3 plugins in BIAB. I’d like to gather more details to troubleshoot this effectively:
Are you trying to add a VST3 plugin to an audio track or a MIDI track? Keep in mind that in BIAB: Audio tracks only support FX plugins. MIDI tracks only support instrument plugins. If you’re not seeing your instrument plugins in the VST3 list, it might be because you’re working with an audio track instead of a MIDI track.
Does BIAB crash when scanning a specific plugin, or does it fail to scan any VST3 plugin on your computer? If it’s a specific plugin causing the crash, which one is it?
As a test, could you temporarily remove the problematic plugin(s) from the VST3 folder and try rescanning? This will help us determine if the crash is plugin-specific or a broader issue.
You mentioned that Halion Sonic appears in the list but crashes when loaded. Can you confirm if this happens consistently or only under specific circumstances?
Once we have more details, we’ll work on getting this resolved for you. Thanks for your patience!
>>>Are you trying to add a VST3 plugin to an audio track or a MIDI track? I understand this difference, VST3 instrument to a MIDI track.
>>>Keep in mind that in BIAB >>>Audio tracks only support FX plugins. >>>MIDI tracks only support instrument plugins. All of the other tools I use with VST support separate Instruments and Effects into different lists.
I have basically 3 Instruments I'd like to use in BIAB. NI-Kontact, Steinberg-Halion and The Grand. Halion, Steinbergs flagship Instrument has 3 versions., Halion Sonic SE, Halion Sonic, and Halion Sonic 7. None work for me. Attached is a list of my VST3 directory....
>>>As a test, could you temporarily remove the problematic plugin(s) from the VST3 folder and try rescanning? This will help us >>>determine if the crash is plugin-specific or a broader issue.
Since the BIAB scanner can be directed to the individual .vst3 files or directories this is easy. I had tried this extensively before posting. I can get NI-Kontact8 to work in this manner. Other NI Instruments never show up in the list. The Grand 3, ( a great sampled Piano I'm very used to.) will load into the list but crashes BIAB when chosen. It does flash the plugin GUI for a second first. Some other Steinberg plugins will show up in the list but crash BIAB when chosen. Halion Sonic SE will show up in the list and display the GUI when chosen but crashes before an instrument can be chosen.
Last edited by dathho; 12/09/2405:12 PM.
BIAB Audiophile 2025, Cubase 14, Ardour, NI MK3. i7, 32GB, 5TB. RME, Focusrite Yamaha, Novation, and Roland
I don't have your particular Kontakt pianos, but I've tested Kontakt 6, 7 and 8 with different stock pianos. The Giant, Una Corda, the Grandeur. All seem to work fine.
Halion is giving me headache. I've saved crash log and will forward it to support.
Hey guys, my experience so far, after only little time spent with Biab 2025: I am also having issues with Steinberg VST3s. Halion7, HalionSonic and PadShop are crashing Biab immediately when trying to load them (after scanning without problems). The only Steinberg VSTi that works yet -as far as I have tried- is Retrologue. A bunch of other VST3s are working: AmpleSound, Native Instruments (as far as I have tried them yet), MeldaProduction, ... There seem to be certain plugins that can crash Biab upon scanning, though I have not yet found out which ones, but this leads to a crash when trying to scan the complete VST3 directory. At the moment it seems to be a good idea to scan single plugins or subfolders one by one, adding only the plugins that are really going to be used.
e-licenser doesn't work too(that is what I use) for now. Only Halion6 /Sonic 3 work as VST2 in BIAB. I've reported to devs. Hopefully they will figure it out soon.
I have the same problem already exposed by Dathho and Max.Noise. Halion Sonic SE was my favorite GM player in Biab until 2022. It worked fine and you chose it through the menu "Options/preferences/midi driver...." But in 2023 Steinberg released Halion7 and Halion Sonic 7. (both vst3), removing the SE version (vst2). They no longer worked with Biab, neither did the old Halion Sonic SE. No problem, never mind. Coyote is not bad
Now, in Biab2025 I tried replacing Coyote (vst2) with the latest Halion Sonic (vst3) via the "options/preferences/midi driver menu". But this was not possible because Biab does not include vst3 in the list of GM players. It only allows you to add a vst3 on individual tracks. And sure enough, the program closes when you try to put Halion on a individual midi track. I would love for Halion to work in Biab2025
Element will let you load Halion as your default synth, it will let you chain any midi or fx plugins, once you have your routing set up you just "Save Group" then "Load Group" the Element setup you need or in Element > Settings > "Save Session". You are too limited to what you can do with the Biab routing/chaining/sends. You can load VST3 in the VST2 version.
It is free, but it also is not very stable. I believe PGM is investigating Steinberg issue at this time. I am confident they will fix, as many people who use BIAB use Halion / Sonic.
I'm also optimistic. We have to be patient with the hard work of the experts. Biab is a great tool, regardless of specific problems. Encouragement to PG Music workers
Update: The latest Biab build (1123) is still crashing immeditately when trying to load Halion7 or Halion Sonic. Interestingly Padshop is working now, which was not the case when I tried it before installing the update. I've also tried all other Steinberg VSTis that I have: The Grand => crash, Groove Agent => crash. Backbone gave an access violation at first, but on the 3rd or 4th try it loads fine and works. @Rustyspoon: no e-licenser any more, everthing is on Steinberg Licensing.
It was mentioned that developers are working at this time to address the issue that is causing Steinberg plugins to crash. It's likely a high priority item as Steinberg plugins are popular among BIAB users. I am confident they will issue fix soon.
"@Rustyspoon: no e-licenser any more, everthing is on Steinberg Licensing."
Not entirely true. e-licenser will continue to work until May 2025. Also, it will continue working on your computer, unless it breaks I would imagine it would take quite some time for people to migrate existing licenses. I will do a separate post on that later, after PGM fixes the issue. Post will include some feedback I received from Steinberg rep not too long ago.
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