Kontakt & Pro Tools 6086 errors

Hello all,
This may have been addressed prior but I couldn't find anything specific on the NI Forums.

When using one or more instances of Kontakt 4 as inserts in Pro Tools 8, I am getting constant Pro Tools freeze ups with the 6086 error:

"The Operating system held off interrupts for too long. If this error occurs frequently, try increasing the "H/W Buffer Size" in the Playback Engine Panel
(-6086)"

This happens when recording or during playback. I use few tracks, under 10, and few inserts. Increasing the buffer size to 256, 512, or 1024 causes crazy latency. I record sax and it's impossible to keep time.

"Low Latency Monitoring" is sadly inadequate, as all the sends & plug-ins are disabled.

Anyone found a solution? It seems to be Kontakt related. Problem is, I LOVE the Scarbee electric pianos!

Thanks!

 

Check to see if your running ASIO drivers. If your not try ASIO.

A while back there was a Native Instruments member Keir @ NI who promised us more answers. What happened?

 

Hi

Low latency monitoring should only disable sends and inserts on record enabled tracks. Your instrument tracks should run fine. As far as the errors, how many instruments are you running in Kontakt? Also, are they large libraries like Symphobia, East West Pianos...etc. If your loading up large sample libraries, and recording at the same time, your going to tax your cpu and ram. Saying that, you still should be able to get away with a lot with your computer.

In Protools under "Setup" then "Playback Engine" how many cores do you have set for "host processor"? You have a total of 8 right? I find you need to experiment with this setting. I find that less is better. I was originally told to set it at one less than is available (for me that was 7), but I was having the same problem you were. I now have it set to 3, and it works great. I still get errors sometimes, but only when I start loading up massive amounts on VI's.

Here are a couple of links that might help you - good luck

http://www.native-instruments.com/k...e+of+NATIVE+INSTRUMENTS+plug-ins+in+Pro+Tools


http://www.native-instruments.com/knowledge/questions/56/Optimizing+KONTAKT's+performance

 

You should also check in Kontakt under options/engine if multi processor is on or off. If it's on, how many it's set to. Again, I don't think there is a standard setting. You should experiment with it. I have mine on and set to 3.

 

JT, thanks so much. I will knock my processors down to 3 in P.T. Playback Engine. I will also try changing them in Kontakt as well. I believe I have it set for the same amount as P.T. (5 presently, although I also tried 7 to no avail.)

The Low Latency option is still a pain. When recording multiple players live, Low Latency disables the sends I have set up to the other players' headphone mixes. Also, when recording sax, I put my reverb and delay on separate aux tracks with sends from the sax track. These sends are also disabled.

I've had P.T. freeze up even with the buffer set at 1024.

The session I'm currently working on has three separate instances of Kontakt on three separate tracks. I have had the freezing up problem with only one instance however.

I've seen mentioned that people use Kontakt as a standalone with less problems. I'm not sure how to tie it in to Pro Tools when used as a standalone (record midi, etc.).

I figure it's got to be a software problem. It's hard to imagine my Mac not handling the few tracks I use, even with several Kontakt instances. I look at cpu usage and it's less than 20%, with 8 + GB of free ram.

 

If you want to use plugins and sends on record enabled tracks, there is going to be latency, and if you pull the buffer way down, your might get errors depending on what else your running. It's not the few tracks your recording, it's the several instances of Kontakt I would think.

Does it still happen if your recording without VI's? If it's only happening when your using Kontakt, you could print temp tracks of kontakt and then disable the Kontakt aux while recording.

Another solution would be to use an external mixer with a hardware reverb to monitor the tracks and send headphone mixes. A pain in the ass, but if you have that stuff it could be a solution.

 

Thanks again JT.

I understand that printing the Kontakt tracks would save running Kontakt from there on. I hate to lose the midi editing capability though. I think I'll just call N.I. and hassle them over the phone. I'm sure they've heard this many times before.

All else failing, I will seek out other sample players for good Rhodes/Wirli/Hammond samples and forget N.I. altogether. I do love those sounds though...

 

The issues your having are not NI fault. There is no point in hassling them. Any VI will give you these issues. Some more than others. In my experience Kontakt is one of the more stable and efficient samplers out there, and by far has the best selection of 3rd party libraries.

With Protools 8, on a MacPro 8 core with 16 gigs of ram (at present no more than 4 is necessary for Protools) I can run 3-5 instances of kontakt with 3-5 instruments loaded in each, plus other Vi's as well. It depends on what I'm loading, but the setup is quite generous.

I don't believe your problems will disappear just by using another sampler.

Also - you won't lose the midi editing capability. Just print temp tracks to do your overdubs, then you can always re-instanciate the Kontakt instance you disabled and edit it.

 

Sorry for the late reply. You could be right about Kontakt not being at the root of the problem. I'll do some more experimentation.

Thanks much for your help.