Any users of 'Bigtick Zen' loader with OMPT?

[Christofori]

I just came across bigtick Zen, a multi-preset manager (which claims to also be a loader for VSTi's as well) and wondered if anyone's been able to get it to work within OMPT?

I thought about trying it and even downloaded it, but.. well, as it shares presets with any/every-one else using it, I'm just somewhat leery of those kinds of systems..

The reason I thought I might use something like it, though, is that I've been using 2 or sometimes 3 instances of the same VSTi in my project file (MPTM with multiple sequences, or songs being worked on, in my case) to be able to play seperate synth sounds without messing with the automation of loading patches within the VST.. (my way seemed simpler..!  well, until lately..)

Now my problem (and I'm sure it's the VSTi's fault, too) is that the PCE control reference numbers change each time I load the MPTM file.. so I then have to go update many of the PCEs throughout the track.  The parameters that seem to be effected in the synths are the Osc LFO, sub, and Envelope - as well as the PWM's envelope and LFO; the remaining para's are remaining stable in both instances of the VSTi that I've loaded.  For reference (and I know it's not the best one out there.. but I liked the control features and preloaded presets, dangit!) the VSTi is Radium.. and this problem only began to occur once I'd loaded Anubis (from the same author) alongside the 2 instances of Radium.  Now even though Anubis is removed entirely I have to mess with these parameter numbers changing... So I then of course began looking for loaders/managers for VSTi's and came across BigTick's free manager.  I just would like to see some positive feedback about it's use within OMPT before I jump on board the 'mass VST preset sharing' bonanza, I guess...!

Anyone?

Alternatively, if there's a great sounding free alternative to Radium not written by B Serrano someone could clue me into, I'd be greatly obliged

[Christofori]

Being the curious and adventuresome dude I am...

I set up a portable (and isolated..) install of OMPT 1.19.2.0 (the current stable build) on my other PC, and blanked out all of the plugins so there were none loaded.  I then installed Zen and picked some plugins to sync from their system (some picked randomly; some picked as I had them already). 

It should be noted that (currently) this is JUST a preset manager, meaning that the only thing(s) it transfers across it's 'sharing network' are the presets themselves; so if you pick to sync to a plugin that you don't already have, you'll have to go find the dll and associated extensions/semephores/whatnot, then download and install them properly into Zen, before you can use them -- but if you've already got the plugin on your system, you just need to point Zen to it's files.  Aside from that it actually does seem to work pretty well (though the interface took some getting used to for me..) -- I'm not 'sold' on using it exclusively however, because I'd have to reset all of my plugins... but something like this would definately help keep my 'project-like' .MPTM files from becomming loaded with cumbersome and seldom-used plugins.. would also make organizing them for performances a lot nicer as well. 

Overall I'd give my first impression of 'Zen' (a fairly impressed, which I was surprised to discover I felt) a "nice" rating.

It might be worth noting that this tool did seem to be as calm as it's counterpart-with-the-similar-name who is no longer with us, who was known for hid quote about a playerless synth=calm..   At least, I had no issues with running 'Zen' during my initial tests.

I did attempt loading a few plugins as I 'normally' would, in the test tracker setup I've described -- and then loading Zen.  It made the tracker lag noticeably... and had I not ended that test just then, a crash likely was imminent.  I'd recommend unloading all plugins you'll intend to load into Zen and removing them all (you must then save a module file in OMPT for the plugin repository to be updated as I've discovered.. failing to save a file won't actually remove the plugin from the cache/ini files properly) from the plugin manager entirely, before even loading the Zen module.

There is a standalone .EXE version and also a .DLL VST version; which causes me to consider re-testing the PLAY VSTi software inside it rather than inside OMPT, but with the stability I've achieved on my studio gear I don't want to do that test there..!  I'll let people know if I decided to go forward and test that...