Lunaris 2 is released! Synth Pads for Kontakt Player

[Jose7822]

Heureka, I could solve it...important for EVERYONE who determines slow loading times. Since I'm working on projects in Cubase that easily use 50GB of RAM, I've currently set the buffer size of my sound interface to 1024 samples (to avoid CPU spikes). As a result the performance drops depending on the Kontakt instrument as well, as we can see with Lunaris 2 and Bioscape. Setting the buffer size to 521 samples, Lunaris 2 loads twice as fast (loading takes about 4s), 256 samples Lunaris 2 takes ONLY 2 seconds! That would make the system as fast as hell again. Finally it seems that only Kontakt instruments are affected if running a script when started, loading pure samples such as Spitfire Symphonic Strings etc. do not affect the performance, regardless of the buffer size.

I still need to try this (currently performing a fresh install of Windows 11), but that would make sense given that I usually set my buffer size really high (at least 1024, if not higher) due to the heavy loads of my projects. Thanks for the info though 👍.

 

[Luftrum]

PS: @Luftrum honestly you could update your FAQ "Lunaris 2: It takes a long time to load presets"
Presets in Lunaris 2 (and Bioscape!!) do not load instantly, reducing the buffer size of your sound interface may speed up the loading process" or something like that.

Hey hauspe. I am so glad to read that you found a solution to the increased and mysteriously slow loading times. I have done what you suggested and added the buffer size to the FAQ.

 

[Jose7822]

Yeap, I tried it yesterday and the buffer size hugely impacts the loading times. Now they’re normal 2-3 sec loads at 256 samples on my machine (Gigabyte Z490 Aorus Xtreme, i9 10900k, 128GB of RAM, NVIDIA 3060Ti, Windows 11 Pro).

However, like I said before, upwards of 1024 buffers in my projects is typical. Now that we have a cause, is there anyway Luftrum and/or NI can make it so that loading times are the same regardless of the buffer size of my projects? This is the only Kontakt product, to my knowledge, that has this quirk.

 

[Jose7822]

the lower your buffer the more work your hard drive does as the samples are streamed directly from disk. In cases where reducing the buffer improve performance, I would be looking at RAM as your bottleneck. Side note - you will probably see another improvement to performance by lowering the sampling rate.

I have 128GB of RAM, and still experience the long loading times in Lunaris 2 (even in a project with just one instance of Lunaris 2). The deciding factor here is buffer size, not RAM.

Also, in this case, raising the Sample Rate (NOT lowering it) will give you better loading times at the same buffer size. I’m assuming that’s what you really mean when you say “another performance improvement”. Otherwise, I’m operating at 48KHz, so lowering my Sample Rate to 44.1KHz would give minimal overall performance improvement when set to the same buffer size. BTW, I have Lunaris 2 installed on an SSD drive. It’s not an M.2 SSD, but it shouldn’t need that. The issue is not with the size of their samples either.

Anyway, the point of my previous comment was that I don’t experience higher loading times in other libraries, so there’s room for improvement in Lunaris 2 and/or Kontakt. I just reformatted my machine last week, and so far everything else loads as expected. The only library in my system with this peculiar behavior is Lunaris 2.

 

[Jose7822]

Lower latency = your pc works harder…

Also, I edited my post while you were writing your dissertation apparently ;p - It’s likely your audio interface. And it works just fine for most folks on here … no need to flame lunaris .

That’s the reason why I said “Otherwise, I’m operating at 48KHz, so lowering my Sample Rate to 44.1KHz would give minimal overall performance improvement when set to the same buffer size.”, in case you were referring to overall performance and not the loading times of patches in Lunaris 2.

As for my audio interface, I have a Lynx Aurora (n) 8:

Lynx Aurora (n) 8-TB3 8-channel AD/DA Converter with Thunderbolt 3 Interface

8-channel 24-bit/192kHz A/D-D/A Converter with Preinstalled LT-TB3 Thunderbolt 3 Option Card

www.sweetwater.com

I highly doubt it is the issue here 😉.

I’m not sure if you read this thread in it‘s entirety, but I’m not the only one experiencing long loading times in Lunaris 2. Not just people in this thread, but also the people at Sample Library Reviews are experiencing this as can be seen in this review video:

 

[Cideboy]

That’s the reason why I said “Otherwise, I’m operating at 48KHz, so lowering my Sample Rate to 44.1KHz would give minimal overall performance improvement when set to the same buffer size.”, in case you were referring to overall performance and not the loading times of patches in Lunaris 2.

As for my audio interface, I have a Lynx Aurora (n) 8:

Lynx Aurora (n) 8-TB3 8-channel AD/DA Converter with Thunderbolt 3 Interface

8-channel 24-bit/192kHz A/D-D/A Converter with Preinstalled LT-TB3 Thunderbolt 3 Option Card

www.sweetwater.com

I highly doubt it is the issue here 😉.

I’m not sure if you read this thread in it‘s entirety, but I’m not the only one experiencing long loading times in Lunaris 2. Not just people in this thread, but also the people at Sample Library Reviews are experiencing this as can be seen in this review video:

Sorry for attempting to help you.
Good luck

 

[Jose7822]

Sorry for attempting to help you.
Good luck

The thing is, you can’t lol. The only people who can potentially help with this are those working at Luftrum and/or NI, but thanks for trying 👍. However, you need to read the thread before making suggestions. I’m not trying to be mean here, but it is obvious you didn’t and therefore you don’t really understand what’s going on here.

 

[Luftrum]

The thing is, you can’t lol. The only people who can potentially help with this are those working at Luftrum and/or NI, but thanks for trying 👍. However, you need to read the thread before making suggestions. I’m not trying to be mean here, but it is obvious you didn’t and therefore you don’t really understand what’s going on here.

Hi Jose7822.

With the implementation of the "loading progress bar" which I mentioned earlier, the programmer will need to change some of the code and revert back to an old method of loading samples. This might or might not improve the loading times on some systems, but we will see.

Other than the above, I can't assist further. But I also like to think, that this is beyond instrument level.

 

[Jose7822]

Hi Jose7822.

With the implementation of the "loading progress bar" which I mentioned earlier, the programmer will need to change some of the code and revert back to an old method of loading samples. This might or might not improve the loading times on some systems, but we will see.

Other than the above, I can't assist further. But I also like to think, that this is beyond instrument level.

Fingers crossed!!

Thank you for at least giving it a shot 👍.

 

[Luftrum]

There's a deep preset walkthrough in the video below made by iMacTube covering nearly all presets in Lunaris 2, going through the different preset categories. The introduction is in Spanish, así que si quieres entender esa parte, una lección en español sería útil, but the remaining video is all sounds, pure pads, no talk.

 

[Luftrum]

Here's one of my own personal favorite YouTube channels, State Azure in a livestream ambient production, checking out Lunaris 2 and some other plugins.



Here are three discount codes to enter the weekend, each gives 20% off Lunaris 2, but they expire after use:

PKQ60
TT7AQ
WXDYQ

 

[Braveheart]

Here's one of my own personal favorite YouTube channels, State Azure in a livestream ambient production, checking out Lunaris 2 and some other plugins.



Here are three discount codes to enter the weekend, each gives 20% off Lunaris 2, but they expire after use:

PKQ60
TT7AQ
WXDYQ

Sadly, it can't be stacked with the newsletter discount.

 

[KarlHeinz]

Here's one of my own personal favorite YouTube channels, State Azure in a livestream ambient production, checking out Lunaris 2 and some other plugins.



Here are three discount codes to enter the weekend, each gives 20% off Lunaris 2, but they expire after use:

PKQ60
TT7AQ
WXDYQ

Great livestream definitely with some good ideas for ambient stuff. What puzzles me a bit is this:

Is this (especially the 3. Designer pads) all his own stuff or did I get something wrong in installation of the presets cause I only have the factory stuff ?

 

[ArtTurnerMusic]

Great livestream definitely with some good ideas for ambient stuff. What puzzles me a bit is this:

Is this (especially the 3. Designer pads) all his own stuff or did I get something wrong in installation of the presets cause I only have the factory stuff ?

@KarlHeinz my snapshot list resembles yours (except I don't have the "factory" and "user" categories. But several of the pads I saw under "designer" look to have been moved into the factory categories.

 

[KarlHeinz]

@KarlHeinz my snapshot list resembles yours (except I don't have the "factory" and "user" categories. But several of the pads I saw under "designer" look to have been moved into the factory categories.

Thanks, will have a look at it. Maybe its simply a reorganisation of the presets, should been possible with snapshots to make a new directory and put some snapshots there. I was simply unsure if I maybe missed something or need to copy some snapshots from Lunaris 1.

 

[SomeGuy]

Here's one of my own personal favorite YouTube channels, State Azure in a livestream ambient production, checking out Lunaris 2 and some other plugins.



Here are three discount codes to enter the weekend, each gives 20% off Lunaris 2, but they expire after use:

PKQ60
TT7AQ
WXDYQ

I get "invalid promo code" so I guess they are all gone :( But very cool of you to drop some discount codes!

 

[Luftrum]

Great livestream definitely with some good ideas for ambient stuff. What puzzles me a bit is this:

Is this (especially the 3. Designer pads) all his own stuff or did I get something wrong in installation of the presets cause I only have the factory stuff ?

Hello KarlHeinz. Sorry for the late reply and well spotted regarding the different categories which State Azure has in his version on YouTube. State Azure got an early copy of Lunaris 2, since he was one of the sound designers involved in creating presets for it. Just prior to release, this was how we decided to sort the presets.

01. Lunaris 1 Legacy containing presets recreated from the original Lunaris using sound sources from the first version and 02. Lunaris 2 Factory which was presets created using only the new sound sources in Lunaris 2. The third folder 03. Designer Pads were all presets by the different sound designers involved.

But that was really not an optimal way of categorizing the presets and each folder got rather lengthy when scrolling in Kontakt, so based on some feedback, I decided to change this around the same time as it was released, and sort all presets in the 14 standard folders you see above.

 

[KarlHeinz]

Hello KarlHeinz. Sorry for the late reply and well spotted regarding the different categories which State Azure has in his version on YouTube. State Azure got an early copy of Lunaris 2, since he was one of the sound designers involved in creating presets for it. Just prior to release, this was how we decided to sort the presets.

01. Lunaris 1 Legacy containing presets recreated from the original Lunaris using sound sources from the first version and 02. Lunaris 2 Factory which was presets created using only the new sound sources in Lunaris 2. The third folder 03. Designer Pads were all presets by the different sound designers involved.

But that was really not an optimal way of categorizing the presets and each folder got rather lengthy when scrolling in Kontakt, so based on some feedback, I decided to change this around the same time as it was released, and sort all presets in the 14 standard folders you see above.

Thanks, that makes it clear .

And I really love the way the presets are organized now

 

[danstein]

@Luftrum (or anyone else who can answer) -

Just purchased Lunaris and loving it as I check out the presets. One question - is there a way to map the x-y pad to a CC control? The other knobs seem mappable but the x-y pad does not, unless I'm missing the trick of it somewhere?

 

[Luftrum]

@Luftrum (or anyone else who can answer) -

Just purchased Lunaris and loving it as I check out the presets. One question - is there a way to map the x-y pad to a CC control? The other knobs seem mappable but the x-y pad does not, unless I'm missing the trick of it somewhere?

Hello @danstein and glad to hear you enjoy Lunaris 2.

On most knobs/controls in Lunaris 2 you can right-click (on PC) and choose Assign MIDI CC automation with exception of the XY pad, which is not mappable directly via this method from the user interface.

I asked the scripter about this, and the XY pad can be mapped to CC, but it requires some changes to the code for it to work and he will look into it, since he is working on the first update anyway, and it's a very requested feature so let's wait and see what he can come up with.

But, there is a workaround since you can use Host Automation to map the XY but how to do that, depends on the specific DAW. For example, in Bitwig, it looks like below, and right-clicking one of the controls gives you the option of Map to Controller or Key.