Cubase projects not loading correctly after Spark VDM 1.7 update

[mbh]

I recently updated Spark VDM to 1.7 and now when I open Cubase projects which used Spark, none of the saved Spark instances load their presets properly (I think it just loads the default Spark preset) and as a result all of myCubase projects now sound completely different.  Is this a known issue?  If so does anyone know of a workaround?

[Toby@arturia]

Hi mbh,

which version of cubase are you sing and on what OS?

Thanks,

Toby

[mbh]

Hi Toby, I'm on Windows 7 64-Bit and use Cubase 6.5.4 32-Bit and Cubase 7.0.5 32-Bit and 64-Bit.  The version of Spark VDM that I had was installed when I bought V Collection 3 so I imagine it was Spark VDM version 1.0.

[mbh]

Some progress: I rolled back my system (via Norton Ghost) to before the 1.7 Spark VDM update and opened some of the Cubase projects using Spark.  I saved the Spark preset and copied the files that were created to a shared location.  I then rolled my system forward again to when Spark 1.7 was installed.  For each project that used Spark I opened the preset that was saved in the shared location and everything looked OK.  However, I can tell that Spark 1.7 has loaded the correct drum samples BUT the drums still sound different.  They sound quieter and duller - perhaps Spark 1.7 can't open all of the parameters that are saved in a Spark 1.0 preset?  Perhaps the EQ and compression parameters are not being recalled correctly? 
 
I'd be grateful if anyone can help me sort this out so that I don't have to roll back my system again and bounce down stems from all of my old projects using Spark.

[Toby@arturia]

This seems really odd, I will have a look myself. Are there any kits where the difference in sound between the twos versions is very clear?

[mbh]

I noticed it first on a project with a slightly modified version of the DRmulator kit loaded.  It just sounds a lot quieter and duller in the mix - I'm comparing it to a bounced version of the same mix created with the Version 1.0 plugin.  In the morning I'm going to roll back the computer and bounce stems with Version 1.0 and then roll-forward the computer and compare the individual Spark 1.7 parts with the bounced Spark 1.0 parts to see if I can figure out exactly what's going on. 

I see that the names of some of the internal spark mixer plugins have changed since the update - "EQ" is now "Param EQ" for instance.  Perhaps the internal compressor/EQ plugins are not recalling their settings correctly....

[mbh]

Hi, quick update on this: I bounced stems from a project with Spark 1.0.2 and imported them into the identical project with Spark 1.7 loaded.  The issue seems to be that in Spark 1.7 the volume of each channel on the Spark mixer is lower by between 4-6dB (e.g. Snare was 4.6dB lower and the Closed Hat was 5.2dB lower).  If anyone has any idea why this would be I'd be grateful for your thoughts.

Also, I've had no response from Arturia tech support on this issue.  Does anybody know of a phone number that I could use to contact them?

[Toby@arturia]

Hey MBH,

Sorry for the late reply, I was away from the office for a week. For version 1.7 of Spark we decided to normalise the presets included in the standard version of Spark. All of the presets in VDM are all included in the basic version, as a result they were also normalised and this is the reason they sound different. All I can say is I'm sorry that this is having a negative effect on your projects and I hope it isn't too much of a pain in the neck.

Thanks,

Toby

[mbh]

Thanks for the info Toby.  I guess I'll have to revert to 1.0.2 and gradually bounce down stems from projects containing Spark before eventually updating to 1.7.  The reason that it was so noticeable on some projects for me was where I've used creative effects (compression, bit-crushing etc...) where the effect depends on the threshold of the signal received - hence the normalisation seems to have effected some projects much more than others.  To be honest I'm surprised there hasn't been more people raising this as an issue but perhaps I'm unusual in keeping my projects in midi (as opposed to stems) for as long as possible!