MQ FAQ (Plug-ins)

 

This page is intended to include notes and observations on plug-in installation and hosts.

 

VST2 / VST3 Installation Failure in Windows

 

This section only applies to those who receive an error message "Internal Error - Error opening MQ control file" followed by a path similar to "C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Sound Quest\MidiQuestPro\v12MQ.regupdate.bin" when attempting to install a VST2/3 plug-in in Windows.

 

 

 

 

 

Cubase Hint

 

This is a hint from a Midi Quest user on reducing the number of tracks required by Midi Quest plug-ins.

 

1/ Make an external EFX that has no Sends and returns the audio channel of the hardware synthesizer.

2/ Make an external VST Track with a Midi Quest plug-in.

3/ Set the Midi Quest VST tracks track insert to the external EFX created in step one.

 

This creates a VST track with Midi Quest instantiated with MIDI recording and synth audio return that is freezable, bounceable, and so on.

 

 

Cubase x64 software

 

This issue was noted for Cubase 6 and 7 but may apply for other Cubase releases as well. The x64 versions of Cubase are capable of hosting 32-bit VST plug-ins however the following issues have been noted:

 

1. 32-bit Plug-ins requiring 1MB of memory or more such as the Korg Kronos editor will crash the host. This is a known bug in the software that allows 32-bit plug-ins to run in x64 hosts. There is no work around. You must either use a 32-bit plug-in with a 32-bit host or an x64 plug-in with an x64 host.

 

2. VST supports a "bypass effect" function for each plug-in in the VST Instruments window. This option is not properly implemented for 32-bit plug-ins in an x64 host.

 

 

Macintosh

 

Running the host DAW in full screen mode can interfere with the opening and display of Midi Quest dialogs such as the Settings dialog. If you have problems opening a Midi Quest dialog, first take the host out of full screen mode and try again.

 

 

Manual ProTools AAX installation for Windows

 

If, for some reason, Midi Quest's automated process for installing the AAX plug-in is not successful, it is possible to manually install the plug-in. For the plug-in to work correctly, the plug-in file be installed in the correct directory of the hard drive. This is normally handled by Midi Quest Pro but if this isn’t working, it can be done manually.
Following are the instructions to install the plug-in.

 

Using File Explorer, go to the directory c:\Program Files\Common Files\Avid\Audio\Plug-ins

Create directory called “MidiQuestAAX.aaxplugin”

Inside the “MidiQuestAAX.aaxplugin” directory, create a directory called “Contents”

Inside the “MidiQuestAAX.aaxplugin\Contents” directory, create a directory called “x64”

There should now be a directory path “c:\Program Files\Common Files\Avid\Audio\Plug-ins\MidiQuestAAX.aaxplugin\Contents\x64”

Go to the directory c:\Program Files\Sound Quest\Midi Quest 12 Pro\Win64

You will see a file “MidiQuestAAX.aaxplugin”

Copy this file and paste it into the x64 folder you created above.

What you should now have is the file located at

“c:\Program Files\Common Files\Avid\Audio\Plug-ins\MidiQuestAAX.aaxplugin\Contents\x64\MidiQuestAAX.aaxplugin”

 

Run ProTools and it should find and create plug-ins for each of the instrument modules you have installed in Midi Quest 12 Pro.

 

 

 

 

 

Rebuild the AAX Installed Plug-ins list

 

The Midi Quest plug-in is a little unusual compared to other AAX plug-ins in that it dynamically creates plug-ins based on the currently install instrument modules. We have had a number of ProTools users find that they needed to rebuild their installed plug-ins list before Midi Quest was available as an AAX plug-in. To rebuild the AAX plug-in list, follow these instructions.

 

1/ Quit Pro Tools

2/ User File Explorer to go to the directory: C:\Users\<Owner>\AppData\Roaming\Avid\Pro Tools

   note 1: <Owner> is your user name.

   note 2: The "AppData" folder is hidden by default. To see it, modify File Explorer to display hidden folders.

3/ Find the file “InstalledAAXPlugIns”.

4/ Delete the file.

5/ Run Pro Tools.

 

The above steps will also work on the Macintosh. On the Mac, the file is located at "/Users/<username>/Library/Preferences/Avid/Pro Tools

 

This will force a rebuild of the plug-ins. Just so you are aware, we have had a couple report that their plug-in list turned out to be problematic and it was a challenge to get the list to rebuild but once it did, everything worked well.

 

 

AAX Plug-in Registration

 

When Pro Tools is first run after the Midi Quest AAX plug-in is installed, PT will automatically register plug-ins for all installed instrument modules. This process can be quite slow so if all Midi Quest instrument modules are installed, the wait time can be 15 - 20 minutes. Pro Tools provides no feedback but is it processing, not hung. This appears to be a one time procedure so the next time Pro Tools is run, the start up will be much faster.