Render-bypass workflow with the DAW plugin

The SoundID Reference DAW plugin has to be bypassed every time you export audio from the DAW. This article provides information on the render-bypass notification.

In this article:

 

Hard-bypassing the plugin

The SoundID Reference plugin has to be bypassed every time you are exporting audio from your DAW. Otherwise, the correction will be applied to your master bus mixdown. Not bypassing the effect would mean adding the sonic anomalies of your system to the rendered audio.

Make sure you fully bypass the plugin in your DAW, as disabling the calibration within the plugin is not enough. This can be achieved by turning off the plugin in the channel plugin insert strip of your DAW.

NOTE! Some DAWs have a built-in monitoring section available which can be used to auto-bypass the plugin for rendering. If your DAW doesn't have a built-in feature for it, you can also set up a dedicated monitoring bus manually, learn more here: Using a dedicated monitoring bus for the DAW plugin 

 

Render-bypass notification

As the SoundID Reference plugin should be bypassed when rendering audio in the DAW, SoundID Reference will notify the user if the calibration was left on when exporting audio. This is an informative message - the rendering process will not be stopped. By default, the notification is turned on. It can be turned off from the settings menu in the top right corner of the plugin.



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NOTE! This feature is currently only available in select DAWs, for example:

  • Ableton Live 10
  • Ableton Live 11
  • Avid Pro Tools 2018 (with offline bounce only, read below)
  • Cubase 8 (or later)
  • Studio One 4 (or later)

Other DAWs will not support this feature. These include, but are not limited to:

  • Ableton Live 12
  • Avid Pro Tools 10
  • Logic Pro X
  • Reaper

It is not available in every workstation as not all DAWs fully communicate with our plugin, so we can’t reliably detect when audio is being rendered or if the plugin has been bypassed. If you want us to include the notification in an unsupported DAW, please contact their respective support and let them know!

 

Pro Tools. In Pro Tools 2018, the render-bypass notification only works for regular offline rendering mode. To enable offline mode: 

  1. Go to  File > Bounce Mix
  2. Select Offline in the bottom-left corner
  3. Bounce the mix

 

Unwarranted render-bypass warning

There are a few conditions, under which the plugin is disabled during rendering, but the warning is still appearing when you export the mix. There are some known causes for this behavior: 

 

Cubase and Studio One: both Control Room (Cubase) and Listen Bus (Studio One) interfere with the SoundID Reference plugin's ability to read the render process data correctly. Thus, an unwarranted render-bypass dialog is expected. As the calibration will not be applied to the rendered mix, a warning notification is unnecessary and the notification can be switched off. Alternatively, the plugin can be added to the regular Master section. 

 

VST3 plugin: the process we depend on in order to read the render process data correctly is not available with DAW + VST3. We do not receive a parameter update and therefore the VST3 plugin is unable to notify correctly. Please disable the notification as shown above while remembering to bypass it when rendering. Alternatively, use VST2 instead. 

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2 comments

0

Under Cubase 12.0.70, and doing a realtime export render: if one adds the SoundID Reference VST 3.7.2 plugin to Cubase's Control Room monitor inserts the audio processing by SoundID IS NOT heard in the rendered file.  I have verified this by adding an autopan after SonarWorks in the monitor insert chain.  Although I hear the Autopan through the speakers during the realtime rendering, the Autopan is NOT heard in the exported rendered file.

The documentation on this page is incorrect.

I have not tested non-realtime rendering, all of my projects use external hardware which requires realtime renderings.

0

Mark McFarlane thanks for the comment! 

For Cubase and Nuendo users, you can indeed use the Control Room section for the Reference plugin, as this section is bypassed automatically for rendering. Regardless of how you achieve it in your workflow (manually or automatically), the main point remains the same: the plugin has to be bypassed for rendering the project. 

Other DAWs also feature similar built-in monitoring sections, such as the Listen Bus section in Studio One, or Monitor FX in Reaper, which can be used to auto-bypass the plugin for rendering. If you're DAW doesn't have a built-in feature for it, you can also set up a monitoring bus manually, learn more here: Using a dedicated monitoring bus for the DAW plugin.

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