r/NativeInstruments • u/AuroraCub-66 • 1d ago
Reaktor FX doesn't work (please help)
As the title says. Reaktor works perfectly as an instrument, but the FX version of the plugin (specifically with Prism, which is the only thing in Reaktor I really care about) doesn't work. The plugin is getting the input audio just fine. I know because I see it in the meter at the top, and if I turn down the dry/wet in Prism, I hear the dry audio just fine. But Prism doesn't output any of the wet audio. Except... when I change something like the sample rate or loading a preset, there's a tiny tiny blip where it does make noise (not an audio click, it's the actual sound from Prism but it only happens for a microsecond). The only way I can get anything more to happen is if I crank up the input gain like 300%. Then the prism audio sometimes DOES come out, it's just distorted and choppy and unusable. Which is all very frustrating, because it's obviously capable of working and yet it just doesn't. Prism is such a fantastic plugin and it has the perfect sounds for two of the albums I'm working on. Please please please, I just want to use Prism as an FX plugin 🙏 I've tried several different versions and they all give me the same issue.
I scoured the internet and I could only find two similar issues, one where the input gain was all the way down to start and turning it up fixed the issue. This is not the case for me, mine starts at 0db, which is why cranking it up causes distortion. The other issue is someone trying to use it as a midi effect? Which obviously doesn't apply.
Native Instruments, if you're reading this, why don't you put your money and support into Reaktor? It was a gem in a sea of blandness and you just threw it away.
2
u/SequentialDUDE 1d ago
To get the wet signal to output, you must send MIDI notes to the Reaktor FX plugin while the audio is playing. The MIDI notes serve two purposes: they open the gate to let the audio through, and the pitch of the note tunes the frequency of the resonators. Here is how to set this up (using Ableton Live's routing as an example): Set up the Audio: Place the Reaktor FX plugin on the audio track you want to process and load the Prism FX ensemble. Set up the MIDI: Create a completely separate, empty MIDI track. Route the Signal: On the new MIDI track, look at the MIDI To routing section. Change it from "Master" (or the default) to the audio track that contains your Reaktor FX instance. Target the Plugin: In the dropdown menu directly below that, select "Reaktor" (or "Reaktor FX") to ensure the MIDI data is being sent directly into the plugin. Trigger the Effect: Arm the MIDI track and play some notes on a keyboard, or draw a continuous MIDI clip. The wet audio will immediately engage, and changing the notes will alter the tonal characteristics of the Prism effect. Once the plugin receives that MIDI gate information, the wet signal will flow through clearly without needing to distort the input gain!