Playback Initialization Issue with Vela Reverb in Reaper 7.42 (macOS, Apple M4 Max)

Plugins
1

Hi Sonic Academy team,

I recently purchased the Vela reverb plugin and have run into a consistent playback issue in Reaper 7.42 that seems to be related to how the plugin handles initialization or buffering during playback.

Issue Summary:

  • If I start playback with the playhead close to the beginning of an audio item, the initial reverb tail sounds broken or glitched — as if part of the input is missing.
  • If I start playback further back, the plugin behaves normally.
  • Occasionally, I also hear clicks or pops at the start of playback on tracks with Vela inserted.
  • No other plugins in my setup have this issue — it seems specific to Vela.

System Details:

  • DAW: Reaper 7.42
  • Plugin Format: VST3
  • macOS: Apple M4 Max, 128 GB RAM
  • Audio Interface: RME Fireface UFX+, running via Sequoia 15.5
  • Sample Rate: 48kHz
  • Buffer Size: 128 samples (also tested 256)

Troubleshooting Steps Tried:

  • Disabled Anticipative FX Processing for the Vela track in Reaper.
  • Enabled pre-roll before playback.
  • Increased buffer size.

These steps help slightly, but the issue still occurs when playback starts close to the beginning of an audio file. It seems like Vela may not be handling incoming audio smoothly in that condition, especially during stopped-to-play transitions.

Would love to know if this is a known issue or if there’s a fix in the works. Vela sounds fantastic otherwise — really excited to keep using it!

One note. the plug in seems to work fine in Ableton.

Thanks in advance for your help,
Michael Kent

2

Thanks for reporting this Michael.

We’ll have a look and try to replicate with Reaper 7.42 and latest VELA VST3.

I can see you also sent an email to support, I will add a link to this forums post and we’ll get back to you via support email + update here if needed.

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