Plugin Audio Routing Ignores Track Mute "OFF" State - Mute Mode must be Set to "Mute (Silence Audio Signals)" instead

Help, Support & Bugs
1

Hi,

I’ve encountered what seems to be a bug related to VST audio routing in Renoise.

Steps to reproduce:

  1. Load a VST plugin into Slot 1.
  2. Go to Plugin → Audio Routing and check “Bus #01 - Stereo Out”.
  3. Assign the plugin to Track 1.

Issue:
When I set Track 1 to OFF, the audio from the VST continues to play as if the OFF state has no effect.

This only happens when Options → Mute Mode is set to “OFF (don’t trigger notes/effects)”.

However, if I change Mute Mode to “Mute (silence audio signals)”, the signal is cut as expected when the track is turned OFF.

Is this expected behavior, or am I missing something?

Thanks in advance!

2

That’s expected. Off mode only stops triggering notes and FX. Mute silences the audio stream.

Both modes have their cons and pros: The off mode is a more tracker`ish approach. The mute mode the classic mixer way of muting.

1 Like
3

Thanks for the clarification!

However, the issue I’m observing isn’t just about how the audio is handled, it’s also about how note triggers and CPU usage behave under “OFF” mode.

In previous versions of Renoise, when using VSTi plugins with “OFF” mode, the plugin would actually stop receiving note triggers entirely, and I could see a corresponding drop in CPU usage, especially with heavier FX chains. This made “OFF” mode very effective for managing system resources during playback.

Now, with the current behavior, even though “OFF” still silences sample-based instruments and prevents note/effect triggering internally, VSTi instruments seem to continue playing audio, as if the note-off isn’t being passed through. This keeps CPU usage high - almost as if the track wasn’t muted at all.

Yes, switching to “Mute” does silence the output, but it doesn’t reduce CPU usage either, as the plugin continues processing in the background.

So the core concern here is not just audio muting - it’s that OFF no longer stops VSTi note triggering or processing like it used to, which breaks the previous logic/workflow for CPU management.

Is this an intentional change in how Renoise handles plugin audio routing, or could it be a regression?

Thanks again!