Fender Studio 8.1.1 - Scaler 3

Scaler 3 Support
1

Hi all,

sadly we are back to Scaler 3 (latest version) crashing Fender Studio 8.1.1.

Unfortunately this hard crash is not creating Fender Studio Pro 8 dump files (crash logs) but event viewer captured it, fortunately, or I wouldn’t have a clue why twice tonight in the space of an hour or so, Fender Studio Pro 8.1.1 crashed. The first crash happened when I was editing the volume automation for a vocal part, the second crash happened when Studio Pro was in the start page (no active projects open) [Edit - this latter crash happened after having a project open with a scaler 3 instance]. Both instances had Scaler 3 instantiated on a track but not active.

The event viewer log:

Faulting application name: Studio Pro.exe, version: 8.1.1.0, time stamp: 0x6a54f28f
Faulting module name: Scaler 3.dll_unloaded, version: 3.3.0.0, time stamp: 0x6a5774b8
Exception code: 0xc0000005
Fault offset: 0x0000000000baff40
Faulting process id: 0x5780
Faulting application start time: 0x1DD232C04C09C19
Faulting application path: C:\Program Files\Fender\Studio Pro 8\Studio Pro.exe
Faulting module path: Scaler 3.dll
Report Id: 628198e7-7158-4cc0-904c-62b2a77a979d
Faulting package full name:
Faulting package-relative application ID:

2

I am seeing something slightly different where the Studio Pro (v8.1.2) Plugin Scanner is registering a crash in Event Viewer but seems to just barrel right through the error - with no impact to Studio Pro.

2026-08-14_13-58-45
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3

Interesting! I wasn’t so lucky, the first crash happened whilst I was in the midst of editing volume automation for a vocal track, and then “boom”! Fender Studio Pro crashed.

I have since decided to implement workarounds. In the past I wanted to keep Scaler 3 on a track, and even turning it off in Fender Studio Pro but keeping it in the project wasn’t enough to avoid the crashes, so for now I just unload all instances of Scaler 3 in all projects to avoid projects crashing, and I have decided to do all the Scaler 3 work early on, grab the midi, put the midi on its own track, and then copy the midi as I need it.

That way, I can still use Scaler 3 but avoid having it crash projects just for the convenience of keeping Scaler 3 alive in case I want to go back and make changes later.

4

We are just about to move 3.3.1 to Beta. Hopeful it resolves this issue for you as it zaps most current issues. @Tristan Has been sending out to some peeps for trial.

5

Thanks for the info, fingers crossed the 3.3.1 update fixes this issue.

Thanks.

6

Here are a couple more instants of crashing happening - this time in Komplete Kontrol v3.5.4:

Main Scaler 3 VST3 plugin fails on the Komplete Kontrol “ni-plugin-info.exe”:

2026-08-16_06-42-08
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And then the same error - but this time for the Scaler 3 Audio VST3…

2026-08-16_06-41-56
2026-08-16_06-41-561505×779 221 KB

Hoping the beta addresses these two instances as well…

S

7

Hi @jsljustin @SonicMojo. Note that the Scaler 3.3.1 update has now been released and should be available to download via your Scaler Music account.

Could you please let me know here is these issues persist after installing this latest update? Also be sure to reboot your computer after installing the update.

8

Tristian

Unfortunately - v3.3.1 does not solve these issues for me.

I did exactly as you suggested - installed v3.3.1 to my Windows 11 workstation - completed all settings (including a fresh plugin scan) and then restarted the machine.

When the workstation came back up - I immediately checked (and then cleared) both the application and system logs (via Event viewer) so I would have super clean baseline and not be influenced by any prior error entries.

Then I launched Studio Pro v8.1.2 - and during it’s plugin scan - it again hesitated for at least 3 seconds on each of the Scaler plugins and then finally completed it scan and I was at the Start page.

I then immediately consulted Event Viewer and saw the following entry:

2026-08-17_06-45-09
2026-08-17_06-45-091522×932 229 KB

This time - the error was attributed to “unknown” but the log was populated with the same crash stats I noted from yesterdays post. I also had my eyes glued on the system clock when the “hesitation” occurred during the Studio Pro plugin scan - and the timestamps are exact.

Then I exited out of Studio Pro and turned my attention to Komplete Kontrol.

Upon startup - it ran it’s standard scan and this time the results were more absolute:

2026-08-17_06-49-18
2026-08-17_06-49-181541×874 235 KB

The Scaler v3.3.1 plugin continued to crash the “ni-plugin-info.exe” scanner as before.

If you need anything from me - please let me know.

Cheers

S

9

I’ll have a look, thanks @Tristan

But from what SonicMojo says, it sounds like the issues are persisting.

Is it worth me reaching out to Fender (formerly Presonus) of Fender Studio Pro and see if they can help? Unfortunately these Scaler 3 crashes aren’t creating .dmp files (whereas other crashes mostly do) so we may be a little limited, but they may be able to assist perhaps.

From what I am told, Fender Studio Pro conforms to really strict VST3 standards and so it may be a matter of finding the area if the Scaler 3 windows VST3 plugin deviates from these stringent requirements, even if only a little bit.

Thanks, Justin.

10

@Tristan

I have posted a thread over on the Studio One forums to see if anyone else can corroborate my intel on the Studio Pro plugin scanner issues.

That said - since this is also occurring within NI Komplete Kontrol as well - I am thinking these issues are squarely focused on the Scaler package and not specific to the scanning mechanisms of these two very different apps.

That both of them are crashing in the same way and registering very similar error payloads - is too much of a coincidence for me.

S

11

Hi @SonicMojo Simple question here. Is it crashing the DAW itself and are you unable to use Scaler 3 and Fender Studio? Or is it just the plugin scanner giving you error messages? @jsljustin We are curious to see how you go.
We can load and use Scaler 3 totally fine in Fender Studio.

12

So far - just the Plugin Scanner. Which I find very odd indeed. That said - out of 146 plugins that I have onboard - 145 of them scan fine. 1 does not. :slight_smile:

However - as mentioned - Native Instruments Komplete Kontrol Scanner - does the exact same thing. Which I really find strange - as the two scanners are completely unrelated.

That said - I have started a dialog with Fender on this. Have done some deep analysis on the *dmp files created by Fender Studio Pro when these plugin scanner crashes occur but try as I might - I cannot seem to isolate the cause.

For some additional context - I farmed this out to the crew on the Studio One/Pro forums and at least one of my notable contacts have stated that he has the same OS as me, same Studio Pro as me and same Scaler as all of us - and he sees nothing in Event Viewer.

So this logically points to an issue here - and only here - for the moment.

If I make a breakthru - I will circle back.

S

13

Ok - I give up.

Moments ago - upon logging into the workstation - based on some other data - I did exactly one thing - temporarily changed my Windows Scaling to 200% - then started Studio Pro - then checked Event Viewer - nothing.

Then I switched Windows scaling back to my previous 175% - started Studio Pro - nothing in Event Viewer.

Then I rebooted, started Studio Pro and nothing in Event Viewer.

And then I fired up Komplete Kontrol and - nothing in Event Viewer.

Wow - sometimes I really dislike software :slight_smile:

Anyhoo - good enough for me. Carry on everyone..

S

14

Hi all,

unfortunately the issue is still present. Strangely enough, the crash of Fender Studio Pro 8 happened at least 45 minutes to an hour after I had completely removed Scaler 3.3.1 VST3 from Fender Studio Pro, which is really strange! It seems to be hanging around in memory and not actually unloading itself from the relevant memory space. Again, no crash logs, but event viewer (Windows 11) did capture the crash and the faulting module:

Faulting application name: Studio Pro.exe, version: 8.1.2.0, time stamp: 0x6a74a2a2
Faulting module name: Scaler 3.vst3_unloaded, version: 3.3.1.0, time stamp: 0x6a805f4a
Exception code: 0xc0000005
Fault offset: 0x0000000000bc09e0
Faulting process id: 0x3398
Faulting application start time: 0x1DD3DC5D88EA51A
Faulting application path: C:\Program Files\Fender\Studio Pro 8\Studio Pro.exe
Faulting module path: Scaler 3.vst3
Report Id: 68da7f74-93a8-4d3e-8d50-79703a52c202
Faulting package full name:
Faulting package-relative application ID:

Also, it seems this crash is not unique to Fender Studio Pro, FL Studio users are reporting effectively the same thing, and judging from the date of the last post, maybe Scaler 3.3.1 version as well. Also, they report the same thing I noticed, and that is that Scaler 3 is crashing the DAW long after it has been unloaded or removed from the DAW song/project.

See here:

https://forum.scalermusic.com/t/scaler-3-3-0-0-access-violation-c0000005-on-unload-in-fl-studio-2026/24996/3

Anyway, I hope you guys can fix this issue, as now the only way to avoid DAW crashes is to not use the Scaler 3 plugin at all, or perhaps I could try forcibly removing it from memory by first, if needs be, using it, then unloading it from my project, then rebooting my computer (cold reboot)? That way it may end up getting purged from memory. Otherwise, any use of Scaler 3 VST2 or VST3 seems to hang around long after being removed.

Thanks.

15

Hi @jsljustin, thanks for all extra info. Strange to hear this is continuing to occur in Scaler 3.3.1, particularly as you note, after removing Scaler 3 from your DAW session.

It is unfortunate that no crash reports are produced by Studio Pro, however we have forwarded all of your event viewer logs to the dev team who are looking into this, so we’ll get back to you as soon as possible with any updates. It sounds like something strange is happening here so hopefully we can get this addressed swiftly.

Thanks again.

16

Thanks @Tristan - yes, I hope you guys can fix it. On the bright side, at least the issue with it crashing the daw immediately when putting Scaler 3 onto an instrument track is fixed. This latter issue seems like for whatever reason, Scaler 3.3.1 is not unloading from memory properly.

Thanks.