That might be up Chris from Airwindows’ street…

Please help.. I'm pulling my hair out and I don't even have any..

I’m deep in the weeds trying to get Nebula 4.5 running with two separate VST2 versions — one using an 8192 DSP buffer (for high-fidelity mixing chains), and another using 2048 (for fast acting compressors etc). I’m on Windows 11 (Ableton Live 11), using the standalone VST2 version only (no VST3), and I’ve done multiple clean reinstalls via Aquarius, so this is a fresh slate.

I know Nebula reads from a single N4.xml unless renamed with custom VST shells (e.g., N4LowLatency.dll with its own N4LowLatency.xml). But even when I try that route, something always breaks — either the custom plugin doesn’t load, or Nebula reverts to its default ROM-style XML bloat config (with a hundred lines etc), which Im guessing totally hoses performance and routing.

I’m hoping someone here knows the exact XML config format that still works with Nebula 4.5’s 2023/2024 builds — ideally:

A minimal, working N4.xml for an 8192-buffer version (RATECNV=3)

A duplicate with edits for a 2048-buffer version (RATECNV=1), loaded via renamed .dll (e.g., N4LowLatency.dll)

Clarification on how to make both VST2 shells load correctly, read the right XMLs, and not trip over each other.


Here's my 8192 .xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<NEBULA4>
<NAME>Nebula4</NAME>
<VERSION>1.0.000</VERSION>
<COPYRIGHT>Acusticaudio.com</COPYRIGHT>

<MAGIC>87009346</MAGIC>
<MAGIC_VERSION>1.1.003</MAGIC_VERSION>

<DSPBUFFER>8192</DSPBUFFER>
<RATECNV>3</RATECNV>
<THREADS>4</THREADS>
<MAXCPU>95</MAXCPU>
<OPTIMIZATIONS>7</OPTIMIZATIONS>
<LOWLATENCY>0</LOWLATENCY>
<PRELOADSAMPLES>1</PRELOADSAMPLES>
<SHARED>1</SHARED>
<MULTICORE>1</MULTICORE>
<COREDLL>1</COREDLL>
<CORES>0</CORES>

<SKIN>SKIN000</SKIN>
<SKINNAME>Default</SKINNAME>

<VSTPATH>C:\Program Files\Steinberg\VSTPlugins\</VSTPATH>
<DATAPATH>C:\Users\YourUsername\AcusticaAudio\Nebula4\Temp\</DATAPATH>
<PROGRAMSUBPATH>Programs</PROGRAMSUBPATH>
<VECTORSUBPATH>Vectors</VECTORSUBPATH>
<SETUP>Setup.xml</SETUP>

<PLUGIN>1</PLUGIN>
<DEBUG>0</DEBUG>
<FORCECPU>1</FORCECPU>
<FORCESSE3>1</FORCESSE3>
</NEBULA4>

Here's my 2048 .xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<NEBULA4>
<NAME>Nebula4LowLatency</NAME>
<VERSION>1.0.000</VERSION>
<COPYRIGHT>Acusticaudio.com</COPYRIGHT>

<MAGIC>87009346</MAGIC>
<MAGIC_VERSION>1.1.003</MAGIC_VERSION>

<DSPBUFFER>2048</DSPBUFFER>
<RATECNV>1</RATECNV>
<THREADS>4</THREADS>
<MAXCPU>95</MAXCPU>
<OPTIMIZATIONS>7</OPTIMIZATIONS>
<LOWLATENCY>1</LOWLATENCY>
<PRELOADSAMPLES>1</PRELOADSAMPLES>
<SHARED>1</SHARED>
<MULTICORE>1</MULTICORE>
<COREDLL>1</COREDLL>
<CORES>0</CORES>

<SKIN>SKIN000</SKIN>
<SKINNAME>Default</SKINNAME>

<VSTPATH>C:\Program Files\Steinberg\VSTPlugins\</VSTPATH>
<DATAPATH>C:\Users\YourUsername\AcusticaAudio\Nebula4\Temp\</DATAPATH>
<PROGRAMSUBPATH>Programs</PROGRAMSUBPATH>
<VECTORSUBPATH>Vectors</VECTORSUBPATH>
<SETUP>Setup.xml</SETUP>

<PLUGIN>1</PLUGIN>
<DEBUG>0</DEBUG>
<FORCECPU>1</FORCECPU>
<FORCESSE3>1</FORCESSE3>
</NEBULA4>

What the hell am I doing wrong? Please help..