Playbeat 3.2.8 Crash

Help & Support
1

Hi, I’m using Playbeat 3.2.8; I still prefer it when I want inspiration compared to 4 as I love it’s randomize algo. I just got a crash in Ableton and checked the report via Gemini and this is what it says…

”This crash was triggered by a specific memory management error within the Audiomodern Playbeat 3 plugin.

Specifically, the report shows a SIGABRT caused by a “double free” or “invalid free” error (___BUG_IN_CLIENT_OF_LIBMALLOC_POINTER_BEING_FREED_WAS_NOT_ALLOCATED). This means the plugin tried to delete a piece of data from your RAM that had already been deleted or never existed in the first place, causing macOS to shut down Ableton to prevent system corruption.

Detailed Analysis

  • The Culprit: Playbeat 3.vst3 (version 3.2.8).

  • The Action: The crash occurred while closing a window (likely the plugin’s GUI or the track it was on).

  • The Logic: The stack trace shows that as the window was being closed, Playbeat 3 attempted to clean up its settings panel and list boxes (AMSettingsPanel::~AMSettingsPanel). During this cleanup, it failed to handle a “String” variable correctly, leading to the memory error.

Recommended Solutions

1. Update or Reinstall Playbeat 3

The report shows you are using version 3.2.8. Check Audiomodern’s website or your user portal to see if a newer build (e.g., a version optimized for the latest macOS/Apple Silicon) is available. If you are already on the latest version, try a clean reinstallation.

2. Switch from VST3 to AU

The crash specifically happened within the VST3 version of Playbeat 3. In Ableton Live, try using the Audio Unit (AU) version of the plugin instead. AU plugins often have better stability on macOS because they use Apple’s native framework.

3. Check for Conflicts with Playbeat 4

Your report shows that both Playbeat 3 and Playbeat 4 are installed and loaded. Sometimes, having two different versions of the same plugin engine can cause shared library conflicts (especially with common components like juce).

  • If you have migrated your projects to version 4, consider removing version 3 from your VST folder.

If you decide to contact Audiomodern Support, you can provide them with this summary to help them fix the bug:

Issue: SIGABRT / Malloc Error in Playbeat 3 (v3.2.8) VST3. Stack Trace: Crash occurs in juce::String::~String() via AMSettingsPanel::LinearGroupItem during NSWindow __close. Environment: macOS ARM-64, Ableton Live 12.3.2.

2

Hi @Nerldy, does this occur in all plugin formats (VST, VST3, and AU if available)?
Could you please provide a copy of the crash log? you can share it with us here:

https://audiomodern.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/requests/new

Also, if no genre/style is selected in Playbeat 4, the randomization algorithm behaves very similarly to Playbeat 3 after the 3.1.5 update.

3

I didn’t save the log, but if it happens again Ill share and I’ll also test out AU version.