Kontakt 8.5.1 crashes Cubase 14

catonudo · 2025-07-18T19:01:18+00:00

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I’m experiencing a critical and recurring issue with Kontakt 8.5.1 (latest version) in Cubase 14.0.32 on Windows 11 (build 26100.1). While working on projects that use Kontakt 8 (VST3 version), Cubase suddenly crashes — sometimes within minutes of loading the project.

The crash is consistent across several sessions and happens specifically when Kontakt 8.vst3 is active in the project. Cubase’s crash log indicates:

makefile

CopyEdit

Module: Kontakt_8.vst3  Exception: c0000005 – INVALID_POINTER_READ  Function: qt_startup_hook

As a temporary workaround, I’ve removed the VST3 version of Kontakt and switched to the VST2 version, which works without crashing. However, since Kontakt is a central tool in my workflow, I would very much prefer to use the updated VST3 version.

I’ve already:

Reinstalled Kontakt 8 via Native Access
Cleared Cubase preferences
Updated all drivers and plugins
Verified the issue on multiple projects

I would appreciate any help, confirmation of a known issue, or guidance toward a stable VST3 version.
thnx

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prismatic.brain

July 18 is exactly when Massive X started causing my DAW to crash, too.

Jeremy_NI

@catonudo Have you tried to open Kontakt 8 in standalone? Is everything functional there? Have you trird the following? Kontakt Crashes

If this doesn't help, can you try and install Kontakt 8.5.0? You will find it in your account download manager: https://www.native-instruments.com/account/downloads

How to use the NI Download Manager

There is no VST2 version of Kontakt 8, what version are you using then?

Jeremy_NI

There was an issue with Massive X, now fixed, please check this THREAD.

catonudo

I am extremely disappointed with the lack of progress in resolving a persistent and critical issue I have reported multiple times. My Cubase 14 continues to freeze and crash without any solution or meaningful response from your team.

This is not a minor glitch – the software is completely halting my work. I have attached a crash dump from the latest incident, which clearly indicates an Access Violation (code c0000005) in ntdll.dll!RtlpTpTimerCallback and a SOFTWARE_NX_FAULT_INVALID_POINTER_EXECUTE error. The failure bucket ID is {c75bbfb1-5e23-f63c-19d4-fa337f17d611}.

Here are the key technical details from the crash log:

Process: Cubase14.exe
Exception Code: 0xc0000005 (Access Violation)
Module: ntdll.dll
Memory: Attempt to execute non-executable address 0000000b520e00d0
Analysis Result: SOFTWARE_NX_FAULT_INVALID_POINTER_EXECUTE_c0000005_ntdll.dll!RtlpTpTimerCallback

This is a serious stability problem that makes the software unusable in a professional workflow. I expect Native Instruments to treat this as a priority case and provide a real fix, not generic troubleshooting steps I have already tried.

Jeremy_NI

@catonudo You already have a case open with one of my colleagues (request 4596139). If the solutions they provided are not working, pleaase get back to them. No need to create a new request for the same object. There were no similar reports from other users, please continue the troubleshooting.

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