That's not it.

'Loop preview' is a skeleton image that appears on the tracks, of the loop/sound you are pre-listening to, along with the rest of the song. I need it off. Gone. Killed. Eliminated. Or I go insane.
 

@DonSound

Hi

. . . . how can I at least turn it off . . . .

Turn off the loop preview feature indicated below.

Do ensure the yellow range bar above the timeline is full length of the song

John EB
Forum Moderator

@DonSound

Hi

. . . . Loop preview' is a skeleton image that appears on the tracks, of the loop/sound you are pre-listening to . . . .

Do you mean the Soundpool loop preview in the Loops panel,that is heard when single click on a loop to play, and single click again to stop?

If so,:

1. The playback sometimes 'jam' and play continuously. Pressing the Esc key usually stops this if the single click on the loop in the Loop panel or clicking the Stop icon does not.
    
2. If the loop is appearing on the timeline then either you are double clicking on the loop, or the mouse is suffering from 'key bounce' ie randomly generates a double click instead of a single click.

If neither of the above, then please give more details and/or a screen recording of this happening.

John EB

Hmm, you sound like AI.

In any case, you have obviously never tried Music Maker yourself…

'Loop preview' can only be one thing. You should know what it is.

I am sending a screenshot of 'Loop preview'.

I want to use Music Maker without having 'Loop preview' appearing on the tracks/timeline. How can I turn this feature off?

@DonSound

Hi

. . . . Loop preview' is a skeleton image that appears on the tracks, of the loop/sound you are pre-listening to . . . .

Do you mean the Soundpool loop preview in the Loops panel,that is heard when single click on a loop to play, and single click again to stop?

If so,:

1. The playback sometimes 'jam' and play continuously. Pressing the Esc key usually stops this if the single click on the loop in the Loop panel or clicking the Stop icon does not.
    
2. If the loop is appearing on the timeline then either you are double clicking on the loop, or the mouse is suffering from 'key bounce' ie randomly generates a double click instead of a single click.

If neither of the above, then please give more details and/or a screen recording of this happening.

John EB

@DonSound

Why can't I decide where 'loop preview' should show up? Often it squeezes in somewhere I have no idea, at a totally wrong place and just a taste, and not for the whole song, and even on muted tracks. 'Loop preview' is 100% crazy. 

Now that we know what you're talking about, a loop previews on the timeline as you have shown when you start playback and select a loop - for PREVIEW - as defined (Smart Preview) in the manual on Page 35. If you don't want to preview a loop, then don't click on one while you're playing back the timeline.

Or, in the Program settings, Import tab, at the top of Options, uncheck "Preview samples while the project is playing (Smart Preview)."

Of course, if you now click on a loop while playing back, playback will stop and Music Maker will play just the loop that you selected. So once again, if you don't want to preview a loop, don't click on one.

Are there any other instances of this happening?

John CB

Of course? What other DAW doesn't let you listen to a loop/sound together with the song before you insert it? None! Go back and look at my screenshot again and you'll see that 'Loop Preview' has decided for me to place it where I only get a 2 second taste and where it obviously doesn't belong. So either way, Music Maker does not allow me to try out loops/sounds together with the song without actually inserting one and one.  Which is pure insanity, and for sure the only DAW in the world.

Then my next question is, is there a way for me to tell Music Maker where on the timeline 'Loop preview' should appear?
 

@DonSound

Why can't I decide where 'loop preview' should show up? Often it squeezes in somewhere I have no idea, at a totally wrong place and just a taste, and not for the whole song, and even on muted tracks. 'Loop preview' is 100% crazy. 

Now that we know what you're talking about, a loop previews on the timeline as you have shown when you start playback and select a loop - for PREVIEW - as defined (Smart Preview) in the manual on Page 35. If you don't want to preview a loop, then don't click on one while you're playing back the timeline.

Or, in the Program settings, Import tab, at the top of Options, uncheck "Preview samples while the project is playing (Smart Preview)."

Of course, if you now click on a loop while playing back, playback will stop and Music Maker will play just the loop that you selected. So once again, if you don't want to preview a loop, don't click on one.

Are there any other instances of this happening?

John CB

@DonSound

Hi

. . . . Hmm, you sound like AI. . . .

Nope, definitely human, I think, therefore I am.

Now that we know exactly what you are referring to, that is a feature I have never used, and unlikely to use in the future as my workflow is obviously different to yours.

Looks like this Music Maker feature is similar to Logic Pro's 'Prelisten channel' a dedicated preview feature.

John EB

I'm pretty sure that Logic Pro lets you turn off 'Loop Preview' without ruining everything, where you can still listen to loops in “soundpool” together with the song. The developers of Music Maker has no brain.    

Let me tell you something funny. The loop provider Loopcloud can sync up with any DAW, including Music Maker. Loopcloud works perfectly with Music Maker, whereas Music Maker's own built-in “soundpool” does not. Talk about stupidity. Access to loops is where they make their money. So where do you think I will spend my loop money? Once again, the makers of Music Maker has no brain.
 

@DonSound

Hi

. . . . Hmm, you sound like AI. . . .

Nope, definitely human, I think, therefore I am.

Now that we know exactly what you are referring to, that is a feature I have never used, and unlikely to use in the future as my workflow is obviously different to yours.

Looks like this Music Maker feature is similar to Logic Pro's 'Prelisten channel' a dedicated preview feature.

John EB

@DonSound

Having established that MM does not allow you to preview Loops in quite the way you wish, it seems very unfortunate to me that you have questioned both the human existence of a Moderator and the brain of the music Maker developers.

Please remember the community rules, to be found in the footer of every forum page, especially # 1. Please take this as a warning about any future posts in a similar vein which you choose to make; doing so will result in your membership of the forums being blocked, permanently.

Jeff
Forum Moderator

I'm the victim here, struggling with a program that doesn't live up to its promise. Then you have to expect some temperature. After all, we are humans and not robots. Your tone, by the way, is certainly questionable as well. If you don't want me to use hundreds of dollars on MM anymore, just tell me so, and I will put in a ticket about your advice, Jeff.
 

@DonSound

Having established that MM does not allow you to preview Loops in quite the way you wish, it seems very unfortunate to me that you have questioned both the human existence of a Moderator and the brain of the music Maker developers.

Please remember the community rules, to be found in the footer of every forum page, especially # 1. Please take this as a warning about any future posts in a similar vein which you choose to make; doing so will result in your membership of the forums being blocked, permanently.

Jeff
Forum Moderator

@DonSound

Hi

. . . . I'm the victim here, struggling with a program that doesn't live up to its promise . . . Then you have to expect some temperature. . . . .

To be direct:- you are not a victim, you just do not accept the how the program works, and no we don't expect to get some 'temperature' from you.

This is a user to user forum not Magix Support, and as @emmrecs has pointed out has a set of Community rules to abide by.

Everyone here is a user like yourself, and respond voluntarily, with possible solutions to another members issue.

Continued false accusations and giving 'heat', will get you no where, it will turn off other users from helping, resulting in no help at all.

John EB

I love direct. You may have noticed. And, no, my beef with MM is mainly that it doesn't work, not how it works. From that, I could accuse you of false accusations. And from other things you say as well. But I won't. Because I'm an adult. Way more healthy to let it go.

If you can't stand some 'temperature', you can't, in my view, be around people. And for god's sake, never visit South America :)

A forum set up by magix, under the magix umbrella, and has the last word. Not at least who should be moderator. And if you're not careful, a free pass to be a bully. 

To be direct: you have been of no help at all. Quite the opposite. And still, you don't get the issue. That is the plain truth, and not to be rude.
 

@DonSound

Hi

. . . . I'm the victim here, struggling with a program that doesn't live up to its promise . . . Then you have to expect some temperature. . . . .

To be direct:- you are not a victim, you just do not accept the how the program works, and no we don't expect to get some 'temperature' from you.

This is a user to user forum not Magix Support, and as @emmrecs has pointed out has a set of Community rules to abide by.

Everyone here is a user like yourself, and respond voluntarily, with possible solutions to another members issue.

Continued false accusations and giving 'heat', will get you no where, it will turn off other users from helping, resulting in no help at all.

John EB

@DonSound, @browj2

Hi

. . . . you have been of no help at all . . . .

Well this is how the Smart preview works for me:

As you can see, you can change loops while playing, and when Stop is clicked, the Preview track disappears, as it should.

John EB

@DonSound

Which version of Music Maker are you using. I have 2025 and it works differently from what you show. If there is something on the track with the same instrument, the preview comes after that material. It doesn't split up what is already there.

I presume that you are wanting to preview a second or different loop from the same instrument when there is already a loop for that instrument on the arranger. Is that correct?

John CB

Your clip wouldn't play, and what you write seems redundant to the issue at hand. Look back at my screenshot and where 'Loop Preview' is placed. I can't work with that. How would you move 'Loop Preview' to an empty track so that it could cover the entire length of the song, and not just the first bar? 
 

@DonSound, @browj2

Hi

. . . . you have been of no help at all . . . .

Well this is how the Smart preview works for me:

As you can see, you can change loops while playing, and when Stop is clicked, the Preview track disappears, as it should.

John EB

I want 'Loop Preview' every single time to appear on an empty track at full length. As if it never existed. Just a loop playing along with the entire song non-stop. Full freedom. Like every other DAW has by default. And also if I use Loopcloud. No problem.

@DonSound

Which version of Music Maker are you using. I have 2025 and it works differently from what you show. If there is something on the track with the same instrument, the preview comes after that material. It doesn't split up what is already there.

I presume that you are wanting to preview a second or different loop from the same instrument when there is already a loop for that instrument on the arranger. Is that correct?

John CB

@DonSound

Hi

. . . . Your clip wouldn't play, . . . .

Click the clip image once, it should open full browser pane, then clck the play icon bottom left, the video format is a standard h.264/AVC MP4 which will play in all web browsers.

John EB

I cannot fathom what the developers were thinking, not allowing to pick up 'Loop Preview' with your mouse and move it to a better or the correct location when 'Loop Preview' turns up where it obviously shouldn't be, well aware of by the developers, and for me all the time when crossing a certain threshold of complexity, which means a lot of tracks and loops. And then even have the functionality already in place. You can, right now, pick up 'Loop Preview' with your mouse and move it wherever you want on the timeline, and 'Loop Preview' will even reshape itself to fit into any size-length available, but you can't drop 'Loop Preview' in without 'Loop Preview' turning into a solid(!), and you have your slap-your-forehead moment of disbelief, realising that reality is indeed more unbelievable than any fiction imaginable. Soooo close to a major feature improvement, and then the developer thought: Nah. It blows my mind every single time using Music Maker. 100% unbelievable!

@DonSound

Hi

. . . . you can't drop 'Loop Preview' in without 'Loop Preview' turning into a solid(!) . . . .

This is standard Windows 'drag and drop' in action, and is a means of transferring data etc from one program to another or within different areas/regions/panes of the program interface. Virtually every Windows based program, since drag and drop was introduced decades ago (1970's), uses this feature.

You may have used the drag and drop feature to add loops to the timeline.

John EB

Once again, my experience is that we just talk past each other. If I don't respond in the future, that will be why.
 

@DonSound

Hi

. . . . you can't drop 'Loop Preview' in without 'Loop Preview' turning into a solid(!) . . . .

This is standard Windows 'drag and drop' in action, and is a means of transferring data etc from one program to another or within different areas/regions/panes of the program interface. Virtually every Windows based program, since drag and drop was introduced decades ago (1970's), uses this feature.

You may have used the drag and drop feature to add loops to the timeline.

John EB

@DonSound

I asked you which version you are using. You didn't reply. Which version of Music Maker are you using?

Also, the video posted by John EB works fine. You were probably trying to view my image as a video - it is just an image.

@johnebaker

Hi John EB,

In MMM2025, after some testing, I have noticed the following.

The problem that @DonSound is having is when trying to smart preview loops from a Soundpool intrument that is already on the timeline AND there are gaps on that track where the loop being previewed can fit in.

For example, fill a track with a drum to the end of the range bar. Play back, and preview another drum loop and it will go to an empty track. Remove 1 bar of drums from the middle of track 1, playback, preview a 2 or more bar loop and it will preview on another track. But, preview a 1 bar loop and it will go into the gap and only preview when the playback marker gets there. I can't find a switch to always smart preview on an empty track. I presume that there isn't one, so it may need to be a feature request.

@DonSound - is that basically the problem?

John CB

Yes, that is basically the problem. Thank you for taking the time. Now, do the same video, only with 100 tracks, all with loops, like my current project :)

I think people would even say I've been relatively calm about it. Because it is a true nightmare of the worst kind. You spend most of your time fighting loop preview instead of composing. I bet Magix have lost a lot of customers because of it, that just moved on to another DAW. I know I'm thinking the same. But on the other hand, it's just this little thing that needs fixing, and it's showtime and rock'n'roll. I am in fact the one fighting for MM when no other will, or bother.

There are 3 new features I would like to see:

1. The option to have loop preview always appear on an empty track.

2. The option to move loop preview to any position on the timetable.

3. The option to turning loop preview off, but not the sound part, becoming like pretty much any other DAW out there.

If I had to choose just one, I would probably say number 3. 

Then it's up to Magix, in their hands – it's sink or swim for Music Maker in my opinion.


 

@DonSound

I asked you which version you are using. You didn't reply. Which version of Music Maker are you using?

Also, the video posted by John EB works fine. You were probably trying to view my image as a video - it is just an image.

@johnebaker

Hi John EB,

In MMM2025, after some testing, I have noticed the following.

The problem that @DonSound is having is when trying to smart preview loops from a Soundpool intrument that is already on the timeline AND there are gaps on that track where the loop being previewed can fit in.

For example, fill a track with a drum to the end of the range bar. Play back, and preview another drum loop and it will go to an empty track. Remove 1 bar of drums from the middle of track 1, playback, preview a 2 or more bar loop and it will preview on another track. But, preview a 1 bar loop and it will go into the gap and only preview when the playback marker gets there. I can't find a switch to always smart preview on an empty track. I presume that there isn't one, so it may need to be a feature request.

@DonSound - is that basically the problem?

John CB

@DonSound

Hi,

Your requests 1 and 2 would be good.

Can you explain 3 a bit better please? More detail.

BTW, Music Maker is not a full DAW. That would be Samplitude Pro X. In that, I can preview any loop. The loop is not displayed on the timeline as it is in Music Maker with Smart Preview. You can select any track (empty usually), start playback and preview a loop while playback is on. Double-click and the loop will be inserted in the bar (depending on grid) when you double-click.

John CB