it's truly bizarre.

this might seem embarrassingly simple, but i need to point out that it isn't intuitive. i'm hearing several tracks go out at the same time. and the testing seemed to indicate the opposite.

but, it's the plugins. not one of the them. all of them.

if i turn all the plugins off, the file will null on an indefinite number of repeats over an indefinite number of saves. if i turn even one plugin on, the files will null predictably - until i save the file, close and reopen. then any files from that point on will null indefinitely.

it also seems the project has two states and it defaults on open. of course, that can't be right.