V-collection 3 - a non-starter - HELP!!!!

[mimoid]

A while ago, I tested the Jupiter 8V in demo mode, and since I liked the sound, I took the plunge to buy the entire V Collection 3 package. What a poor decision!!! 

After the purchase, only the Jupiter 8V, the Oberheim SEM V and the Wurlitzer modules work. The rest of the VSTi's (Prophet V, Prophet VS, Mini V, Modular V, ARP2600V and CS80V) are only capable of creating a long, uninterrupted, ear-shattering drones during startup or some hideous, distorted crackling and scratching noises when the keyboard is touched. The noises don't stop when the keyboard is released, they actually seem to self oscillate and go on until the soft synth is closed. No difference if I use my external MIDI keyboard or the on-screen keyboard. Strangely enough, all of the synths except Modular V seem to work from within Analog Laboratory.

My other VSTi's (Camel Audio Alchemy, Korg Legacy Collection and Cubase Absolute VSTi Collection) all work flawlessly. I only have trouble with Arturia's software. 

I have performed the installations on no less than four (4) different Windows computers (Windows 8.1 and Windows 7, all 64-bit versions), and with the same miserable result. 4GB memory, so probably not a matter of insufficient resources. I have even performed a clean reinstall of Windows on one of the computers to rule out disturbances from other applications, but to no avail. I have tried running as Administrator and also experimented with various compatibility modes (Windows XP and Windows 7), but nothing helps.

The same thing happens in  both standalone mode and from within Cubase 7.5. I have tried both Steinbergs generic low latency drivers as well as ASIO4ALL, and also the basic Windows Audio driver. No difference. I have uninstalled and reinstalled several times, even downloaded the installation package several times.

The Spark Vintage drum machine works fine in standalone mode, but if I try to load it as a VSTi in Cubase, it displays a white square where the GUI window is supposed to go and then immediately freezes Cubase. I will actually need to resort to using Task Manager to get out of Cubase. None of my other plugins does this.

Several times I was on the verge of throwing the entire Arturia package into the garbage, but since I cannot read anything about this scenario anywhere, I suppose I must be missing something obvious. I just cannot for my life figure out what it would be and I don't know what else to try. I have issued a ticket to Arturia's support, but so far haven't received a reply.

I really need some help!!!!

//Thomas

[Zerpio]

I would really like to know what sound Card you are using, because it sounds like a sound driver problem?

[mimoid]

Hello

Yes, that was what I initially thought too, but I used four diferent computers with a set of various soundcards, even the basic ones built-in on the motherboard. Standard computers, one brand new HP Envy tower, one old Fujitsu Amilo desktop and two decently equipped Dell laptops.

Also, I have no problems whatsoever with any of my other VSTi's: Native Instruments Komplete 9, Steinberg Absolute VSTi collection, Omnisphere, Korg Legacy Collection and Camel Audio Alchemy are all functioning flawlessly. Arturia's software is not.

The guy from Arturia's support suspected that it might be a Windows 8.1 issue, but as I said, I have already tested it on Windows 7, and it didn't work there either. I really wanted to get this to run under Windows but I am starting to think that I never will... :-(

//Thomas

[Zerpio]

Hi Again

It might not be an good idea to use  ASIO4ALL, that's not highend drivers. You will need real ASIO drivers to get a good result. Never the less, somewhere in your  ASIO4ALL setup it's possible, or should be possible, to raise the buffer size, try that. Because what you are descriping, clearly sounds like a sound driver buffer underrun and a following sound driver crash.

Don't use onboard soundcards, they can't handle a DAW.

[mimoid]

Thank you for you assistance and tips.

Yes, I know about the weaknesses of the ASIO4All and also of onboard sound cards, however I have never so far had any issues with using them in Cubase or any other DAW. Unless you are using audio input the sound card is not even necessary apart from monitoring. A sound card is actually not even required when you are doing an audio export - it is all handled inside the processor. I have also tested Steinberg Low Latency ASIO and even Windows Audio, but again there is no difference.

I know what a buffer issue sounds like, but this is something completely different. I only get pink noise and crackles, alternatively an uninterrupted sine wave. I raised the buffer to ridiculous amounts, but the noise starts as soon as the soft synth is loaded in memory, I don't even need to play a note on the keyboard. This is a total failure to communicate with the ASIO driver.

Anyway, I had a little bit of success with error tracing here, I just set up a 32-bit version of Windows 8 on a really crappy old spare laptop using the built in Windows sound driver, and this time it seems to work.

So either it is a problem with 64-bit architecture, or with Windows 8.1 Enterprise. I will continue testing further to see if I can pinpoint the issue.

//Thomas

[Zerpio]

I'm afraid your right about win 8. I have checked up on another forum and there are mentioned a whole bunch of sound/DAW problems in Win8. I guess your problem isn't releated to Arturia but maybe to Win8. Still, a lot of people run win8 without problems, if you could change the audiocard just for the experiment you could at least exclude ASIO problems.

[mimoid]

I was definitely on the verge of giving up and throwing the whole package into the bin, when I gave it a final attempt to see what might be wrong.

And at last I managed to catch this elusive bug!

Believe it or not, it is the simplest one ever imaginable, caused by setting the decimal character in Windows (in the Region setting) to a different character than a period (.).

Since my computers were all set to Swedish regional settings (where the decimal character is a comma), the synths failed to run. As soon as I changed it to a period, they all started working again. Woohoo! Happy customer again!

But dear Arturia QA team. Please. You should have caught this bug if you had tested it on at least one non-English Windows platform.

//Thomas