MIDI problems with VST

chnarles · Post by **chnarles** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 6:58 pm

Hi all, I have been using soft synths for a while now but they have all been standalone programs (Pro-53, Minimoog V). Just recently I bought Sonic Projects OP-X which only comes as a plug-in so I have had to venture into the world of VST.

I am using VSThost and everything is working fine except for the MIDI. The MIDI functions but I get annoying clicks in the sound if I use 5 or 6 voice polyphony on the OP-X or in unison mode. I made a demo to demonstrate this where I am attempting to recreate a couple of classic Oberheim sounds:

http://azuv.com/clickdemo.mp3

I'm pretty sure it's the MIDI signal causing this rather than a signal overload of some sort. The clicks occur whenever a MIDI signal is sent, whether pressing the keys down bringing them back up. I am using an M-Audio 1296 on a Pentium 4 machine running Windows XP. My MIDI source is an old Technics keyboard.

I have two theories so far. First is that my keyboard is very old (late 1980s) and only sends in omni mode. I wonder if that may cause a problem.

My second theory is that there may be a problem between VSThost and OP-X. I would like to try a different VST host to see if that makes a difference. Are there any other free ones available out there?

Any other ideas?

tiktak · Post by **tiktak** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 7:45 pm

I listened to the example and it sounds more like a buffer/latency issue. If the latency or buffering is set too low for your sound card to handle you can get clicking or distortion depending the softsynth.

chnarles · Post by **chnarles** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 8:25 pm

Hmmm, I didn't stop to think that it might vary from one synth to another. So, while in VSThost I tried changing the buffer size but it said that it was fixed at 64 samples. Perhaps that can to be changed with the sound card software.