I have a Toshiba Laptop with the standard onboard sound card. When I run VD2, I have to option of using the DirectSound or the Multimedia Interfaces. Here's the strange part. when I start the program, and load a patch, it sounds very distorted until I go back in setup and change it from DS to MM. If I shut down VD2 I have to do the samething but from MM to DS. This happens even after I do a reboot of the laptop.

I would like to use the DS setting becuase I have the time sync'd up perfectly. Any clues why this would happen and how to fix it?

Thanks
Chazg

try downloading ASIO drivers here- http://www.asio4all.com/

ASIO is generally better than DirectSound or other settings, especially for low-end sound cards that laptops come with.

I have tried the ASIO Drivers but now when I start Sibelius I get an error message that ";some MIDI input and playback devises are unavailable. When Sibelius finally loads nothing from the SW Synth will play.

That's because your sound card settings have changed and it wants you to choose which ones to use.  Check that your playback and input devices are the ones you want to use.

Regarding settings in VDL2 player, are you saying that your settings are not being saved after you exit the program?  Your post is confusing.

Sorry you found my post confusing. Let me try and claify.

Post #1 concerning the sound distortion issue: I would boot up my laptop and start VD2 with the DS Interface chosen. After Loading the patches and testing them they would sound distorted. I would then go back into setup and change the interface to MM. The sounds are fine. The next day I would boot up and start VD2 with the interface saved from the day before as MM and the sounds are distorted. I change to DS and they are fine. I know this sounds strange but thats what happens.

Post #2: I downloaded the ASIO4ALL and installed it, started VD2 and changed the interface to ASIO the sounds play fine thru VD2 but when I start Sibelius I get the MIDI Device error and the SW Symnth sounds (I.E. Trumpets, Flutes) do not play.

I hope this explames this issues better.

Thanks for your input

Try this-  open Sibelius and go to Play > Playback and Input Devices.  Choose the correct devices for each.  This is where you control what sounds go out, and what controllers go in.  Your SW Synth sounds are probably not turned on here.

Then try this- with a sibelius file open, go to Window > Mixer.  Click the button to reset the sounds.  Now link up the instruments to the correct Divice and/or Sound.  If you are using VDL2 for the sounds, you should be selecting your virtual MIDI cable and Channel for the sound for each instrument.

There are a few reasons why the sounds might be distorted, and a common one is having the MIDI latency too low.  Open the VDL2 player and go to File > Setup.  Interface should be set to ASIO4All.  Every soundcard will have different options, but generally an output latency around 40 or less will result in problems with a slower computer or laptop- especially if you are using something like an older Athlon XP or Celeron CPU which I've found through testing it on various computers.

I have tried both already and still no go.

My Laptop is a Centrino 1.75 with a gig of memory.

I'll keep testing different settings and I'll let you know.

Thanks again

Low-end soundcards can sometimes be fussy when asked to do high-end work. Ones with ASIO drivers included usually do fine, and ASIO4all seems to be a decent band aid for those that don't. In Sibelius, it might be a better idea to play back your wind sounds via the Sibelius Kontakt Player (silver/gold) rather than SW Synth (i assume this is referring to the GM sounds from your soundcard). If you decide to go the Kontakt Player route, open the Kplayer window in Sibelius, click the ";audio options"; button, and ensure the audio interface is set to the same as what you have set in VDL2. I'm wondering if there may also be some settings that can be tweaked in your Sounds and Audio Devices Control Panel (in Windows) that might be messing with this.

What exact soundcard do you have? This sounds like it's probably an issue with audio drivers. If there's a manufacturer, or any documentation on the audio interface that you can consult, that might steer you in the right direction.

All Jesse's suggestions make perfect sense too. I'm sure a solution is close.