I would like to start by saying thank you to all the incredibly helpful users on this forum.  I recently bought VDL: 2, Kontakt 2, and Sibelius 4 and have already found numerous things to be helpful.  I am not using Sibelius yet as I have several shows I am writing that have to be done quickly so I am sticking with Finale 2006 (for now).

I had problems recently with my program changes affecting all of my instrument banks.  I tried all of the suggestions previously on this topic and very little seemed to work.  After a weekend of pulling out my hair I finally got it to work and wanted to share it with anyone it might help. 

I could not get the program changes to work when I used Kontakt 2 as a VST Plug In.  The sounds would playback fine, but the issue came during program changes.  However, when I tried to use Kontakt 2 as a stand alone along with Finale, I was able to get the program changes to work just fine.  I also switched my midi cable from Midi Yoke to Maple midi (I am not sure if that made the difference or not, but you might try it as suggested in earlier posts)

I guess my question is: is this a problem with Finale's VST player, or was there perhaps some other setting within my system that was not right.  I have the most current versions of all the software.  If this is a problem, I wonder when it might be fixed?

Anyway, hope some of this may help others.  Thanks again to all you power users.  I look forward to becoming one myself soon.

I use Both programs and I have been successful at doing Program changes with both programs.�� I am not very familiar, anymore, with Maple Midi or Midi Yoke, but my guess is that there may have been some setting that was not quite right.�� I remember having this problem and it was becasue I needed to do an update to my Kontakt 2 becasue I didnt have the most recent version.�� BOOM!!�� fixed.

Keep in mind everyone that both programs are good (Sibelius, Finale).�� There seems to be a lot of angst towards Finale when it actually works just fine.�� Yes, Sibelius has somethings that Finale does not.�� But, Finale has some things that Sibelius does not.�� The programs are different.�� You like what you like, but it doesn't make the program BAD.�� It just may not be the right program for you.

Great comments all around Scott and Scott. Thanks! Very true about the fact that both programs go about things in their own way. I love that Finale has started to incorporate VST/AU hosting within the notation environment, and this may very well be the wave of the future. While we're on the topic, I'm wondering if anyone has found a way (admitedly, I haven't dug too deep myself) in Finale 2006c to have some control over VST/AU output latency. Seems that on larger scores, this could be helpful. I've had good success running smaller scores with VDL/Kontakt 2 hosted in Finale 2006c/d, but the larger ones seem to bog Finale down. I'm sure there may be plans for more host control, but perhaps there's already something there that I've missed.

Anyway - thanks for the comments. :)

Jim,

I had the same concern about latency with the Finale 2006 VST Plug-in.  Also,  when you open up the Kontakt 2 or VD 2 plug-ins, you can load sounds, but you can't access your audio set-up (which is where you would change latency).  For now, I will stick with using the two programs simultaneously rather than as a plug-in, but may play with it some more later when I don't have so many deadlines.  Thank you for your comments and insight!

Scott

P.S.  Any problems that exist for me with Finale (or Sibelius for that matter) come from ignorance.  Once I figure out how to do something, I find that both are incredibly powerful.