Hey,
  I just received VDL 2.5, and I am very pleased with it, but I have a problem I haven't been able to solve.  Whenever I use VDL 2.5 Instruments in Kontakt 2, they play back very quietly.  I did a test by openning the snare line (lite) in VDL [b]2[/b] and VDL 2.5 (in Kontakt 2).  I set both of the staves to ";mf"; and put a measure of eighth notes on each staff (one after the other). As I suspected, the VDL 2.5 line played back much more quietly than the VDL 2 line. The only way that VDL 2.5 sounds can be played back with GPO sounds would be to turn the master volume (in finale's mixer) up all the way, and turn the VDL 2.5 instruments up all the way, and turn the GPO sounds down significantly. 
  I was wondering if Kontakt 2 had some sort of master volume control so I could turn the volume of all the VDL 2.5 instruments up significantly.

If anyone has any ideas of how to fix this, please let me know. thanks.

What I have:

Finale 2007
VDL 2.5
VDL 2
1.5 gigs
Windows xp

Kontakt Player 2 does have a master volume. Click the button that says ";outputs";. These are your audio outputs. Most likely, you're running a stereo soundcard, so the slider on the left (probably labeled ";st.1";) would adjust overall output of the Kontakt Player.

Thanks!

I turned that up all the way, and that helped a lot. 

HELP...

I seem to be having the same problem but turning up the master volume seems to be just a workaround.  Working in Finale 2007 with GPO and VDL 2.5 as K2 plug-ins, I've got my GPO instruments at the same volume as, lets say the bass line, and everyone is at 'mp'.  The problem is Finale reads the 'mp' and sets the individual volumes, -3.0 for the horns but -9.0 for the bass drums.

What's going on here?  Is this a Finale problem?

[quote author=Headkicker link=topic=1883.msg9418#msg9418 date=1185573630]
HELP...

I seem to be having the same problem but turning up the master volume seems to be just a workaround.  Working in Finale 2007 with GPO and VDL 2.5 as K2 plug-ins, I've got my GPO instruments at the same volume as, lets say the bass line, and everyone is at 'mp'.  The problem is Finale reads the 'mp' and sets the individual volumes, -3.0 for the horns but -9.0 for the bass drums.

What's going on here?  Is this a Finale problem?

[/quote]

Instrument Volume levels are not controlled by dynamic markings (mf, mp, ff, etc). Don't confuse ";Instrument Volume"; with ";Key Velocity."; GPO controls volumes with the modulation controller (CC 1), whereas VDL (and basically any sampled percussion instrument) uses key velocity to control dynamics. This is independent of the fact that the volume slider on the instrument itself will still control overall volume. For example, an accent/tap pattern will still sound like an accent/tap pattern with the volume slider at different positions in KP2.

So it sounds like what you need to do is increase the volume slider in KP2 for the percussion instruments. Have you tried doing this with the Finale mixer?

Also, you may need to look into Human Playback and how that's affecting certain volume playbacks. If it's trying to control volume with the mod-wheel (like GPO), you could encounter unexpected results.

Jim, thanks for your quick response!  I have no idea how you are able to do so many things all at once!

The short answer to my problem was two fold:
1) Change the volume of each instrument for balance (Finale Mixer or Instrument List window)

2) Balance the Midi Controller Range - Makes a huge difference!
          In KP2 - Click on Config button (Gears Icon) of each instrument  -> Controller tab -> Midi Controller #7 (Volume) range
          ( GPO instruments by default are '-Null ...6dB' whereas VDL are '-Null...0dB' )


Jim, I took your advice and played with the volume sliders in KP2.  The base values are controlled by Finale in some way and were therefore being reset every time I hit play.  So I changed the volume values in the Finale Instrument List window, which helped to a degree.  (For some strange reason, the GPO samples are much louder than VDL on my system.)  Then I found the Midi Controller Range in KP2 and saw that all the GPO instruments were set with a much wider range.  Once I balanced that, GPO and VDL came into sync.  Now, when the band crescendos, the percussion stays right with them!

Thank you so much for the help and such a great product,
Ed

Ed,

Good catch on the volume difference between GPO and VDL.  I was having the same problem and just had to turn up all my VDL sounds to come close but not quite.  Did you ever find out if changing these values got rid of Finale's unexplained change of the volumes when you played back?  I also was confused by it changing each time I played back.

Steve

Steve,

What I've found is that you have to balance each instrument's volume level in Finale (using either the Finale Mixer or the Instrument List dialog), and not in KP2.  The vol. set in Finale is the 'base vol.' used by KP2 to start from.  If you change the volume sliders in KP2, they will be reset to the level set in the Finale Mixer as soon as you hit play.

For example, I've now got all GPO instruments set at 80 while my VDL parts are at the default of 101.  Now this is by no means perfect, but at least I can hear the bass drums over the flutes again!

Once you've got an initial balance going, say everyone at piano, don't forget to look into the Midi Controller Range (mentioned below).  That should help with dynamic changes.

I hope this clears things up a bit!
Ed

Clear as a bell, Ed.  Great info. 

Now here's another one for you:  I've been trying to save a file as a .wav file and finally got all my instruments to play back without clipping.  But for some reason even though it sounds great as it is saving, when I play it back (in iTunes) it has pops and skips. 

I first thought it might be because I was saving to a flash drive (I needed to take it to school), so I went straight to HD but that didn't work.  I've tried adjusting DFD, etc, even though it already sounds right when it saves but that doesn't do it either.  Any reason you think it might change in the transfer to .wav? 

My next step is to play it back and record it in Audacity, but I have yet to figure out how to turn off my mic and have it just record the Finale file without it picking up me and the room noises (I'm a very new PC-to-Mac convert).

If you're on a Mac, check into WireTap Pro. It's not quite free, but almost is. It's about as easy as they come. I don't think the Mac version of Audacity will record internal sound like the PC version can.

Hmmm... that's good to know.  Man, the learning curve in a new OS and computer.  Just when I thought I was comfortable :)

Sure am glad this forum is here, though.  I'll check into WireTap Pro right now.

[quote author=phsdrumguy link=topic=1883.msg9494#msg9494 date=1185882954]
Hmmm... that's good to know.  Man, the learning curve in a new OS and computer.  Just when I thought I was comfortable :)

Sure am glad this forum is here, though.  I'll check into WireTap Pro right now.
[/quote]

I use WireTap all the time, it's a great little app.

I agree with Justin - I also use WireTap a bunch and it works GREAT.  VERY easy and simple to use and VERY handy program.

With Sib 4 I also have very quiet playback on all instruments except for glockenspiel.  Was the volume level reset or lowered when making the switch to KP2? 

I can tinker with the individual volumes in KP2 and it sounds better, though.  Not a big deal, just when I load a new multi I will have to adjust those every time (or do I?).

Mike

Try this:

In KP2, go into the ";Options"; window, and click on the ";Audio Engine"; tab. Set ";default volume for new instrument and volume reset"; to a value of 0db. That should help bring up everything globally.