Question about Native Instruments Pro5 and FM7

[Redmandrake]

Hi all

 

I wanted to know if anyone out there has ever used Native Instruments Pro5 or the FM7 vitual synths?. I have purchased both of them, and installed as DirectX plugins and stand alones.

 

My question is this:

 

1.) I want to use these soft synths for recording within my PC system 'without the use of an external Midi keyboard or any other hardware'.

 

2.) When i fire up my sequencer or multi-track recorder(fruityloops or Cakewalk's sonar) I can open the plugin, but whenever i press the vitual key on the FM7 or Pro5 I hear nothing, and I cannot record.

 

3.) I heard about 'virtual midi cables' and 'loopback devices' but dont understand them at all. Would these help my situation? How?

 

Any help in this matter is greatly appreciated. These soft synths really sound great, now i want to record them in real-time within the PC.

 

My system:

 

Windows XP Pro

30 GB HD

128 MB ram

Built-in WDM based audio card

 

My Software:

 

Acid pro 3

Sound forge 5

Cakewalk effects

Cakewalk Sonar

Native Instruments pro5

Native instruments FM7

Fruityloops 3

 

Thanks

 

Xavier

[RABid]

You do not need any virtual cables or loop back plugs to get sound from virtual instruments. I assume you are using DXi versions opened from withing Sonar's effects section. When you open any of the included DXi instruments can come with Sonar can you hear sound comming from those? If not, you need to check your audio settings under OPTIONS - AUDIO. Under the "General" tab try clicking the Wave Profiler button at the bottom of the box and let the routine run.

 

Robert

[Ethan Winer]

Xavier,

 

> I want to use these soft synths for recording within my PC system 'without the use of an external Midi keyboard or any other hardware'. <

 

Well, you still need some way to play the notes, no? Or do you intend to step enter every note with the Pencil tool?

 

> When i fire up my sequencer or multi-track recorder(fruityloops or Cakewalk's sonar) I can open the plugin, but whenever i press the vitual key on the FM7 or Pro5 I hear nothing, and I cannot record. <

 

I can't speak for FruityLoops, but I use DXi synths in Sonar all the time. The only reason I can think of that would keep audio from sounding when you press the synth's keys is that the track's output is not assigned to a valid sound card. If you were using a MIDI keyboard I'd point out that you also have to create a MIDI track, and send that track's output to the synth's input. But if you're just clicking the keys on the synth plug-in itself, you ought to hear something!

 

One final thought: Do you have other tracks, and are any of them soloed?

 

--Ethan