Synthogy Ivory II Grand VSTi failure

[kkalnasy]

I recently bought and installed the latest Synthogy Ivory II Grand Pianos (version 2.0.5 b73 x32 Cbn) on MacOS 10.7.3, Reaper v416pre12. The Aui plugin works fine, as does the standalone version of Synthogy, but the VSTi plays for 10-20 seconds then fuzzes out with a bit-reduction effect. Reaper shows audio on the track and master fader, but no sound comes out. It's as though Reaper is losing its internal routing. All other tracks are similarly muted, with a little noise leaking through now and then, and don't return to normal until I unload the Synthogy VSTi plugin. Reloading the VSTi plugin consistently produces the same result.

Any idea where this is failing? I get no crashes from this.

I forgot to mention: RME Fireface UC, latest firmware and drivers. The interface seems not to be implicated, though.

[kkalnasy]

Synthogy has been working with me and we've resolved this problem. The problem went away when I turned off Sympathetic Resonance in the plugin. They had me disable Reaper's Request Block Size setting under Audio->Device. Since then, I re-enabled Request Block Size and Sympathetic Resonance and the plugin never fails. I don't understand what changed, but I no longer have the CPU hogging issue that brought Reaper to its knees.

[Herrmann]

Hello
I have the exact same problem, 4 years later. AU Instrument GUI is broken in Reaper, so I'm using the VSTi version.
I'm using also Cubase, with no problem there. So I don't understand what in Reaper can cause this issue.

[neilslade]

Just spent $279 on the newest Synthogy offering- It simply doesn't work in Reaper- Reaper SEES the VST (on boot up first time after installing) but it never shows up in the add virtual instrument list. For starters, the .dll didn't go in the folder I told it to.
Then, if I click on the .dll in the Programs/Synthogy folder (where it went anyway), it will show up in Reaper- and does NOTHING, no GUI, zip, and shows up in the track as OFFLINE.

Yes, it's authorized on my machine, and the standalone works- but that does me no good in Reaper.

A complete wash out.

I also did not like the quality of the sound at all. Others sound far better to me- The Grandeur, The Hammersmith are two examples. I was convinced by all the hype and promise- and was greatly dissapointed when I actually got it.

I returned the product for a full refund to Sweetwater, from who I purchased it.

Neil Slade

[Synthogy]

Actually Ivory II version 2.5 that ships with Ivory II Studio Grands DOES work with the latest version of Reaper in Windows 7. It works in 64 bits and 32 bits. It also works with the latest version of Reaper on Windows 10.

Ivory II version 2.5 is also available as a FREE update for all other Ivory II products.

Regards,
Synthogy Support

[neilslade]

Yes, I see your photos.

I WAS using 2.5 and the latest very of Reaper July 2017.

I couldn't get it to work no matter what I tried, and I've gotten every other VST to work that I've ever tried without any problem at all, and that's a mighty big list. I won't go into details, but it was useless, and not an oversight on my part as I've successfully installed dozens of VSTs of all types into my machine using Reaper. Unless Ivory is requiring one to jump through hoops no other manufacture requires. If so, they offered no instructions to get around any problems with VST installation, and try as I might- I could not find a solution despite a huge attempt.


But that's just the VST part of the story...

<b>I didn't continue trying to un-bug the software VST, because as I've stated numerous times already, within seconds I thought it sounded SHOCKINGLY BAD, gritty, cheap, and distorted. Yes, with all of my audio settings correct and of very high quality, and through Sennheiser HD600 phones. I couldn't stand the basic sound of the instrument in Cantabile. I already own other piano software that sounds far better. And I don't mean TONE, I mean QUALITY of sound.

I mean, it wasn't as bad as piano emulations from 20 years ago- but certainly to my ears, not on par with the best of present emulations from NI, Galaxy, Ravenscroft, Soniccouture, and others. I figured given all the hype, that it was heads above all else. Not true, not true at all.

From many comments online, I am not the only one to make this observation, as there are many fans of Ivory American D- but that's not what I got. Many people who own both D and Studio have stated disappointment with Studio Grands.

I will also mention that when I installed it, I instructed it to go into a folder of my choice, and it ignored those instructions and ended up putting the vst .dll into the Synthogy folder. Brilliant, and the first sign of bugs.

I also attempted to open the Ivory vst by clicking directly on the .dll- something that works without fail with any other Vst, which will subsequently open Reaper with the chosen vst applied. In the case of Ivory, yes, it opened Reaper, assigned a channel with the Ivory vst in the channel-- blacked out with the note "OFFLINE" And no way to force it "online". Noted- an early version of Ivory I DOES work with Reaper here. Ivory II- nope.

The whole experience was something I would never want to repeat, and I sincerely hope no one else goes through the same trouble.

Nothing should be this difficult, nor sound as mediocre for $279. Anyone wishing to spend the money and give it a go- be my guest.

I will add- I requested a full refund, and they offered me one- although Sweetwater beat them to the punch, and gave me all of my money back- which I then invested in Ravenscroft 275, and was thoroughly and completely satisfied, and feel that's the best thing out there at present, having tried pretty much all else.

I wish Ivory the best- but for the reasons above, not for me.

BIZARRE UPDATE 8 days later: Suddenly, and this was after REMOVING Ivory II from my system, the vst shows up in Reaper a week later. God knows what this is about. I had first downloaded the Steinway Grand B- couldn't get the VST to work to save my life, many, many attempts as outlined above. Dissatisfied with the Grand B, I removed it, and downloaded the Bosen. thinking that might be better. To my liking it wasn't, and I removed that too. Synthogy says you can install one piano and run it, then install the remaining piano later. This was not nearly as simple as it sounds- you have to uninstall the program first, then select the second piano and download that. If you don't save the Ivory Items that you previously downloaded, you'll lose all that and end up with one piano only again- on and on and on. It may be that the VST doesn't correctly install in Studio Grands until you install the Bosendorfer- which in my system then showed up as a correctly functioning vst in Reaper- of course, unable to actually access the sounds since I removed those on un-installation. (again, this was a week later after I had uninstalled everything.) Sigh... Needless to say, not impressed or happy with the installation procedure, and the failure of the vst to work as it should. My evaluation of the sound had to be from using the Standalone anyway, which didn't change with the odd appearance of the Vst after removal of the program and files. I bought Ravenscroft after I returned Ivory and deleted it from my system, and that's my piano now. The working of the Vst comes too late, and wouldn't have changed my overall impression of the Ivory sound anyway had it actually worked with the Studio B- or Bose.