Crazy Fantom VSTi problem

I'm experiencing the weirdest issue with the built-in Fantom synth. For some reason it will only playback MIDI clips if the transport is in Record mode. I can even manually play or even audition MIDI clips using the Media Explorer. However, whenever I engage the transport in Play mode any clips located on the tracks going to the Fantom are silenced. What is even weirder is that when I stop the transport, I can even hear the FX tail play for a few ms, as if the synth is being purposely muted during playback. I'm running X3e and I'm not exactly sure when the issue started occurring, as I haven't used the Fantom synth in a while.
 
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
 
-e.B