Roland Sound Canvas VSC3 DXi Comes and Goes

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larrymcg
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2011/05/12 11:54:34 (permalink)

Roland Sound Canvas VSC3 DXi Comes and Goes

As part of trying out the world of soft synths with SHS7XL, I recently started using a Roland Sound Canvas VSC3 Dxi that I have had installed on this (and previous PCs) since I got it along with Band in a Box 2004.  I had used this DXi for years with BiaB with no problems.  I found that SHS7 would insert the VSC3 DXi just fine and play it too.  So I used it in several projects. 

Soon I discovered that trying to insert VSC3 would start failing with an error claiming that the DXi could not be found and maybe it wasn't installed correctly.  And sometimes when I opened a project where VSC3 had been used successfully, I'd get the same error message as part of the open.  At the same time BiaB would use the VSC3 DXi just fine.

I also found that if I closed and reopened SHS7 then VSC3 could be inserted into a project and opening a project that had just failed now opened correctly (so the project file is OK).

The Plug-in Manager always lists VSC3 as enabled and shows the correct address for the DXi dll file.

I also uninstalled VSC3 (using RevoUnInstaller) and reinstalled it.  No improvement.

Seems to me that some interaction between this quite old DXi and SHS7 is causing a corruption in the running instance of SHS7.  I jump to that conclusion since closing SHS7 and starting it again always clears up the problem, for awhile anyway.

There doesn't seem to be a newer version of this DXi, that I can find.

Is anyone else seeing this kind of problem with the VSC3 DXi from Roland?
Any suggestions about how to make it work more reliably with SHS7?

--Larry

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    Kev999
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    Re:Roland Sound Canvas VSC3 DXi Comes and Goes 2011/05/12 22:56:23 (permalink)
    larrymcg

    There doesn't seem to be a newer version of this DXi, that I can find.
    If they did update it, maybe they renamed it too.  "VSC3" is a misleading name.  Initially I mistook it for "VCS3".

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    larrymcg
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    Re:Roland Sound Canvas VSC3 DXi Comes and Goes 2011/05/13 11:43:02 (permalink)
    For reasons I can't possibly imagine, it took me quite some time to figure out that VSC stands for Virtual Sound Canvas.  After that I could remember the name!

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    jazzmammal
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    Re:Roland Sound Canvas VSC3 DXi Comes and Goes 2011/06/02 17:25:00 (permalink)
    I was thinking at first you were trying to run it on a 64 bit OS but I see you're running XP.  The VSC won't run on a 64 bit machine. 
    Don't you have the TTS-1?  It's the same Roland sound family and works on a 64 bit OS but sounds better than the VSC at least to my ears.

    Bob
    post edited by jazzmammal - 2011/06/02 17:31:52
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    larrymcg
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    Re:Roland Sound Canvas VSC3 DXi Comes and Goes 2011/06/02 18:12:13 (permalink)
    I have TTS-1 but I think the standard piano sound, and often the drums, sound much better with VSC3.  Sometimes the drums sound just fine with TTS-1 and I haven't figured out why.
    --Larry
    PS:  Yesterday when I opened a project which used VSC3, VSC3 threw some kind of fatal error that killed SHS7.  The previous error modes have been SHS7 claiming there is something wrong with VSC3 but nothing crashes.  VSC just isn't available for use.  However, stopping SHS7 and starting it again always comes up with a working VSC. 

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    jazzmammal
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    Re:Roland Sound Canvas VSC3 DXi Comes and Goes 2011/06/08 19:29:00 (permalink)
    Sorry, got busy and forgot to check this thread.  Is it possible you're running XP Pro 64 bit?  If so, then there's your answer, the VSC won't run on a 64 bit OS.  If you're not sure you can Google how to check if you're running 32 or 64 bit.  If you're running 32 bit then I haven't a clue, stick with the TTS-1 I guess.
     
    Bob
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    larrymcg
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    Re:Roland Sound Canvas VSC3 DXi Comes and Goes 2011/06/08 19:45:17 (permalink)
    Win XP 32-bit.  VSC does run on my system - I've used it without issue in Band in a Box for years.  It's only within SHS7 do the intermittent problems pop up.  Restarting SHS7 always clears the problems up, sometimes for days at a time.

    In the meantime I have been working with SI-Drum Kit -- I'm hoping I can get it to sound more jazz like.  I think I'm making progress...

    I've also latched onto SFZ+ and the Steinway Grand Piano font.  It seems pretty good.

    VSC3 is of interest to me because it sounds very close to my Roland JV-30 keyboard/synth.  The VSC isn't quite as good as the JV-30 but better, to my ears, than the other alternatives I've tried so far (including TTS-1).

    I wonder if all the years of using the Roland JV-30 have jaded my ears into thinking it's the way things should be?

    --Larry

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    RobertB
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    Re:Roland Sound Canvas VSC3 DXi Comes and Goes 2011/06/08 21:44:30 (permalink)
    larry, I can't explain the problem, but I do remember the Roland VSC. I had a demo version that may have shipped with my Edirol PCR-M50.
    It did sound better than the Edirol VSC that came with SHS4.
    Many of the TTS-1 patches sound better than the EdVSC, but not all.
    For instance, the VSC had a decent bagpipe, but the TTS-1 bagpipe is hopeless.
    As an aside, I believe TTS-1 (Twelve Tone Systems-1), predates the Roland involvement with Cakewalk.
    Have you tried E-MU's Proteus VX?
    It is a free download now, and has a huge variety of sounds(approximately 1200).
    Some of the drums are very nice, and you might like the brush sets.
    It's a little tricky to set up, and has a healthy RAM footprint (not an issue with your specs), but it is stable under XP32.
    Good luck, and keep moving forward.

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