I've been sparring with my new V-Studio VS-700 system for a couple days.  Out of the box, I was surprised to find this required a LOT of updating.  It shipped with Sonar 8.0 and version 1 drivers.  After spending untold hours updating drivers, firmware and software, I now have the following:
 
Intel Core i5 Quad-core 3.2GHz w/16Gb RAM
500Gb system drive and 1Tb dedicated audio drive
Windows 7 64-bit SP1
Sonar 8.3.1.372
Firmware:
    VS-700R CPU/DSP 1.30
    Fantom VS 1.30
    VS-700C 1.31
VS-700 Drivers 2.0.1.0
 
The main problem I'm having is I'm getting no sound from the Fantom synth.  Everything appears to be fine.  There are no error messages.  I can insert the softsynth track just fine, and the Fantom VS Editor pops right up.  The MIDI input is working.  I can insert any other softsynth and get sound.  But not from the Fantom.  There's no sound, and the meters don't move.  It just sits there, looking smug, with not a peep and no sign of life.
 
I'm at wit's end.  I spoke with a support person from Cakewalk this evening but he couldn't help me.  I asked about an upgrade to X1, holding out hope that my mysterious problem will vanish with an update.  I've been assured I'll get an upgrade, I just haven't been told how or when. 
 
I'm dead in the water.  Everything else seems to be working, but I haven't gone much farther than this, so I don't know for sure.  One of the demo songs on the Additional Content CD causes my Sonar to crash about mid-way through.  Not sure why, yet, but one thing at a time....
 
Any suggestions? 
 
~ Heather Haze
http://heatherhaze.com/
 
 

Hi Heather,
 
Since you are running 64Bit you need to download the Fantom Hotfix. Fantom works fine with 32 bit installation, but has issues with 64 Bit Window's 7. You should be able to find it in the support pages or have one of Cakewalk's technical people send you the file via email.
 
Mike

Heather
 
Looks like the hotfix has been replaced with this update- Download the Fantom VS Editor & ARX Editor Installer
 
Hopefully downloading this will solve your problem. I guess you could ask Cake to send you the Hotfix file if still available. The small print indicates that this will have the same result as the hotfix. Mike

bnova


Heather
 
Looks like the hotfix has been replaced with this update- Download the Fantom VS Editor & ARX Editor Installer
 
Hopefully downloading this will solve your problem. I guess you could ask Cake to send you the Hotfix file if still available. The small print indicates that this will have the same result as the hotfix. Mike

Thanks Mike, but I've already done that one.  No luck.  Today I tried uninstalling and reinstalling all the drivers and updates.  I even reloaded the firmware update for the Fantom, just in case.  No changes.  Unless I'm missing something, or there's some hidden quirk yet to be discovered, it's starting to look like a hardware issue.  If it is, it would be the first issue I've ever had with Roland gear.  Since it's still fresh out of the box it shouldn't be a problem sending it in.  But what a royal pain.  I'm still holding out a glimmer of hope that there's some little secret gimmick I have yet to discover.  But it's not looking good...
 
I'm still open to ALL suggestions, so please keep them coming if you have any.  Thanks!!!   
 
)-|-(  Heather
http://heatherhaze.com/

Hi Heather,

I would be surprised it is a hardware issue (not impossible though), I and some others went through similar issues with thier first installation.
What worked for me:

1. Go to option -midi peripheral (or something like this, my version is in french...) and then deselect everything but leave the console and your midi keyboard if you have one.

2. Insert the Fantom in your project with an instrument track in the insert pop-up window.

3. If it still not work, go in the Fantom VS editor, go to setup - Set up midi device - and make shure you have "Fantom VS (VS-700)" selected for both the input and output. The "Through" section should both be set to "NONE" and the device ID should be "17".

Hope this help a little, at least that worked for me when I first installed it with Sonar 8.3.1

Dyonight


Hi Heather,

I would be surprised it is a hardware issue (not impossible though), I and some others went through similar issues with thier first installation.
What worked for me:

1. Go to option -midi peripheral (or something like this, my version is in french...) and then deselect everything but leave the console and your midi keyboard if you have one.

2. Insert the Fantom in your project with an instrument track in the insert pop-up window.

3. If it still not work, go in the Fantom VS editor, go to setup - Set up midi device - and make shure you have "Fantom VS (VS-700)" selected for both the input and output. The "Through" section should both be set to "NONE" and the device ID should be "17".

Hope this help a little, at least that worked for me when I first installed it with Sonar 8.3.1

Thanks for the reply, Dyonight!  Unfortunately, this is something I've already tried (many times).  Just to be sure, I tried again.  The only thing different, for me, is if I try to set the "Through" section to "none" it just reverts back to my previous setting (in this case, "Fantom VS (VS-700)".  I tried setting this to "IO MIDI (VS-700)", just to "get it out of the way" so to speak, but that didn't help either.  Right now all four remain set to "Fantom VS (VS-700)" which is, I believe, correct. 
 
I'm still willing to try anything, so don't hesitate to keep the suggestions coming.  ;)
 
Thanks,
 
~ HH

i dowloaded this upadte ...32 bits here ...my arx DRUM ....was doing the same ....after rebouts it's working .....more and more , i tend to never use the power i have on board ......i'm keeping the VS 700 R because of VS 700C montoring ....

Sad cause i use 50% of the power of the VS 700R ....

YAY!!!
 
I finally got this working.  Since this was a strange one, I thought I'd share the solution for posterity.  Interestingly, it was a tech guru at Sweetwater who gave me the answer.  But I still had to go through Cakewalk tech support to actually make the fix. 
 
It turns out there's a rare glitch that can cause the Windows registry to fail to update properly, causing the Fantom to not receive MIDI information.  I have no idea what the cause is, but the solution is a simple registry tweak you can download from Cakewalk.  Bingo!  Problem fixed.  But you have to go through tech support to get it.
 
While diagnosing the problem, I also learned how to run the Fantom in hardware mode.  I had done everything right, except for one thing:  I didn't know you had to put the audio track in INPUT ECHO mode.  Sheesh!  So basically, you insert an audio track, set the input to Stero VS-700 FANTOM VS and set INPUT ECHO for that track on.   Then you can run the synth from a MIDI track by selecting the MIDI output port as FANTOM VS (VS-700).  If you've installed the Fantom VS Instrument Definitions for that port, you can select all the channels, banks and patches from the MIDI port. 
 
By the way, the Fantom ROCKS.  So worth the trouble.  :)
 
I hope this helps somebody else down the line.  This was a very tricky fix and I couldn't find a peep about it on the Internet.  Maybe this will help.  :)
 
All the best,
 
)-|-(  Heather Haze
http://heatherhaze.com/
 
 

Wow! Who knew? lol. I'm glad you got it worked out Heather. The Fantom is awesome. I don't know how far you've gotten into the editor pages but you'll be amazed at the the ability to tailor the sounds-voices in each channel. The Fantom is actually a scaled down version of the Fantom G keyboards. I only wish it had a 256 polyphony limit instead of 128.

Hi

I have exactly the same problem...can you tell me what to do?
thanks