installation hitch

[dermod]

Strad arrived yesterday. Have installed and reinstalled twice No problems registering with NI, but prog crashes immediately on attempting to open it. PC meets all spec requirements. Kontakt player still works fine in GPO. I am not computer wise, but notice that files downloaded from the dvd contain no .dll files, only .nkx,nkc,nki. Nor does the Strad have its own icon button, only one for Kontakt2 to open up the prog. Might any of this be connected with the problem? The hitch may well lie in something I am doing wrong. But as a monkey could put a dvd into a pc and press go and watch it download, I cannot see where the error could be introduced. Suggestions welcome.

[dermod]

Reference above hitch. Although I get a crash when I click to open Kontakt2, lo and behold the strad nevertheless appears as a vst instrument in my notation. It won't make a noise yet, but I think that issue has already been dealt with. So kindly ignore above post. I am going back to the drawing board. As Captain Oates famously said on the ill fated north pole expedition...I may be some time.

[pianodoc]

I just received my Strad three days ago and installed it. It did not show up in Finale 2007a. I opened K2 player and could not find the instrument. Then my computer crashed and I saw the first BSOD I've seen in some years.

I'll try again to install the Strad - hopefully more siccessfully this time.

I'll continue to watch for posts detailing other's experiences.

David M.

[dermod]

As an update, NI Service centre responded within two days to my problem. Their solution to the Kontakt player crash when trying to open the program worked. That is, first disable the pc audio device (a once only necessity). I can now access Kontakt in stand-alone but am still pondering on how to make it respond to my midi-controller. Suggestions welcome. But much more important (to me). From the outset, the strad worked as a vst plugin in notation. I am absolutely delighted with the strad's response tothe the midi editing facilities of OV4. Without a keyboard in sight, I can draw in graphically all available expression controllers, including after touch, without leaving the score. There is an art to learn in using it properly. But the strad turns out to be a fantastic composing tool, whereas I had visualised it as a keyboard toy. There is room for developing this capability further, but already serious congratulations are in order. I am a converted sceptic. Bring on the cello and viola and string quartets on your demo area will never be the same again.