Lounge Lizard Is Making Distorting Sounds

[dcolby117]

So I have mixcraft 7 pro and i've spent over 60 hours working on a music project. In my project I used the lounge lizard VST that came with mixcraft. The sound of the synth is incredible but the problem is the synth seems to produce this awful, awful vibrating, farting noise. It sounds very much like clipping yet it happens at seemingly any volume i've tried. I'm aware that there's probably some built in tine vibration with lounge lizard but this doesn't sound like tines to me. I would change to a different synth but the problem is that at this point in my project lounge lizard plays a major role in the overall melody of my track. I've tried the VST on both the 32 bit and 64 bit versions of mixcraft.

[Acoustica Greg]

Hi,

Are you using Mixcraft version 7.7 build 316? Under what circumstances does the distortion occur? If you add Lounge Lizard to an empty new project, do you get the distortion? What's going on with the track in which the problem occurs? Do you have effects on that track?

Greg

[dcolby117]

Hi,

Are you using Mixcraft version 7.7 build 316? Under what circumstances does the distortion occur? If you add Lounge Lizard to an empty new project, do you get the distortion? What's going on with the track in which the problem occurs? Do you have effects on that track?

Greg

Thanks for the reply Greg. And yes i'm on version 7.7 build 316. I've tried with effects and no effects. They don't seem to add or reduce the problem. On an empty project I still get the distortion on 2 different computers of mine. The circumstances that cause it to occur seem to be during melodies consisting of multiple notes one after another. In between the notes changes the vibration is more noticeable. I've been sitting here experimenting with lounge lizard more and i'm realizing now this really does sound like the VST is emulating the tines of a rhodes electric piano. The problem is that on a full stereo system these vibrations seem to be distorting and sound pretty horrible at times. If I could at least reduce this noise i'd be golden.

[Anorax]

Could you solo the Lounge Lizard track and see if the distortion remains on mixdown? If so, you could upload it to a service like http://soundcloud.com or http://Clyp.it and then share a link here so that we can get an idea on what you're talking about.

I personally have an idea on distortion you're talking about, but I want to be sure first. I'm banking on some sort of audio engine issue.

[JonInc]

Do you have the latest version of Lounge Lizard, v4.1.1? Everything else (drivers, OS updates) all up-to-date?

It wouldn't hurt to uninstall (making sure to delete any leftover remnants) then reinstall the VST (with Run as Administrator).

Have you always had this issue with Lounge Lizard, or is a recent development?

Also, please list your basic system specs.

[JonInc]

I'm sure you'll get this problem figured out, but worst case, if you need to substitute another EP VSTi, AIR Velvet 2 is very capable and currently on sale for $16.99. (Sale price reflected after you log in):

http://everyplugin.com/velvet-2.html

As a friendly aside, everyone should bookmark this site. I find that 99% of the time, they have the lowest price on plugins.

BTW, I have no affiliation with them other than being a satisfied customer.

[Acoustica Greg]

Hi,

Also, are you using one of Mixcraft's presets for Lounge Lizard? If so, which one?

Greg

[dcolby117]

Everyone I can't thank you all enough for the fast, intelligent replies here. My music is incredibly important to me. I'm gonna try all of your suggestions until something clicks. As of this moment i'm checking my levels and solo'ing the synth. I'll report back here with an update soon, and if i'm able to resolve this now i'll post a link to my actual track for you all to hear.

[dcolby117]

Could you solo the Lounge Lizard track and see if the distortion remains on mixdown? If so, you could upload it to a service like [url}Soundcloud.com[/url] or Clyp.it and then share a link here so that we can get an idea on what you're talking about.

I personally have an idea on distortion you're talking about, but I want to be sure first. I'm banking on some sort of audio engine issue.

https://soundcloud.com/thelopingsunligh ... on/s-aYWyo

I solo'd the track and tried lounge lizard on a second computer and I still get the buzzing sounds. The sounds are most audible on bigger stereo systems and almost inaudible through headphones.

The preset i'm using is the chorused rhodes 3 EP, although this seems to happen on any of the presets.

AMD FX-6300 CPU
8gb ddr3 RAM 1600
2tb 7200rpm HDD
Nvidia Geforce GTX 950

[Ajgi]

Could you solo the Lounge Lizard track and see if the distortion remains on mixdown? If so, you could upload it to a service like [url}Soundcloud.com[/url] or Clyp.it and then share a link here so that we can get an idea on what you're talking about.

I personally have an idea on distortion you're talking about, but I want to be sure first. I'm banking on some sort of audio engine issue.

https://soundcloud.com/thelopingsunligh ... on/s-aYWyo

I solo'd the track and tried lounge lizard on a second computer and I still get the buzzing sounds. The sounds are most audible on bigger stereo systems and almost inaudible through headphones.

The preset i'm using is the chorused rhodes 3 EP, although this seems to happen on any of the presets.

AMD FX-6300 CPU
8gb ddr3 RAM 1600
2tb 7200rpm HDD
Nvidia Geforce GTX 950

At max velocity Lounge Lizard often clips when set to a volume that seems normal for everything else. Try lowering the volume in the plugin settings significantly (screenshotof the volume knob: http://i.imgur.com/CZhhEMs.png), then put the Classic Compressor plugin on the track. This will even out the overall volume.

[Mark Bliss]

I would agree.
I have found that this (and many other VSTi) often sound bad at high levels, and fine at the level you would typically actually use it at in a project.

[dcolby117]

Could you solo the Lounge Lizard track and see if the distortion remains on mixdown? If so, you could upload it to a service like [url}Soundcloud.com[/url] or Clyp.it and then share a link here so that we can get an idea on what you're talking about.

I personally have an idea on distortion you're talking about, but I want to be sure first. I'm banking on some sort of audio engine issue.

https://soundcloud.com/thelopingsunligh ... on/s-aYWyo

I solo'd the track and tried lounge lizard on a second computer and I still get the buzzing sounds. The sounds are most audible on bigger stereo systems and almost inaudible through headphones.

The preset i'm using is the chorused rhodes 3 EP, although this seems to happen on any of the presets.

AMD FX-6300 CPU
8gb ddr3 RAM 1600
2tb 7200rpm HDD
Nvidia Geforce GTX 950

At max velocity Lounge Lizard often clips when set to a volume that seems normal for everything else. Try lowering the volume in the plugin settings significantly (screenshotof the volume knob: http://i.imgur.com/CZhhEMs.png), then put the Classic Compressor plugin on the track. This will even out the overall volume.

I tried lowering the plugin volume very low but as soon as I boost it up again through EQ or the compressor I get the distortion again. If I could find another VST that sounds almost identical or very similar to this i'd switch. It just needs to have a similar sound to the soundcloud recording I linked here.

Another thing i've noticed is that it's not just the lounge lizard VST that makes this sound but also other VST synths. Oddly it seems to be mostly the rhodes synths that have this sound.

And this is a demo of my track which has the lounge lizard. https://soundcloud.com/thelopingsunligh ... -2/s-dExVK

[Ajgi]

If I could find another VST that sounds almost identical or very similar to this i'd switch.

Try these: http://www.genuinesoundware.com/?a=showproduct&b=27
There's a free, similar plugin by the same company, I'm not quite sure of its name, but have a look around.

Edit: Just found the free one I was thinking of
http://www.genuinesoundware.com/?a=showproduct&b=37

[Mark Bliss]

I tried lowering the plugin volume very low but as soon as I boost it up again through EQ or the compressor I get the distortion again.
Another thing i've noticed is that it's not just the lounge lizard VST that makes this sound but also other VST synths. Oddly it seems to be mostly the rhodes synths that have this sound.

One would have to suspect there's a clue there.

[Anorax]

I tried lowering the plugin volume very low but as soon as I boost it up again through EQ or the compressor I get the distortion again.
Another thing i've noticed is that it's not just the lounge lizard VST that makes this sound but also other VST synths. Oddly it seems to be mostly the rhodes synths that have this sound.

One would have to suspect there's a clue there.

Is it just me - maybe I'm finally losing hearing (yay percussion major) - but I didn't really hear any distortion in the clip that dcolby shared. At least nothing that is unusual for the Rhodes EP.