so i will repeat my question: is your audio interface connected via firewire?
(sorry, but i didn't read any mentioned model or presonus at all before)

I said in my previous post that it is connected via Firewire. So, again, it is connected via firewire...and it is a Presonus FirePod.

if yes: is it connected through the same firewire controller as your harddisks?
(and i mean controller here, not a posibbly additional connector)

They are hooked up through the same connector, if that's what you mean.

if yes: please doublecheck if the clicks and pops appear also if audio is set to internal.
if they dissapear then it is clear the drivers for the presonus don't allow sample streaming over the same bus.

I am streaming several East-West libraries, N.I. lilbraries, and more, over the same bus. It's not the bus. It's not Firewire.

ps: i can understand if you are enervated after your installation procedure, but the first thing i recommended was a new or alternate DVD drive ...

I DID use an alternate DVD drive...I have two of them. The second DVD drive did not help. Then I transferred all files to a hard drive. That did not work either, until finally several tries later.

Bob, glad to hear you finally got SE installed. Obviously it shouldn't have been so tortuous. On the clicks and pops front, VSL have repeatedly warned VI users against connecting an audio interface and sample-streaming drives to the same Firewire bus.

@Another User said:

I am streaming several East-West libraries, N.I. libraries, and more, over the same bus.

VI matrices use an exceptionally high number of samples, it could be a case of the straw which broke the camel's back. I'd suggest you try routing the VI to internal audio as cm suggested and see whether the pops and clicks persist. it might also be worth experimenting with increasing your sound card's latency setting.

Okay, I will go ahead and test the firewire bus and latency settings until I can get better results. Odd, though, that the clicks (mostly) go away after awhile.

Thanks to everyone on the VI Forum and also on the support team for their help with this.

VSL isn't compatible with Firewire properly. A client of mine had trouble with a Dual G5 with 6GB RAM. The issue was that there was a Firewire audio interface (we tried MOTU 828 II, m-Audio ProFire). Every other streaming plugin (BFD, EastWest, EXS24, Kontakt, StormDrums etc..) worked perfectly fine [even multiple simultaneously] but not VSL. The solution was to buy a USB2 hard drive for the VSL sounds. We couldn't even play ONE note polyphony without clicks and pops otherwise!

The folks at VSL really need to step up their sofware development (GUI, installing, streaming, authorizaton etc...). It's quite unfinished and unelegant compared to the professionalism of their sampling and recording department.

Interesting.....because since this originally happened, I have not been able to get ONE instance of VI SE to run without clicks n' pops either. Not one, no matter what aspect of the buss or the buffer or anything else is changed.

I would like to see someone from VI to respond to this. Is there an actual problem with using firewire while there is none with USB???

It's been two weeks now since this odyssey began and I'm still hoping someone on the VSL forum will reply to this issue. I have NOT been able to get ONE instrument to play without clicks and pops. I've done everything under the sun, isolating the drive to a single firewire bus, etc. All other libraries that I own -- big ones -- work correctly and don't produce noises.

The reply above suggests that this will only work correctly on USB 2.0. I would like to know if that's the case.

Hi Bob. While you await response from VSL, did you try increasing the latency setting in your 'audio hardware' settings? The VI works fine with Firewire on my PC, but because of the large sample count I've had to increase the sound card latency.

Yes, I not only did that, but every possible remedy under the sun, most of which you can find all over this forum. However, last night I finally dismantled by current setup to allow for a USB connection. Although completely counter-intuitive, that's what worked! Why? I have no idea. But since I'm not the only one who has ever encountered this situation, I'm surprised I have seen this recommendation until now, especially from VSL. At least I can finally start using the product now.

f-erenc, I run VSL with FW interfaces and PCI together all the time. There must be something else wrong.

But you also have to remember that VSL has 50 billion samples loaded, so it's going to be harder on a machine than anything else.

Yes, Nick, I agree. And I imagine there are idiosyncracies with each individual system, small details that make for different performance issues. My only surprise was that it finally worked with USB, and the reviews of this Seagate drive say that the USB connection is slower. No prob, though, because now I'm makin' music. Thnx.