Ordinary section

Q.: What is Dream Station?
A.: Dream Station is virtual analog software synthesizer written exclusively for the Windows 95 and 98 platforms.

Q.: Would Dream Station work on Windows NT or W2k at all?
A.: Not. Version 1.0 doesn't work on the NT or W2k, but the next version will probably be fixed to run with the W2k, too.

Q.: Will there ever be a Macintosh version of Dream Station available in the future?
A.: No, there won't be a Macintosh version available -- at least we don't plan to do any.

Q.: Do you plan to take advantage of the DirectX effect plug-ins in the next version?
A.: Yes, we will try to.

Q.: When will you release the next version?
A.: It is not decided, yet. One thing is sure: there will be so much improvements and developments done on the software that we need lots of time to come up with it. We also have got a lot of other things to do, too.

Q.: Will the upgrade be free?
A.: No, there will be an upgrade fee.

Q.: What about the size of the window? I am using 1280x1024 and I can't see anything.
A.: Probably you need a bigger monitor than a 15" one, don't you? ;) We will however fix this problem in the new version. The window of Dream Station will be a lot bigger maximizable window.

Q.: What kind of sound cards are supported by Dream Station?
A.: Dream Station supports all kind of DirectX compatible sound cards, but PCI ones are preferred.

Q.: Can I use my "XYZ" sound card with 650 output channels with Dream Station?
A.: Probably, but it doesn't mean straightway that DS will use the individual outputs of your card.

Q.: Why does Dream Station require so much processing power? Other soft-synths perform a lot better!
A.: Dream Station features sophisticated algorithm library which requires some computing power to achieve this superb sound quality. Also be careful while comparing Dream Station to other soft-synths, a single voice of DS may apply as much modules as many can be found in a simple soft-synth overally! Considering that a song is built up by several voices and effects (so several tiny soft-synths), the CPU consumption of Dream Station is reasonable.

Q.: Dream Station is meant to be an easy-to-use software. But I don't even know how to insert a new pattern. So?
A.: Yes. Actually it is an easy-to-use software, but you have to discover it first. We would suggest you to read the online-help if you have problems using it. However, to insert a new pattern you have to press SHIFT+Insert in the Musicparts editor. A step-by-step tutorial will be published soon.

Q.: I would like to see a Fasttracker II (*.xm) to Dream Station (*.dss) file converter. Any chance?
A.: Yes, we are planning to make a converter, but since the sound architecture of the two software is quite different, it is impossible to make a perfect converter.

Technical section

Q.: I am playing around/working with the software and suddenly it starts to generate false tones. Reinstalling helps, but the problem persists.
A.: There are three possible explanations for this event. The last (nr.3) causes problems most of the times.
1. Dream Station is copy protected. If you are using a hacked/downloaded version with pirated serial number(s), the copy protection may activate and turn the sound output false, then mute it completely. The only solution for this is to register.
2. You are a registered user, but you have installed Dream Station on more computers. DS comes with a single site license only.
3. Some virus shield/registry tracking application(s) has/have removed an important entry from the registry required for DS to run. These software detects that entry as an invalid entry and removes it arbitrary. This makes Dream Station to think that it has been copied (pirated) to a new computer. Reinstalling DS helps until that entry is removed again. The only solution for this problem is to find (and eliminate) the software which does this trick (Windows 98 may also delete this entry during rebuilding driver database). Using the following bugfix DSregfix.reg will enter that entry into the registry again, so you won't need to reinstall the package, but it doesn't prevent other software from removing that entry again. To use DSregfix.reg, simply download it to your computer and double-click on it.

Q.: I am trying to load a sample (wave file) in the sample organizer dialog, but Dream Station says that the sample is invalid.
A.: Dream Station was developed on the Windows 95 platform. The wave file format (wave file header) has been changed in some newer applications. Wave files which were made with such software (storing wave files with changed header) can't be loaded into DS. These wave files must be saved again from a compatible wave file processing software. This problem is fixed by the Revision 2 patch.

Q.: Using Dream Station as a sound module and modulating sounds with MIDI control change messages messes up parameters in another sound(s).
A.: Yes. That's a known bug and is fixed by the Revision 2 patch.