Are you using the stand alone ARIA player, or are you hosting the Libraries from inside a DAW (such as Finale/Sibelius/Cubase/etc...).

Without a bit more information, I can only suggest finding the AUDIO SETTINGS of your host, and trying different drivers and settings until one works.

My best guess right now is:

1.  Audio interface settings.

2.  Possible, but far less likely might be problems with samples streaming from your hard-drive, and ARIA memory settings related to this.

So far I've only used the Aria player. I'm completely new to garritan and am still trying to figure out what to use to make a track.
I've downloaded and tried a few different audio drivers, but none of them have seemed to make a difference. Do you know any specific audio drivers that work for garritan 5? If so, that could really help.

The drivers are very system specific and should already be on your system.

Garritan Libraries come with a stand alone version of ARIA that allows you to play instruments using a MIDI Keyboard, a wind-jammer, or percussion and MPC pads.  It can also load and play MIDI files, or record your live playing and play it back.  Given the proper MIDI loopback software, it's also possible to use this version of ARIA with software that doesn't support plugins.

If you want to work with 'tracks and/or musical staves', then you'll need a HOST DAW, where you'd then use ARIA as a 'plugin'.  Examples include things like Finale, Sibelius, Encore, and Dorico for working with traditional notation and printed scores; or, things like Sonar, MixCraft, Cubase, Reaper, Studio One, FL Studio, Digital Performer, Ableton, and so forth, for mixing actual recorded instruments and vocals into more polished performances.  There are also special hosts more geared towards live performers such as Bidule.

Which sort of host is best for your needs depends on answering a number of questions such as:

What is more important to me.  Printed Scores, or realistic playback?

Do I need to work with complex orchestral arrangements, or will it mostly be solos or smaller ensembles?

Will I need to record and mix actual singers or instrumentalists using microphones?

Do I need to sync scores to Video or Gaming engines?

How powerful is my computer?

What is my budget?

In the stand alone version of ARIA (I.E. Launching "ARIA Player", or "ARIA Player x64" from your desktop), you'll find all this under the "Tools/Preferences" menu.

In this dialog, try different Device API, Devices, buffer sizes, and clock rates (Mainly 44.1 or 48 Hz at 16bit or 24bit) until you find one that works well.

If you have an ASIO API showing that's usually the best to try first.  If there is no ASIO API showing on your system, then simply try all the rest that are available to see which seems to work best for you.

If you still can't get something working, file a support ticket through your MakeMusic Account so someone can help you run the proper diagnostics to track down your particular issue.

Thank you, you've been a big help. I toyed around like you said and managed to fix the audio issue entirely. Now I need to find a DAW to use. Does garriten require paid DAWs, or will it work on free ones? I've tried to use it on a couple of free ones but it won't recognize the sounds as a plugin, not sure why.

1.  If the DAW supports VST or AU plugins then there is a very good chance you can use it.

2.  If you install a virtual MIDI port driver such as loopMIDI, some DAWS that don't host plugins might still be able to divert their MIDI output streams into stand alone instances of ARIA.

Quite a few demos or free cut down versions are out there which can be quite useful.

Notepad is a scaled down version of Finale, which you can download and use for free.  As far as I know, ARIA works with this.

Presonus offers a free version of Studio One 3 Prime that is pretty well rounded for a free download.  I've not tried this personally, but I suspect it probably supports VSTi plugins like ARIA.  If not, you should be able to get at least one stand alone instance of ARIA working via loopMIDI.

MuseScore is a pretty advanced free Score/Notation DAW that can work with ARIA if you hack in some low level drivers called Jack.  Jack isn't the easiest thing to set up, but it is possible to make MuseScore forward it's MIDI output through Jack, and into a stand alone instance of ARIA.  One catch here, is that many instruments in ARIA expect CC1 or CC11 events to control dynamics, and MuseScore currently does not have an obvious and intuitive way to do this sort of dynamics control (MuseScore uses the General MIDI velocity method).  None the less, it can still come in handy for keyboard and percussion instruments in ARIA, as those tend to use the velocity method as well.

Most all of the leading DAWs have free Demo's available, that can get you several months of unlimited usage at no cost.  There are also a number of DAWs that are well under $100, but are quite good despite the low price.  MixCraft (a very good 'first DAW' that is well rounded and easy to use) and Reaper (Lean, inexpensive, but quite powerful and useful by any standards)  come to mind.  You can also find scaled down versions of things like Ableton Lite and Cubase LE in the sub $100 price range.

Finally, if you're in the market for a low-latency audio device for your PC, or something like a MIDI Keyboard or Wind Jammer, most of those typically come with some entry level DAW System in the box (such as Abelton Lite, Cubase LE, etc.).  If you've purchased some of this type of kit over time, you might already own a key to some sort of entry level DAW.  So if this is you...go through your boxes and check for keys or even DVDs for such software.  Also, if you happen have pals that bought this sort of stuff but have long since 'upgraded' to higher end software, they might be willing to give you their unused license keys for such titles.

If you decide to start shopping for things in the higher price brackets, again, be aware most of them offer free Demo Periods, and there are so many nice DAWs on the market these days that you could easily spend a year trying them all before deciding which one(s) you might like to invest.

Don't forget that if you are full time student (I say full time...if you have a valid student ID, then it never hurts to fill out apps for ANY student software discounts these days), or serve as faculty in some sort of accredited learning institution, then you may be eligible for substantial discounts for many products.

From here, try your own web research on the topic of DAW and or Music Notation software.  There is plenty out there to 'try'.

Since my last post on this thread I grabbed the free version of Studio One Prime.  Unfortunately it doesn't support plugins in its free state.  It is possible to direct MIDI track output to a stand alone instance of ARIA using virtual MIDI ports that you'd create with loopMIDI.  If you need more than one instance of ARIA (support more than 16 instruments at once), you might have have luck with VSTHost.

I ran a quick websearch and came up with this list of free hosts.  Some of them might work with ARIA (need to be able to host VST or AU plugins).

http://bedroomproducersblog.com/2011/05/16/bpb-freeware-studio-best-free-vst-host-applications/

Can't say I've tried many of them in quite some time, though I do remember that the old 32bit version of Reaper 0.999 is free, and should be OK with the 32bit version of ARIA.  I'll give it a try and let you know how it goes.

I'll gradually try a few and report back if I find something that comes across as useful and relatively easy to set up with ARIA.

Update on the free version of Reaper 0.999.

This DAW works very well with the 32bit version of ARIA.  This version of Reaper doesn't have a long list of features (advanced MIDI editors, metronome, etc.), but it seems to be very stable and works quite well with ARIA.