if I load a midi file, the microsoft wavetable synth plays even if it is removed from the mixer, and even if the tracks are muted. This is the most awkward daw I’ve ever tried to use. I’m giving it a couple more days worth of trying if I can get this problem solved.
You’re on Windows, presumably. None of our developers use Windows, but we’ve also never heard of this problem before, despite the thousands of Windows users that we apparently have.
We also tend to find helping with runtime problems like this very inefficient when done using a web forum. It is too slow and asynchronous. If you join our IRC channel #ardour (see the bottom left corner of this page for a link), then at the right times of day you have a reasonably chance of getting realtime help in a way that can likely solve the problem very quickly.