"Hiccup" in playback test

[johnahedges]

Hello everybody. I'm new to Notation Composer and have very much enjoyed learning and creating music with it. This is my first post in the forum and I'm looking for a reason and solution to a problem with the initial start of the playback test as well as the start of the playback of a notation file. I use external synths with Composer and when I conduct a playback test from the MIDI device setup panel, the first note is delayed, consequently making the first two quarter note tones sound like a hiccup, for lack of a better description. The rest of the 12 tones are fine. Also, often when a notation file starts, one of the staves does not play the right rhythm or instrument for the initial note(s). Instead, it plays a very very short and abrupt version of the note and then nothing until the next note(s), from which point it plays the correct notation and instrument.
This is not always the case but it is most often. Sometimes, the playback test works perfectly, without the initial hiccup. When that happens, the notation file also plays correctly, which leads me to believe the two problem instances are related. I have looked and looked for the cause and solution but to no avail, hence this post. I also experience the "hiccup" when beginning a new MIDI recording. It doesn't render my recording impossible; I just have to ignore the first beat of the two-bar count-off. Help, anyone?