The PROBLEM: I had the drive connected to a Hub and not directly to the computer. By changing the USB cable from the Hub directly to the computer the problem was resolved. LESSON LEARNED: Never connect your external drive to an external hub, if you plan to play songs directly from the external drive. I did note however, when I stopped the song the VST meter spiked, but immediately dropped. No problem there. By the way the external disc is a Segate 2T. USB 2.0
In addition, my computer is an iMac 27" w/4 Gigs of memory.