diff --git a/Foundation/library/JamomaFoundation.xcodeproj/project.pbxproj b/Foundation/library/JamomaFoundation.xcodeproj/project.pbxproj
index 9d6bfa02b..f5e887271 100644
--- a/Foundation/library/JamomaFoundation.xcodeproj/project.pbxproj
+++ b/Foundation/library/JamomaFoundation.xcodeproj/project.pbxproj
@@ -455,16 +455,16 @@
 				2209F8FF1AA0E67A00FB8D49 /* TTRegex.h */,
 				2209F8AF1AA0E66800FB8D49 /* TTRegex.cpp */,
 				2209F9001AA0E67A00FB8D49 /* TTString.h */,
+				2209F8B01AA0E66800FB8D49 /* TTString.cpp */,
+				2209F9131AA0E6A600FB8D49 /* TTString.test.cpp */,
+				2209F9141AA0E6A600FB8D49 /* TTString.test.h */,
 				2209F9011AA0E67A00FB8D49 /* TTSymbol.h */,
 				2209F9021AA0E67A00FB8D49 /* TTSymbolBase.h */,
 				2209F8B11AA0E66800FB8D49 /* TTSymbolBase.cpp */,
 				2209F9031AA0E67A00FB8D49 /* TTSymbolCache.h */,
 				2209F9041AA0E67A00FB8D49 /* TTSymbolTable.h */,
-				2209F8B01AA0E66800FB8D49 /* TTString.cpp */,
 				2209F8B21AA0E66800FB8D49 /* TTSymbolCache.cpp */,
 				2209F8B31AA0E66800FB8D49 /* TTSymbolTable.cpp */,
-				2209F9131AA0E6A600FB8D49 /* TTString.test.cpp */,
-				2209F9141AA0E6A600FB8D49 /* TTString.test.h */,
 				2209F9151AA0E6A600FB8D49 /* TTSymbol.test.cpp */,
 				2209F9161AA0E6A600FB8D49 /* TTSymbol.test.h */,
 			);
diff --git a/Foundation/library/includes/TTAddress.h b/Foundation/library/includes/TTAddress.h
index 4d6453ea9..c966b1e79 100644
--- a/Foundation/library/includes/TTAddress.h
+++ b/Foundation/library/includes/TTAddress.h
@@ -58,11 +58,14 @@ class TTFOUNDATION_EXPORT TTAddress : public TTSymbol
 	}
 	
 	
+	TTAddress(const TTString& s) : TTAddress(s.c_str()) {}
+	TTAddress(const TTSymbol& s) : TTAddress(s.c_str()) {}
+	
+	
+	// TODO: address code duplication between TTAddress and TTSymbol
 	TTAddress(const int int_to_convert_to_string)
 	{
-		TTString s;
-		
-		s.append(int_to_convert_to_string);
+		TTString s = std::to_string(int_to_convert_to_string);
 		mSymbolPointer = gTTAddressTable.lookup(s);
 	}
 	
diff --git a/Foundation/library/includes/TTElement.h b/Foundation/library/includes/TTElement.h
index d51923b4a..31aaf8b69 100644
--- a/Foundation/library/includes/TTElement.h
+++ b/Foundation/library/includes/TTElement.h
@@ -323,7 +323,7 @@ class TTFOUNDATION_EXPORT TT_ALIGN_16 TTElement {
 		//if (mType == kTypeAddress)
 		//	return *mValue.mAddress;
 		if (mType == kTypeSymbol)
-			return TTAddress(*mValue.mSymbol);
+			return TTAddress(*mValue.mSymbol->c_str());
         else
 			return kTTAdrsEmpty;
 	}
diff --git a/Foundation/library/includes/TTRegex.h b/Foundation/library/includes/TTRegex.h
index f047c6a81..e58e66046 100644
--- a/Foundation/library/includes/TTRegex.h
+++ b/Foundation/library/includes/TTRegex.h
@@ -39,16 +39,16 @@ class TTFOUNDATION_EXPORT TTRegex {
 		@param	begin					the beginning of the string to parse
 		@param	end						the end of the string to parse
 		@return							a error code	*/
-	TTErr parse(TTStringIter& begin, TTStringIter& end);
+	TTErr parse(TTString::iterator& begin, TTString::iterator& end);
 	
 
 	/** Get where start the result */
 	//TTRegexStringPosition	begin();
-	TTStringIter	begin();
+	TTString::iterator	begin();
 	
 	/** Get where end the result */
 	//TTRegexStringPosition	end();
-	TTStringIter	end();
+	TTString::iterator	end();
 };
 
 	
diff --git a/Foundation/library/includes/TTString.h b/Foundation/library/includes/TTString.h
index e731efcd1..dbe7be302 100644
--- a/Foundation/library/includes/TTString.h
+++ b/Foundation/library/includes/TTString.h
@@ -6,10 +6,32 @@
  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/BSD/
  */
 
+#pragma once
+
+//#include <string>
+#include "TTBase.h"
+
+using TTString = std::string;
+
+// NOTE: we do not export TTString because it is defined in a header as a subclass of a stl template
+// but we do want to export this method, which is not defined inline so that we don't pick up a direct
+// dependency on Mersenne Twister
+/** Replace contents with a pseudo-random string. */
+std::string TTFOUNDATION_EXPORT TTGenerateRandomString();
+
+// TODO: These conversions seem a bit misguided, but are being maintained momentarily for backward compatibility.
+// Should be replaced with standard calls like std::stoi() and friends.
+
+TTBoolean TTFOUNDATION_EXPORT TTStringToTTInt32(const std::string s, TTInt32& convertedInt);
+TTBoolean TTFOUNDATION_EXPORT TTStringToTTUInt32(const std::string s, TTUInt32& convertedUInt);
+TTBoolean TTFOUNDATION_EXPORT TTStringToTTFloat32(const std::string s, TTFloat32& convertedFloat);
+
+
+#define __TT_STRING_H__
+
 #ifndef __TT_STRING_H__
 #define __TT_STRING_H__
 
-#include "TTBase.h"
 
 
 /****************************************************************************************************/
@@ -369,42 +391,8 @@ class TTString : public std::vector<char> {
 	}
 
 
-	// NOTE: we do not export TTString because it is defined in a header as a subclass of a stl template
-	// but we do want to export this method, which is not defined inline so that we don't pick up a direct
-	// dependency on Mersenne Twister
-	/** Replace contents with a pseudo-random string. */
-	void TTFOUNDATION_EXPORT random();
-
 
-	TTBoolean toTTInt32(TTInt32& convertedInt) const
-	{
-		char * pEnd;
 
-		convertedInt = (TTInt32)strtol(c_str(), &pEnd, 10);
-		return *pEnd == 0;
-	}
-
-
-	TTBoolean toTTUInt32(TTUInt32& convertedUInt) const
-	{
-		char * pEnd;
-
-		convertedUInt = (TTUInt32)strtoul(c_str(), &pEnd, 10);
-
-        // is the last letter is a 'u' ?
-		return *pEnd == 'u' && pEnd == (c_str() + length() - 1);
-	}
-
-	/*	note : isTTFloat32 works only because the TTInt32 case is matched before
-		see in TTValue::fromString method
-	 */
-	TTBoolean toTTFloat32(TTFloat32& convertedFloat) const
-	{
-		char * pEnd;
-
-		convertedFloat = strtod(c_str(), &pEnd);
-		return *pEnd == 0;
-	}
 
 };
 
diff --git a/Foundation/library/includes/TTSymbol.h b/Foundation/library/includes/TTSymbol.h
index 36f919512..cee598b17 100644
--- a/Foundation/library/includes/TTSymbol.h
+++ b/Foundation/library/includes/TTSymbol.h
@@ -48,12 +48,10 @@ class TTFOUNDATION_EXPORT TTSymbol
 		mSymbolPointer = gTTSymbolTable.lookup(aString);
 	}
 	
-	
+	// TODO: make this a template for all numeric values
 	TTSymbol(const int int_to_convert_to_string)
 	{
-		TTString s;
-		
-		s.append(int_to_convert_to_string);
+		TTString s = std::to_string(int_to_convert_to_string);
 		mSymbolPointer = gTTSymbolTable.lookup(s);
 	}
 	
@@ -154,9 +152,7 @@ class TTFOUNDATION_EXPORT TTSymbol
 	/** Generate a pseudo-random symbol */
 	static TTSymbol random()
 	{
-		TTString s;
-		
-		s.random();
+		TTString s = TTGenerateRandomString();
 		return TTSymbol(s);
 	}
 
diff --git a/Foundation/library/includes/TTValue.h b/Foundation/library/includes/TTValue.h
index 518ee968f..b9c5bc18c 100644
--- a/Foundation/library/includes/TTValue.h
+++ b/Foundation/library/includes/TTValue.h
@@ -390,18 +390,15 @@ class TTValue : public TTElementVector {
 		for (unsigned int i = 0; i < strList.size(); ++i) {
 			TTString	currentString = strList.at(i).c_str();
 
-			if (currentString.toTTInt32(convertedInt) && !numberAsSymbol) {
-
+			if (TTStringToTTInt32(currentString, convertedInt) && !numberAsSymbol) {
 				at(n) = int(convertedInt);
 				n++;
 			}
-            else if (currentString.toTTUInt32(convertedUInt) && !numberAsSymbol) {
-
+            else if (TTStringToTTUInt32(currentString, convertedUInt) && !numberAsSymbol) {
 				at(n) = TTUInt32(convertedUInt);
 				n++;
 			}
-			else if (currentString.toTTFloat32(convertedFloat) && !numberAsSymbol) {
-
+			else if (TTStringToTTFloat32(currentString, convertedFloat) && !numberAsSymbol) {
 				at(n) = TTFloat64(convertedFloat);  // cast float32 into float64
 				n++;
 			}
diff --git a/Foundation/library/source/TTAddress.cpp b/Foundation/library/source/TTAddress.cpp
index 4d54feb8e..e78193ccd 100644
--- a/Foundation/library/source/TTAddress.cpp
+++ b/Foundation/library/source/TTAddress.cpp
@@ -27,13 +27,13 @@ TTErr TTAddress::parseInstanceZero(const char* cstr, TTString& parsed)
         
         parsed = toParse;
         
-        TTStringIter begin = parsed.begin();
-        TTStringIter end = parsed.end();
+        TTString::iterator begin = parsed.begin();
+        TTString::iterator end = parsed.end();
         
         // parse and remove ".0"
         while (!ttRegexForInstanceZero->parse(begin, end)) {
-            TTStringIter z_begin = ttRegexForInstanceZero->begin() - 2;
-            TTStringIter z_end = ttRegexForInstanceZero->end();
+            TTString::iterator z_begin = ttRegexForInstanceZero->begin() - 2;
+            TTString::iterator z_end = ttRegexForInstanceZero->end();
             
             TTString a(begin, z_begin);
             TTString b(z_end, end);
diff --git a/Foundation/library/source/TTAddressBase.cpp b/Foundation/library/source/TTAddressBase.cpp
index 8fec3bcff..abfc7c80b 100644
--- a/Foundation/library/source/TTAddressBase.cpp
+++ b/Foundation/library/source/TTAddressBase.cpp
@@ -235,8 +235,8 @@ TTErr TTAddressBase::parse()
 	TTString s_instance;
 	TTString s_attribute;
 
-	TTStringIter begin = s_toParse.begin();
-	TTStringIter end = s_toParse.end();
+	TTString::iterator begin = s_toParse.begin();
+	TTString::iterator end = s_toParse.end();
 	
 	// warning : addresses with special regex characters (like [, {) that could be problematic
     // TODO : rewrite the parsing without regex because we want to use those special characters !
@@ -252,8 +252,8 @@ TTErr TTAddressBase::parse()
 	// parse directory
 	if (!ttRegexForDirectory->parse(begin, end))
 	{
-		TTStringIter temp_begin = ttRegexForDirectory->begin();
-		TTStringIter temp_end = ttRegexForDirectory->end();
+		TTString::iterator temp_begin = ttRegexForDirectory->begin();
+		TTString::iterator temp_end = ttRegexForDirectory->end();
 
 		s_directory = TTString(temp_begin, temp_end);
 
@@ -285,8 +285,8 @@ TTErr TTAddressBase::parse()
 	// parse attribute
 	if (!ttRegexForAttribute->parse(begin, end))
 	{
-		TTStringIter temp_begin = ttRegexForAttribute->begin();
-		TTStringIter temp_end = ttRegexForAttribute->end();
+		TTString::iterator temp_begin = ttRegexForAttribute->begin();
+		TTString::iterator temp_end = ttRegexForAttribute->end();
 
 		s_attribute = TTString(temp_begin, end);
 		s_toParse = TTString(begin, temp_end-1);                            // -1 to remove ":"
@@ -316,7 +316,7 @@ TTErr TTAddressBase::parse()
         else
 			s_parent += TTString(ttRegexForParent->begin(), ttRegexForParent->end());
 
-		s_toParse = TTString(ttRegexForParent->end()+1, end-1);               // +1 to remove "/", -1 to remove a useless \0
+		s_toParse = TTString(ttRegexForParent->end()+1, end);               // +1 to remove "/"
 
 		begin = s_toParse.begin();
 		end = s_toParse.end();
@@ -329,7 +329,10 @@ TTErr TTAddressBase::parse()
 	// parse instance
 	if (!ttRegexForInstance->parse(begin, end))
 	{
-		s_instance = TTString(ttRegexForInstance->end(), end-1);            // -1 to remove a '\0' at the end
+		// s_instance = TTString(ttRegexForInstance->end(), end-1);            // -1 to remove a '\0' at the end
+		// The above changed to the below when going from std::vector-based TTString to std::string-based TTString because of crashes in the unit test
+		// The std::vector version used a NULL termination char whereas the std::string version does not.
+		s_instance = TTString(ttRegexForInstance->end(), end);
 		s_toParse = TTString(begin, ttRegexForInstance->begin()-1);			// -1 to remove "."
 
 		begin = s_toParse.begin();
diff --git a/Foundation/library/source/TTNodeDirectory.cpp b/Foundation/library/source/TTNodeDirectory.cpp
index 98a9041a7..6145713be 100644
--- a/Foundation/library/source/TTNodeDirectory.cpp
+++ b/Foundation/library/source/TTNodeDirectory.cpp
@@ -855,7 +855,7 @@ TTBoolean testNodeUsingFilter(TTNodePtr n, TTPtr args)
 				
 				TTRegex* aRegex;
 				TTString s_toParse;
-				TTStringIter begin, end;
+				TTString::iterator begin, end;
 				
 				// get filter
 				aFilter = TTDictionaryBasePtr((TTPtr)v[0]);
diff --git a/Foundation/library/source/TTRegex.cpp b/Foundation/library/source/TTRegex.cpp
index e2394d755..5b55d7787 100644
--- a/Foundation/library/source/TTRegex.cpp
+++ b/Foundation/library/source/TTRegex.cpp
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 using namespace boost;
 using namespace std;
 typedef boost::regex	TTExpression;
-typedef boost::match_results <TTStringIter> TTRegexStringResult;
+typedef boost::match_results <TTString::iterator> TTRegexStringResult;
 #else
 #include <regex>
 using namespace std;
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ TTRegex::~TTRegex()
 }
 
 //TTErr TTRegex::parse(TTRegexStringPosition& begin, TTRegexStringPosition& end)
-TTErr TTRegex::parse(TTStringIter& begin, TTStringIter& end)
+TTErr TTRegex::parse(TTString::iterator& begin, TTString::iterator& end)
 {
 	if (regex_search(begin, end, mRESULT, mEXPRESSION))
 		return kTTErrNone;
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ TTErr TTRegex::parse(TTStringIter& begin, TTStringIter& end)
 
 /** Get where start the result */
 //TTRegexStringPosition TTRegex::begin()
-TTStringIter TTRegex::begin()
+TTString::iterator TTRegex::begin()
 {
 #if BOOST_REGEX
 	return mRESULT[1].first;
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ TTStringIter TTRegex::begin()
 
 /** Get where end the result */
 //TTRegexStringPosition TTRegex::end()
-TTStringIter TTRegex::end()
+TTString::iterator TTRegex::end()
 {
 #if BOOST_REGEX
 	return mRESULT[1].second;
diff --git a/Foundation/library/source/TTString.cpp b/Foundation/library/source/TTString.cpp
index c2968c56a..5dcdb814f 100644
--- a/Foundation/library/source/TTString.cpp
+++ b/Foundation/library/source/TTString.cpp
@@ -10,13 +10,49 @@
 #include "MersenneTwister.h"
 
 
-void TTString::random()
+std::string TTGenerateRandomString()
 {
 	MTRand			twister;
 	unsigned int	i = (unsigned int)twister.randInt();
 	char			s[16];
+	TTString		str;
 		
 	snprintf(s, 16, "j%u", i);
 	s[15] = 0;
-	(*this) = s;
+	str = s;
+	return str;
+}
+
+
+// TODO: These conversions seem a bit misguided, but are being maintained momentarily for backward compatibility.
+// Should be replaced with standard calls like std::stoi() and friends.
+
+TTBoolean TTStringToTTInt32(const std::string s, TTInt32& convertedInt)
+{
+	char * pEnd;
+	
+	convertedInt = (TTInt32)strtol(s.c_str(), &pEnd, 10);
+	return *pEnd == 0;
+}
+
+
+TTBoolean TTStringToTTUInt32(const std::string s,TTUInt32& convertedUInt)
+{
+	char * pEnd;
+	
+	convertedUInt = (TTUInt32)strtoul(s.c_str(), &pEnd, 10);
+	
+	// is the last letter is a 'u' ?
+	return *pEnd == 'u' && pEnd == (s.c_str() + s.length() - 1);
+}
+
+/*	note : isTTFloat32 works only because the TTInt32 case is matched before
+ see in TTValue::fromString method
+ */
+TTBoolean TTStringToTTFloat32(const std::string s, TTFloat32& convertedFloat)
+{
+	char * pEnd;
+	
+	convertedFloat = strtod(s.c_str(), &pEnd);
+	return *pEnd == 0;
 }
diff --git a/Foundation/library/tests/TTString.test.cpp b/Foundation/library/tests/TTString.test.cpp
index e1e184740..a1e780de1 100755
--- a/Foundation/library/tests/TTString.test.cpp
+++ b/Foundation/library/tests/TTString.test.cpp
@@ -38,10 +38,14 @@ void TTStringTestBasic(int& errorCount, int&testAssertionCount)
 					empty.length() == 0,
 					testAssertionCount,
 					errorCount);
+#ifdef ILLEGAL_TEST_ASSERTION__WILL_CRASH
+	// With a std::string of size zero, this element is out of range and accessing it will crash!
+	// The old std::vector implementation of size zero was actually implemented with a size of 1, which led to this misleading test assertion!
 	TTTestAssertion("created from static const char* arg correctly null terminated",
 					empty.at(0) == 0,
 					testAssertionCount,
 					errorCount);
+#endif // ILLEGAL_TEST_ASSERTION__WILL_CRASH
 	
 	// TEST: c-string init
 	
@@ -62,10 +66,14 @@ void TTStringTestBasic(int& errorCount, int&testAssertionCount)
 					foo.at(0) == 'f' && foo.at(1) == 'o' && foo.at(2) == 'o',
 					testAssertionCount,
 					errorCount);
+#ifdef ILLEGAL_TEST_ASSERTION__WILL_CRASH
+	// With a std::string of size 3, this element is out of range and accessing it will crash!
+	// The old std::vector implementation of size 3 was actually implemented with a size of 4, which led to this misleading test assertion!
 	TTTestAssertion("created from static const char* arg correctly null terminated",
 					foo.at(3) == 0,
 					testAssertionCount,
 					errorCount);
+#endif // ILLEGAL_TEST_ASSERTION__WILL_CRASH
 	
 	// TEST: = init
 	
@@ -87,11 +95,13 @@ void TTStringTestBasic(int& errorCount, int&testAssertionCount)
 					jet.at(0) == 'j' && jet.at(1) == 'e' && jet.at(2) == 't',
 					testAssertionCount,
 					errorCount);
+#ifdef ILLEGAL_TEST_ASSERTION__WILL_CRASH
 	TTTestAssertion("created from = correctly null terminated",
 					jet.at(3) == 0,
 					testAssertionCount,
 					errorCount);
-    
+#endif
+	
     // TEST: clear
     
     TTTestLog("\n");
@@ -108,10 +118,6 @@ void TTStringTestBasic(int& errorCount, int&testAssertionCount)
 					empty.length() == 0,
 					testAssertionCount,
 					errorCount);
-	TTTestAssertion("cleared string correctly null terminated",
-					empty.at(0) == 0,
-					testAssertionCount,
-					errorCount);
 
 	// TEST: individual char access
 	
@@ -204,10 +210,6 @@ void TTStringTestNumeric(int& errorCount, int&testAssertionCount)
 					sub.at(0) == '3' && sub.at(1) == '4' && sub.at(2) == '5',
 					testAssertionCount,
 					errorCount);
-	TTTestAssertion("created from substr correctly null terminated",
-					sub.at(3) == 0,
-					testAssertionCount,
-					errorCount);
 	
 	TTTestLog("\n");
 	TTTestLog("Testing summing operation");
@@ -223,10 +225,6 @@ void TTStringTestNumeric(int& errorCount, int&testAssertionCount)
 					sumA.length() == 1,
 					testAssertionCount,
 					errorCount);
-	TTTestAssertion("created from += operator correctly null terminated",
-					sumA.at(1) == 0,
-					testAssertionCount,
-					errorCount);
 	
 	TTString sumB;
 	sumB += '/';
@@ -239,10 +237,6 @@ void TTStringTestNumeric(int& errorCount, int&testAssertionCount)
 					sumB.length() == 1,
 					testAssertionCount,
 					errorCount);
-	TTTestAssertion("created from += operator correctly null terminated",
-					sumB.at(1) == 0,
-					testAssertionCount,
-					errorCount);
 	
 	
 	// TEST: appending numbers
@@ -254,9 +248,9 @@ void TTStringTestNumeric(int& errorCount, int&testAssertionCount)
 	TTString b("Pi is roughly 7/22");
 
 	a += "Pi is roughly ";
-	a += 7u;
+	a += std::to_string(7u);
 	a += "/";
-	a += 22;
+	a += std::to_string(22);
 	TTTestAssertion("string built-up with a couple of ints in it",
 					a == b,
 					testAssertionCount,
@@ -264,7 +258,7 @@ void TTStringTestNumeric(int& errorCount, int&testAssertionCount)
 	
 	b = "Pi is roughly 3.140000";
 	a = "Pi is roughly ";
-	a += 3.14f;
+	a += std::to_string(3.14f);
 	
 	TTTestAssertion("string built-up with a float in it",
 					a == b,
@@ -272,7 +266,7 @@ void TTStringTestNumeric(int& errorCount, int&testAssertionCount)
 					errorCount);
 	
 	a = "Pi is roughly ";
-	a += 3.14;
+	a += std::to_string(3.14);
 	TTTestAssertion("string built-up with a double in it",
 					a == b,
 					testAssertionCount,