At the moment I’m using one of the latest nightlies but even before VRay 3.x with older Phoenix versions I had the same problems. I’m using 3D Studio Max. I’ve sent you the scene already today but for other problems regarding VRay, not Phoenix, although this all seems to be related to each other.
edit:
The build number is 24894, every build I tried after this one crashed 3D Studio Max while starting.