Newbie Wants Pretty Piano Sounds

[hujhaxx]

Hi all --

I have a newbie question, but I can't find a thread that gives it a straight answer:

---

I decided to learn piano.

So, I bought a Studiologic 1100 and hooked it up to my computer.

My computer has a SB Live! card. To get a piano sound, I've tried using the...
* SB Live! MIDI Synth -- sounded pretty lousy
* Microsoft GS Wavetable SW Synth -- sounded okay, but with an unacceptable half-second latency
* SB Live! Soft Synth -- sounded good enough, without the latency problem.

So I've got piano synthesis that sounds... well, tolerable, and I'm wondering what I can do to improve/upgrade the sound.


What other options do I have for using my computer for MIDI synthesis?

Can I make it sound better than the SB Live!'s built-in MIDI synth, without introducing noticeable latency?


     thanks for the eartime
          =-p-=

[knightfly]

It ain't free, but for $139.95 you can get Gigasampler LE INCLUDING Gigapiano - Check it out here...

http://soundstore.holdit.com/cgi-bin...ategory=16&x=2

The other way would be a half-rack piano module, like the Emu Pro-Formance or the Roland SC series - the roland JV-1010 has the same sounds as their XP series keyboards, for about $350 if you shop around. Software is much cheaper, but you can run into latency problems. Giga claims good latency, but I'd check it out further before plunking down the cash - click on the name of it on Soundchaser's site, it'll take you to Nemesis' site - Here is a link to their comments on the SB Live card.

http://www.nemesysmusic.com/support/...s/DSnd.html#SB

Note that you would have to be careful to install the right drivers, and the SB Live may STILL not give you the latency you want. I'd recommend talking to their Tech Support people about exact hardware. Otherwise, you might have to spring for a GSIF supported sound card, which would up the price by a couple hundred bucks.

Hope that was straight enough for you, best I could do without owning a SB card... Steve

[Evildick]

Do a search on this site by clicking that handy-dandy search button at the top right and look for "soundfonts". Also you can do a search on http://www.google.com for "free piano soundfonts".

Before you go out and spend money on something that you may not need, these searches will probably provide you with a demo sample of something that is in your ballpark.

[TexRoadkill]

FYI the perfect digital piano sound is still the holy grail of home recording. There are many options out there and chances are you may have to try a lot of different piano sounds until you find the right one for you.

[hujhaxx]

Thanks everybody! Lots of leads to track down...
     =-p-=

[Sennheiser]

Kurzweil SP88X. Best damn digital piano I ever owned or heard.

I don't know if you are a player or just need it for one part, so I don't know how cost effective it would be for you. It's just a suggestion.

Not as cheap as a computer sample, but sounds a hell of a lot better. Full MIDI control if you're into that too. On board effects and 32 presets.

Steinway 9'-11" Concert Grand was used for the samples.

[DougC]

Use a Soundfont; they're the one good feature of Creative cards.
There's lots available free on the web.
http://www.thesoundsite.net/
-has probably the biggest listing.
Lots of good samples of instruments you can't afford. The bigger files are generally better quality.
~
By the by, the (US) SBL (retail) installs three general-MIDI soundfont banks: a 2-meg, a 4-meg and an 8-meg. The 4-meg is the default, the 2-meg sounds worse, the 8-meg sounds better.....

[bball jones]

Here is a yummy vst plug-in

www.sampletank.com