Options for playing soundfonts

flapo1

New member
Hi Everybody.

My Soundblaster Live just fried last week and I have a bunch of songs done with soundfonts.

Is there a way to play soundfonts without the need of a SB Live? I could live without the card since I have a Delta 1010lt, so...

thanx in advance
 
flapo1,

Depends on what software you are running. There are several plugins that can load soundfonts. So tell us what software (sequencer) you are using and I can point you in some directions.

Straight away, NI's Kontakt can load soundfonts and is available in VSTi, DXi, MAS and Directsound, Directconnect, Soundmanager, FreeMIDI and OMS format. So I bet you can use it :)

Peter.
 
Thanks, CW.

I'm running ntrack in a 677 mhz PIII with 196 MB RAM. Is that possible, or would I run out of resources in no time?

And also, is it cost effective? I mean, I can get another SB Live for about $70, so if for example Kontakt costs $150, its a no-go

:)
 
You've been a great help, Peter.

I will download demos of some of the soft you recommended to see if my system can handle the load.

Other problem is I don't know much about them. Will I have to use one instance of the sampler for every instrument? Do they load the instrument in the Computer's RAM or are they directly from HD? Can I load banks with lots of instruments, like GM ones?

I hope I'm not abusing of your helpfullness.

THANKS!!!!

:D
 
Audio Compositor can also load soundfonts, and render MIDI files as WAVs. Some people swear by the program, but IMO it's not too accurate. Your mileage may vary.
 
Hey flapo:
I was just about to try and answer your question about Sampltude killing your resources -

My only guess had to do with the SBLive! MIDI and the 1010 MIDI sync. (I think there's MIDI on the 1010, right?) Try to find a 1010 user for more info on that, as I'm not a MIDI expert by any stretch of the word.

Good luck.
 
Thanks guys for your replies!

Eurythmic: Once (before I got my SB) I tried to use Audio Compositor for playing Soundfonts and I found it to be, as you say, not very accurate. But thanks anyway!

Jitteringjim: Actually the Delta has no internal synth, just a MIDI in and out, so maybe it wasn't that.

Torpid-X: Thanks for the link, but it's broken. Do you know if I can get the demo from hitsquad or something?
 
flapo1,

No problem, just ask :)

I think your best bet is vSampler. It will give you loads of options to use soundfonts. It's multi-timbral so you can play several sounds in a soundfont with just on instance loaded. You can also do layering and zoning as vSampler is a rather comprehensive sample solution.

Anything else, just make some noise :D

<shameless plug mode>

Oh, and for loads of info on VST effects and VSTi instruments, check my website: http://www.orion-central.com

</shameless plug mode>

Peter.
 
Thanks again, everybody!

You've been a lot of help!

CW: Great site you have there. I'll be checking the great info it has.

Torpid: It's still down, I'll make a search in google or something.

:) :D

I love this BBS!!!!!!!
 
Great!

It's got great features, specially the fact that it doesn't have fancy features, just plays soundfonts, so I guess it won't suck up my system resources. I'll check the demo.

And for $65 it's a little cheaper than another SB :)
 
It's a little tricky to get it started, once you figure it out, it's pretty good. It's also not memory limited like a SB, you can use all your Ram if you need to.

I wish you could route an audio track through it to monitor effects...without the latency.
 
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