Soundfonts in Sonar question

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MadStrum!

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I am new to soundfonts and am wondering what is the difference between using soundfonts in LiveSynth SE and allocated them with the sonar toolbar under Options --> soundfonts?
I have a sb live.
Which option gives the lower latency?
Also, there is a noticable delay when I use dxi effects such as dreamstation when I use my midi keyboard to enter notes. Is this normal for a sb live card?
Are there any programs to convert wave files into the sound font format?

Thanks.

Pier.
 
The only differences are that you can use larger soundfonts with livesynth, and add audio effects to the playback track. livesynth is a DXi which is low latency.

For general sound font usage, use which ever technique is easier for you. usually if you know you don't need large soundfonts or effects, load them in the soundfonts option. it's much easier than getting a track set up for livesynth.
 
Wave to sf2 can be done with VSampler. You might be able to do this with Gigasampler too but I would check their site to make sure http://www.nemesysmusic.com/ They use something called distributed waves collections. This may be different now that I think about it.

Livesynth running from system memory is probably faster but to my ears their soundfounts sound thin. I like the SB soundfonts better.

The latency thing from your keyboard is most likely a driver issue on the SB. Try using WDM drivers if you are not already doing this. If this won't work then I would look at getting a better card i.e. the Audiophile 24/96 or something similar. This will get you better latency if your computer is not too slow.
 
Livesynth running from system memory is probably faster but to my ears their soundfounts sound thin. I like the SB soundfonts better.
Click to expand...
SB Live! also loads soundfonts in to system memory, I don't see why Livesynth is faster. I think it's the other way around. Hardware is usually faster than software...
 
Moskus, any discussion on which is faster would be difficult to prove I think. It really depends on the underlying code and the route of the calls to and from Cakewalk, the SB and or Livesynth.

You are correct though on the SB using system RAM, my mistake. I thought I had read that the fonts were setting in onboard memory on the card but their site indicates not. If it were then I would say the hardware might be faster.

If they are both using system RAM I would guess that Livesynth is faster. It does not have to make calls out to a hardware card on the bus (through the sound driver) and then wait for the response back. Cakewalk can make calls to and from the system ram without hardware driver intervention in the case of the Livesynth software.

All of the above is conjecture however until we talk to the guys who wrote the code.
 
you guy's are too funny, argueing over a 10th of a milisecond difference in latency. and getting technical about it!!!!!!
 
LOL! :D Ok, the difference is little...

But I just thought that if you use a DXi instead of a SB-card, you will hear the latency... But if you have a good soundcard with low latency, there really is no difference in performance. I know, I use both sollutions daily...
 
When I use livesynth, the latency is neligible. However, when I use other DXi like Dreamstation, DR008 and the other sampler the latency is terrible, especially when I am trying to record drum tracks - the drum sound comes a split second after I press it making it impossible to record in real time... anyone has a solution around this problem? sb live...

Pier.
 
This is just an off the wall suggestion, I dont use dreamstation type synths, but can't you find a reasonably close soundfont or midi bank to do your real time recording and then route the playback through what ever synth you want.

As far as the Dr 008 - if you learn to use vienna sound font studio to make soundfonts, that seems pretty worthless, other than to throw a couple extra samples in. you shouldn't need to record in real time using it.

sorry I can't suggest anything more practical, but desparate times....
 
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