[linux-audio-user] Piano feedback, again bundled - Linux-audio-user

23 Jan 2003

Hi,

...
     I think this is quite a good start! The upper
registers, above middle
 C, are the best to my ears. They sound quite open and natural. I beleive
 that this part would be easy to mix and would come through just great on
 pop music.
    I think that below middle C, or maybe even an octave further, there
 isn't quite the power that I hear in the Bardstown (link follows - look
 for Piano Shoot Out) or the Post Bosendorfer samples on the previous
 link, but those are 9 foot pianos that costs about $200K U.S. It's got
 the largest sound around. 
I'll listen to the MP3s and will see if I can't add an additional piano
which sounds more like that Bardstown. Only if it's a dry recording though
since reverb and other tweaks can do a lot to change the sound of a piano.

...
     What piano did you sample by the way?? 
It was a Yamaha model..

...
     I certainly liked yours more than a couple that
I've purchased and
 look forward to hearing your final product. 
Just check http://project-portability.foad.nl once in a few weeks to check
on the progress.. Any wishes of changes or variations to the piano are
welcome.

...
     It was, BTW, a bit hard, as I suggested earlier, to
compare yours
 with the others because of your choice to use 48K instead of 44.1K. This
 will make it a bit more difficult for people to use your library at the
 same time that they use a tool like GigaSampler, but 48K people need a
 great piano also! Go for it! 
I don't see a real problem here. The main reason for it is that the Audigy
deals with 48 Khz samples better than with 44 Khz samples. Basically a 44
Khz version could be made in 10 minutes though. The real difference is in
the mixing of different hardware and softsynths IMHO. I've not played other
digitised 'professional' pianos (other than GP One which I don't consider to
be that good).. Point is that I don't want to be influenced by other peoples
result and thus trying to avoid mistakes that others might have made while
trying to gain realism.

...
   Try to explain
to me what the use is of 96 Khz samples ? It's just
 marketing nothing more.. 48 Khz makes it possible to represent up to
 24 Khz of sampled frequencies, far about what you can hear.  Ok, I'll have a go
:-)
 If you sample at 48Khz you need to filter out everything above 24Khz in
 order to avoid alias noise. First of all this is not *really* possibkle,
 filters don't block thay damp. Secondly a filter steep enough to let
 ninimal amounts of energy through above 24Khz will be distorting the
 upper part of the frequency range.Now if you sample at 96Khz the story
 is the same, but not you have an extra octave to filter smoothly.
 Another part of the story is that although a 48Khz sample can represent
 frequencies upto 24Khz, the representation of the higher frequencies not
 accurately describing the intensity. 
Let's put it this way.. Do you think a CD sounds bad ? I think the average
person can't hear much about 18 Khz (could be 20 Khz though).. So unless you
are a sampler yourself you probably won't notice. I certainly won't go above
48 Khz since bigger is not always better.. Of course a lot depends on what
sampler was used to capture the sound. 44 Khz could be an option but I'll
have to have a look at the softsynths and hardware Grandest Piano will
eventuelly be aimed at.

---
Roel / Utopia Sound Division
http://www.utopiasd.com