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VSTi's and there quality(something you may not know)
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| Limit |
Hey guys i'm new here and i've gone through a lot of the posts and see you guys use a lot of VSTi's...I'm not a big softsynth user, I'm a hardware freak. From going through a lot of the posts are indicating that some of you are having problems with teh sound quality of your recordings of synths(soft). I'll address this issue simply by stating the true cause to your problems.
1)The sound quality of your softsynth is only as good as your sound card or better yet your D/A, D/A converters of your soundcard....plus the sample rate you are running at.
So to put it simply it's basically that your VSTi is not gonna sound as good as hardware if your sound card is crap...lets say for instance an SB Live!(brutal card). SO if your running a 24 bit card at 9600khz and your D/A converters are good quality you are gonna get some quality sound out of that softsynth.
2)Next is the recording factor. Some say "hey man when I record my synths it sounds like s**t...well thats simply cause your soundcard is tottal crap(SB Live!...I've bad one once upon a time so I know). You see it's all about sample rate man...teh lower you go the worse the quality. Just think the human ear can only register 22,100khz and the standard cd quality is 44,100khz(doubled) should sound better! well go even higher to 48 then to 96 and it gets better...well this is something that is argued...BUT the big deal here is the bit rate..
putting it simple....we are talking hardware here. Lets say your standard synth Virus b or c...it's got 24 bit converters(not sure about the B it might have 18?) anyway so you are recording a 24 bit sound(synth) on a 16 bit and 44,100kh card(SB Live!)..whats gonna happen? well it's not gonna sound better is it. It can only sound worse. Tne you ask well why would you record all your stuff in 24 bit? it's got to be in 16 bit anyway to go on CD's!! well teh answer is dithering your final mix from 24 bit to 16 bit..this is a non destructive way to dither down your audio without compensating for quality...but that a hole other issue in itself.
Hope this helped someone out...and oh ya if your thinking hey man I got the Audigy card it's 24 bit buddy!! well again the card is only as good as it's D/A, A/D converters. Keep this in mind!
Limit Out! |
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| TI2ance |
| Hey, thanks for the post mate, quite informative. I think i've had this SB Live one day too many.... |
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| trancenrg69 |
Limit good post for newbies. All you newbies read that and learn. Also I'm gonna say this once so don't complain in a few months when you got a audiophile and your not happy with the sound quality.
This is THE card. The 1212m. The deal of the year. And probably best deal ever. At 200$ US, U GET
Mastering-grade 24-bit, 192kHz converters - the same A/D converters used in Digidesign®''s flagship Pro Tools® HD I/O Interface
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E-DSP 32-bit Multi-effects Processor offers you over 16 simultaneous hardware-accelerated studio-grade effects with no CPU overhead - plug-in architecture allows you to add new effects as needed
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Yes u read right. Pro tools converters. Unsurpassed sound quality and no it is not a creative labs card, its funded by them. This card rivals cards costing thousands. I ordered mine. you know what to do. |
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| /I\ |
wow .. thats a stonker of a card. Great Post there :)
Although Im happy with my Echo Mia Midi http://www.echoaudio.com/Products/MiaMIDI/index.php Does not have half the features like Firewire and 32 bit DSP, but it is based on 24-bit 96kHz AKM AK4528 converters. You normaly pay $1000+ to get a card with this codec.
I donated my SBLive after getting this card. working with VST on a good 24bit is the only way to go. |
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| Limit |
| The only roblem with that 1212 card is that it diens't have enough I/O's or in's and outs....it might be good for starters but for me i need more I/O's....at the moment I'm running a Delta 1010 which is just about all the satisfaction i need...but that 1212 card sounds like a pretty damn good deal for the money. |
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| rb2k1 |
hey limit, why not get a nice mixer? that will take care of the input/output situation
:D
~rb |
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| /I\ |
| Just remembered something. SBLive is internally locked at a sample rate of 48KHz, it pretends it can record at 44KHz but that is all. You cannot change this. So when you record something you believe it is pure 44KHz, but it actually starts as 44K on the input then is dithered to 48K within the card and then your output is dithered back to 44K (as in your recorded to HD sample, monitored playback, everything!) This is another reason why recording samples or VST playback sounds so grainy (sp?) with SB. That grainy sound is caused by all the constant sample rate conversion that is going on within SBLive. :crazy: |
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| Vert |
If you are doing your production on a cheap sound card , yeah it will sound bad, but if you export it to wave, and take it to a pro system, it will sound fine. Because vsti's are run on the system, not your soundcard... :rolleyes:
es |
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| FuzzyGreen |
| quote: | Originally posted by Vert
If you are doing your production on a cheap sound card , yeah it will sound bad, but if you export it to wave, and take it to a pro system, it will sound fine. Because vsti's are run on the system, not your soundcard... :rolleyes:
es |
Exactly, you aren't using your A/D converters at all when using softsynths except for previewing. If you burn your wav to CD then it should sound fine on a regular stereo system.
The only time you need a good sound card is when you need to record your external hardware or preview your work.
I get by just fine with my audiophile 24/96. No need for multiple inputs, just get a patch bay, a mixer, or manually change the connection when recording a device. |
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| FuzzyGreen |
| Also, don't use any higher bitrates then 44.1/16bit unless you have some really high end equipment, otherwise the downsampling will cause quality loss. The problem with the SB live is that it's internal 48k requires two steps, an upsample and a downsample to every input and output. |
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| Limit |
ok you guys lost me at saying if you burn your wav to cd and then play it on a pro system it will sound fine? Ummmmn..... how about NO! Don't you get it!!! all sound is proccessed or passed through your card guys. Like i told you before a softsynth can only sound as good as your soundcard. Thus rendering recording useless if you have a real cheap one.
I'm hoping this will clear it up for you guys. |
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| Vert |
| quote: | Originally posted by Limit
ok you guys lost me at saying if you burn your wav to cd and then play it on a pro system it will sound fine? Ummmmn..... how about NO! Don't you get it!!! all sound is proccessed or passed through your card guys. Like i told you before a softsynth can only sound as good as your soundcard. Thus rendering recording useless if you have a real cheap one.
I'm hoping this will clear it up for you guys. |
No.
A softsynth is run on your processor not your sound card. The only time it goes to your sound card, is if you are listening to it. IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH RENDERING ON YOUR CARD. :rolleyes:
EDIT: Here is proof. This sound was made in fl using discovery , with NO audio output set. http://vertr.com/storage/fl.mp3
Try it out for yourself :rolleyes:.
es |
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