I can believe myself...

[achile464]

The midi of this site with my soundfont sound nearly real.

But, if I convert the Kq6gm Midi in MP3 (or the too much long complete soundtrack) I will be obliged to cut it in half, if I want to make a CD.

When I will finish, can I send you an Mp3's Sample?

[Tom]

I'd love to hear a sample, if you can upload it to a server somewhere.  I can't imagine a Sound Blaster Soundfont sounding anywhere near as good as the MT-32 or Sound Canvas...or like 'real' instruments, for that matter.  I'll be curious to hear a sample.

[achile464]

I'll try to host it somewhere

I'll post a Laura Bow 2 Sample and a Space Quest 5 sample and maybe a SQ3GS with SFX sample

[Alistair]

Excellent, always up for listening for potentially good soundfonts.

- Alistair

[achile464]

Does someone can host me. Thank you

[Alistair]

Well, I'm at a bit of a crises in terms of servers, so I think this time it's on Tom..

- Alistair

[achile464]

I repost it here


http://midienmp3.bravehost.com/lsl3.wav
http://midienmp3.bravehost.com/sq3.wav
http://midienmp3.bravehost.com/sq5.wav

You can listen to it directly or rename it in mp3 extension

Good Listenning

[moturimi1]

Your link doesn't work.

[HondaSiR]

I repost it here


http://midienmp3.bravehost.com/lsl3.wav
http://midienmp3.bravehost.com/sq3.wav
http://midienmp3.bravehost.com/sq5.wav

You can listen to it directly or rename it in mp3 extension

Good Listenning

I've had a listen to the samples even before the hack attack. All I can say is, its not as good as a real MT-32 or Sound Canvas. I definitely don't want to play/walkthrough a game using DLS when I have already heard it through an SCB-55 or MT-32.

[Tom]

I couldn't get it to work, either...

[achile464]

I will host it on SF2-mid website later when the upload will work

But in the meantime here is the temporaly site

http://sierramid.bravehost.com/lsl3.mid
http://sierramid.bravehost.com/sq3.mid
http://sierramid.bravehost.com/sq5.mid

Rename it in rar and uncompress it with winrar


Sorry for the inconvenience.

[moturimi1]

I will host it on SF2-mid website later when the upload will work.
http://sierramid.bravehost.com/lsl3.mid
http://sierramid.bravehost.com/sq3.mid
http://sierramid.bravehost.com/sq5.mid

I just recorded the LSL3 and SQ5 file with my SD-90 sound module.
Compare them with your files and you will see yours doesn't sound as good. And I have to admit I recorded the midi with a soundmodule the midi file wasn't composed for.

Download the files here: (called LSL3.mp3 and SQ5.mp3)
http://service.gmx.net/mc/AcAyCkWkg9QknSbNMFj5YL3zA3dlSo

Click on the link and on "GMX Mediacenter starten"

[achile464]

Not bad, the drum and the sax. But the brass are awful (I admit). The only advantage of the Module who dosen't take soundfont It cost not RAM for the quality. Much more the SF is bigger, much more the quality is high.

[HondaSiR]

The only advantage of the Module who dosen't take soundfont It cost not RAM for the quality.

Errr, you lost me on this one. Can you elaborate further? My english is not that good as of now.

Much more the SF is bigger, much more the quality is high.

What do you mean the Soundfont is bigger? Bigger than what? And the quality is higher than what?

[Alistair]

I understand perfectly.. the larger the quality and size of the samples used in the soundfont, the larger the soundfont itself, and thus the more RAM used in the 'loading' of the soundfont file.

Soundfonts are a Catch-22.. not everyone has 512 MB of DD Ram, which is about what you need to run any kind of decent soundfont, and run it without lag.
At any rate, all I'd ever use soundfonts for is what I use any non Roland-module for.. backing tracks. Nice instruments here and there. I should do that, in fact..

- Alistair

[moturimi1]

@HondaSiR and @Alistair

Or much easier:

The bigger the soundfont the better it is. But how can only some good instruments help me if the soundfont is not good balanced.
Of course if you want to compose some songs, the balance won't be a problem. But when playing some mid files from the net.
There are only few free soundfonts that have a good balance. e.g. Shan's SGM-180 v1.5 GM soundfont.

@achile464:

For me the overall sound of my soundmodule(s) is much better than the sound of the soundfont you use.
And I don't think the Trumpet sounds that bad in comparison to your file. But that's only my opinion.

[HondaSiR]

Balance is the key word here when it comes to playing MIDI files using the best DLS sounds one can find. No matter how large the sound font, I still don't think it comes close to the overall good balance of good old  hardware. Ask any musician out there worth his salt and all of them will still go for the cards or modules over some DLS download or purchase. I don't mean to trample over this software technology but for now, even the best DLS sounds on the planet is still no match for the almost 20 year old MT-32 and SC-55.

[Tom]

It seems that good balance between synths is an unachievable goal these days.  It's like there are no standards anymore.  It's less frustrating using hardware you're familiar with...and have been using for a while...than trying to constantly work with new sounds from a variety of sources.  I'm still learning to use the SC-8820 properly.  I was used to the attack and decay of most MT-32 sounds, so I could balance sounds relatively quickly.  The more devices you throw into the mix though, the more difficult it becomes.  The only time I used soundfonts for composing, I gave up on it.  Seemed like each time I'd use the same instrument in a soundfont, it was a little different  when played against my other hardware sounds.  

One that always erks me is French horn; it really differs among sinces in attack.  Though, maybe I'm too impatient and haven't given soundfonts a fair shake.  Most of the time, however, this hasn't really been a big proplem when converting MIDI from one device to another...not usually.  I find it more frustrating when I'm composing.  I will sometimes write a piece anticipating a specific instrument to be added later, only to find it doesn't work properly against the existing sounds the way I was hoping -- not because of the tone of the instrument, but because of the way the instrument is played on the the device...the balance is altered.

But I think I got sidetracked off into left field....though it's refreshing to read someone else's coments about balance.

[achile464]

The other problem with soundfont is the variation of the instrument. I'll take an typical example. When you play a church organ, you be sure to have a set of variation. But soundfont can only reproduce one typical sound even if you push harder or softer on the note (make it Piano or Forte). I don't know with other module like MT-32 or SC-88 but something I been sure at 100% is no one can reproduce perfectly what an orchestra or other band in real can do.

[Tom]

Roland gear (basically all I'm really familiar with) has wonderful velocity sensitivity, for most instruments.  Though the example of an organ isn't really fair....since organs aren't a velocity sensitive instrument.  But in general, Roland hardware synths will vary greatly in sound based on velocity.  Using most keyboard sounds, piano and forte are kind of ... okay on the SC-8820; might be better with newer Roland devices, but it does provide enough variance in volume and softness to 'fake it'.    

I've heard some Roland musicians that do a great job making you believe a MIDI device is "real", but it's not the norm.  Some television shows (which often use a lot of MIDI in creating soundtracks) can often come across as the real thing, but they're using only the best MIDI gear.

The best thing about MIDI is....I can now play a variety of instruments and create music that I would never be able to do on the real things.    :smt020