Why does my Giga 4 piano samples sound way better thru my headphones than thru speakers?

How do other Giga instruments sound though the speakers?

I have a few Sampletekk pianos - but in Kontakt format - and they sound just fine through speakers.

Do you have another sampler that plays Giga format, that you could test with?

Get better sperakers and tune your room. Then come back. Yuor room (enviroment) needs to be acosutically tuned.
also, headphoens take out the room (enviroment) and what your hearing is the audio only without any reflections form the walls and other things in your room
Cj

Better speakers sound like an obvious answer, but
all the replies forgot the important point:

The downloaded Sampletekk piano demos sound fine through those same speakers. Are they somehow edited ?? Or are they auditioned with Windows Media Player and the integrated soundcard or something??

JonD


Clearly the problem is not his room or the speakers.  (He says all other music played through the same speakers and room sound fine).

I think the issue is how those Sampletekk piano files are being translated through Giga4.  Try this: download the demo from one of these other Giga format players:

http://www.samplelord.com/index.php?page=demo

http://www.soundlib.com/gplayer/

(I would first create a backup image or system restore point just to be cautious).  Import the Sampletekk files into the player and see if it sounds any better.  Keep us posted.

Jon, if that were the case then it would stand to reason that the same Sampletekk Piano's would sound bad on headphones also. The variable here isn't the player (that's remaining the same), it's the playback device (speakers or headphones).

Well, I thought I'd look up the Yamaha S8M, since I wasn't familiar with them, and found this very interesting (and similar) thread from 2004:

http://www.northernsounds...index.php/t-24207.html

JonD


How do other Giga instruments sound though the speakers?

I have a few Sampletekk pianos - but in Kontakt format - and they sound just fine through speakers.

Do you have another sampler that plays Giga format, that you could test with?

Hi Jon,

I just use the piano samples, mostly from Sampletekk but also an E/W.   It is remarkable how excellent these pianos sound thru headphones, and so bad thru my amp & speakers I won't play for anyone thru them!  They sound weak & thin if I were to describe it in a few words.   It's a mystery for sure and it's been this way for years, so I just play w/ headphones.

Even after reading the other thread (with some very valid theories) I still think the problem is with the Giga samples - either the playback or translation.  Especially since you say everything else sounds fine through the same amp/speakers.

I would first try one of the other Giga player demos that I linked to earlier, just to rule the giga translation issue out.

To answer your question, Kontakt (now up to version 4) is the "standard" for samplers.  It can even import Giga format, though with mixed results.  If you decide to go that route, I believe Native Instruments has a crossgrade offer, so by having Giga4 you'd be able to save a bit off the retail price.

Let us know how it turns out.

Yes Craig & Jon, 'artificial' is a good descriptor of what I am experiencing, as well as lacking punch, so it could be more than one issue.  I kinda think this makes sense, that it's not in the translation because again thru headphones it's wonderful.   But it's worth seeing so I'll check on trying some of the other Giga player demos etc.

No matter what volume I am playing at, the pianos sound really awful thru speakers! They sound fantastic and good enough for recording thru the headphones. And yet, if I play downloaded sampletekk piano demos they sound just fine thru the same speakers!

I doubt it's a speaker or acoustical problem. Maybe a MIDI feedback loop? I know that can cause those symptoms on a hardware synth, but I don't how that might translate to a soft synth.

JonD


Clearly the problem is not his room or the speakers.  (He says all other music played through the same speakers and room sound fine).

I think the issue is how those Sampletekk piano files are being translated through Giga4.  Try this: download the demo from one of these other Giga format players:

http://www.samplelord.com/index.php?page=demo

http://www.soundlib.com/gplayer/

(I would first create a backup image or system restore point just to be cautious).  Import the Sampletekk files into the player and see if it sounds any better.  Keep us posted.

Jon, I installed SampleLord demo and it sounds better to me. more natural.  It's missing effects, and the latency is beyond terrible, but the notes themselves sound more like an acoustic piano than in Giga4 w/ or w/o effects.  I don't think that this is specific to Giga 4 since I had Giga 2.5 and 3 and each had this issue.   Do you know if I can try a sample of something more potent that can read Giga files such as Kontakt, or for which Sampletekk could give me a deal on a crossgrade?  I'm beginning to think Giga just doesn't play well w/ Sampletekk, whatever the cause.

And as long as I'm on this topic:  since I am 99% piano player, which do you think is superior (defined mostly as the best recordable piano), Synthogy or some other standalone piano, or Kontakt?

Hi Noel,
 
Piano sound is such a subjective thing... That said, this one has gotten surprisingly good reviews given its low(-ish) price: 
 
http://www.acoustica.com/pianissimo/index.htm
 
 

Maybe a stupid suggestion but still..... Don't know the setup you are usin, but the audio interface from my laptop lets me setup my headphone sound different than my speaker sound...... SO are you sure it has nothing to do with your setting?

Rudo

Rudo


Maybe a stupid suggestion but still..... Don't know the setup you are usin, but the audio interface from my laptop lets me setup my headphone sound different than my speaker sound...... SO are you sure it has nothing to do with your setting?

Rudo

No I am not sure of anything Rudo.  I really don't know anything about setting up midi/audio studios!   

I flipped wires on each speaker separately, then together, and it seems a little better.   I also played some with stereo field width I guess it is, in Giga 4, and narrowed the field from 100% to 60% or so, and between that and aiming my speakers in many different ways to find the best sound, I can say it does definitely sound better, in fact not bad at all!  But what I think I am noticing is quite simply:  there just aren't enough speakers in this room, among other things.  I am listening to sound 4' from my ears (aimed in different ways including up to the ceiling bouncing off and straight down into the carpet), coming from a cone, and this is not the same thing as having sound spring organically out of a piano sound board!  I'm sure a better amp, speakers and all of the other suggestions would add significant improvement. 

I think what I'm really hoping to do is make my room sound as close to what I hear in my phones as possible.  I can still say, it's not there at all yet, even with these improvements.  I guess maybe now Giga 4 w/ Sampletekk piano has gone from a 3 to a 5 out of my speakers, which is quite significant, but still falls short of the 9.5 out the phones.   But as I ponder this, the entire spectrum is coming out of a tiny speaker at point blank range to my ear drum, and that is a very physically different thing than sound coming from speakers 4 feet away, into a the tiny tunnel that is my eardrum.   I can tell already and I'm no audio engineer, getting any software piano to duplicate this through speakers in a room will take some serious trickery--pull out all the stops both electronically & acoustically!

Thanks, it's been a help