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Topic: sound card disaster (Read 6963 times) previous topic - next topic

sound card disaster

I have a new computer which came with a Sound Blaster 64V PCL card. While there is a great deal more presence to the sound than what I had from my old card, it's representation of the French horn sound is terrible. It sounds like a very loud muted trumpet. I am almost afraid to try other sounds for fear of what I may get. This is most distressing since I'm a horn player myself. Is it possible to tweak the card in any way or do I have to buy a different one. I usually
use Noteworthy's playback function just as a "spellcheck" for notation errors but I don't think I can live with such an obviously wrong interpretation of a sound. Other than that, though, Noteworthy has never sounded better.

Eric James

Re: sound card disaster

Reply #1 –
Do I take it from teh name of the card that it is all but a Creative Soundblaster product? I've never heard of this one... Does it support soundfonts? If yes then go to www.listento.Hammersound and have fun. If not....

Re: sound card disaster

Reply #2 –
I checked the creative website and can't figure out which card you have. I'm guessing you mean 64 Voice PCI card.
In the meantime, change your patch for the horn part to bassoon. Then you won't be comparing it to the sound you know and love. Also, seriously, if your using regular little PC speakers, try hooking it up to your stereo, or even a large boombox. I use a couple of little Advent speakers (RS 2000 for you audiophiles). What a difference good speakers make

Re: sound card disaster

Reply #3 –
I think that the PCI 64 uses wavesets like the PCI 128 that I have. If this is the case, make sure you are using the 8Mb waveset rather than the 4Mb or 2Mb versions. Bigger means better. I find the french horn sound quite reasonable on the PCI 128.

I also use the playback facility mainly for proof reading (proof listening?) and duff sound reproduction can be frustrating - was that a consecutive fifth or just the sound card honking?

Stephen Randall

Re: sound card disaster

Reply #4 –
I have a SB PCI 128 and a LIVE! Platinum card, and I find that generally speaking, the 128 is a very decent card. It's main limitation is not the hardware itself, but the apperant lack of support by Creative/Equisonic. It, like it's counterpart PCI 64, comes with 2, 4 and 8 meg wavesets. They don't seem to plan on EVER releasing any larger wavesets, so if you can't live with the somewhat unrealistic sound emulation I would recommend the Live! Value for your $. It's around $40 if you buy online (try pricewatch.com), and has around 90% of the features of a Live! standard. This card, unlike the PCI 64/128 family, has substantial large-soundfont support that can be found for free on the web. For general Midi, I recommend the 28MB "unison.sf2", which can be found for free download in numerous places (try an "FTP search").

If you would like to contact me, you can do so through this e-mail form: "http://www.geocities.com/anti_trnd/page2.html"

-Chris <><