Can anyone recommend a REALLY good sounding soundfont? (sf2)

2007-05-16 04:34 pm

Finding quality soundfonts on the web is nearly impossible! I have found some nice ones on Hammersound.net and also on Personalcopy.com. I've had good results with pc51d.sf2 (57meg) and MagicSFver2.sf2. (69meg) Never got Fluid to work with my card. Realfont 2.1 works but is pretty glitchy. Pretty much any soundfont over 100megs in size becomes unstable. I have a feeling that the soundfonts you pay for aren't much better than some of the free ones. (though I haven't actually bought any yet)

Can anyone recommend any sites worth checking out?

If you're interested you can check out some of my work here:
http://myspace.com/rogerleighton

Thanks for any info you can provide!
Roger

FYI: I am using a Soundblaster Live! 24 bit card with Noteworthy Composer 1.75b

Re: Can anyone recommend a REALLY good sounding soundfont? (sf2)

Reply #1 – 2007-05-16 10:30 pm

G'day Roger,
I agree. The real problem, however, is expectations.

E.G. I have been so frustrated looking for soundfonts that contain what I consider real sounding brass that I've actually given up. I am relatively happy with the overall sounds in the Yamaha S-YXG50 softsynth but this is no longer available and AFAIK won't work on vista anyhow... Gonna delay my up(?)grade to that os indefinitely.

I have found what I consider a reasonable alternative in the "Airfont 340" soundfont which I run in my Audigy's synth "A"

Barry put me onto the diminutive 8Mb Chaos font which I have in synth "B" - this font has great Saxes. It's generally pretty good for jazz work.

The real answer may lie in not 1, but many soundfonts. Load up the sounds you want from several fonts - the SB will let you do this, but keep track of 'em and their sources - if you update your SB drivers you will lose the config and have to re-enter it.

To get close to achieving the results you seek I suspect that you may have to delve into the world of VST instruments. I have no experience in this yet so I canot make any suggestions. One user on the NG is purchasing Garritan Personal Orchestra. I will be very interested to read reports of his results.

Re: Can anyone recommend a REALLY good sounding soundfont? (sf2)

Reply #2 – 2007-05-17 02:02 am

I'd have to go with the Yamaha S-YXG50 softsynth if your doing more modern music, as it specializes on drums and guitars. soundblaster has some good synths but thus far i haven't found anything better than microsofts default for classical sounds