Will getting a new sound card fix my midi quality? 2008-03-14 03:17 am So i know there is already a topic titled Sound Card, but after reading through all of the posts, I am still a little confused. My computer is about a year old now and I am assuming it is just running on a standard built in sound card. As you can probably guess, my midi sounds awful; worse than my older computer which was running on windos 95. I am running on vista now so i was hoping that with time, perhaps standard midi would have improved. Anyways my question is will adding a new sound card increase the quality of my midi? If so are there any recommendations? I have heard yes, no, maybe and really i don't want to invest any money into something that won't work. Also, something i noticed with the current sound card thats built in is that it seems to not be able to handle more than 12 staves running at one time. The music I write is usually fully notated with close to 15 staves, give or take, but when i try to play back what i have written, some of the staves don't play, while others chop the ends of notes off creating a wonderful staccato effect when i don't want it. I am assuming that this is also because of the low quality sound card, but not sure. Any help here would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advnace!-Rob Quote Selected
Re: Will getting a new sound card fix my midi quality? Reply #1 – 2008-03-14 03:53 am G'day Rob,the quality of the sound card has a direct impact on the quality of the sound reproduced, but this does not necessarily mean that a new sound card will fix the problem you're having.NWC outputs to a MIDI device of some kind. It can be:A MIDI port that is connected to some external device that eventually winds up at a synthesizer somewhereA synthesizer that is inside your PCIn the latter case it could be:A software synthA hardware synthBy default, you are using a software synth supplied with vista. It uses sounds licenced from Roland and is, frankly, pretty crappy.There are a lot of alternatives but the easiest is probably what I suggested in the other thread: Get yourself a Creative X-Fi "Extreme Gamer" (NOT the extreme music) and then go hunting for sound fonts that you like.The Creative card comes with some sound fonts but they are pretty basic, not really much better than the standard vista noises, but www.hammersound.net does have some good GM sets that might be acceptable.Remember to select the creative hardware synth from inside NWC or it won't help... Quote Selected
Re: Will getting a new sound card fix my midi quality? Reply #2 – 2008-03-14 09:42 am And do not forget that the quality of sound is no better than your speakers can reproduce. The built in speakers in a typical PC set up are very basic. If you only want to hear what you have written in order to edit or correct it then a farrly inexpensive system such as the Trust 3550 will suffice, but if you want Hi Fi quality then you will have to look at linking with your Hi-Fi system. My apologies if you know this already!Tony . Quote Selected
Re: Will getting a new sound card fix my midi quality? Reply #3 – 2008-03-15 12:59 am Before spending money on speakers, see if the sound is reasonably good with headphones, if you have some lying around. Quote Selected
Re:Midi IN-PORT DOESN'T WORK ON my Concertmate 900 keyboard Reply #4 – 2008-06-01 12:05 am Quote from: Rmaucere – 2008-03-14 03:17 amSo i know there is already a topic titled Sound Card, but after reading through all of the posts, I am still a little confused. My computer is about a year old now and I am assuming it is just running on a standard built in sound card. As you can probably guess, my midi sounds awful; worse than my older computer which was running on windos 95. I am running on vista now so i was hoping that with time, perhaps standard midi would have improved. Anyways my question is will adding a new sound card increase the quality of my midi? If so are there any recommendations? I have heard yes, no, maybe and really i don't want to invest any money into something that won't work. Also, something i noticed with the current sound card thats built in is that it seems to not be able to handle more than 12 staves running at one time. The music I write is usually fully notated with close to 15 staves, give or take, but when i try to play back what i have written, some of the staves don't play, while others chop the ends of notes off creating a wonderful staccato effect when i don't want it. I am assuming that this is also because of the low quality sound card, but not sure. Any help here would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advnace!-Rob Dear Rob, Maybe you can help me also and vice versa, My In-port doesn't work on my Concertmate 900 keyboard. I have 2- MIDI cables-TurtleBeach and a regular USB-MIDI CABLE. both work well. But on both the IN-PORT DOESN'T WORK when I test the midi cables . Only simulates the keyboard. I have several cd-midi programs which work well, but only the IN-PORT DOESN'S WORK ON ALL THE PROGRAMS. Maybe it is the Sound CARD, on my Dell Demsion B1100 OS XP- mine is 3-year-sold. Could it also be the configuration of the programs or settings on my Dell pc.? I am a beginner-intermediate self- taught organsit, piano, keyboardist. Who is learning to play chords and notes on my Concertmate 900. Also have an Estey/Freedom II spinnet organ. Learned to ez-play, easy piano & organ songsbooks. A Lowrey Magic Course for organ playing reinforced my reading chords, etc.. You are more experienced in using the Midi than I am, the first time I had it working great. Then I was called away on a family matter, came back, NOW LOST the program. I had to put my pc back to a clean start- factory settings. I also have a special MIDI cables for the Concertmate from Radio Shack, I used once. I have to try again.Back to BASE ONE.I hope I helped you some, could you give some advice on my midi cable usage on my pcalso. Thank you,Sincerely Yours,KatyAnnRose55 Kathleen Gleeson Quote Selected
Re: Have solved Midi problem finally, with upgraded Vista works!! Reply #5 – 2009-01-22 02:21 am I finally have my Midi cable with my upgraded DELL Demsion B110 with Vista SOLVED!!! After testing the Midi cables on my nephew's friend's Casio keyboard with my Dell Demsion B1100 upgraded to Vista it turned out to be the IN/OUT Ports of my Concertmate were not working right. So for Christmas 2008 I was given a Yamaha YPT-210 Beginner Music keyboard from my sister. It was on sale I read the reviews it was given GOOD!! and made it my choice to get. I am still reading up on the midi cable use. I will keep the Concertmate990 and use it as spare and someday get it fixed. It stills plays very good. I am able to learn from my pc music lessons, after practicing and learning the keys better.Everything agrees on my Dell Demsion B1100 upgraded to VISTA SYSTEM so far..Thanks to all who gave me advice.KathleenKatyAnnRose55kathygleeson51@yahoo.com Quote Selected
Re: Will getting a new sound card fix my midi quality? Reply #6 – 2009-01-22 02:39 am G'day KatyAnn,I'm pleased you've got your problems sorted out - and a new keyboard for a pressie too - bonus!I am not familiar with the keyboard (any of them for that matter) but given it's a Yamaha I would expect it to have a pretty good sound set. Quote Selected
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