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Survey (This is an informal experiment I am conducting to see what people think of various tones used in the samples below.) One melody using a MIDI file* played through a variety of piano software plug-ins. __________________________ Sound files located here: 1. Choose the top five 2. Order from 1-5 best to worst 3. Choose one that is the overall worst sounding Your selection results should have 6 total each: the top five (#1-#5) and the overall worst (#6). __________________________ You may notice some variables in atmosphere between different examples. I did not spend a lot of time attempting to make this a level playing field but I did avoid relatively significant differences. The survey is focused on the sounds you prefer rather than making it about one plug-in vs. other plug-ins. Eventually, responses may reveal opinions of certain products by accident as I am withholding the software used in each example. Also, volume levels are inconsistent so you will need to compensate with your volume adjustment when listening to a few. Note: I may have made this more difficult by having so many examples (18) to choose from. Just run through them taking note of your impressions. Make a couple of passes if necessary listening, making notes and eliminating. Then from what is left decide how to rate them. Tip: When on the Soundcloud page do not double-click on any files. Instead, hover your mouse cursor over the first file and click on the play arrow from there. This will trigger the first file to play and each will automatically play when the previous file has ended. =>Note: You should see the letter of the file that is playing at the top of your browser or tab label. When the last file ends it does not necessarily go back to the first file automatically. For some reason it can become random. Thank you for participating! *Forum member Allan Wang originally performed this melody for another thread question. I thought the piece worked really well to show off characteristics in software piano plug-ins. Thanks Allan! EDIT Sound sources revealed here: EDIT Correction made in one file ID Sound Sources: "Custom EQ/Processing" generally involved adjustment of tone (usually to brighten) and/or adding some reverb. A: Galaxy The Giant Pop preset -custom EQ/Processing B: Native Instruments Berlin Mood -custom EQ/Processing C: Garageband Grand Piano with custom EQ/Processing D: Galaxy Vintage D with custom EQ/Processing <= Note Correction** E: 8DIO Legacy Grand Player Mic Hi F: Native Instruments New York Production with custom EQ G: Galaxy The Giant Vibrant preset H: Native Instruments Upright with custom EQ/Processing I: Galaxy The Giant Upright preset J: Galaxy The Giant Hard & Tough preset K: Native Instruments New York Showcase with custom EQ/Processing L: Galaxy The Giant Pop preset M: 8DIO Legacy Grand Close Mic Hi N: Ivory II American Concert D O: Imperfect Samples Fazioli P: Imperfect Samples Steinway Q: Steinberg HalionSonic Bright Acoustic Grand with custom EQ/Processing R: Steinberg HalionSonic Acoustic Grand with custom EQ/Processing **Please note correction: I incorrectly identified a sound source D as Garageband/Pianoteq when D is Galaxy Vintage D with custom EQ/Processing. How? When I originally created the DAW working files I pretty much stuck with one product then moved on. Sometimes I went back to rework something or to dig through additional presets. I created several DAW project files. I could not use one for all of this because it taxed my system. When I was ready to make mp3s I opened the projects and exported sound files naming them A-P. I made notes on an index card. Initially, the designated letters of the mp3 files showed a pattern as they were grouped together according to the software. The final step in the process was renaming the files to shuffle the sequence to make it random. I manually randomized the sequence making additional notations in my notes. Many people said 18 files were too many. I had more that I did not include. I misread my notes thinking I had uploaded the Garageband/Pianoteq file. I thought of using HalionSonic after I had completed and uploaded the others to SoundCloud. With 18 files, having a couple made with the same product next to each other would not matter. I ended up with both HalionSonic files (Q&R) back to back at the end. Sorry 
Last edited by o0Ampy0o; 02/18/13 09:27 PM.
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So hard to compare different pianos when they have different reverb situations...
These things are always fun, though.
Last edited by gvfarns; 02/09/13 11:15 PM.
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True, that is why I made this a question of what sounds better to you rather than any attempt to choose the better plug-in itself.
It may help if you ignore the possibility that each is a different plug-in and just think of each as a different preset.
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Cool. I'll put my opinions in a spoiler window so it doesn't affect anyone's opinion before they do the test.
Plugins I like:
1. D
2. C
3. J
4. L
I couldn't really pick a fifth favorite. I thought P, A, B, E, and G were more or less in the running.
As for plugins I don't like:
F -- Total lack of detail and bass sounded horrible.
R -- recording seems broken. Super far away and almost under water. Possibly a change of presets might help this one. Q was the same way but not as bad.
N -- Actually the tone was ok but there was very little tonal variety. It would be a bit frustrating to play, I imagine.
Unfortunately these types of blind experiments often don't get a lot of takers. Still, I'll be interested to see what other people think, and of course to find out the identities.
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G first
L second I could probably swap the ranking on G and L. I liked both.
D third
J fourth
A fifth A bit too bright for me, but better than the next thirteen choices.
Q worst Horribly thin. Sounds a bit like my Clav. Not good.
Note: "C" is also pretty bad. It's hard to decide which I dislike more: "Q" for its thinness or "C" for its thin but muffled sound. I also disliked "I".
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Your head spins with so much choice but, sticking to your rules for bare life, I thought the best four:
j' big lively sound
g' big engulfing powerful
c' strong clear
k' pretty and nice detail
and worst:
i' tinny and sounds as if it's on the other side of a broom cupboard - h' was nearly as bad.
Roland HP 302 / Samson Graphite 49 / Akai EWI
Reaper / Native Instruments K9 ult / ESQL MOR2 Symph Orchestra & Choirs / Lucato & Parravicini , trumpets & saxes / Garritan CFX lite / Production Voices C7 & Steinway D compact
Focusrite Saffire 24 / W7, i7 4770, 16GB / MXL V67g / Yamaha HS7s / HD598
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...since we're allowed 5 good ones, I also think D is one of the best, all round. And because it is relatively pure, I used this (D) and 'A' as references for the others.
ps - interesting to see some coincidences between members' choices here. When will the names be revealed?
Last edited by toddy; 02/10/13 09:10 AM.
Roland HP 302 / Samson Graphite 49 / Akai EWI
Reaper / Native Instruments K9 ult / ESQL MOR2 Symph Orchestra & Choirs / Lucato & Parravicini , trumpets & saxes / Garritan CFX lite / Production Voices C7 & Steinway D compact
Focusrite Saffire 24 / W7, i7 4770, 16GB / MXL V67g / Yamaha HS7s / HD598
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When will the names be revealed? I'd like people to have a chance to participate before revealing what each tone is. Maybe in a week or two. Plenty of people have viewed the thread.........I know I put up a lot of choices........I hoped the instructions to simplify the process would make things more appealing.
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1. B (Steinway?)
2. C (Bösendorfer?)
3. D (Steinway? Fazioli?)
4. L
5. M
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6, Worst: Q, R, H in this order, all three bad enough
Nice Job, Ampy, by the way, particularly after Purgatorycreek seemed to be dead since a while.
Last edited by Temperament; 02/11/13 04:40 PM.
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Very difficult and dangerous comparison. If you would ask the same thing about wine ; people really don't recall the exact taste of the glass nr 1 , when they are at number 3 or 4 . Also the judgement will be colored in respect to the other samples you hear, because you hear differences "in relation" to the other sounds, not completely on it's isolated own. It will be quite easy to distinguish the best ones from the real bad ones, but in the middle range it is very hard and may even vary when you listen at different times, under different circumstances and in relation to other samples than before.
Therefore I hope it will not be a 'contest' to decide what's the best sound; it's not unbiased and scientifically correct setup to determine that. Due to the human factor 'taste' that's also not possible. The reason I say this, is because readers might take the final outcome (with real product names) for granted and once it's out on the web it starts leading it's own live and may mislead readers into thinking product A is better than product B, because these results say so. Turning on or off a (bad ? ) reverb on one sound and not on the other can already completely distort judgement.
So..that's of my chest; now I must confess the test is interesting and I will try to do it later on and I applaud the effort ! Just hope it will not be a naming game in the end , without taking into account the samples may be too different in settings and the test too unscientific to make a pure unbiased judgement.
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JFP,
I agree with your feelings about the potential confusion and outcome of a survey like this. That is why I have set up the rules to eliminate the large middle range between the best and worst. It is not even that important to order the top five, just picking the best 5 out of 18 and a worst would work. This survey is about the sounds you like and dislike the most, not about the software.......yet it will be interesting for people to see what is what.
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OK , that's fine then. When I find the time, I'll add my list...
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Before looking at anyone's post, I picked D as number one. It sounded really usable. That said, settings make a world of difference, so it may be it just had the most pleasing setting. I couldn't use any of the settings...too much dreamy reverb in them all, so I had to listen "through" that to discern the underlying tone. Still, very entertaining and interesting. This must have taken some time and effort, thanks for posting it. I look forward to the big reveal!
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would spend money for it:
L
G
C
maybe for adding an alternative sound to my DP, if I could get it free of costs, sounds do almost reach the quality of my Roland SN:
H, J, N, R, K
better than nothing:
many
sounds already unacceptable like in a 300$ toy piano:
E, I
worst of all:
A, F,
Last edited by Marco M; 02/12/13 01:56 PM. Reason: EDIT: found all the samples and thus have had to repeat my test
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I didn't listen to them all, sorry, started to go mad!
Best B,C,D,E,G (maybe D and G top)
Next H,J
Dreadful A, F, I
Madness descending ...
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I'm interested in the results. For me to pick though, I would need something simpler, such as chords, bass and treble notes hitting octaves, repeating with different pedal pressures. These are the kind of things I do before playing actual music, to determine the intimacy the sound creates.
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I only find letters A to J, don´t know where you picked up the other letters??? Hit Refresh/Reload to reload the page. It seems that the entire page did not make it to your browser.
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Hi, Blind tests... I like blind tests  Promise I've taken the test before seeing what others were answering for not being influenced by others responses: Best: D, L, B, N, C Worst: Q Anyway, is very hard to compare 18 different piano sounds. Regards, Kurt.-
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I only find letters A to J, don´t know where you picked up the other letters??? Hit Refresh/Reload to reload the page. It seems that the entire page did not make it to your browser. I stupidly mised to see the scroll bar on the right: yes there are letters A to R. So I will repeat my test including the other samples as well, ...but this will take some time, maybe 2 days until I found time for it. UPDATE: I repeated my test listening now to all samples, and subsequently edited my former post to only show my final findings
Last edited by Marco M; 02/12/13 01:59 PM. Reason: UPDATE of information
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Upon re-listening to the samples I'm beginning to think the most (but not all) of these samples are really the same piano, but with different tone/timber/hammer adjustments.
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