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Hello,

I am new to this forum and all the this vst piano stuff.

My problem is that I am totally unsattisfied with the sound quality of my vst pianos. It always sounds thin and tinny. There`s no pressure, no deepness, just a poor sound (it`s hard to describe).

I tried different instruments (Ravenscroft 275, Galaxy Vintage D and others) and compared my sound with videos on youtube. There are lots of demos played by users and mostly they sound very nice. I am not able to reproduce something like that with my setting.

I tried to modify velocity curves and other possiblee adjustments within the software (Kontakt/UVIWorkstation/Cubase) but it doesn`t change to overall character of the sound output.

My current setting is:

Kawai VPC1, connected via USB to the Mac
Steinberg UR22 audio interface
Yamaha HS7 monitors (no sub) connected via XLR to 6,3
Mac with 256MB SSD, 16GB RAM
Small room (12qm)

I don`t know what else I can do to improve the sound quality. Maybe I need other monitors/audio interface? My feeling is that the problem might be the Yamahas, but when listening to any other music these monitors sound very good to me. Maybe I have to do some others adjustments?

Any suggestions are much appreciated!

Greetz from Germany

A good first thing to try might be headphones, to see if the monitors or room acoustics are a problem.

With the VPC1 you don't need the audio interface. That may be the problem. Try plugging it in directly to your Mac USB, and connect your monitors to the computer line-in.

If it still sounds bad, try plugging headphones into the computer and see how it sounds. Usually headphones sound better, but if not with that set up, then you know it's something else. If so, then you know it's your monitors.

Why would you not need an audio interface with the VPC1? Isn't the interface what gives you those nice Asio drivers and doesn't it also improve the sound quality in some way?

I'd agree that the monitors and room can have a big impact on how it'll sound so that must be the reason. I'm trying out different monitors/speakers myself and some can make anything sound bad through the DP.

Does the type keyboard you're using have anything to do with the audio interface? I wouldn't have thought so. Surely it is to do with the computer you're using and, possibly, the type of software involved.

The VPC1, on the other hand, is just a midi trigger and has nothing to do with the audio side of the process.....unless I've completely misunderstood the VPC1, which is a distinct possibility!

The video demos sound good; so do those on your installation no doubt, through whatever setting you have. You may be overcritical of your own playing, expecting a better sound, or something akin to whatever you`ve been used to.

Try recording it and contrast with a digital piano recording. You will hear the difference; it will sound fine. Probably to anybody listening, it`ll also sound great. Just my thoughts from my own experience such as it is . . .

I didn't need an interface to use the vpc1 when I owned one. I was able to get great sound directly via USB from the VPC. I recommended removing it as a troubleshooting step to narrow down where the problem lies. I'm guessing the interface is unnecessary here.

Something doesn't make sense here.

Here is my concept of how this stuff interfaces.

The VPC1 (keyboard) connects to the computer via MIDI or USB.

When you press a key on the keyboard that keypress is transmitted to the VST software.

Then, the VST software transmits a "sound" which exits the computer via some plug, possibly a USB plug.

I have an audio interface connected to the computer at that "plug" and the "sound" is then transmitted through the audio interface and into a mixer and then out to the monitors.

The audio interface has nothing to do with the keyboard in my experience.

It sounds like you are picturing the audio interface connected between the VPC1 and the computer. That does not make sense to me.

That doesn't make sense to me either, which is why I stated the VPC should be plugged into the computer, just to be sure. I don't think the OP did specify (not that I saw) just how things were set up.

The Mac's onboard audio and a pair of ear/headphones should be good enough to at least test the sound produced by these packages.

Listen to the audio demos and YouTube clips, then compare with the piano software running on your Mac - it should sound largely the same, depending on the settings of the library.

Perhaps you send a recording of the sound you are hearing for us to check?

Best of luck,
James
x

Have a look at this ...
I'm showing a console piano, but picture the VPC1 in the same place.

I'm showing a laptop computer, but this applies equally to a desktop computer.

I'm showing an A/V receiver as an amplifier, and conventional home audio speakers. But active/amplified monitors could be used instead.

The diagram shows three methods of connection: a USB direct in blue (which the VPC1 supports), a MIDI-to-USB connection in green, and a straight MIDI in red. (The latter will require a computer MIDI interface, commonly provided by the audio interface.)

You might get away without using the audio interface ... if the computer sound card is adequate. The external audio interface may provide better quality sound ... but more importantly the reduction in latency it brings might be vital. It just depends on the characteristics of your computer and its sound card.

Morodienne: This won't work:The computer sound comes out the line out port, not the line in.

Nice diagram! And good catch, I meant the line out.

If the monitors and audio interface (they are both good, proven items) sound good for other people's piano recordings, they are not the problem.

You may need some EQ -- bass boost, maybe -- on your own VST's.

. . . Is it possible that something is badly set in your Kontakt player?

. . . Is is possible that you are feeding the right channel of stereo sound, from the VST, to both loudspeakers? That gives you a weak bass -- for piano, the left channel is for bass keys, the right channel is for treble keys.

A recording of your own VST's would be useful. Put one up on Soundcloud.com -- it's free.

. Charles

PS -- I trust headphones, more than I trust loudspeakers.

You can always run a compressor in your DAW during recording and it will make a world of difference. You can try download a demo of Ableton and it has lots selections of acoustic compressor and see if you are satisfy with the result.

Check that the monitors are properly connected, if one of them has the wires inverted (compared to the other) the sound would have a 180 degrees phase shift which would cause frequencyncancellation( mainly bass and mid-bass)

http://www.uaudio.com/blog/understanding-audio-phase/

A test with the headphone would help to confirm this, i.e. if the sound throughnthe headphones is OK then there is something worng with your speakers.

But that would affect, equally, his VST sound, and the sound of other recordings played back through the speakers.

. . . So it's unlikely to be the problem.

I have heard the effect -- low bass just disappears!

. Charles

I would advise to check your DAW as well, if you feel that it's really that much of a difference.
Since the speakers and sound card seems to reproduce YouTube examples etc fine, there much be something in the DAW.
You might also be outputting mono only, go through all the "wiring" in your DAW.

He didn't say that the problem is not happening with other recordings or other audio played through the same speakers, either

It sure sounds like a bad connection somewhere. Any time I've had this "tinny sound" kind of problem, it always turns out to be something that isn't making a good physical connection.

Hello,

sorry for my late reply and thanks a lot for all of your comments. I will start to check things out.

Today I tested the instruments with some new/old hardware.

1) Old setting: Yamahas + Steinberg UR22
2) RME Babyface Audio Interface + Tannoy Reveal 802 monitors
3) RME Babyface + Yamahas
4) Old Denon amp + Kennwood Speakers connected to onboard soundcard
5) Headphones

There are no major differeces regarding my feeling of a nice (perfect) sound but there are small differences between the interfaces and the monitors.

Best combination for me is the Babyface with the Yamahas. It sounds a bit more brilliant compared to the Tannoys/Steinberg AI, the Tannoys also produce a lot of noise in idle mode, so it`s not a good choice when looking for a nearfield monitor. Therefore I would exclude a monitor/interface problem. I tested with some headphones too (some cheap Speedlink), it makes no difference. Last I tested an old Denon amp with some older Kennwood Speakers and connected it to my soundcard (ALC892 codec) but with a bad result (latency was not to bad but the sound was horrible).

I recorded some piano samples using Cubase AI with UR22 vs. Babyface (Ravenscroft, Vintage D and IS Fazioli). I did`t change any sound setting within Kontakt/UVI Workstation. I realized that the recorded sounds are nicer compared to what I hear while playing. Maybe I have to look if the problem is somewhere here (within the Player/DAW). Anyway, what I recorded is less important to me.

So please let me know how it sounds to you! Maybe you can hear a differece between the interfaces and what my problem might be. I played the middle octave too, here you probably can hear the tinny/crouking sound of some notes (especially e, f) compared to the overall sound.

https://soundcloud.com/wickedwombat

In generel I think everythigs is connected properly. The Kawai goes via USB to the Mac. The Babyface goes via USB to the Mac. The monitors are connected to the Babyface via XLR male to XLR female.

Thanks again for your help.