is sf2 lower audio quality than 16/44.1 wave?
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- KVRian
- 500 posts since 13 Oct, 2004 from Durham, NC USA
Soundfont v2.1 spec supports different sample rates but not different bit depths: only 16-bit samples are supported. Is there a new version?
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- KVRAF
- 19156 posts since 13 Feb, 2003 from Vancouver, Canada
Creative is featuring 24-bit as a new feature of the X-fi breed.
Maybe it's up to the card?
I don't know if that conclusively means that pre-X-fi formats do not support 24-bit...I couldn't find a definitive answer on Creative's site; they provided a far-too-detailed Soundfont spec pdf that didn't seem to even cover the topic.www.soundblaster.com wrote:Technical Specs
24-bit Analog-to-Digital conversion of analog inputs at 96kHz sample rate
24-bit Digital-to-Analog conversion of digital sources at 96kHz to analog 7.1 speaker output
24-bit Digital-to-Analog conversion of stereo digital sources at 192kHz to stereo output
16-bit to 24-bit recording sampling rates: 8, 11.025, 16, 22.05, 24, 32, 44.1, 48 and 96kHz
ASIO 2.0 support at 16-bit/44.1kHz, 16-bit/48kHz, 24-bit/44.1kHz 24-bit/48kHz and 24-bit/96kHz with direct monitoring.
Enhanced SoundFont support of up to 24-bit resolution
64MB of X-RAM
Maybe it's up to the card?
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- KVRian
- 500 posts since 13 Oct, 2004 from Durham, NC USA
Well, there needs to be a new format for the file for it to work. .sf2 file doesn't have a 16 in it anywhere to indicate that samples are 16-bit -- it's assumed.
Now, a soundfont PLAYER can have 24-bit resolution internally and on output: take a number of 16-bit samples and mix them (with varying gains) and you have more than 16 significant bits. But I don't know whether that's what they mean.
Still, if they don't publish the details for the soundfont file format, nobody will be able to produce 24-bit sf files. Maybe if I search x-fi I'll get more details.
I've written code to build soundfonts and I've been over the sf 2.1 spec with a fine tooth comb, made a note of the errors, etc. The section on waveform data is quite clear: samples are stored as 16-bit values. No option. 24-bit samples are NOT supported.
.sfz format does support 24-bit samples, since the format of the samples is explicitly encoded in the wave (or ogg) files.
Now, a soundfont PLAYER can have 24-bit resolution internally and on output: take a number of 16-bit samples and mix them (with varying gains) and you have more than 16 significant bits. But I don't know whether that's what they mean.
Still, if they don't publish the details for the soundfont file format, nobody will be able to produce 24-bit sf files. Maybe if I search x-fi I'll get more details.
I've written code to build soundfonts and I've been over the sf 2.1 spec with a fine tooth comb, made a note of the errors, etc. The section on waveform data is quite clear: samples are stored as 16-bit values. No option. 24-bit samples are NOT supported.
.sfz format does support 24-bit samples, since the format of the samples is explicitly encoded in the wave (or ogg) files.