KVR Audio

Moe Shinola · Post by **Moe Shinola** » Tue Nov 23, 2004 3:55 pm

I use Sonar3PE and I keep seeing posts from people who say that Cubase just sounds better. The reason I ask this is I've been playing with my VSampler DXi and it sounds so good! The clarity and crispness jumps right out at you. I can't recall having the same reaction playing back tracks in Sonar. Maybe Cakewalk should just use the Maz audio engine.
So that's why I ask about the sound itself(not the features; there's another thread about that and it's getting pretty long). I hope someone who's used both a lot can weigh in on this.

daverich · Post by **daverich** » Tue Nov 23, 2004 4:01 pm

there's no difference.

It's been proved time and time and time and time again with very extensive tests and they pretty much always null out (aside from some rewire anomlies which can cause some subtle differences)

Kind regards

Dave Rich.

Stupid American Pig · Post by **Stupid American Pig** » Tue Nov 23, 2004 4:04 pm

well you could listen to what people say on forums and take it seriously, or you could just realize that its all shite, and while there may be differences, they are most likely due to how levels are handled by the engine, not actual sound differences.

-OR-

you could upgrade to S4 PE and use POW-R dithering and tell the cubase fanboys that S4 sounds better that any version of cubase.

-OR-

just not worry about it since *if* their were any differences, they are not that great, and it really comes down to ability with *any* host, and argueing about geeky details of different hosts is pointless. If you like S3 PE and the work flow, then that is what counts.

Stupid American Pig · Post by **Stupid American Pig** » Tue Nov 23, 2004 4:04 pm

daverich wrote:there's no difference.

It's been proved time and time and time and time again with very extensive tests and they pretty much always null out (aside from some rewire anomlies which can cause some subtle differences)

Kind regards

Dave Rich.

Hey Dave- nice to see you outside the newsgroup!

C00kie · Post by **C00kie** » Tue Nov 23, 2004 4:12 pm

Its all in the mind... An instrument should sound exactly the same in any host, as long as internal processing in the host is in a sufficient bit depth and bit rate.

Regardless of the host it sends the same audio data when it receives the same controller data (notes to play, etc.) The host (simplified) merely mixes all data sent by the instruments and sends that to the soundcard or wav file to render. The host can't do much to colour the sound.

When in doubt do some tests with a scientific approach: ban out all possible disturbing factors. Make a reference midi file to be read by several hosts & render them to wav using the same instrument. Subtract one from the other to see what the differences are.

haydxn · Post by **haydxn** » Tue Nov 23, 2004 4:18 pm

my tracker on my atari had better sound than ANY of the current 'big' hosts. protoolsschmotools. you want quality? TrACXX0Rzz AR3 7H3 BEzsST HaALOLOLOL j00!!1

Meffy · Post by **Meffy** » Tue Nov 23, 2004 4:20 pm

Moe Shinola wrote:I use Sonar3PE and I keep seeing posts from people who say that Cubase just sounds better.

They're both Shinola. Use whichever you like better to polish your shoes. No significant, audible differences in sound quality that aren't easily pinned down and eliminated. (Pan law, anyone?)

Meffy
20%-40% fluffier than most KvR members

Wopelka · Post by **Wopelka** » Tue Nov 23, 2004 4:23 pm

may i ask why my Sonar does not sound as good as Markleford's Sonar...

and why my FLS does not sound as good as DonkeyTugger's FLS?

and why my Tracktion sounds so much worst than anything coming from Ixox's Tracktion?

C00kie · Post by **C00kie** » Tue Nov 23, 2004 4:25 pm

Wopelka wrote:may i ask why my Sonar does not sound as good as Markleford's Sonar...

and why my FLS does not sound as good as DonkeyTugger's FLS?

and why my Tracktion sounds so much worst than anything coming from Ixox's Tracktion?

'Cause a fool with a tool is still a fool?

CANE CREEK · Post by **CANE CREEK** » Tue Nov 23, 2004 5:02 pm

Thinking back to 1991 all the great dancemusic what was about at that time leftfield,DOP,strictly rhythm label etc it all sounded great then as it still does now and those poor souls were using Atari st's with very basic sequencers , Sound quality between Sonar + Cubase LOL me thinks people are just getting to fussy nowadays.

Druu · Post by **Druu** » Tue Nov 23, 2004 5:04 pm

There are no noticeable differences in sound quality between the various DAW's. That's barking up the wrong tree. Sound cards and AD/DA converters, however, do affect sound quality a great deal. That's the place to focus on...

I hope that helps.

Cheers!

Druu
www.druu.net

Wopelka · Post by **Wopelka** » Tue Nov 23, 2004 5:08 pm

Druu wrote:Sound cards and AD/DA converters, however, do affect sound quality a great deal.

only for monitoring purposes, not when it comes to render the track, i think. is it correct? (serious question. i'm not sure about this one).

ew · Post by ew » Tue Nov 23, 2004 5:13 pm

Wopelka wrote:
Druu wrote:Sound cards and AD/DA converters, however, do affect sound quality a great deal.
only for monitoring purposes, not when it comes to render the track, i think. is it correct? (serious question. i'm not sure about this one).

Correct-unless of course you're recording external gear.Then,the converters WILL make a difference for obvious reasons.
ew

Moe Shinola · Post by **Moe Shinola** » Thu Nov 25, 2004 5:33 pm

Well, playing around with the per-channel EQ in Sonar I was able to make the "demosong"(part of the sampleset included with VSampler) sound almost the same in Sonar as it does on the VSampler. So I guess I spoke too soon. It was also fun importing an Astronaut Wife song and comparing it to the CreativeMediaSource player.

Better sound...Sonar3 or Cubase?