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Don’t know if this is the right forum to ask, but I’ve done a lot of RealTrack recordings with the next step down from the WAVs and sometimes I feel like I can hear some diminished quality, especially with acoustic guitars, etc.
I was going to upgrade to the Audiophile version but have since read this is actually a result of the software adjusting the pitch for different chords (or however the system works) and the sound quality improvement is not that significant.
Thanks in advance for any insight!
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Welcome to the forum. I wrote an article on this eight years ago, and I continue to revise it whenever warranted. Take a look here: https://www.pgmusic.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=378939#Post378939
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Wow! Thanks so much. Exactly what I was looking for and the other comments on that thread were helpful as well.
Going with the audiophile version as I was planning.
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When listening through my studio monitors and Steven Slate Audio VSX Modeling Headphones system, I do hear a difference. Although my auditory range is wider than most my age, I am still 70 years old and am surprised that I can hear any differences at all. I do wish that the Audiophile Tracks could be downloaded and that we did not have to depend on shipped drives these days. Oh well, I'll add the new one to my collection of HDDs. I copy the app and supporting files to my System drive and the Audiophile Real Tracks and Drums to an external SSD. With audio, there is very little speed difference but my microphones pick up the sound of the HDD and I hate that. I keep the HDD in a semi-pristine state only adding the Style and Bonus PAKs that I've acquired plus BIAB updates as they are released. I've never needed to restore anything from this drive—but it's there if I ever need it.
BIAB 2026 Audiophile Mac
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Digital Performer11, Logic, Finale27/Dorico/Encore/SmartScore/Notion/Overture
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I have the regular version. A friend of mine here has the audiophile version. Just for grins and to compare the quality, I sent him the sgu file and asked him to render it to a WAV using his version.
I then put my regular version, rendered to WAV and his audiophile version, rendered to WAV into the same project. Each one in it's own track and synced so I could A/B them flawlessly.
Maybe it's because my ears aren't as sharp as they used to be but I couldn't really tell the difference between them.
I think the reduced quality is from the change of key from the original sample and the tempo change. Both of those changes will cause artifacts and degradation of the quality. In spite of that BB really handles it well.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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Former user SolidRock posted this spectrum analyzer graph of the differences between the compressed (WMA) and audiophile (WAV) versions. It tends to show that the higher frequencies are attenuated in the compressed version: https://www.pgmusic.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=273418#Post273418
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.
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Significantly, no.
Marginally, perhaps. On high quality audio equipment.
By most people, on most audio systems, in most listening environments, no difference at all.
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That could be correct. All I know is, the difference is important to me. It’s all dependent upon your hearing, equipment, and expected use.
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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I started off with the non-audiophile version, and then later on upgraded to the audiophile version, I personally would not change back.
In my view there is a perceivable quality difference. It all depends on what you want to ultimately achieve in sound quality, and to what you are listening on.
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.
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That could be correct. All I know is, the difference is important to me. It’s all dependent upon your hearing, equipment, and expected use. Yep I started off with the non-audiophile version, and then later on upgraded to the audiophile version, I personally would not change back.
In my view there is a perceivable quality difference. It all depends on what you want to ultimately achieve in sound quality, and to what you are listening on. Something missing in all of this is that, for some of us, BIAB is just the beginning of a project. When additional processing and mastering are involved (all of my projects), it makes a huge difference between starting with Audiophile and compressed tracks.
BIAB 2026 Audiophile Mac
24Core/60CoreGPU M2 MacStudioUltra/8TB/192GB Sequoia/Tahoe, M1 & M5 MBAir, 2012 MBP
Digital Performer11, Logic, Finale27/Dorico/Encore/SmartScore/Notion/Overture
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At a gig, through a PA, it just doesn’t make a difference.
In the basement of the science building,
Maybe it does.
Significant, I think not.
Ever.
Last edited by mrgeeze; 07/02/24 10:49 AM. Reason: Change huge to significant
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I started off with the non-audiophile version, and then later on upgraded to the audiophile version, I personally would not change back.
In my view there is a perceivable quality difference. It all depends on what you want to ultimately achieve in sound quality, and to what you are listening on. This is also my story. I can hear a slight difference. This difference becomes more noticeable to me when there are more non-audiophile tracks in the mix.
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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I don’t recall that anyone called it a ‘huge’ difference. The question was, is the difference ‘significant’ and I believe that answer is Yes.
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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I don’t recall that anyone called it a ‘huge’ difference. The question was, is the difference ‘significant’ and I believe that answer is Yes. +1
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.
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