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This isn't an ad, per se. However, Sonivox is now offering 'SoundStage', a 1 gigabyte DVI (Digital Virtual Instrument) in DXi, VSTi, RTAS, and AU formats. http://www.sonivoxmi.com/ProductDetail.asp?Item=SoundStage&nws=06/08/2009Depending on your taste, it may take you to 'the next level' of your music making ability. There is a three day trial of the fully functional synth, and the price, at $99, isn't too bad, either. Maybe a good choice for someone considering moving up from the Roland VSC to the Forte, or beyond, or someone who has the Forte and isn't happy with it. This is FYI. Gary
I'm blessed watching God do what He does best. I've had a few rough years, and I'm still not back to where I want to be, but I'm on the way and things are looking far better now than what they were!
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I downloaded the trial file, five day trial period. I took a MIDI file that I had, one of Doug McKenzie's I think, simple piano, bass and drums. Since I can't get the thing to work right in Real Band, I opened the file up in Sonar, set three tracks to the SoundStage, and then recorded it to one audio file, which was saved as a .wma file (pretty big, 15 megs) It really doesn't sound too bad. I juiced up the treble on the drums a bit, which is easy from the plug in, since it has a full editing suite built into every window. My impression is that this would make a good move up from anyone wanting something more than the Roland VSC. It also works with Sonar on my Vista 64 bit machine as a VSTi. In my previous post I said it was a DXi, I was incorrect. http://www.catsmeowcafe.com/Music/MP3s/sst.wmaGary
I'm blessed watching God do what He does best. I've had a few rough years, and I'm still not back to where I want to be, but I'm on the way and things are looking far better now than what they were!
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Quote:
... Since I can't get the thing to work right in Real Band, ...
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Okay Mac,
To specify; As you know, I prefer to work in hardware based gear. Hence, I have a MIDI interface, and do not use software synths very often.
I loaded a copy of SoundStage to the first MIDI track, and then loaded separate instances to the other two channels. So, three instances of the synth running at the same time. I couldn't change the individual patches at all on them. MIDI channels 1, 2 and 10. All instances of the synth would produce the same sound. So, load drums to the drum track, and all of the synths play drums. Load the piano, and all play piano. I didn't have that issue in Sonar.
Hence, 'Since I can't get the thing to work right in Real Band....'
I also have horrible issues trying to use it as a stand alone synth, the sound is just stuttering, repeating, and doesn't sound anything like what it should.
But, I still think that for those who are looking for an upgrade to the VSC, it may be worth looking at. Especially if you have a 32 bit OS, XP probably, and have any amount of luck running VSTis with Real Band and PowerTracks Pro Audio. I do not know if this is a multi-timbral synth or not, so you may not be able to use it in BIAB
Gary
I'm blessed watching God do what He does best. I've had a few rough years, and I'm still not back to where I want to be, but I'm on the way and things are looking far better now than what they were!
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I only highlighted that because I immediately had visions of people trying it in RealBand, or PT, which is pretty much the same, then here come the posts...
--Mac
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Since I don't use the soft synths, I haven't really followed any of the threads on them. I know there's been issues with some stuff, in Vista and so forth, but I wasn't sure how bad it was.
I dunno, I just put it out there.
Gary
I'm blessed watching God do what He does best. I've had a few rough years, and I'm still not back to where I want to be, but I'm on the way and things are looking far better now than what they were!
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Hi, Gary.
I downloaded that Sonivox thing after reading your message. It sounds very good, as expected. I use many of their soundfonts and a couple of these new "VI" programs they are forced to offer, now that the masses have lost the ability to make a soundfont play.
Sonivox have always sounded good, and this thing re-uses the same old samples, which keeps its cost low. It's a pretty good buy. A Sonivox instrument purchased separately costs from $20 to $60, or more. These in the GM set are (sometimes greatly) stripped down, but it's a cheap deal.
That standalone version plays very well. You have to use an ASIO driver. Set its buffer to a value your CPU can handle (maybe 128 or 256 samples), and go to it.
I won't buy it, because it is a lower-quality version of stuff I already have. But it's a HUGE improvement over a VSC and a fair bit nicer than Coyote Forte's stock sounds. Sonivox sounds will make good backing tracks. Very strong strings. The brass is no more than customarily hideous.
-- Larry
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Their strings are strong. I'm still searching for the best string ensemble soundfont out there.
Some close - most cheesy.
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One thing i did recently is to buy the new cakewalk MC5 which has TTS, which is miles better than VSC, and also has a new VSTi called Sound center, which is a sampler that plays 150 selected samples from Dimension Pro and Rapture. Plus a small drum kit program called studio drums. These three along with RTs and RD make some hot backing tracks.
HP Win 11 12 gig ram, Mac mini Sonoma with 16 gig of ram, BiaB/RB 2026, Reaper 7, Harrison Mixbus 11 , Zoom Livetrack L-8
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It sort of looks like it's not multitimbral which would make it of limited use for BIAB users. Some of the individual sounds do sound quite good so it would be a contender if it was multitimbral. I have an email into Sonivox support on this and will report back.
BTW: My current "One VST fits all" solution is Purity by Luxonix. I never hear this mentioned by BIAB users, but it works fine (other than a tendency to link the Bass and Piano, which is fixable). Sounds quite good for the rock/pop stuff I do. It's easy on resources and I think I paid roughly the same as what Sonivox is offering for SoundStage.
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It's got to be multi-timbral, hasn't it? I've already removed it from the machine, so I can't check. It's set up like the usual GM2 or GS sort of thing. Several banks. You can't play more than one patch at a time in standalone mode, of course; MIDI instructions should let you reach all those banks and patches.
Thanks for the tip about "Purity". I had never heard of it. Will go see it now.
Added: I checked the Sonivox site again. SoundStage is constructed to the Roland GS specification. So it's surely multi-timbral in the normal way. Anything else would be weird and sub-spec, so they would assume it was unnecessary to mention. They'll reply to you soon and verify that, I believe.
Your Luxonix instrument sounds good, Stan. Their demo MP3 is extensive and varied. Am I right to guess that the sounds are Rock- and New Age-oriented? Or is that just the demo players' preference
Last edited by allis; 06/10/09 05:58 PM.
Larry
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I don't know Larry, you think it would be, but I just opened it up in BIAB, and everything plays piano. I don't think it is.
Gary
I'm blessed watching God do what He does best. I've had a few rough years, and I'm still not back to where I want to be, but I'm on the way and things are looking far better now than what they were!
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BiaB's VST implementation is pretty weak. We should not be too surprised by what you observe, even if the Sonivox is a normal GS device.
-- Larry
You got me curious, Gary, so I re-installed the SoundStage. I just get the same effect as you, no matter what I do, all instruments playing piano -- except the Thru channel, which still plays the hardware synth!
So I dunno, and I don't really care enough to figure it out. I do hope Stan reports back on what Sonivox told him, though.
Last edited by allis; 06/10/09 09:48 PM.
Larry
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What this thing looks like it might be the quite famous Sonic Implants soundfonts bundled into a soundfont player, arranged by GM & GS patch assignments. I read some of the reviews of the individual instruments (I went right to the acoustic piano page) and the reviewer talked about downloading the piano sound from their Sonic Implants page.
Sonic Implants soundfonts always were quite good. They would give one away now and then back 5-6 years ago.
I would be very surprised if it is not multi-timbral - which I think you might mean that it responds to multiple MIDI channels, assigned to different instrument patches.
If it isn't, then it's really not that great of a deal. Not enough info on the product page to tell yes or no.
-Scott
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Sonivox provided this answer:
"Hey Stan,
Thanks for your inquiry. To answer your question, no, this version of
Soundstage is not a multi-timbral instrument. Please let me know if you
have any other questions, I'd be glad to help.
Best,
Zach Nicholls
SONiVOX Sound That Rocks!"
... so, it's not multitimbral. Could be one to watch though
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I guess that answers that question.
I didn't play with all the sounds, but if they can't bundle a Multi-timbral module, who and what are they aiming for? I can't believe that anyone would buy that as a VSTi at that price point, with those sounds, if you have to assign individual tracks to instruments, you can do better.
Oh well.
Gary
I'm blessed watching God do what He does best. I've had a few rough years, and I'm still not back to where I want to be, but I'm on the way and things are looking far better now than what they were!
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Agreed completely. Very surprisingly worthless.
Few of its sounds are really full enough to be satisfying for solo instruments, and now we know it's unusable for backup band. Nothing is left.
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I mostly use Realtracks or the Ketron SD2 when creating my music but sometimes I cannot get just the right sound I am looking for. Often I find it useful to convert a MIDI track to a WAV using Forte or Bandstand then use the PG DXi effects to fine tune. It seems this new software synth has many great sounds and is very useful in the way I describe above. I think I will try it when I get access to a faster Internet connection. The Great Firewall of China prevents me from successfully downloading such a larger file. The filters and monitoring slows downloads to a crawl sometimes and often the connection freezes causing failure of the download.
Microsoft Surface Pro, Thunderbolt 4, Windows 11, Scarlett Audio Interface, 2025 BIAB & RB, FL Studio Producer, Studio One Producer, Melodyne Editor, Ozone Advanced.
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Ask sales and support questions about Band-in-a-Box using natural language.
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Special offers available until August 31st, 2026!
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In this PAK you can find: dulcet folk ballads, funky gospel country, Brazilian jazz fusion, upbeat 1980s pop, classic Americana, a plethora of breezy bossa novas, indie singer-songwriter, scintillating synthwave, exuberant electronica, and many, many more!
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