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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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I'm an enthousiast Bb user and I'm seriously considering buying the Audiophile edition in the hope I could somehow improve the sound quality of my productions.
I was wondering if PGMusic has made available at least one simple Audiophile Realtrack (even an old one, or even a part of it) with its included uncompresed wav files. That would help me to decide if the Audiophile Edition will meet my particular needs in getting better results especially when pitch shifting or time streching audio material.
If there is such a demo on PG site, please let me know or PM me. I would be more than happy to make an informed buying choice!
Thank you in advance,
M_M
BiaB2024 64bit last build (desktop app), Win11 Pro 23H2, Intel i9 13900 24-core, 64GByte RAM, RME Fireface 800, Steinberg UR12, Cl1, Studio One 6, Samplitude Pro
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Win 10, 64 bit, love my Lenovo T420, BIAB 2019 (613), RB 2019 (2)
Short term memory is getting shorter.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Welcome M_M to the forum.
A while ago, one of the members did put the Audiophile alongside the standard version using a waveform spectrum analyzer. The differences were obvious.
However, you'll only identify the difference if you have good reproduction equipment (forget the laptop sound-card and cheap speakers).
Hope this hint helps in some way
Regards
Trevor
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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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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M-M, that's a great link from DE about the features.
I think what you want does not exist, but it's a great idea. The problem I see is that all the audio demos you could download from a website are always compressed files (.WMA or .MP3) so that you'll hardly hear the subtle quality improvement of the audiophile version. It's similar to trying to judge the quality of a digital photo when all you get from a website is a horrible approximation of it at 72dpi.
I would think for this to work, PG Music could perhaps take a couple of representative audiophile RealTracks and put up a Dropbox link where you could download the much larger file (about 11 times larger) for you to audition. You could then record a song using the 'regular' .WMA compressed file, record/render it, substitute the audiophile version (you would need instructions where to put it, but the program automatically reads the higher quality first if it is present), record/render again, and compare on your own system.
My suggestion is that you call PG Music Sales and pitch this idea. Who knows?
Also, I've written a good deal and many times about the differences between the regular and audiophile version. If you could search for that, it might help you.
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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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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M_M, as well as Matt's good feedback, here is the link to the post with the graphic I mentioned. The thread also contains some useful discussion on the Audiophile version. HTH Trevor
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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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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This message thread and the other threads referenced all make a strong argument for voting a +1 on the wishlist thread requesting 24 bit depth audiophile waveforms.
The less conversions a daw makes, the less phase and distortion errors get introduced into the track mix.
My thought is that most current recording sessions default to 24 bit. Supporting libraries (such as loops) and virtual instruments are recorded at 24 bits. Why should the RealTracks available in the Audiophile edition be the weak link?
Please visit the RealTracks wishlist section and post a +1 if you agree with this request.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Quite right. And one of my summaries on the difference is in that thread. A good read and not long at all.
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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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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It a nice surprise to get all those hints and helpful suggestions in a so short while in answer to my first post guys  Thank you very much for that! Your answers and the threads you have pointed me to do confirm that, whithout experimenting on *real* audiophile wave files, I won't be able to know for sure if it's worth buying the Audiophile Edition complete package... ...unless, as I requested, PGMusic would kindly offer a link with just a few real wave files that I can play with within Bb or Rb. The numerous audiophile realtracks demos are certainly useful to reveal the musical content of the different realtracks, but they don't allow me to check if I could get the quality I want to achieve in my (professional) studio using the Audiophile edition. Many thanks again to all of you. Any other suggestion, especially from Realtracks users who have switch to Audiophile edition will be greatly welcome  Best M_M
BiaB2024 64bit last build (desktop app), Win11 Pro 23H2, Intel i9 13900 24-core, 64GByte RAM, RME Fireface 800, Steinberg UR12, Cl1, Studio One 6, Samplitude Pro
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H M_M
You would have to contact PG Music directly to seek Audiophile samples, however, as Matt as mentioned previously:
"I've noticed over the years that my fellow users may have different opinions than mine on your question. Bottom line, my recommendation is to get the audiophile version if your intent is to produce commercial recordings. "
If you are looking at professional level work, then the answer is reasonably straightforward.
HTH
Trevor
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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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Once PGmusic made a page " dare to compare" with the outputs of many midi-synths used within Biab,
all they have to do is making a page combining the audio-examples of wma and audiophile versions.
Might be very usefull for me.
Rob de Klerk, Dutch singer-songwriter https://www.robdeklerk.nlBiab 2023, Cakewalk, N.I. Komplete 14, Win 10,64, Ozone 9 elements suite, Presonus studio 24c
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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It a nice surprise to get all those hints and helpful suggestions in a so short while in answer to my first post guys Thank you very much for that! Your answers and the threads you have pointed me to do confirm that, whithout experimenting on *real* audiophile wave files, I won't be able to know for sure if it's worth buying the Audiophile Edition complete package... ...unless, as I requested, PGMusic would kindly offer a link with just a few real wave files that I can play with within Bb or Rb. The numerous audiophile realtracks demos are certainly useful to reveal the musical content of the different realtracks, but they don't allow me to check if I could get the quality I want to achieve in my (professional) studio using the Audiophile edition. Many thanks again to all of you. Any other suggestion, especially from Realtracks users who have switch to Audiophile edition will be greatly welcome Best M_M Having used both versions, I would suggest that the choice between them largely rests on your end use, and the style of music you're producing. The difference (albeit slight) between the two versions would be less noticeable in some cases and more noticeable in others. What kind of music do you usually work with? Folk? Hard Rock? EDM? Are you recording at 24 bit and dithering down to 16? Are you producing music for broadcast, or demonstration? These factors would aid in your decision. Hope that helps. Regards, Bob
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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@rodipoet Yes, this is a good one! I support the "dare to compare" option and hope PGMusic will make such a page available soon - at least before I make my final decision @Trevor @bob Your suggestions both make sense for obvious reasons and push me on the "buy" side as I'm involved in commercial productions (mainly folk and jazz stuff). Still willing to hear about other Audiophile users experiences... Thank you again, Best, M_M
BiaB2024 64bit last build (desktop app), Win11 Pro 23H2, Intel i9 13900 24-core, 64GByte RAM, RME Fireface 800, Steinberg UR12, Cl1, Studio One 6, Samplitude Pro
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To clarify, the Dare to Compare page is still on the PG Music site, but it is dated material. There is also nothing about audiophile quality there. But here's the link: http://www.pgmusic.com/dare-to-compare.htm
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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Peter Gannon Talks Band-in-a-Box with zplane
zplane recently interviewed Peter Gannon, the founder and creator of Band-in-a-Box, about the software's early days, what sets it apart from AI, how zplane's audio algorithms are used in Band-in-a-Box, and more!
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Check out the full interview here: https://products.zplane.de/blog/peter-gannon-interview-pg-music
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