Joe Kramer
July 23rd 03, 08:03 PM
Hi Friends,
Working from the notion that the notorious sound flaw in these
keyboards results from lack of dithering, I have developed a simple fix
that actually works. There is a very small trade-off in background
hiss, but critical sounds like piano tails and reverb tails no longer
fizzle out in the well-known ugly way. The procedure requires that the
Patch you are working with has an available tone slot. As an example, I
suggest using the factory preset "64-Voice Piano." Here's the
procedure:
Go to WG on the display menu. In tone slot #1, select waveform INT-B
048 White Noise. Set the Wave Gain to -6. Set everything else to 0 or
normal.
Next go to Pitch display menu. Set Pitch Keyfollow to 0. Set
everything else to 0.
Next go to TVF Parameter. Set Filter type to HPF, Cutoff to 127,
Resonance to 0. All other parameters to 0.
Next go to TVF Envelope. Set all envelope parameters to 127, except
Time 1, which set to 0. Set all other to 0 also.
Next go to TVA Parameter. Set Tone Level to between 4 and 6. (More on
this later) All others to 0.
Next go to TVA Envelope. Set all envelope parameters to 127, except
Time 1, which set to 0. All others to 0.
Listen on a pair of good headphones. The decay of the note, as well as
the reverb tail should fade out evenly. Depending on variation between
keyboards or the level of tolerance you have for the small amount of
added hiss, you can set the Tone Level of the white noise higher or
lower. On my keyboard, below 4 does not work, above 6 starts to become
more noticable. I'm using a setting of 5 with good results. Some
sounds on the XP fade out better than others, and so don't require the
dither trick. However, if you are using reverb, the sound is improved
in every case. Once you have set up your white noise dithering tone,
you can copy it directly to any other patch that needs it.
Please drop me a line and let me know how this trick works for you. If
it does, pass it on, and remember my name when you get to Heaven.
Regards,
Joe Kramer
Working from the notion that the notorious sound flaw in these
keyboards results from lack of dithering, I have developed a simple fix
that actually works. There is a very small trade-off in background
hiss, but critical sounds like piano tails and reverb tails no longer
fizzle out in the well-known ugly way. The procedure requires that the
Patch you are working with has an available tone slot. As an example, I
suggest using the factory preset "64-Voice Piano." Here's the
procedure:
Go to WG on the display menu. In tone slot #1, select waveform INT-B
048 White Noise. Set the Wave Gain to -6. Set everything else to 0 or
normal.
Next go to Pitch display menu. Set Pitch Keyfollow to 0. Set
everything else to 0.
Next go to TVF Parameter. Set Filter type to HPF, Cutoff to 127,
Resonance to 0. All other parameters to 0.
Next go to TVF Envelope. Set all envelope parameters to 127, except
Time 1, which set to 0. Set all other to 0 also.
Next go to TVA Parameter. Set Tone Level to between 4 and 6. (More on
this later) All others to 0.
Next go to TVA Envelope. Set all envelope parameters to 127, except
Time 1, which set to 0. All others to 0.
Listen on a pair of good headphones. The decay of the note, as well as
the reverb tail should fade out evenly. Depending on variation between
keyboards or the level of tolerance you have for the small amount of
added hiss, you can set the Tone Level of the white noise higher or
lower. On my keyboard, below 4 does not work, above 6 starts to become
more noticable. I'm using a setting of 5 with good results. Some
sounds on the XP fade out better than others, and so don't require the
dither trick. However, if you are using reverb, the sound is improved
in every case. Once you have set up your white noise dithering tone,
you can copy it directly to any other patch that needs it.
Please drop me a line and let me know how this trick works for you. If
it does, pass it on, and remember my name when you get to Heaven.
Regards,
Joe Kramer