all softsynths/samplers are too loud/distorted by default?

aeser · Post by **aeser** » Sun Oct 16, 2005 9:23 am

using dp 4.6 and a motu 2408mkII with my dual g5, using reaktor, kontakt, moog modular V, and peak, everything by default is too loud and clipping/distorting, i have to turn every instrument down, i run all the same software (minus dp and peak of course) on a pc in standalone (sequencing from dp on the mac) and it does not distort/clip/is not too loud by default, so i'm guessing there's some setting somewhere, but i can't find it, to turn the default volume of things down so i no longer have this problem. when i go into audio MIDI settings and to audio devices there's a volume slider that won't let me do anything with it and all the faders are all the way down.

anyone have any idea how i can fix this?

thanks

blue · Post by **blue** » Sun Oct 16, 2005 9:44 am

dp's defaults for controller 7 are 127. i find the average unity on a soft synth to be about 90, and adjust the faders in my templates accordingly (assuming, of course, that they are programmed to receive cc#7).

David Polich · Post by **David Polich** » Sun Oct 16, 2005 10:31 am

It's the "fault" of those who programmed the softsynths. Most of the NI softsynths, especially Reaktor, have patches that are programmed with VERY hot levels. Spectrasonics Trilogy and RMX patches all tend to be on the hot side. Curiously, NI's Pro-53 patches are not programmed as hot as their other stuff.

We live in a culture where louder is "better". This certainly applies to patch programming. I ought to know, I do sound design for many companies. Since most products are programmed by a team of sound designers, and sound designers all want their patches to "win" and get placed in the product, there is a tendency to make things as loud as possible, without clipping (hopefully, although I've encountered some programmers who don't mind that. Personally I don't design patches that clip).

I'd turn down the fader for the track that any VI is on when auditioning sounds. Either that or turn down your speaker volumes (either by turning down the master fader on your mixer or by turning down the master fader on DP).

Keep in mind you can always edit patches to reduce their volumes and then you can store those edits.

aeser · Post by **aeser** » Mon Oct 17, 2005 4:30 am

the problem isn't that it's just too loud for me, the problem is it is going beyond just clipping into full on distorting by default, like almost every patch on 3 different software instruments (reaktor, kontakt, and moog modular V, even when editing samples in peak) push into the red and distort by default unless i turn every single patch down, and say you're browsing presets in reaktor all on 1 ensemble i have to turn the volume down on every single preset, and i repeat this does NOT happen by default running the same program in windows, it only happens on my mac, so i know that's not just how the ensembles were programmed by developers, it has to be something specific with my settings or at least with my audio interface.

i understand volume wars, that's where the current obsession with compression comes from, but i'm not talking about typical volume wars stuff, i'm talking about everything being in the red/distorting by default in osx where it does not in windows.