Resampling with X8 sucks?

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omer_y
Posts: 8
Joined: 21:34, 30 January 2008

Resampling with X8 sucks?

Post by omer_y »

First time resampling. Bought the pc card and all.

And the song just sounds muffled.
Besides that, certain tones get "missed" or just sound otherwise than when I'm just pressing the play button. EVEN WHILE I AM RESAMPLING I can notice a considerable difference.

Anyone encountered this before?
wudsiba
Posts: 699
Joined: 03:37, 9 July 2003
Location: Ohio

Re: Resampling with X8 sucks?

Post by wudsiba »

You need to Emphasize the sample! I just learned this...
omer_y
Posts: 8
Joined: 21:34, 30 January 2008

Re: Resampling with X8 sucks?

Post by omer_y »

wudsiba wrote:You need to Emphasize the sample! I just learned this...
Sorry for bringing up an old post, just wanted to say, I love you man.

Roland should really put an emphasis (heh) on this when they explain resampling. jeez.

Anyways, I encountered another problem. the sample volume is just LOW.
using sample modify->amplify doesnt raise the volume too much, and also distorts the sound, effectively making it unhearable.

Any other options?

Edit: Nevermind. The trick is to convert it to mp3 in cubase.

Here it is for anybody interested.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zXLgLEL ... tube_gdata
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dbijoux
Posts: 1700
Joined: 22:49, 26 April 2009

Re: Resampling with X8 sucks?

Post by dbijoux »

omer_y wrote:The trick is to convert it to mp3 in cubase.
Yes, that always works! /snark

The problem with resampling on the X, G, Juno-G isn't so much that it sucks, but you have to understand what is happening and the signal flow behind it.

The real problem starts when you resample, resamples.

There are longer posts about this around here somewhere, but in short: There is a lowpass filter in the output stage. If you play the resampled sample back through the X, you are going through that filter twice - hence the apparent lack of highs you heard just a moment ago when you were recording it.

If you transfer that sample.wav straight to your computer you will hear it sounds like you remember. This is also probably why you brought up cubase and MP3's. (btw, no offense intended above)

The workaround is to add preemphasis to the samples, it's not the prettiest nor accurate but it 'helps'.

Of course, a more elegant solution would be time travel, barring the laws of physics we could certainly set Roland engineers straight on a few rather annoying things.

Enjoy!

PS. if you look at the bright side, you could resample the (*#& out of it for instant dub!
omer_y
Posts: 8
Joined: 21:34, 30 January 2008

Re: Resampling with X8 sucks?

Post by omer_y »

dbijoux wrote:
omer_y wrote:The trick is to convert it to mp3 in cubase.
Yes, that always works! /snark

The problem with resampling on the X, G, Juno-G isn't so much that it sucks, but you have to understand what is happening and the signal flow behind it.

The real problem starts when you resample, resamples.

There are longer posts about this around here somewhere, but in short: There is a lowpass filter in the output stage. If you play the resampled sample back through the X, you are going through that filter twice - hence the apparent lack of highs you heard just a moment ago when you were recording it.

If you transfer that sample.wav straight to your computer you will hear it sounds like you remember. This is also probably why you brought up cubase and MP3's. (btw, no offense intended above)

The workaround is to add preemphasis to the samples, it's not the prettiest nor accurate but it 'helps'.

Of course, a more elegant solution would be time travel, barring the laws of physics we could certainly set Roland engineers straight on a few rather annoying things.

Enjoy!

PS. if you look at the bright side, you could resample the (*#& out of it for instant dub!
Hey,
Sorry to have made you upset. :\
My would-be angry topic subject was because I was frustrated myself.

I didn't quite understand - I resampled the sound only once. Transferred the WAV straight to my comp.
And it still sounds like the volume is quite low.

Time travel is beyond my ability.
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dbijoux
Posts: 1700
Joined: 22:49, 26 April 2009

Re: Resampling with X8 sucks?

Post by dbijoux »

It's actually a favorite topic of mine because I had the same frustration.

So there are two things going on - 1) De-emphasis and, as you mentioned, 2) Volume

The second is a somewhat more complex problem if you are addressing it in the board alone. It took me a while to become comfortable with this but the Master Compressor is the direction I've found the most helpful. Two reasons for this, sampling at 16-bit depth and a finer control at the high(level) end of the dynamic range. Stomping down some of the peaks keeps the samples from clipping which can sound pretty terrible coming straight out of the board. Using 'Amplify' as a solution will almost inevitably involve some clipping.

Another good answer which may or may not be suitable to your setup is going straight out of the X digitally into a quality interface on your DAW. Admittedly, I don't resample much of anything anymore and the DAW is where most of my recording and sampling takes place. That said, I still use the compressor and often set it up specifically for each part/take.

Truly a PITA. ^_~
omer_y
Posts: 8
Joined: 21:34, 30 January 2008

Re: Resampling with X8 sucks?

Post by omer_y »

dbijoux wrote:It's actually a favorite topic of mine because I had the same frustration.

So there are two things going on - 1) De-emphasis and, as you mentioned, 2) Volume

The second is a somewhat more complex problem if you are addressing it in the board alone. It took me a while to become comfortable with this but the Master Compressor is the direction I've found the most helpful. Two reasons for this, sampling at 16-bit depth and a finer control at the high(level) end of the dynamic range. Stomping down some of the peaks keeps the samples from clipping which can sound pretty terrible coming straight out of the board. Using 'Amplify' as a solution will almost inevitably involve some clipping.

Another good answer which may or may not be suitable to your setup is going straight out of the X digitally into a quality interface on your DAW. Admittedly, I don't resample much of anything anymore and the DAW is where most of my recording and sampling takes place. That said, I still use the compressor and often set it up specifically for each part/take.

Truly a PITA. ^_~
Thanks a lot for the answer :)

I would love if you could explain a bit more how to use this "Master Compressor" thing ("I am not a master of the fantom", as the saying goes... I am 3 years into it and still learning).

I guess that once I'll have a bit more money I'll get a decent laptop and hook it up to the fantom.
wudsiba
Posts: 699
Joined: 03:37, 9 July 2003
Location: Ohio

Re: Resampling with X8 sucks?

Post by wudsiba »

Just noticed your post...
Recently I've done quite a bit of testing when emphasis is needed and when it isn't. I left a pretty detailed post about it in a post titled: Is emphasis needed after skip back sampling? Or something to that effect. The answer is no. Regular sampling and skip back do not require emphasis to be added. Only resampling. Don't wait until you've resampled twice either. It may not be obvious, but it is altered after resampling the very first time. Once you have PRE emphasized the sample, NORMALIZE the sample. This will bring your levels back up. You have to do it in that order: Pre-emph, then norm. I believe the reason resamples are so quiet is to leave headroom for emphasis to work and not distort. The only time you need to use DE-emphasis is if you plan on transfering a sample from the Fantom to any other sample player or computer. This is odd, and I agree strongly that Roland should EMPHASIZE this more. Hope this helps.
Peace and cash...
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