A bigger sound

[LUISMI]

Hi guys
I would like to know if there is any way of get a bigger sound from my Xpand2 or Minigrand ,...in fact any soft synth in pro tools.If I'm playing and mixing in the studio they are ok BUT when I'm playing live and I find the sound very thin compared to Motifs, M3's etc... they have A LOT more power.
Do you know what can I do to improve that? Would a different DA converters make any difference at all?

Many thanks

Luismi

[nod25]

Originally Posted by LUISMI

Would a different DA converters make any difference at all?

I doubt that. Especially in a live situation.

[chrisdee]

There are some big sounds in Xpand2, but I do argee many sound thin compared to what you hear on recordings and radio, etc.

Try layering sounds in Xpand2.

[RussUK]

That's because the sounds you hear on radio/recordings have been through additional processing at tracking/mixing/mastering/radio play.

Also Xpand2 entire content is a couple of gig.

Compression and Eq will help.

I might do a video to show how to get big sounds from the CC.

[LUISMI]

Originally Posted by RussUK

That's because the sounds you hear on radio/recordings have been through additional processing at tracking/mixing/mastering/radio play.

I'm not meaning radio play standard, that's another world. I would like to play for instance Minigrand piano live ( along another instruments )or some guitars from structure or Xpand, but while in the studio sounds beautiful in the live contest would be lost completely. For instance yamaha,korg, or roland sounds great live with a lot of presence.don't you think?

[DonaldM]

I wonder if using the AIR enhancer giving some harmonic boost might help out here?

[RussUK]

Originally Posted by LUISMI

I'm not meaning radio play standard, that's another world. I would like to play for instance Minigrand piano live ( along another instruments )or some guitars from structure or Xpand, but while in the studio sounds beautiful in the live contest would be lost completely. For instance yamaha,korg, or roland sounds great live with a lot of presence.don't you think?

it's a matter of taste I know people who love Roland and hate Yamaha and vice versa, plus Korg ad infinitum. To be honest get a good sound engineer for live they will sort it out. Live sound is very different to studio, hence why you can't take a mix from the studio and use it live. Piano's are hard to get right in a live mix and you need a good engineer.

[nst7]

I wouldn't rule out better d/a converters. That may if fact be a big part of it. You gotta figure that's part of what you're paying for when you buy a hardware synth, especially if they've been building these for years and years. I'm not sure how you can test that theory without buying one, unless you can rent or borrow one. Of course you can buy it and return it if you don't like it. However, better d/a conveters could also be a big help in the studio.

One thing you can do to test this is record your hardware synths into your Pro Tools interface both through the analog outs and, if your synth has one, directly through the digital out into the Protools spidf in (if you have one).
Then compare the recorded tracks through your normal studio monitoring.

One other point is that their is varying levels of sound quality, and even loudness levels between different software manufacturers. For example, I've done side by side listening with mini-grand vs. NI Acoustik Piano, or DB33 vs. NI B4II, etc.

If you don't have anything but Protools soft synths, maybe demo some other brands and see how they compare to the protools synths and your hardware synths.

[LUISMI]

Originally Posted by nst7

One thing you can do to test this is record your hardware synths into your Pro Tools interface both through the analog outs and, if your synth has one, directly through the digital out into the Protools spidf in (if you have one).

So , is there any difference beetwen the analog and spdif inputs? Should be any difference in sound?

Originally Posted by nst7

If you don't have anything but Protools soft synths, maybe demo some other brands and see how they compare to the protools synths and your hardware synths.

I''ve got tons of plugins and a few DAW and this is not specifically a Pro tools issue, I hapens with every DAW/soft synth. So that's why I thought the main difference beetwen hardware workstations and soft synths could be the A/D converters.

[rikttt]

Originally Posted by RussUK

To be honest get a good sound engineer for live they will sort it out. Live sound is very different to studio, hence why you can't take a mix from the studio and use it live.

+1