Ivory 2 on a budget

[iank]

I'm a new and very inexperienced pianist but I love a great sounding piano. I jumped when Synthogy gave the American D free with the uprights pack.

I bought a Kawai CA63 for the keyboard and wanted Ivory 2 for the sound.

I had loads of problems with latency and I didn't really understand what I was doing wrong.  I couldn't find much help online (this forum was good).  I think posts fall into two categories "please help!" and experts chatting about complicated stuff.

My budget was about £200 for the computer hardware.

I bought an old server from ebay for £110 with twin xeon and 8gb of ram and installed a 256gb SSD for about £40 from amazon. After this I had months trying to understand my latency issues.  I kept thinking about stumping up for a newer intel i7 machine but it didn't make any sense - according to CPUBOSS my xeons were nearly as quick (turned out later that vanilla versions of windows can't really use multiple chips/cores.  Or something like that.  Sounds complicated.)

It turned out that my Audigy soundcard simply didn't have proper ASIO drivers.  My laymans understanding (which I'd welcome anyone to improve) is that for Ivory 2 the most important thing is a soundcard that talks to ASIO properly.  I've run ivory2 on my 2006ish  thinkpad (SSD and 4gb upgrade but core duo 1.66) and it was fine.

Even better I found that ex professional soundcards sell on ebay for buttons.  I got a Digigram card which was from a studio machine of a few years ago for £20.  Dropped in the slot, driver downloaded, within 10 minutes I had fantastic latency 1500samples 4buffers less than 10ms.  Can anyone tell me what I should set it at?  I'm not very good, I only play the most basic music.

After all this time I finally experienced Ivory2 the way everyone else has.

My next job is the amplified sound.  It sounds muggy through the CA63 and even through my BOSE system.

Ian

[lhorwinkle]

When looking for help, try pianoworld.com
That forum has a MUCH bigger following and you're more likely to find help.

Your latency problem is a common one, and you could have saved months of time by dropping the question there. That question is asked and answered often.

Your new audio/speaker issues can be addressed there to. Give it a try.

[hfmadopter]

I run Pianoteq which is not a computer hog at all, but none the less no computer sound card will keep up with a decent audio interface. I use a Focusrite Scarlett 4 interface with latency at under 8ms. The interface replaces the sound card in the computer and offers a lot of connectivity as well. I downloaded the latest driver from Focusrite and all is well. For sound I use a pair of Adam audio monitors and a 10" sub. I run the sub to mainly pick up the deep bass and harmonic vibrations in the room, it's barely turned up but it brings that added something to the mix not there without it and something sorely missing with most digital pianos compared with a real grand piano which I also own. The two monitors have super clarity bringing out string metallics and cross tones of sympathetic resonation overall , that  woody knocking of upper register very clear in certain piano sounds like the D4 for instance. I have super rich nasal sounding C. Bechstein tones with it's rich bass and super clear mid upper ranges of a D4.  Many other pianos I've custom modeled Pianoteqs own series of piano sounds. But the sound is true with the flat field Adam Audio monitors, more so than through the previous M Audio monitors I have. It was evident right away but after a certain break in period it because even more obvious. Still, none the less, no matter what we do we are listening to piano through speakers not off a sound board. We can get just so close to reality and then you need the real thing. sadly I'm growning to prefer the sounds I make off my digital to my real grand.

I will say this, each change you make brings it's own subtle result. It's not like any one thing is the major do it all fix. Also, I tried several different programs and Pianoteq was the only one that is made to read and grow with your playing style and at the same time the least computer hoggish. All that said, I don't know much about Ivory but i can't imagine that much of the above wouldn't apply to it as well ( minus the computer hog part).

 I agree with the other poster about Pianoworld incidentally, they probably have more active knowledgeable members who are into this than here. Also recording forums .

[iank]

ok thanks I'll have a look.

I must admit I enjoy the posts here about the real pianos (which for many people aren't feasible)

[quantum]

Do return here!  It is a great place to discuss playing the piano and piano music.