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  3. High Noise Floor following ADSR Envelope of Sample Libraries

  • High Noise Floor following ADSR Envelope of Sample Libraries

    M
    M
    I'm putting out a general inquiry concerning a high noise floor. I'm hoping someone out there can help. When I trigger samples, high-volume noise follows the ADSR envelope, from the attack through the entire release, of ALL my sample libraries, not only VSL. The noise is so loud that work is impossible, often exceeding that of the source. What is worse, it renders to audio. The noise is most audible with percussion and percussive sounds, including pianos such as Vienna Imperial and any short articulation, strings, brass etc. At times it is worse than others, but never acceptable for a mix. I have tried the following: 1) Swapped audio card/interfaces. 2) Swapped power amps, and monitored through headphones. 3) Swapped computers. 4) Copied files to 3 different hard drives; swapped hard drives between computers. 5) Tried all libraries in respective stand alone modes. 6) Tried all libraries on single computer, bypassing VEP (with both Macs alternately serving as host). 7) Adjusted latency settings. 8) Out of desperation tried various MIDI controllers. As stated above, the noise occurs when using VSL and all of my other libraries, such as Kontakt 4, Spectrasonics, etc. I am using 7200 RPM SATA and eSATA, 64 cache drives and have 32 GB RAM in each Mac Pro (1 mid-2010 8-Core, 1 mid-2010 4-Core). DAW=Cubase 6. VEP for LAN. My suspicion is that it is a streaming issue, but I have tried numerous drives, bypassed LAN, swapped host computers, and experimented with latency settings. Obviously SSD drives should not be necessary to run VSL or most other libraries. My system is more than adequate, to say the least, so I am desperate. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, though this is not specifically a VSL question/problem... -Mike
  • D
    D

    I'm sorry, but I have no idea what you're talking about. Would it be possible to post a link to an audio file of your problem, because I might have the same problem, but just call it something different.

    DG
  • M
    M
    Thanks for the response DG. I'll try to bounce something when I am at my studio. Sorry for not being clearer, but I was frustrated and flustered when I posted.I'll attempt to be clearer now: Simply, when I trigger a sample, along with the sample, there is noise of almost equivalent volume. The noise follows the ADSR envelope, meaning that it starts with the attack, increases, and fades until the release is through. Once the release is through, the noise floor goes back to normal. It is more noticeable with short articulations such as percussion, which is not surprising. However, it is there with sustained articulations, though less noticeable. It is occurring with all of my libraries, VSL or otherwise, and in all sorts of system configurations, as I specified before. There are times when the noise is even louder than the sample, and times when it is lower, but still too loud. When I render the track(s) to audio (in Cubase) it is recorded. As an experiment, I tweaked the high frequencies in VIP, Kontakt, and other hosts. An increase in treble increases the noise. It seems that the noise (hissing, white noise, etc) is originating early on. There must be a common link in my system as all of my libraries are experiencing the same problem. I can't figure it out for the life of me. I'm thinking drive speed may be the problem as all of my drives are the same--7200 rpm SATA. If I had a SSD I'd be able to test drive speed, though 7200 SATA should be more than sufficient. I hope this is clearer. Best, Mike
  • D
    D

    I think I'll have to wait until I hear it in your audio example, because I have no such problem with my system and can't imagine what you're hearing.

    DG
  • M
    M
    I really am in desperate need of help, advice, anything. Nothing has worked. I've swapped computers, audio cards, hard drives, RAM, tried every software configuration possible, took my Macs to Apple, emailed and called numerous companies, techs, engineers, and nothing. I haven't even received a single suggestion. I am completely shutdown. Noise is everywhere in my samples, rendering to audio, multiplying when I use sustain samples and play polyphonically until it overwhelms the signal. I'm completely lost, unable to play a single note and can't afford to replace my two brand new Mac Pros, even though Apple claims that there is absolutely nothing wrong with them. If anybody out there has any suggestion, no matter how far-fetched, I will be very grateful. I feel like I'm stranded on an island without a raft. Mike
  • M
    M
    It seems as if the noise inherent to the recorded samples is being amplified louder than the amplitude of low velocity samples. I mean, the noise is most noticeable when I play at low velocities bc when low velocity samples are triggered the noise does not follow in amplitude. Rather, it remains constant, which results in more noise than signal. When medium to high velocities are triggered the noise is masked...somewhat. My only conclusion then, is that the noise I'm hearing is the recorded noise, but for some reason it is not following the velocity of the samples. Rather it stays constant (being masked at middle to high velocities) rendering soft dynamics virtually impossible. Scratching my head. It can't be that entire libraries would be unusable at p and pp. Is there some weird normalization happening? Or perhaps something on the user (my) end that is exaggerating the noise floor?
  • DietzD
    VSL Team
    DietzD
    last edited
    last edited

    Hello mboc,

    please post an example somewhere, or send it to . We put _enormous_ amounts of time, know-how and money into our samples especially to keep them as noise-free as possible, so it would be a pity if you couldn't enjoy them like that. 😊

    Kind regards,

    /Dietz - Vienna Symphonic Library
  • M
    M
    Dietz, When in doubt, start over: I completely reset my system: reformatted all drives, reinstalled every piece of software excluding those that I don't use too often, updated all firmware, cleared PRAM, etc. The noise inherent to the samples now seems normal. For whatever reason, something deep in my system was creating all sorts of distortion, perhaps amplifying the noise. I resorted to drastic measures once I tried to render an Imperial file for you; every attempt resulted in extremely distorted audio. I suspect an issue with core audio or core midi, but who knows. Just glad I can get back to work. The only libraries that remain unduly noisy are by Cinesamples, but that's bc they suck :) Best, Mike