Got almost the same answer from Julien.

It just never came to my mind, that the strings can also have non-harmonic vibrations!

Its a mixed feeling: on one side I am glad that my equipment as well as the software is working in good order, on the other hand I feel a bit ashamed about my lack of knowledge.......!!

Greetings,

Geert

With the Mute slider at 0 ( zero) it is ok. But at  mid-positions, say 0,35, there is a nasty tone developing in the decay, that is close to D6  ( which is just two semitones below the natural harmonic...)

This is perfectly normal for the muting action. Try putting something on real piano strings (or a guitar) and such inharmonics will develop since you're blocking the string natural decay!

I was testing with slightly different fx,es......!

So now I have discovered that the effect of the strong non-harmonic sidetones is strongly related to the position of the Mute slider. AND REPRODUCABLE ON ALL MY EQUIPMENT !!

One should test it with the D4-Intimate fx. And no reverb or other effects. Try the E3 ( in the octave directly below middle C), or other keys in that octave.

With the Mute slider at 0 ( zero) it is ok. But at  mid-positions, say 0,35, there is a nasty tone developing in the decay, that is close to D6  ( which is just two semitones below the natural harmonic...)

I sent these results to Julien.

https://www.pianoteq.com/support_form?direct or by writing to support@pianoteq.com

Don't forget to include the fxp if you are using custom settings (otherwise just tell us the name of the preset you are using), and the MIDI file that we can use to reproduce your issue

Julien, could you pls tell me, where I can send a wav-file for you to evaluate??

Greetings,

Geert

I may assume, that Pianoteq also outputs with 24 bits??  As I see no settings anywhere.

This is from the manual. And this explains, why there  is no setting for bit-depth.

THe next thing is, that when working as a VST in Reaper, with BOTH audio devices I have the unwanted sidetones back again!!

Well, at least I have a clean direct config now, but as I most of the time use Reaper, it is still not very satisfiying.

One thing is sure: it is certainly NOT a fault in Pianoteq.......!!

I am now going to test on aother PC, with Firewire and the Focusrite. WIll let you knwo the results.

Very much to my surprise, its the MOTU Microbook II I use!!

I hooked up my ( cheaper...) EMU 0404USB. This unit does come up with a settings display where I can select a bit-depth.

Much to my surprise, not only on 24 bits, but also on 16 bits its clean as hell!!  Now I have to find out, if this problem changes when I manage to get the MOTU into 24 bits.... but this is really a bad day for me, as I use the MOTU for all sorts of sound, and it is so much more versatile. But in the end, it is only the sound that matters of course.

SO, Pianoteq, nothing to blame there..!!  And I  suggest for people with this problem, to change Audio Device and look again.

This all was done with direct program. Next step will be, to look into this with Reaper and VST, as probably there I can adjust the bit depth of the MOTU.

Julian, thanks for the reply!

Greetings,

Geert

The Audio Device panel of my Microbook II only shows me the current samplerate and buffersize.

But of course it can use 24 bits....I noticed now on your website that internally Pianteq works with 32 bits.

But I will hook up two other devices, the  EMU0404USB a as well as the Focusrite Saffire, and  record and comparesome samples, before I get further with this matter, just to exclude any effects of my hardware.

Anyhow, from your reply I would suggest that you do not recognise this effect, so it seems something that only some users experience.

Just give me some time to do this research......

Greetings,

Geert

If that is not the issue, you should definitively post an audio example (wav preferably) of that sound so that we can check if something is wrong

In the middle octave, say A 440 Hz, there is totally NO effect of this. Of course also there  one can observe harmonics coming and going, but they seem to be in a more musical ( harmonic?) relationship with the ground tone, so are not disturbing at all. Besides, they do NOT come up that much higher in amplitude.

One should really take a video of this. I will certainly try this and place it somewhere for others to observe.

Now about the bits. Of course I choose 48kBit/s as samplefrequency,  I do not see a higher posibillity.
BUT: nowhere can I see a a choice of bits........

I may HOPE that Pianoteq works with 24 bits at least........  So I do not quite understand why you mention 16 bits.

I test all of this with the MOTU Microbook II.

Greetings,

Geert

There are really sinewaves in the decay portion of the sound, in the middle kb area. It is as if somebody is softly whistling your note when it decays.....

If you hear whistles at the tail of notes, just before the sound goes silent, then it could be caused by the soundcard supporting only 16-bit output. If you export a 16-bit wav file with pianoteq, and listen to it, you should not hear this whistling sound anymore at the tail of notes because Pianoteq applies dithering when exporting to a 16-bit wav.

This to my opinion does alter the basic sound, which is should not do!!!

OF COURSE it should! Binaural head picks the sound up completely differently compared to any microphone. Hence the tonal changes.

There are really sinewaves in the decay portion of the sound, in the middle kb area. It is as if somebody is softly whistling your note when it decays.....

So we are NOT talking here about spurious noises, coming from earthe loops, laptop power supplies etc etc.
I can thrustfully state that my setups are free of that, and besides Pianoteq I use other sound generators, like Hauptwerk, having none of these issues.
I also tested with diverse Audio interfaces, like Focusrite Saffire, M-Audio, EMU and MOTU units.

So there is room for improvement on this.

Another thing:  I certainly do NOT like most of the built- in reverbs. They add some obtrusing "bulk"to the middle audio area, that makes your beautiful transparant pianosounds much more "heavy".
Even if you move the MIX slider a lot to the left, at say minus 12 or 15 dB.

Instead  ( IF one needs reverb sometimes)  I use a separate convolution VST, with the impulse response of the Anloo church in the Netherlands, which is a fine small medieval church having a reverb time of some 1,5 seconds.  And the surprising thing is, that THIS reverb does not al all have this nasty effect, even when mixed in at a much higher level ( say minus 4 dB or so).

Another thing ( 2): which I also spoke about in another post:  I do NOT like the built in headphones simulation, called BINAURAL......
This to my opinion does alter the basic sound, which is should not do!!!
Instead of that I use the Toneboosters ISONE, which is perfect, so that you ONLY hear the sound moving a bit to the front in your head, WITHOUT altering the tonal characteristic.

Now don,t understand me wrong: I still find Pianoteq giving me the most realistic playing effct, and also a VERY nice and convincing piano sound, but one should try out these things  for improving the sound even more.........

Greetings,

Geert