Modartt user forum - Eardrum piercing sound in the high octaves

Re: Eardrum piercing sound in the high octaves

null@example.com (SteveLy) — Mon, 06 Mar 2017 05:58:02 +0000

Dodgy/over-enthusiastic tweeters maybe? Like others suggested EQ the the high end down perhaps..?

Re: Eardrum piercing sound in the high octaves

null@example.com (NathanShirley) — Thu, 02 Mar 2017 15:27:58 +0000

I would compare it while using headphones -- see if there's a similar issue. The dynamic range of Pianoteq can be huge, so if the problem still exists with headphones you might try turning down the dynamic range a bit, and then decreasing the overall volume to taste. If the headphones sound fine, then you might need to adjust the EQ for your external speakers (within Pianoteq).

Re: Eardrum piercing sound in the high octaves

null@example.com (jcfelice88keys) — Wed, 01 Mar 2017 19:12:34 +0000

Hello Mr. lo134,

I understand your concern about music reproduced electronically, specifically high pitched overtones that can be sometimes described as "eardrum piercing". Although it's not a problem that is inherent to Pianoteq, even though some notes (in your case, the second octave from the top) do seem to come out with these ear piercing frequencies; rather, its origins are in the electronics including amplifier and speakers -- especially an artifact called "beaming" associated with tweeter elements of some speakers.

If you have Pianoteq PRO, it is possible to lower the volume of individual notes that sound too piercing. However, before you do that, you might try reducing the high overtone frequencies of your individual problematic notes by experimenting with Soundboard Impedance, Cutoff, and Sympathetic Resonance -- BEFORE you go in and reduce volume on a per-note basis.

Hope this helps,

Joe

Eardrum piercing sound in the high octaves

null@example.com (lo134) — Wed, 01 Mar 2017 15:27:39 +0000

I have been experiencing this problem every since I started using Pianoteq several years ago, that the second octave from the top sounds "eardrum piercing". I am not sure if it is just the volume or it has something to do with the tone itself, but it is really unpleasing when I play it. I seldom play notes this high and therefore did not seriously try to solve this issue until now.

I think it likely has something to do with room interaction, room resonance, but I have moved my digital piano (Yamaha Grantouch GT2, upfiring speakers, sound projection similar to a baby grand piano) to different locations in my room and the effect more or less still existed. My sampled piano libraries and my digital piano's internal sound exhibited this phenomenon as well, but to a much, much lesser extent, so something inherent in Pianoteq may be contributing to it.

Anyone else experiencing the same problem? How do I best deal with it within Pianoteq? I do have Pianoteq Pro so do I just lower the volume of those specific troublesome notes?