I have these monitors mounted on 70cm stands either side of the clavinova (a CLP 370), and angled towards me - and I'm very pleased with the set up. There is a very good headphone stage in the EMU and this drives a pair of Sennheiser HD650s - which sound great. The Mackies sound even better - plus the whole thing doubles as a pretty future-proof PC-based hi-fi.

http://www.dolby.com/us/en/consumer/set...index.html

or here:

http://www.audioholics.com/tweaks/speak...tial-guide

About the internal sound card: it's simply completely bypassed and ignored if you use any of those USB/Firewire "pro" cards: ASIO only allows one sound card to be used.

1. Does USB allow these interfaces--with 4 outs or more--to completely circumvent the limitations of any on-board sound chip or card? In other words, if there is an on-board chip or card that is stereo, do these external units actually create four channels, or do they split the original stereo channel into four channels, so that each pair is just doubled? I want to assume that four actual channels are created.

2.  Do any of the external sound modules allow the user to control cross-over freqs for each channel?

So . . .

The external I/O units do not create any channels.  Pianoteq creates the channels - up to five.  But, those channels represent digital audio.  The I/O device is a D/A  (digital to analog) device.  When the external I/O device is attached via a USB cable to your computer,  the five digital signals from Pianoteq and your computer are converted by the I/O device to analog audio signals . . and those five channels are not mixed.  The I/O device has analog output jacks for your separate audio amplifiers that you may have . . perhaps the stereo system you are using  and add a couple of inexpensive "boom boxes" for the other channels.

Your external amplifiers probably have tone controls but you could insert EQ modules between the I/O and your amplifiers to control what you were referring to as cross-over freqs.

Regards,   Lanny Davis

I second that. It's like watching a movie in stereo or in surround: it's simply not the same experience; and in fact I DON'T recommend the Tascam US2000, because it has no MIDI ! The sound is very good, and it has 4 outputs. but if you have no other MIDi interface, it's a no-way. Actually you'd better get an audio card with more outputs - and MIDI of course !  There are plenty of them, via USB like the new PreSonus AudioBox 1818VSL, the M-Audio FastTrack 8R, the MOTU UltraLite-mk3, the Steinberg UR824 and so on,  and via Firewire, there are even more !

Two questions: (I use an external interface with only two outs.)

1. Does USB allow these interfaces--with 4 outs or more--to completely circumvent the limitations of any on-board sound chip or card? In other words, if there is an on-board chip or card that is stereo, do these external units actually create four channels, or do they split the original stereo channel into four channels, so that each pair is just doubled? I want to assume that four actual channels are created.

2.  Do any of the external sound modules allow the user to control cross-over freqs for each channel?

Here is where the I/O  (either Firewire or USB) comes into the picture.  Your computer can only output two of the microphone channels.  The external I/O  (Input/Output) device can recognize the five channels . . keep them separated . .  and on the back of the I/O device (module or box) there would be the five (or more) physical output jacks.  Then you run those individual jacks to five physical amplifiers and speakers or to five powered speakers.

This is the beginning of recreating the huge multi-sourced sound that a piano actually generates.  A piano sends out sounds from thousands . . millions . . of different point sources.  Our ears are stereo and our brain processes that two channel input from our ears..  We do not often appreciate the end result but in the case of a piano or orchestra on a stage . . terms that describe what we hear would include:  PRESENCE (part of the auto-location process).

So, if you have five separate channels and speakers around your piano/controller keyboard, the sound is coming from those five point sources, but our (stereo) ears and our brain will begin to recognize that PRESENCE we are (looking) for.

Five average quality speakers connected with a multi-channel I/O will do more to enhance  the PRESENCE of the piano than two high quality speakers connected in a two channel set-up.

All of the above only in my humble opinion . .  :-)

Lanny Davis

What sound card do you use currently?

I am running a Dell XPS 8300 which has the sound card integrated into the motherboard.   It has no other dedicated sound card.

I am also redirecting my Pianoteq output to a USB external audio device, the Behringer U-Control UCA202 Audio Interface and then to my HS80M Yamaha Powered Monitors.

I am quite pleased with the sound I get now.   Of course,  I am always open to better as long as the complication factor stays low and possible problems are minimized.  I do not wish to get into a situation where I am spending huge blocks of time debugging technical issues.

So, it sounds like you might suggest to simply unplug the Behringer audio interface and plug in a Tascam US2000 in order to move up a level in sound delivery.    Would it be that simple, or is there more to it than that ?

EDIT:  I just received advice on another forum that my Behringer device is a sound card and that changing to the TASCAM US2000 would not give me any appreciable improvement in sound quality.   If that is true, then (as I see it) only reason to make a switch would be to gain additional output channels with which to utilize additional monitors so that I could make use of movement of 4 microphones in Pianoteq.    At this time, that is not a high priority for me.

Don

BTW "firewire" is not the only way to go: more and more brands (Edirol, RME, Presonus, MOTU, Tascam...) also offer USB2 based sound cards, sometimes even both interfaces on the same card. There isn't any sound or performance difference at all, it's just a matter of connexion between the sound card and the PC/Mac. Personally, I have much less problems with my current USB system (Tascam US2000 and/or US144MKII) than I had with several firewire devices (mostly Presonus...), and firewire seems to be less and less used on new PC's, even on the new Mac's, so USB seems a safer way...

And congrats to the shop guy, it's not too often that you meet such an honest one !

Hi Don . . It is nice that the stereo shoppe guy was totally objective about your nice speakers.  If you are able to move ahead beyond all of that, I would suggest that you try four of those speakers . . HOWEVER . . also acquire a Firewire I/O device . .  at least 4 or 5 channels in and the same (or more out). 

Multiple mic placement is one of the greatest features of the Pianoteq GUI.  Even if all you did were to set all four speakers on a table in front of you and make the same vol and delay for four microphones . . you should find yourself enjoying an aural plateau that has to be heard to be understood.

If you can do it . .  try it . . ask the Pianoteq team about it . . they know.  Your Piano Shoppe friend said it . . . "look at the source".

Lanny

My problem with all of this fancy audio equipment is that I know very little about it and I really am hesitant to start getting too complicated.    I do not even know what a firewire device is.   Maybe I could give the Stereo Shoppe some business and see if they could hook thngs like that up for me.   I may look into that.

Don

Multiple mic placement is one of the greatest features of the Pianoteq GUI.  Even if all you did were to set all four speakers on a table in front of you and make the same vol and delay for four microphones . . you should find yourself enjoying an aural plateau that has to be heard to be understood.

If you can do it . .  try it . . ask the Pianoteq team about it . . they know.  Your Piano Shoppe friend said it . . . "look at the source".

Lanny

And it isn't that I do not like the sound I am getting.   It is just that I wasn't sure if I could get a better sound just by getting better monitors.   He seemed to think NOT.
He said You might get a marginally "different" sound with something else but not enough to warrant a switch ... in his opinion.

So, in a way that is comforting.   Now, I know that I just have to start working with Pianoteq here and there .... tweaking .... and the sound I get is the sound I get.

Just to emphasize, I am not unhappy with the sound I have.  In fact, I have come to prefer the sound I am creating in Pianoteq as opposed to the sound I get from a previous software piano product, which is nice also. 

As time passes and I continue to tweak, I feel confident ... now .... that the sound will just keep getting better.

Don

yep, "pro-audio" and "hifi" are very different animals !!! You should absolutely try the Pianoteq "live", and at your normal listening/playing level: most hifi speakers are too weak to deliver the necessary dynamic range. A real piano, played fortissimo, gets really loud...

Not sure what you mean by trying Pianoteq "Live".     It sounds like you mean trying one of the presets (Like C3 Close Mic) with no modifications.    Or, you could mean trying it through speakers instead of headphones.

Also, I know that a real piano can be very LOUD and I have come to realize that I do not really like that sound.   So, my presets end up with a quieter, softer timbre to them.