Modartt user forum - Making the sound through headphones easier to the ear

Re: Making the sound through headphones easier to the ear

null@example.com (Nikopol) — Wed, 04 Mar 2020 17:59:24 +0000

I always tune my headphones to the piano in manual mode. Automatic settings do not give high-quality sound. A similar situation with headphones for drummers, check. First of all, you need to adjust the equalizer, sometimes this is enough.

Re: Making the sound through headphones easier to the ear

null@example.com (scherbakov.al) — Wed, 12 Feb 2020 21:08:44 +0000

johanibraaten wrote:

Would you like to share what you did to make it so spacious? I think I have to purchase the Bechstein now...:)

I changed the stiffness of the hammer, impedance, sympathetic resonance, reverb. I used binaural mode. Changed the width between the headphones and changed the position. I closed the lid. Apparently everything ..

Re: Making the sound through headphones easier to the ear

null@example.com (johanibraaten) — Wed, 12 Feb 2020 20:42:20 +0000

scherbakov.al wrote:

Maybe you will like this preset. I do hours of classes with him.
https://forum.modartt.com/file/1vt7euop

Thank you very much, I really like it! Unfortunately I don’t have the Bechstein pack but I run it in demo mode. Would you like to share what you did to make it so spacious? I think I have to purchase the Bechstein now...:)

Re: Making the sound through headphones easier to the ear

null@example.com (scherbakov.al) — Wed, 12 Feb 2020 08:58:51 +0000

Maybe you will like this preset. I do hours of classes with him.

https://forum.modartt.com/file/1vt7euop

Re: Making the sound through headphones easier to the ear

null@example.com (johanibraaten) — Tue, 11 Feb 2020 09:04:17 +0000

Thank you all for your suggestions. A combination of EQ and moving the mics a little further away along the axis seems to be a good path. I also tried to make the "Classical recording 2" a little dryer which also seems to have potential. Thank you dklein for your FXP-file, it really gives a authentic experience of an older upright (a little ear piercing in the treble though). And thank you professor Leandro Duarte for your suggestions regarding microphone positions. I think I have to learn more about that and how to get optimal synergy with headphones. Dazric- very good suggestion to copy microphone settings from other presets, it’s a universe to explore...I hope Modartt will implement more presets optimized for practicing with headphones in the future, that would be appreciated by many I think. Yamaha did that with their latest pianos and it has been very well received.

Re: Making the sound through headphones easier to the ear

null@example.com (dklein) — Fri, 07 Feb 2020 02:04:54 +0000

I don't like monophonic sound, but I want my Pianoteq sound to appear similar to the sound that my acoustic upright makes when it is played (i.e. when the "Stop Bar" is not engaged).

Re: Making the sound through headphones easier to the ear

null@example.com (Professor Leandro Duarte) — Thu, 06 Feb 2020 15:29:54 +0000

dklein wrote:

Hey, I like it!
I thought that I had done this years ago, to no avail, but I tried it again tonight and it worked much better than I remember. As I type this, I am now playing my acoustic 1885 Steinway upright F on the itself, and Pianoteq on my CME X-Key 37 on my knees. Once I shifted the dynamics to 60, and the condition to 0.26, and chose the Steinway B Home with Reverb Off, the two sounded fairly close.
https://forum.modartt.com/file/4gjne7of
Good technique!
- David

I downloaded and tried your piano, I found it very interesting. Do you like monophonic sound?

Re: Making the sound through headphones easier to the ear

null@example.com (dklein) — Thu, 06 Feb 2020 07:36:03 +0000

Hey, I like it!

I thought that I had done this years ago, to no avail, but I tried it again tonight and it worked much better than I remember. As I type this, I am now playing my acoustic 1885 Steinway upright F on the itself, and Pianoteq on my CME X-Key 37 on my knees. Once I shifted the dynamics to 60, and the condition to 0.26, and chose the Steinway B Home with Reverb Off, the two sounded fairly close.

https://forum.modartt.com/file/4gjne7of

Good technique!

- David

Re: Making the sound through headphones easier to the ear

null@example.com (Professor Leandro Duarte) — Wed, 05 Feb 2020 20:13:05 +0000

The best microphone experience I've ever had, was to position the microphones exactly where my speakers are positioned. I turned off the compensation and the delay, both microphones at 0 db, without reverb, without effects, just the clean sound of the piano.

Since then, I believe that positioning the microphones where the boxes are placed, or doing the opposite (checking the measurement positions of the mics in the sound recording interface window to later position the speakers / monitors) obviously provides maximum realism and spacing believable. That's because the sound is generated exactly from where it was captured.

Re: Making the sound through headphones easier to the ear

null@example.com (dazric) — Wed, 05 Feb 2020 15:02:37 +0000

Yes, there is binaural mode and stereophonic as well - so you have 3 different 'flavours' of each preset (not including monophonic) without moving any mics. Also have a look at the fxp corner: there are plenty of variant presets to choose from there. You can copy mic settings from other pianos and paste them into Steinway B (or just use the Freeze Parameters function for mics). The possibilities are endless!

Edit: forgot to mention that in binaural mode you might find it easier to change the listening perspective - it's just a 'virtual head' rather than a set of mics. Stereophonic mode is a fixed position - there are no mics to move.

Re: Making the sound through headphones easier to the ear

null@example.com (tmyoung) — Wed, 05 Feb 2020 14:51:27 +0000

You can try the binaural mode in PTQ and increase the amount of reverb in the mix (under the effects/fx panel).

If you are using presets with microphones, you can always move the preset's microphones farther away from the piano but along the same axis, this will add more room tone and decrease the overall volume of the sound. You can also increase the amount of reverb in the mix on these settings too, which makes the sound more resonant.

Re: Making the sound through headphones easier to the ear

null@example.com (johanibraaten) — Wed, 05 Feb 2020 13:37:49 +0000

NathanShirley wrote:

You might try a slight high frequency roll-off using an EQ. Add a subtle downward curve on the right third or so of the EQ controller, just to the point where you hear a little difference. From there you can see if it helps and adjust as needed. If it works you can save it as a preset.

Thank you for your reply. Adjusting the EQ helps a bit but I would like a more roomy, not so close feeling. I’ve tried to experiment a bit with microphone type and placement but I’m a novice in that area. Any suggestions about that would be hugely helpful.

Re: Making the sound through headphones easier to the ear

null@example.com (NathanShirley) — Wed, 05 Feb 2020 01:47:27 +0000

You might try a slight high frequency roll-off using an EQ. Add a subtle downward curve on the right third or so of the EQ controller, just to the point where you hear a little difference. From there you can see if it helps and adjust as needed. If it works you can save it as a preset.

Making the sound through headphones easier to the ear

null@example.com (johanibraaten) — Tue, 04 Feb 2020 23:51:44 +0000

Hi.

I'm still quite new to pianoteq and using it mostly for practicing and I love it. I mostly use Steinway B with "Home"-preset and I love how it sounds and reacts when playing. What bothers me is that the sound is a little "up front" that can be tiering for the ears with headphones. I think it's the same with many instruments and presets in pianoteq. Does anyone have any suggestion to make the sound easier to the ears while maintaining the sound character from the Steinway B "home" preset". Ideal would be something like the roomy "Binural" sound in Yamahas latest pianos that gives the feeling that you’re not listening through headphones. I know there is a binaural preset in pianoteq but it isn't the same thing. I'm also aware of that some "recording" presets is a little more spacious and sometimes easier to the ears but I don't want that distant, "reverb-ish" sound for practicing. I have pianoteq 6 PRO.