Mac OS 9 Lives
Digital Audio Workstation & MIDI => Digital Audio Workstations & MIDI Applications => Sampler Software, Sample CDs, & Sample Libaries => Topic started by: geforceg4 on August 12, 2016, 04:13:11 PM
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anyone on this site here that use them?
anyone on this site here that collect them?
they seem to be supported by alot of programs + hardware
and seem to be available in alot of places on the internet!
is there any large repository archive that anyone knows about?
i saw a 30gb+ torrent file!
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what other programs support them? surely cubase does too?
heres some more info i just found archived from 2007/2009:
http://web.archive.org/web/20090214214306/http://www.digitalsoundfactory.com/faq.php#SoundFont
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Cubase doesn't support Soundfont format by itself, It needs a VST instrument plugin as bismark bs-1 or bs-16.
The Soundfont format isn't wide used on Mac, furthermore most of software samplers can import them. Otherwise Soundfont format isn't as capable as Kompakt, Halion or even EXS24 formats. The Mac edition of Sound Blaster support them too.
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so u are saying its mostly a pc thing?
i thought it was universal!
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Not really developed for Mac or PC, but any computer that could get a soundcard installed. I think even the name "Soundfont" is really misleading. It's basically just like a Megalith file that contains all the samples, key mappings, and other settings in a single file. The idea was to be able to load the file from disk into the memory of a soundcard and have superior MIDI playback. They were the "go to" audio sample type file when used with MIDI players that wanted better quality then what the System sounds provided (like built in Quicktime).
They were more of a "Pro Consumer" tool since the Big DAW samplers used other formats. So Soundfonts were cool and convenient for MIDI playback, but were limited in other areas. Since they contain a simple file format with PCM data (like a WAV file) with layers, mappings, and other settings they were not meant to be included as copy protected libraries and is probably one reason they were not widely used.
Some samplers load soundfont format (like EXS 24) and they immediately convert, without telling you, into their format.
The last version of soundfonts even supported 24 bit, but the number of layered samples was always kept low (remember they were designed load into a a sound cards memory), so although some soundfonts sound "OK" , they pale in comparison to a HALion or Kompakt patches.
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right - my interest lies with retro/vintage/classic sound libraries that have been converted to the soundfont format by others for ease of use and compatibility
and then uploaded onto the net! theres alot of amazing soundfonts that have been created! ive been told