... I have this transformer since 3 years on My-ref: 300VA, with 10k uf PSU caps and a fuse T2,5A. I've never had any problem with fuse but maybe I am lucky 🙂
I am wondering, in a recording process, you have the performer sitting at the piano, but that location is not usually where one would place the mics. So we are not actually hearing what the performer intends. How can piano recording actually convert to the levels we normally listen to live? Let alone the image perception.
When Op27 No. 2 was composed, Ludwig was still in great demand as the most virtuosic musician of his time.
Moonlight is perhaps the most violent piece of keyboard music ever written. Hendrix broke guitars for show. Beethoven broke pianos from the force of his playing. I have classical concert pianist friends who refuse to play it cos they don't think they have the necessary aggression.
If you have a good pianist friend, record him playing any of the 32 sonatas properly on your upright.
In a good room, I'd place my Soundfield Mk4 or TetraMic where I'd like to sit and listen.
Just try recording a piano yourself. You'll soon work out what works and what doesn't ... and also find out how loud a good pianist can play.
This isn't pop. It's Beethoven. Remember, loud bits & soft bits.
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I'm out of touch with my pianist friends, but I should record the Piano. I have had it since I started failing to learn to play, so 1978 ish!
I always recommend bypassing the current limit resistance with a relay.
Otherwise the transformer sees a very high source resistance and it's performance suffers.
Nah, 3 position key switch. Off, charge (via CL60) and on 🙂 Gives you the looks, the inrush protection and stops others using your amps. WNTL..
Yes, I was referencing Andrew's posting, which did not include the leading phrase.
With a piano it's the attack of the note envelope that's crucial, Synthesizer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - I have a decent Yamaha keyboard here, and when it's not properly warmed up, conditioned, the attack of the grand piano sound is pretty dreadful - makes it sound like a toy. Only after a full workout does this attack aspect of the sound render correctly - and it sounds mighty close to a real piano. And that's exactly how most audio systems come across - the attack of the note is just not happening, there's no guts or oomph to the sound ...
My wife has a Yamaha and I have to beg to differ. All the sounds that come with a real piano are missing. The low notes lack the twang and the sustain lacks all the body that the vibrating sound board gives. And the release is almost non-existant.
All my time through school we had a Steinway in the school hall and I listened to countless hours of playing on it. Pianos breathe in a way only a few electronic facsimilies can approach.
And of course a good piano technician will adjust the piano for each type of music being played. You don't get that level of control with facsimiles.
All my time through school we had a Steinway in the school hall and I listened to countless hours of playing on it. Pianos breathe in a way only a few electronic facsimilies can approach.
And of course a good piano technician will adjust the piano for each type of music being played. You don't get that level of control with facsimiles.
Yes, exactly what ours does on turn on - bloody awful, it is! Takes quite few hours, and optimising the power being fed to it, for it to come on song. Just recently I was feeding it lots of MIDI files - Chopin, Beethoven, Mozart sonatas, etc - and finally the sound builds up to the correct piano "richness" - would easily fool someone outside, or at the other end of the house. In fact, it did precisely that to a couple of visitors at the door - "I didn't know Frank could play the piano!? ... " 😀
Don't be too sure, there are some mighty impressive, pure software packages out there that aim to do exactly that - "Steinway, which model, what year was it constructed, humidity, temperature, position in the room, Sir?" type of thing
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One can always connect the Yamaha to a good external system and conclude that the keyboard mechanism and software are not that bad and that the limiting steps are the internal amp and speakers... 😉
Cheers,
M.
But the addition of separate playback units can add as many problems as it solves ...
Our Yamaha model can be heard on YouTube videos, and it sounds abominable there, when "faking" a piano - how could Yamaha get the sound so wrong, one might ask? But, they didn't - everyone was still on a learning curve back then - it's an early 90's model - and they hadn't worked out the subtleties of getting the sound reasonably right from cold switch on. It needs a very long warmup, conditioning - and then it comes on song ... the samples are good quality, the digital processing works well - but the internal amps, speakers and associated circuitry take a long, long time to fully stabilise.
It's basically the same problem that the digital playback world has had since it started in the 80's, and which is taking sooooo long for everyone to get a decent handle on ...
Our Yamaha model can be heard on YouTube videos, and it sounds abominable there, when "faking" a piano - how could Yamaha get the sound so wrong, one might ask? But, they didn't - everyone was still on a learning curve back then - it's an early 90's model - and they hadn't worked out the subtleties of getting the sound reasonably right from cold switch on. It needs a very long warmup, conditioning - and then it comes on song ... the samples are good quality, the digital processing works well - but the internal amps, speakers and associated circuitry take a long, long time to fully stabilise.
It's basically the same problem that the digital playback world has had since it started in the 80's, and which is taking sooooo long for everyone to get a decent handle on ...
I have proposed thermistors to and amplifier company before, it worked really well.
I have never found the piano to be really loud in live performances, but it is extremely difficult to get the harmonics and transient relationship right, but once you do, it is marvelous! Not necessarily loud. Lots of my effor has been trying to figure out how. Just recently getting closer, but the trade offs in design are difficult. Basically we want to try and use as few drivers as possible this is not easy. I thought the MyRef design might do this, but seems not. Got some progress on a simple design, but it is still being tested.
'real' music on 'real' instruments rarely sounds that loud, but next time you go, take an SPL meter with you and see (assuming you sit near the front).
as a bonus tell em, you had some complaints at the fire marshals office and rarely do they charge you admission!
It is possible that there are transients that get loud, but these are replayed properly due to the nonlinearity in drivers and their impedance variation. Lots of these are not addressed in systems.
Many SPL meters rated for peak hold will massively under-read fast transients.
I would expect most hand held equipment to be nearly useless at indicating the peak SPL of a Live performance.