BIAB instrument sounds

Ben Jones · Post by **Ben Jones** » 24 Mar 2007 7:59 am

Hi all, hope this is in the corrcet section of the forum, please forgive and move if not. I'm not real savy on BIAB, okay I have no idea what Im doin with it...but I would like to improve the sound of the instruments if possible. The bass is farty and the drums ...pfft...horrid. I'm using the 2006 version. Can someone as breifly as possible explain whats needed to make the instruments sound better? My soundcard should be adequate, its fairly new. Can one buy instrument sets or something? I'm clueless. thanks

Robert Leaman · Post by **Robert Leaman** » 24 Mar 2007 8:38 am

BIAB does not produce any sounds. BIAB sends information to a MIDI device or sound card to produce sound. If your sound is poor, buy a good sound card or a good external device that can produce quality sound. Possibly your speakers are poor quality as well. Furthermore, do not confuse sounds from CD with sounds from a MIDI device, they are produced differently.

If your sound is lousy, don't blame BIAB.

Robert Leaman · Post by **Robert Leaman** » 24 Mar 2007 8:39 am

BIAB does not produce any sounds. BIAB sends information to a MIDI device or sound card to produce sound. If your sound is poor, buy a good sound card or a good external device that can produce quality sound. Possibly your speakers are poor quality as well. Furthermore, do not confuse sounds from CD with sounds from a MIDI device, they are produced differently.

If your sound is lousy, don't blame BIAB.

Howard Tate · Post by **Howard Tate** » 24 Mar 2007 9:24 am

You probably got the VST virtual synth with BIAB, if so goto options at the top and under midi/audio driver click the box that says 'use dxi synth'. If you have decent speakers that should improve your sound. Good luck.

Papa Joe Pollick · Post by **Papa Joe Pollick** » 24 Mar 2007 10:04 am

Ben,what has been stated about sound cards and speakers is very true.I'm using a SB live card and moderatly priced studio speakers and getting good sound,not great.
The first thing you should do is upgrade to BIAB 007 mega pac.It has Real Drums that are realy good.
For some good advise about BIAB I would recomend contacting George Wixon.He knows a lot about BIAB and is willing to help.He sure helped me.Good luck..PJ

Ben Jones · Post by **Ben Jones** » 24 Mar 2007 11:01 am

Thanks everyone. i realize BIAB just provides the midi and the sounds are produced by a synth so I would never blame BIAB. Howard got me close to where i want to be with his suggestion. However, When i click on the "use DXi synth" a dialog box pops up asking for a direct x plugin synth..if i have any i dont know where they are at. But I switched from my midi driver from the Audigy synth to the MS wavetable synth and even that was a HUGE improvement. I guess the synths in my audigy soundcard are pretty bad in terms of instrument replication...the drums were miopic, its much better now, not great but way better. Thanks again.

Gary Boyett · Post by **Gary Boyett** » 24 Mar 2007 11:12 am

If you upgrade to 2007 you will get real drums.

This is a HUGE improvement from 2006.

Andy Sandoval · Post by **Andy Sandoval** » 24 Mar 2007 11:33 am

Ben, I use BIAB 2006 with Coyote Forte dxi which greatly improved the instrument sounds. Forte dxi is available from PGmusic.com as is BIAB. Here's a video demo of Forte dxi which shows what you can expect from it. Click Here

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 25 Mar 2007 6:24 am

You need to have a sound card that supports General Midi II. That is what the later editions of BIAB have. With this sound card, there are over 1,000 instruments to choose from. When I play out with BIAB tracks, I have an Edirol sound card that supports GM 2 and the sound is great.

Tom Newman · Post by **Tom Newman** » 26 Apr 2007 10:59 am

Hi Erv, on gigs you do with BIAB do you pre record the tracks onto a cd or mini disk or use it directly from the computer? I'm considering giving this a try. thanks!

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 26 Apr 2007 11:07 am

Tom,
My playback system goes back several years. Alesis used to make a unit called a "Data Disk". You could download the MIDI information on this unit and play it back through a tone generator. This is what I use. The MIDI info is stored on a floppy disk and played back that from that.
When I sell a set of tabs with tracks, I convert the MIDI to audio and burn a CD. This way it can be played on a regular CD player.

Tom Newman · Post by **Tom Newman** » 26 Apr 2007 11:29 am

Erv, that sounds like a good way to go, I assume the tone module is the edirol that you mentioned. thanks

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 26 Apr 2007 11:35 am

Yes, that is correct. The model Edirol I have supports General Midi II. This gives me over 1,000 different instruments to choose from. The quality of your tracks all depends on your tone generator.
Edirol is a division of Roland.