Hi All
When I play my Wersi Abacus through its internal speakers, I get a nice bright sound that is full of life, and has air around the instruments; however when I record the performance and play it on a normal audio system or post it on the web, the sound just doesn’t come out the same. (It seems to lack the live feel that I get through the internal speakers)
Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get an improved recording?
BTW The speakers in the Abacus feature 2 high level Tweeters that point up and 2 x 6 ½” Bass/Mid speakers facing down. (The amplification and speaker system are stereo)
Look forward to your replies

Bill

Bill can you give us more info on what equipment your using to record your music?
& the process? Then maybe we could help a bit more.

Thanx

Hello Dnj
The sounds are recorded (In one take) direct to the internal hard disk as a wav file, I then use the normalize function in Steinbergs Wavelab Lite (Which is installed as standard on Wersi instruments) to balance the sound, before burning to CD using the internal DVD Burner.
If I post on the web, I transfer the wav file over my network to my main computer, and then use Magix Audio Cleaning lab deluxe software to convert to mp3 or WMA.
Hope this helps

Bill

Bill,
Did you ever play the wav file, before processing!
If so what was the result?

Fred

Hello Fred
When I play the wav file back using the Wersi wav file player through the keyboard, it sounds identical to when I played it, however when I have burnt it to CD or connected the Abacus direct to an audio system, the sounds loose life and vibrancy.
Hope this helps, and look forward to suggestions

Bill

Hello Bill,
It still is not clear to me what you are doing exactly. I tend to think your input gain is wrong on the audio system.
(you do use a mixtable, do you ?, as direct line out to home audio equipment is not working good without amplifying the signal)
The source is allways the wav file, so if the recorded cd does not sound good, the used wav file was not good.

To be sure I give some examples.

1. The wav file.
If you have recorded the wav file on your internal hardisk, how do you transfer the wav file to your pc?
If copy and past the raw wav file nothing changes, it still is the same wav file!
To test, just rename the copied file and reverse the copy and past from PC to your abacus and playback the renamed copied file
through its internal speakers again.
Should sound the same as the original.
Just in case if it sounds not the same, the cause can be the steinberg software.
So turn it off and then repeat the process.

You say the Abacus only sounds well through it's internal speakers.
That is against any experience I had/have with keyboards, which includes as far as I know all members here.
Keyboards sound way better trough a good external soundsystem.
So how is your Abacus connected and to what sound system?

2. Recording process
If you record directly to the PC through line out, it's obvious if that results in a lifeless wav file, the gain isn't wright, or the steinberg software is between?
This is guessing as don't have one.

Fred

"to convert to mp3 or WMA"

Bill as you already know...there lies your answer..

I can only suggest you try to EQ the wave file so that when it plays back on normal (!) speakers, it sounds similar to the way it does through the Wersi's own.....

Question....... Is the Wersi applying some kind of mastering EQ or compression to the overall sound? If so, this is probably being applied AFTER the file player, and so it will sound less 'tweaked' on a normal playback system.

I recommend doing the Wavelab thing on a computer into regular speakers, rather than internally in the Wersi. Always do your mastering through the kind of speakers you expect to play the result on...... (and try some mild limiting or level maximizing, rather than just normalization - you'll get a louder, better sounding end result)

Experimentation is the key, but always refer to a pro CD of similar type music, to make sure you don't over-hype the sound.

Hello All
Thanks for the info; I will try a few experiments to see what happens.
The main problem I do have though is the fact that the Abacus is in one room, the main computer in another and the audio system in another, so it makes it a bit difficult to use the normal audio speakers for mastering, anyway here is how I currently do it.
1. When I feel comfortable playing the song, I set the Wersi internal reverb to medium and the output EQ to flat. (The reverb and EQ settings used for the internal speakers, certainly don’t match the audio speakers)
2. I then press the digital record button on the screen which brings up the record level meters, I then play the song a few times making sure the meters do not go into the red, once this is done I hit start and play the song, when completed I hit stop and select the folder I wish to store it in, and also name the file.
3. I then reset the reverb and EQ and play it back to make sure there are no problems.(When recording I always err on the side of caution to make sure I do not go into the red, so the volume of the song is always slightly less then what it could be)
4. I then go into the settings screen and open up Wavelab, load the file, and normalize it, to give a standard CD volume, this is saved and I then burn the file to an audio CD using the internal DVD Burner. (This now means I can listen to it on my audio system)
5. If I decide to post on the web, I open the Wersi OAS Database Window, and export the file to the shared folder on the hard drive, (This can now be accessed by my main computer over the network) and I then copy the file to my main computer.
6. I convert the file to either mp3 or WMA using Magix Audio Cleaning Lab Deluxe software. (I never go below a bit rate of 192, with most being done at 256, so as to give a good balance between file size and sound quality)
When I have a bit more time I will try all your suggestions, and post some examples for you to listen to, which will allow me to get some feedback.
If you have any further suggestions, all will be most welcome.
Enjoy whatever you play

Bill

Ok, Bill here you should STOP and send the wav file to your PC!

Just use Nero or Roxio and burn a cd from the raw wav file...


[This message has been edited by freddynl (edited 10-15-2006).]