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Studio Grand 1 Piano Distortion/Clipping out Ch 1

Postby mobokeeg » 28 Apr 2014, 00:17

Hey guys,

Just wondering if anyone's had this problem or if is a known problem.

The Ch 1 (left) output makes a very soft clipping/distortion noise when I'm playing at higher velocities, but only when I use the Studio Grand 1 piano patch. It happens when I play loud octaves in the left hand (so essentially it happens when I play low bass notes). It's not very noticeable when I play live but for recordings it's a little bit more apparent. I'd like to fix it, mostly because I really like how that patch sounds. I've looked around but nobody seems to have heard this before.

Thanks in advance.
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Studio Grand 1 Piano Distortion/Clipping out Ch 1


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Re: Studio Grand 1 Piano Distortion/Clipping out Ch 1

Postby RedLeo » 29 Apr 2014, 08:56

As far as I am aware there are no known issues with any of the piano sounds clipping internally. Is it possible that the clipping comes from setting the level too high into the next piece of gear in your chain ie, whatever you have plugged your Nord into? Alternatively, some of the piano sounds (including, I think, both the Yamaha Studio 1 and 2) have a bit of a bright "zing" added at the very highest velocities, which some people have occasionally mistaken for a problem or a distortion artifact.
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Re: Studio Grand 1 Piano Distortion/Clipping out Ch 1

Postby mobokeeg » 29 Apr 2014, 21:27

RedLeo wrote:As far as I am aware there are no known issues with any of the piano sounds clipping internally. Is it possible that the clipping comes from setting the level too high into the next piece of gear in your chain ie, whatever you have plugged your Nord into? Alternatively, some of the piano sounds (including, I think, both the Yamaha Studio 1 and 2) have a bit of a bright "zing" added at the very highest velocities, which some people have occasionally mistaken for a problem or a distortion artifact.


Ahh I see. Yes I double checked this, there was absolutely no clipping through my interface. In fact, the noise also comes out of the left headphone channel as well.

It might be as you say, but I wouldn't characterize this as a "zing". It actually sounds like their mic clipped or something at that velocity. To me that seems like it wouldn't be something they would allow to happen though. I'll try re-downloading the patch, maybe that'll do something.
Last edited by mobokeeg on 29 Apr 2014, 21:28, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Studio Grand 1 Piano Distortion/Clipping out Ch 1

Postby Topcat » 30 Apr 2014, 07:31

Hi mobokeeg,

I experienced the same issue a couple years ago and it caused me headaches, time and money trying to work around this when recording my first album. Like you, I fell in love with the Studio Grand, but noticed it's shortfalls when recording. We ended up messing around with eq for quite some time, to best get around it. Also, I recorded everything via midi and rerouted it back to record as audio, that way I was able to pull individual note velocities down. (Note: the EQ for each song was unique, depending on the key and the velocities of note played.)

As much as I love the Nord, the piano samples do have a "twang", which actually sound like distortion once an album is mastered (due to compression raising the volumes). You'll likely notice that it will "twang" at certain frequencies, depending on the notes that you're playing. I found that a note wouldn't be a problem at certain frequencies, and then, if you raise the frequency by one point e.g. at a velocity from 61 to 69 it might sound fine and then at a velocity of 70 the note might suddenly "jump" out or "twang".

I've since invested in plug in piano samples for all piano recording.

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Re: Studio Grand 1 Piano Distortion/Clipping out Ch 1

Postby alpi1972 » 06 Mar 2015, 12:15

I have this problem too
Last edited by alpi1972 on 09 Mar 2015, 20:02, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Studio Grand 1 Piano Distortion/Clipping out Ch 1

Postby Liam Duggan » 15 Nov 2016, 23:09

Bump.

Hi All,

I have this issue aswell. V5.3 Med of the Studio Grand has a very high frequency distortion on it, mostly on the left side. Its more prevalent when using the string resonance function. Sounds like digital artefacts rather than actual clipping to me. Its not very loud but its there when listening on AKG K712 mastering headphones or Adams A7x monitors a decent volume. There is a harshness to the top end that I couldn't pin down until listened closely on the AKGs, its subtle but annoying….

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