White Grand sounds worse in XL than in L ?

[PM_ME_PATCHES]

I didn't have space for the XL version of the White Grand, so I played with the L for a while and really liked it.
Today I wanted to record something, so I decided to make room for the XL and installed it.

The weird thing is, when I compare it to a recording of the L version, the XL sounds worse to my ears, more muddy, and less defined.

Both are recorded dry through the same interface, triggered from the same midi file.

Can you tell me if I'm just imagining things?

• White Grand XL.mp3

• White Grand L.mp3

[maurus]

My impression is that for some pianos, the L versions are deliberately cleaner than the XL versions. This is definitely the case for the Bösendorfer (Grand Imperial), and yes, I can hear the same in the White Grand. Of course the L versions with stretched samples over a few keys each will for technical reasons be more homogeneous anyway (any quirk in a sample would show up in all keys of the stretch group and is thus very undesirable), but I think they left some, let's say, individuality, in the full samples of the XL version in order to make the XL instrument sound more natural.

More often than not I like the L versions a little better.

[Spider]

Also, is it my impression or in the comparison the L sounds a bit louder?

[anotherscott]

XL is more authentic to the original piano (since each key is sampled, instead of sometimes stretching note samples to adjacent keys), but whether it sounds better or worse is subjective. I haven't spent much time with the White, but in your particular examples, I happen to prefer the sound of the XL. Some notes on the L sound a little dull by comparison, presumably ones that were stretched downward. But it's close. As it happens, though, I did end up preferring the L in the Grand Imperial, when I compared them some years back.

[harmonizer]

Listening on ~$200 pair of Sony headphones, I did like the sound of your L recording better than the XL. The "L" just seemed more clear to me.
I don't know if one was louder than the other, and I don't claim to have any expertise behind my choice.
I am a bit of a treble freak.

[DJKeys]

The L version sounded slightly brighter to me.

-dj

[fieldflower]

I find them very similar, but the XL is more airy and full whereas the L is more center focus.
I guess that might make the L cut through better in a mix, but the XL would be the better choice for solo piano playing.

[Akorder]

Nice playing!

In my opinion neither piano sample is *worse* because they are both quite nice.

Idropped both mp3's into Logic Pro X. It appears that the L recording is 1,9 dB louder than the XL. While listening it doesn't sound quite that much louder, but it's intresting to see that the two samples respond differently to the same MIDI information. Or maybe the volume difference comes from the bouncing operation?

Human hearing tends to interpret louder as better, when differences are small. Maybe L-samples use the bytes more efficiently as many forum members have said preferring them instead of XL for live use. Anyway, what counts is how each player likes what he/she hears, which ever inspires best.

[kirsty]

Interesting thread guys.

For years I preferred the Bosie L to the XL. Just always sounded stronger for live playing.

Ive had XL White loaded for a while now as always thought I would use the newest sample in the biggest most detailed format possible and never thought to try the L version.
Just substituted it in the Sound Manager on the back of this thread to the L version and I dont know if my ears are playing tricks but it does sound marginally clearer and cleaner, certainly not worse.

I just gained 95MB of space to play with, cheers PM_ME_PATCHES

[cphollis]

Everyone's ears will be different. Like others have mentioned, the XL seems more richly detailed and lush, although with less presence and focus. The L is sort of the opposite, less detail and lush, but more presence and focus. I can see where each would have their role.