PSR-E433 Problem w/ sound quality when transferring audio file to computer or any other audio medium

[kealii Perry]

Okay I was wondering if anyone can help me with this particular problem. The audio Tracks in which I created sound amazing on the keyboard but when I transferred over the audio tracks to my computer and phone (for playback). The sound quality is tremendously lower than from how it sounds on the keyboard. Granted my computer is a dell. My speakers using logitech brand. Not sure what exactly is the problem. Any suggestions? I just hope when i do try to transfer audio files it doesnt sound like crap when put that track on a recording program.

 

[happyrat1]

We need more to go on here.

1) Are you sure you are transferring audio and not MIDI data to the computer?

2) What sort of speakers are you using on the computer? Are they 2.1 type with a subwoofer or are they simply ten dollar computer 2.0 speakers with 2 inch cones?

3) Are these laptop built in speakers we are talking about or are they external speakers plugged into the soundcard?

4) One thing you could try with the right cable is plugging your computer into your home stereo system and see if the improvement is noticeable or not. Or try with a decent set of headphones or earbuds plugged into the phone and computer.

Gary

 

[kealii Perry]

We need more to go on here.

1) Are you sure you are transferring audio and not MIDI data to the computer? Yea its not midi file its audio file.

2) What sort of speakers are you using on the computer? Are they 2.1 type with a subwoofer or are they simply ten dollar computer 2.0 speakers with 2 inch cones?
2.1 w/subwoofer plug into my computer.
3) Are these laptop built in speakers we are talking about or are they external speakers plugged into the soundcard?
External speakers plugged into wound card.

4) One thing you could try with the right cable is plugging your computer into your home stereo system and see if the improvement is noticeable or not. Or try with a decent set of headphones or earbuds plugged into the phone and computer.
Will definitly try! Thx for the advice and taking the time to read this.

Gary

 

[happyrat1]

Just remember, if the earbuds still sound crappy that sometimes a computer simply has a lousy soundcard built in.

On a desktop it's an easy fix by buying a new soundcard and plugging it in.

On a laptop your only option is to add a USB soundcard to replace the internal one.

Gary

 

[kealii Perry]

Most Appreciated!

 

[Ted Nicoson]

Gary - In case you need the info:

The PSR-E433 has only a 1/4 inch TRS stereo Phones output under control of the main volume knob - no Line Outs and the USB is MIDI only - no audio. Low audio from the Phones Out to the computer in (if that is the connection in question) could mean the volume knob is just set too low, but it can go into overdrive really quick.

 

[happyrat1]

Actually now that you brought up that point Ted, I believe that on Yamahas that output thru the headphone jack there's a menu setting to change the output impedance from Headphone to Line Levels.

If the OP is indeed outputting the signal from a headphone jack to the computer's line in or worse yet, to the pink Mic In jack then signal levels would blow out the levels in a heartbeat.

I'd assumed he'd made a recording on the keyboard itself and transferred it to the computer as a wav file.

But if he is actually trying to record on the computer thru a headphone jack then he should be either using that internal menu option to set the impedance or else using a DI box to adjust the output levels to the right level for recording.

Furthermore, it should be inputting to the assignable blue line input jack on the computer and not the pink or red mic input jack.

Kealii if you could please confirm exactly what recording setup you are using and how you are inputting to the computer this could clear up the entire issue quickly.

Gary

 

[SeaGtGruff]

Gary, you are right on the money about that.

kealii, press the FUNCTION button on your PSR-E433 and navigate to "MasterEQ" (function 036). There are five possible settings:

• 1 - Speaker
• 2 - Boost
• 3 - Headphone
• 4 - Line Out 1
• 5 - Line Out 2

You should try setting the Master EQ to 4 first (Line Out 1) and see how that sounds. Then try setting it to 5 (Line Out 2) for comparison.

Also, you should be able to get a cleaner signal by sending the PSR-E433's audio output to an audio interface before taking it to your computer.

That should be enough to get you going in the right direction, but if you want to have the greatest amount of control over your tracks then eventually you'll want to record each MIDI channel to a separate audio track. That way you can adjust the sound for each individual track before you save your final mix to an audio file.

 

[kealii Perry]

Actually now that you brought up that point Ted, I believe that on Yamahas that output thru the headphone jack there's a menu setting to change the output impedance from Headphone to Line Levels.

If the OP is indeed outputting the signal from a headphone jack to the computer's line in or worse yet, to the pink Mic In jack then signal levels would blow out the levels in a heartbeat.

I'd assumed he'd made a recording on the keyboard itself and transferred it to the computer as a wav file.

But if he is actually trying to record on the computer thru a headphone jack then he should be either using that internal menu option to set the impedance or else using a DI box to adjust the output levels to the right level for recording.

Furthermore, it should be inputting to the assignable blue line input jack on the computer and not the pink or red mic input jack.

Kealii if you could please confirm exactly what recording setup you are using and how you are inputting to the computer this could clear up the entire issue quickly.

Gary

Thx for all the help! As of now im just utilizing my keyboard for production and I save to my usb. But on keyboard itself trackw ive created sounds decent. Problem could be what was previously discussed. In theory. Given what you two were speaking of im sure when i make some changes. It should come work out hopefully.

 

[kealii Perry]

P.s basically just making beats off my keyboard and looking to transfer them over to a computer when I have a mac and a recording program of choice thinking of going with logic pro x. Nice software

 

[kealii Perry]

Thx for all the help! As of now im just utilizing my keyboard for production and I save to my usb. But on keyboard itself trackw ive created sounds decent. Problem could be what was previously discussed. In theory. Given what you two were speaking of im sure when i make some changes. It should come work out hopefully.

Will definitely make adjustments as they come. Just hope when i do transfer the audio files to a recording program they work as they sound on the keyboard. Just using for production at the moment will use as a midi when get my other studio stuff going. Appreciate the help and guidance I do! Keep you informed!

 

[SeaGtGruff]

Yes, I'd like to hear how it goes!

However, one thing you might want to do when you get Logic Pro is load the songs you've recorded on your keyboard as MIDI files, because Logic Pro might have some virtual instruments that sound better than the equivalent voices on your keyboard.

Also, it's common to apply reverb, chorus, and other effects to the voices on a keyboard, but if you're going to be working in a DAW then it's better to use MIDI rather than recording the audio output from your keyboard, for three reasons: (1) the DAW may have a wider variety of effects to choose from and they may sound better than the ones on your keyboard; (2) the PSR-E433 doesn't let you use multiple types of reverb and chorus in a song recording (unless you record separate audio tracks one at a time), whereas a DAW will let you apply different types of reverb or chorus to different tracks; and most importantly (3) you won't be able to remove an effect from a track if you've recorded an audio track with the effect already applied to the voice on the keyboard, whereas if you record your tracks without effects then the effects can be added in the DAW in a manner that's reversible. If you save your recording as a MIDI file and then load it into the DAW, you're free to change the effect types as desired and make adjustments to the send levels of each track.

 

[kealii Perry]

Yea a friend mentioned the same as well. In regards to the effects amd producing. There's two ways of saving a file. Ill figure that out which is what. Lol. But your definitely right. Logic Pro is way more nice. Dont get me wrong I like what I've created. And i hope it comes to life. Logic really nice in overall production and engineering. Thank you and the other gentleman for all the pointers and tips. Most appreciated.

 

[SeaGtGruff]

There's two ways of saving a file. Ill figure that out which is what.

I don't know whether you're referring to recording audio versus recording MIDI, or to saving a recording on the PSR-E433. On the chance that you mean the latter, the PSR-E433 lets you do either a "quick record" or a track-by-track recording. However, even if you record the tracks one at a time you're still limited to one type of reverb and one type of chorus for the song as a whole. You can control the reverb send and chorus send levels for each track, but trying to use different reverb and chorus types won't work. On the other hand, if you're recording the keyboard's audio output in a DAW then you can use one reverb type and chorus type for recording one track, then switch to a different reverb type and chorus type for recording another track.

EDIT: PS-- As you can see in my signature lines, I have a PSR-E433 myself. I especially like being able to create "new sounds" on it by modifying the attack/release, cutoff/resonance, and reverb/chorus of the preset voices, so I realize there will be times when those settings are just the way you want them and you do in fact want to record the keyboard's audio with the reverb and chorus already applied. I was just speaking in more general terms, where it's usually preferable to apply the effects inside the DAW in a manner that can be reversed or modified at will. Obviously there are times when you would want to record an instrument with effects already applied, such as when recording the performance of an electric guitarist who's using a dozen or more effects pedals!

 

[kealii Perry]

Referring to saving of the psr-e433 itself but i was reading a pdf manual lol in regards to the file types you can save. For instance it gives you can save as user song file or song midi file. I recall in early discussion you mentioned something about using the midi file when I transfer over my songs to a recording program. Or should I use user song file instead? Honestly dont know the difference between the two. I have minor understanding given the text definition. But appreciate all the advice.

 

[luukytam]

thank for share

 

[SeaGtGruff]

Referring to saving of the psr-e433 itself but i was reading a pdf manual lol in regards to the file types you can save. For instance it gives you can save as user song file or song midi file. I recall in early discussion you mentioned something about using the midi file when I transfer over my songs to a recording program. Or should I use user song file instead? Honestly dont know the difference between the two. I have minor understanding given the text definition. But appreciate all the advice.

It looks like I missed seeing your question back in August, so here's a belated reply.

What the manual refers to as a "User Song" is a song that you've recorded in the keyboard's memory using its onboard song sequencer. The song data is stored in memory using MIDI data but it isn't a MIDI file per se, as the "MThd" header chunk isn't included. Also, the style playback information is in an abbreviated form in which only the style number, style volume setting, style tracks on/off settings, style section changes, and style chord changes are recorded. Furthermore, the various tracks are recorded to their own separate "MTrk" chunks, and the data for each chunk can be (and usually is) split up and scattered around in the keyboard's memory because the User Song memory area is divided into 512-byte blocks, so any tracks larger than 512 bytes can get fragmented just like files on your computer's hard drive. This User Song format is fine for storing a song in memory and playing it back, but it can't be directly transferred to a computer. (There is an option in the keyboard's FILE CONTROL menu to save a "User File," but that's actually a sort of backup of the keyboard's memory-- and while the User File does include the User Songs, they aren't in a format that can be played back on the computer.)

If you do want to transfer a User Song to a computer, you must first convert it into the Standard MIDI File (SMF) format using the "Save SMF" function in the keyboard's FILE CONTROL menu. This function will write the song's MIDI data to a MIDI file that includes the proper "MThd" header chunk, the multiple fragmented blocks containing the song's tracks will be merged into a single "MTrk" chunk, and the actual MIDI data for the style will be generated from the abbreviated style playback information so it can be included in the single "MTrk" chunk as well. Thus, if you want to transfer one of your User Songs to a computer, your best choice is to use the "Save SMF" option to create a MIDI song file.

Unfortunately, the FILE CONTROL menu is available only if the keyboard has a USB To Device port for plugging in a USB thumb drive. Some PSR-E/YPT models don't have a USB To Device port, therefore they don't provide any way to convert a User Song into a Standard MIDI File. In that case, another option is to connect the keyboard to a computer-- which might require buying a USB-MIDI interface-- then start the song playback on the keyboard and record the MIDI data on the computer using a DAW.