Low pcm sound volume

[Mfich]

Hi, I just got an xw-p1.  One thing I want to know (I searched and haven't found a decent answer) is are the pcm sounds just generally lower in volume than the hex, solo, and organ?  Because that's how mine is.  If that's not normal, I want to know of I should do a factory reset.  If it is normal, what are some work arounds?  Like, is there a specific pcm layer that works well to beef a piano up?

 

Thanks

[Jokeyman123]

No there should be no pronounced difference-and it depends upon which tones specifically across categories.

 

I am assuming you are comparing tones in "tone" mode as when you are using tones in sequencer or performance mode you have to monitor your mixer settings for channel one, which is always the default "live" tone-the one you will hear when playing the keys, and this tone could sound softer than the other tones in the performance or sequencer playback-depending on the mixer volume levels. Of course some layered hex tones will seem louder than a plain piano or other tone as there are several tones playing at once-but even so, I don't hear too much difference, and there will be perceived variations in loudness even between tones in the same category, but again shouldn't be much or at all. 

 

I've had this discussion with another sound designer on another user group-as one of my rather expensive workstations has a glaring defect-the bass tones are varying terribly-some need almost 100% volume in a mix, others are overpowering even at 10%-a huge oversight to whoever programmed these as factory set bass tones, but not a Casio.

 

Generally keyboard or module designers strive to make sure there are no unusual variations in "perceived" loudness across various tones when creating a factory set of tones-the thinking being that as you might need to switch tones around quickly for a live performance-you want to be reasonably sure your organ patch might not suddenly be much louder than for example a string or pad, or solo piano patch so you do not have constantly re-adjust loudness manually for each tone you select. The XW-at least mine, does this quite well.

 

As far as beefing up a piano patch to make it sound fuller-you have a few options-use the same tone in 2 layers in a performance across the entire keyboard and add very slight de-tuning-not so much as to create a phasing or obvious detuning effect-or layer a piano with a sine wave, at lower volume so it blends in-a trick many manufacturers uses as a "cheat" to make their otherwise thin pianos sound "beefier. I think the XW has an "early reflections" DSP, I'll have to check. This effect on many of my keyboards-does make the acoustic and electric pianos sound richer, without altering the basic timbre of the tone much at all. Then there is always adjusting the EQ-I have to be in front of my XW to remember how this is done-and of course with an outboard mixer or digital recorder-EQ is always an option, even with the smaller mixers and recorders. Especially with acoustic pianos-the midrange frequencies will have a big impact on what you hear-can fill in an anemic-sounding piano a bit-as long as your high and low frequencies are not over-powered.