How to import SF2 files into cakewalk?

[MercenaryToaster]

I just got cakewalk, and I wanted to use some of my soundfounts, but I can't figure out how to make them into a track, is there a soundfount player i should use? 

[JoeGBradford]

Try this

https://www.plogue.com/products/sforzando.html

[Byron Dickens]

Or this:.  https://www.tx16wx.com/

[Variorum]

49 minutes ago, bdickens said:

Or this:.  https://www.tx16wx.com/

Recommending that to a newbie is like giving a bottle of vodka and the keys to the Ferrari to your teenage son... ?

[Byron Dickens]

1 hour ago, Variorum said:

Recommending that to a newbie is like giving a bottle of vodka and the keys to the Ferrari to your teenage son... ?

Cakewalk itself is quite a handful for newbies....

 

?

[abacab]

Just keep it simple, and start with sforzando! ?

I find that I need to open the TX16WX manual EVERY time I attempt to use it. It's probably the best all-around free sampler, but a bit of overkill for playing a sound font.

[MercenaryToaster]

the SFZ player can also do SF2s right?

 

[sping]

The most simple to use I think is BassMidi, https://www.kvraudio.com/product/bassmidi-vsti-by-falcosoft A multitimbral sf2 player, works much like sfz
and Juicysfplugin, https://github.com/Birch-san/juicysfplugin Not multitimbral (not tested v 3.0 yet).

[abacab]

1 hour ago, MercenaryToaster said:

the SFZ player can also do SF2s right?

You are probably thinking of "sfz+", which was a soundfont .sf2 player. (sfz+ no longer available) https://www.kvraudio.com/product/sfzand_by_cakewalk

The "sfz" player loads .sfz files, such as those used by sforzando, and Cakewalk's .sfz based instruments like Dimension Pro and others. The sforzando player can load a .sf2 file and convert it to .sfz, but some have mentioned that it's not always an exact result.

The file formats are different, as .sfz is strictly a text file, that maps to external sample files, where .sf2 soundfonts included the samples within the .sf2 formatted file.

[brandon]

On 1/20/2022 at 6:26 PM, abacab said:

Just keep it simple, and start with sforzando! ?

I find that I need to open the TX16WX manual EVERY time I attempt to use it. It's probably the best all-around free sampler, but a bit of overkill for playing a sound font.

Hi can you describe in simple steps how i mange to 'insert' or 'import' SFZ into my cakewalk project then assign a midi track to it? Thanks 

[user 905133]

8 minutes ago, brandon said:

Hi can you describe in simple steps how i mange to 'insert' or 'import' SFZ into my cakewalk project then assign a midi track to it? Thanks 

  Do you know how to insert plug-ins into Cakewalk?  If not, there are a number of tutorials available.

 

Edited June 6, 2023 by User 905133

[brandon]

Hi - yes I do - but I cannot find SFZ - I presumed it was a VST but its not showing up even after a scan. Any ideas?

[brandon]

Ok I have found SFZ and have loaded it into CW and assigned a midi track to it. As shown in pic below it should playback the SF2 file but I am not hearing anything. Is there anything else I should do to make this work? Many thanks

 

[user 905133]

I don't have PrysmAudio's SFZ player.  I will give it a try.  I do see that Echo is not on in your image.  I have an old sfz program that used to come with Cakewalk (no longer available).  Once I loaded up an sfz file, it worked.  I see that PrysmAudio's SFZ player is a 32 bit program.  Are you committed to using that program instead of a newer one?

UPDATE: It worked with a basic piano sfz file I have, but when I tried to load other sfz files, I had no sound.

Edited June 6, 2023 by User 905133

[brandon]

Hi - thanks. It appears to be that the SF2 file I am trying to play remains at SF2  -ie it is not being converted into SFZ format. Plus I have other SF2 files that the SFz Player is not locating when try to access them. 

Not sure what you mean about the 32 bit programme.

Do you use a SF2 player that is more stable?

[user 905133]

Have you tried the ones others mentioned above?  Also, I know there are editors which I have tried, but I don't work with them regularly enough to be able to make recommendations. IIRC there are more detailed discussions in the forum.** 

I have this one (TX16WX) installed and I was able to drag some sfz files into it successfully.  See the discussion above (this thread) as it might be more powerful than you need.  

**Also, this is one of several threads that might be of interest to you if you haven't seen it before: 

 

 

Edited June 6, 2023 by User 905133
to add a list to a related discussion

[HIBI]

1 hour ago, brandon said:

It appears to be that the SF2 file I am trying to play remains at SF2  -ie it is not being converted into SFZ format.

Have you tried sforzando? It should be able to convert sf2 to sfz format.

[sjoens]

rgc sfz & sfz+ will both load soundfont sf2 files and wav files. They both came with Sonar but if you don't have them you can download sfz here. It will install the plugin and standalone.

The difference between them is sfz+ won't load sfz files.  Should have called it sfz- or sf2+. 

EDIT:
Converting sf2 to sfz isn't always straight forward and sometimes yields poor results, so a good sf2 player is nice to have. 

Edited June 6, 2023 by sjoens

[brandon]

2 hours ago, sjoens said:

rgc sfz & sfz+ will both load soundfont sf2 files and wav files. They both came with Sonar but if you don't have them you can download sfz here. It will install the plugin and standalone.

The difference between them is sfz+ won't load sfz files.  Should have called it sfz- or sf2+. 

EDIT:
Converting sf2 to sfz isn't always straight forward and sometimes yields poor results, so a good sf2 player is nice to have. 

Hi  i downloaded SFZ but Cakewalk doesnt recognise it as it is an .exe file not a vst. ie it didnt install as a plugin. Also when I open the exe file the followin gimage is what i get - there is no way to load a SF2 into it. Am I missing something?

Edited June 6, 2023 by brandon

[sjoens]

If you downloaded sfz197.exe it will ask you for a vsti directory.   I had it install to  C:\Program Files (x86)\VST\rgc  where it installed both files.

If you happen to find the .dll file, you can move it to Cakewalk's VST folder and rescan it.

To load a soundfont, click on the FILE > window and navigate to it's folder. If it contains multiple voices, you can click on the PROGRAM > window for a list.

At the bottom of the link I gave is sfz FAQ with more info. Save this page as it may disappear. (right-click & print to PDF)

This version is actually 1.96. The latest Cakewalk version is 2.0 but I don't know the difference.

Download installer says it's v1.96 but installs as v2.0.0.0.

 

Edited August 17 by sjoens