SF2 to SF3 conversion?
Hello, I would like to use a certain soundfont that exists in SF2 format, but they turn out to be too large to use on some computers. Would using .SF3 instead improve performance? And is there a tool that can perform this conversion?
Thank you in advance.
Comments
SF3 is a compression type (that I believe is proprietary, I am not sure though) designed specifically to use Ogg Vorbis files for sound samples in order to make Fluid GM smaller and package with MuseScore. The only .SF3 file that exists (as far as I know) is the Fluid Soundfont packaged with MuseScore. Thus, there is no way to convert SF2 to SF3; however, SF2 is completely compatible with MuseScore 2.
In reply to SF3 is a compression type by [DELETED] 597046
SF3 is not proprietary at all. As you said, it just compress the samples of sf2 to OGG. There is tool to convert SF2 to SF3 here https://github.com/wschweer/sftools
However, an SF3 file will just take less space on disk. So I don't know what you mean by "they turn out to be too large to use on some computers" but the only advantage of an SF3 file is that it takes less space on the disk. It will not help if the computer is not powerful enough to read the SF2 (actually it could be worth, because it will need to decode the OGG compression) or if the computer doesn't have enough memory.
In reply to SF3 is not proprietary at by [DELETED] 5
Ah. I meant whether it would require less memory. Thanks for the answer anyway.
In reply to Ah. I meant whether it would by bb94
Maybe the answer here would be to convert to SFZ and see whether you can play it in Zerberus.
SFZ has a stream from disk mode which is handy for really big sample sets.
In reply to Maybe the answer here would by ChurchOrganist
Zerberus does *NOT* support stream from disk. It loads the whole SFZ in memory.
In reply to Zerberus does *NOT* support by [DELETED] 5
In which case the answer is to use JACK to route MIDI output to an external sampler such as LinuxSampler which will support DFD mode.
In reply to SF3 is not proprietary at by [DELETED] 5
Doesn’t it only need to decompress the samples actually used, or at least for the instruments actually used?
In reply to SF3 is a compression type by [DELETED] 597046
But is SF2 compatible with Musescore 3? I've been working on getting a soundfont in for 2 weeks, and it just says "Cannot load SoundFont C:/Users/kid21/Documents/MuseScore3/SoundFonts/earthbound_soundfont.sf2"
In reply to But is SF2 compatible with… by Oh frick
Yes MuseScore can use SF2 and SF3. And SFZ too.
In reply to But is SF2 compatible with… by Oh frick
Presumably the file is either not there at location or it's not a valid SF2 file. Be aware many soundfonts you find online need to be unpacked from another format like SFARK, you can't just rename them.
Isn't .sf3 files just compressed .sf2 files, or am I wrong?
In reply to Isn't .sf3 files just by Fall3n
Not exactly. What makes it weird is that it's basically like an SF2, except an SF2 uses WAV audio samples and an SF3 uses OGG audio samples.
In reply to Not exactly. What makes it by Isaac Weiss
Musescore cans still play sf2 soundfont. files, right?
In reply to Musescore cans still play sf2 by Fall3n
Yes
In reply to Yes by Jojo-Schmitz
I have no idea how to properly install a soundfont... HELP
In reply to I have no idea how to by Turner Sugg
https://musescore.org/en/handbook/soundfont#install
In reply to https://musescore.org/en/hand by mike320
Hi there. I'm new to this software, been having such fun with it. I'm using the software to help teach me to play a piano accordion, I live on a farm with no teachers close by. However the sound fonts loaded for accordion are really horrid. I have found some sf2 samples but have no clue as to how to load them. The page you supplied seems to no longer exist. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
In reply to Hi there. I'm new to this… by Stephen Mc Culloch
https://musescore.org/en/handbook/soundfonts-and-sfz-files#install
In reply to Hi there. I'm new to this… by Stephen Mc Culloch
Here is the right link: https://musescore.org/en/handbook/soundfonts-and-sfz-files#install