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Nancy -- how have you configured it for best sound?

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mnailor

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Nancy -- how have you configured it for best sound?

PostSun Apr 24, 2022 8:36 pm

Now that I have a big enough computer to run Nancy without any compromises, I'm finally playing music on it... It seems, on my audio system, to need some non-default settings to make it sound good. So that's the topic.

Of course, this is subjective and depends on my audio system and room. I have 16 Adams (A8X, A3X, T7V) and 4 KRK RP10-3 and an SVS sub. The Adam ribbon tweeters are bright. Most of the samplesets I have sound lively and clear enough without any tonal adjustments, including Oloron, Caen, and St. Omer in the C-C lineup.

Nancy, with no voicing on my part, sounded like the fonds are a bit dull and the manual trumpets are somewhat buried. Again, my speakers and ears, not a criticism. I have it sounding much better now. Here's what I did so far:

Added 3 dB brightness to all ranks. Added 6 dB brightness to Positif ranks.

Truncated releases on Close, Front, and Middle to 3 seconds, leaving the long reverb only on Rear.

Turned off Front ranks, so I have 100 Close, 100 Middle, 50 Rear. Front seemed to bury the Anches more than the other mic positions.

Reduced Pedal, Pos, and GO levels somewhat so the manual reeds on Recit and Bombarde can still be heard with the Pedal reeds on, and so the manuals coupled together are dominated by reeds when drawn.

Now I'm pretty happy with the sound, though it's an ongoing project. It has more life in the fonds, the Anches blaze like they should, and it's almost as clear as Caen while being a very different organ and room. The fonds will never sound like C-C without the strings and harmonic flutes removed in the 1960s, but leaving out the added Principal stops helps that, and full organ is really something.

Anybody else have Nancy sound experiences and solutions you're willing to share?

Thanks.
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CyrilCouten

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Re: Nancy -- how have you configured it for best sound?

PostMon Apr 25, 2022 3:07 pm

I can share with you by mail the settings I have used.

It has taken me quite some time to get a 'satisfactory' result (having never heard this intrument live, but other CC yes) based on recordings on youtube where one can see the registration used.

Fitting all 4 channels in 64GB requires making choices on release truncations, having in mind there are some (minor) bell artifact effects esp on the positive on the high ranks ... No revoicing in my case (with some exceptions) but tuning the volume between keyboards and reverberation was the main point.

I use a four audio channel set up and have routed each "audio group level" of the the organ to each audio channel. This gives a better result than routing each keyboard to an audio channel.

Hope this helps. I am sure there are some members that have live Nancy experience who can share their toughts !
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mnailor

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Re: Nancy -- how have you configured it for best sound?

PostMon Apr 25, 2022 5:33 pm

Thank you, but I wanted to start a public discussion in the forum, not private emails.
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CyrilCouten

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Re: Nancy -- how have you configured it for best sound?

PostTue Apr 26, 2022 1:06 am

Up to you. Screenshots cannot be pasted in this forum.
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mnailor

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Re: Nancy -- how have you configured it for best sound?

PostTue Apr 26, 2022 11:14 am

CyrilCouten wrote:Up to you. Screenshots cannot be pasted in this forum.


True. Wasn't trying to be offensive -- but that happens without me trying...
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B777Captain

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Re: Nancy -- how have you configured it for best sound?

PostSat Apr 30, 2022 8:14 pm

I wish I had as much knowledge as you two because with the Nancy, one can really improve the sound .

Ive found it to be somewhat “boomy” in my setup with 8 Deftec speakers and two subwoofers…. But only after HW7 came along. Of course I’ve been around jet airplanes for the past 38 years so my ears may not perceive as well as many if not all of you! Lol.

What I’ve done is simply reduced the volume/output of the Front, Middle and Rear down to around the 30-40 percent range and the Upclose output at 100%. For me, this greatly reduces the boominess and that was my main goal.

I will sit at the console when back from my 7 week vacation and try a few of MNailor’s settings and see how it sounds in my organ room.

Pat
Pilot Southwest Airlines
Las Vegas, Nevada
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Clavecin

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Re: Nancy -- how have you configured it for best sound?

PostWed Jan 18, 2023 3:20 pm

I'm fairly new to Hauptwerk, getting my system up and running September '22. I've had Nancy and Rotterdam playing for 4 months, whilst I'm happy with Rotterdam out-of-the-box I've tried altering various things with Nancy and am pretty satisfied with things as I've got them at present.

I have a 128Gb i9-12900 computer so am able to run all 4 perspectives with high resolution settings.
Firstly I'll say that I'm happy with the large amount of reverberation without resorting to shortening any tails (although this is something I might look at in the future).

I've eventually settled on - Close:50, Front:100, Middle: 25, Rear:100, with all departments running at 100%. For me it's the Rear perspective which strangely appears to have the bulk of the acoustic energy.

The problem I've had with this sample set is that all the Positif stops sound far too quiet, recessed and dull; quite the opposite of what I would expect bearing in mind that this department is located in the 'chair' case. Generally such departments have greater clarity and more brightness, the worst stop being the Positif Bourdon which gets progressively quieter from middle C to the top. This is particularly a problem in many Cesar Franck pieces where the Positif Bourdon and Recit Hautbois or Trompette have a duet where the melody/accompaniment alternate from bass to treble as it's impossible to get a correct balance, for example the section after the opening chorale material in Chorale No.1 in E, or similar in Fantaisie in C. Also the Positif Trompette and Clairon should be much brighter to the point where they actually add something to the 'Tutti'.

To correct this I've added 4 increments of brightness to the Bourdon, Montre, Trompette and Clairon, and 3 increments of brightness to all the other Positif ranks. I had to do this for each of the 4 perspectives. I've also increased the amplitude of the Bourdon starting from middle C progressively to finish at top C with an increase of 8 increments, again repeated for each of the 4 perspectives.

I'm pleased with the results as the Positif now sounds as I would expect and the 'normal' balances work for all the French repertoire I play.

I can understand why some comment that the Nancy sample set is too 'boomy'. I've noticed that on the Rotterdam set I can detect that the 'tails' of the pedal 16' and 32' flues have been heavily cut in order to avoid this effect.

I think Nancy is a very fine sample set, it also does a very good job of French Classical repertoire which was one of the reasons I went for it over Caen.
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mnailor

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Re: Nancy -- how have you configured it for best sound?

PostWed Jan 18, 2023 3:44 pm

I agree with the Positif sounding dull, though the Middle perspective helps a bit compared to Front.

I eventually stopped truncating releases and use more Close and Middle, less Front, and much less Rear.

Not sure about Nancy, but C-C sometimes moved the existing Positif to the main case and left an empty facade, so it wouldn't necessarily sound closer in the nave, and might be somewhat buried.

Franck had St. Clotilde, where the Positif was at the front of the main case and more prominent sounding than usual, so it's hard to get the balance he expected.
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larason2

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Re: Nancy -- how have you configured it for best sound?

PostWed Jan 18, 2023 5:58 pm

I would be surprised if CC didn't put the Positif in the middle of the organ. A Baroque Positif case fits the pipes of a French Baroque Positif, but not that of a French Romantic Positif. What you are hearing also supports that the Positif is in the middle of the organ. Late CC's (like Caen) had somewhat higher wind pressures, and even higher wind pressures for the top half of the pipes of a rank than the lower half, so the Positif would stand out more for them.
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Clavecin

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Re: Nancy -- how have you configured it for best sound?

PostThu Jan 19, 2023 2:47 pm

At St. Sernin (Toulouse), St. Ouen (Rouen), St. Croix (Orleans) and St. Omer, Cavaille-Coll also kept the Positif in the 'chair case'. He also did this in one or two of the minor Cathedrals.

On these organs the Positif plays from the lowest manual on tracker action, there is no 'REC to POS' coupler on these organs but one which works in reverse 'POS to REC' which makes registering interesting. This was due to the complexities of arranging the Barker Machine actions which work on the Grande and other departments.

Of course, in Hauptwerk you can create your own 'REC to POS' coupler.
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david515mi

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Re: Nancy -- how have you configured it for best sound?

PostThu Jan 19, 2023 3:31 pm

One small correction to Clavecin’s response: when I played the St-Sernin, Toulouse organ, I was surprised to discover that the Grand-Orgue is the the bottom manual, and the Positif is the middle. Yet, as stated, the Positif is in “chair” position and there’s no Récit to Positif coupler. This can easily be verified on any number of YouTube videos.

David

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