# why does MIDI sound so awful? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 26, 2006, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-midi-sound-so-awful/381817 "2006-11-26T03:46:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![scm1001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@scm1001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scm1001)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-midi-sound-so-awful/381817/1 "2006-11-26T03:46:31Z")
I am no musician, but whenever I download any multitrack MIDI files from the net (usually to practice my beginner guitar paying along with) I am struck by how clunky they sound. I am not quite sure why as the notes are in the right place. Is it that the instruments are not properly modelled on the player (in which case a better player might do a better job), or the timing is slightly wrong (e.g. with no syncopation - in which case it should be possible to add some?) Is there are music formats that get over this? Of course it may also be the MIDI files were just clunkily written and that it is possible to get some good examples. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-midi-sound-so-awful/381817/2 "2006-11-26T03:59:30Z")
Sounds like you have a crappy sound card in your computer. Most higher end ones have pretty good synthesizer chips on them that can reproduce musical instruments pretty well. That being said, there are some instruments that just never sound realistic, like the sax or the trombone. ---
**Author:** ![Crescend](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Crescend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crescend)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-midi-sound-so-awful/381817/3 "2006-11-26T05:00:56Z")
[QUOTE=scm1001] I am no musician, but whenever I download any multitrack MIDI files from the net (usually to practice my beginner guitar paying along with) I am struck by how clunky they sound. I am not quite sure why as the notes are in the right place. Is it that the instruments are not properly modelled on the player (in which case a better player might do a better job), or the timing is slightly wrong (e.g. with no syncopation - in which case it should be possible to add some?) [/QUOTE] If you’re playing the MIDIs using the standard Windows MIDI synthesizer, they will sound universally horrible. Professional MIDI synthesizer systems have multi-gigabyte sound sample libraries that give MIDI the means to sound as good as the real thing. For example, something like [this](http://www.native-instruments.com/index.php?id=akoustikpiano_us). The prices are quite impressive, though. ---
**Author:** ![scm1001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@scm1001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scm1001)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-midi-sound-so-awful/381817/4 "2006-11-26T09:12:44Z")
right so I have to get a better MIDI synthesizer. Does any one know any good ones that are available to try on a trial basis? I think as well as a sampling issue there is a timing issue, but may be the better synthesizers get around that as well. ---
**Author:** ![biqu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7feea3/32.png) [@biqu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/biqu)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-midi-sound-so-awful/381817/5 "2006-11-26T12:31:25Z")
[QUOTE=scm1001] right so I have to get a better MIDI synthesizer. Does any one know any good ones that are available to try on a trial basis? I think as well as a sampling issue there is a timing issue, but may be the better synthesizers get around that as well. [/QUOTE] I’ve had good results using [TiMidity++](http://timidity.sourceforge.net/#info) with [Eric Welsh’s patch collection](http://people.freebsd.org/~fenner/portsurvey/audio.html#eawpats). The setup is a bit intimidating at first, but unless an hour of your time is worth more than the cost of a professional MIDI synthesizer, it can’t hurt to try the TiMidity/eawpats combination. ---
**Author:** ![MrFloppy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@MrFloppy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrFloppy)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-midi-sound-so-awful/381817/6 "2006-11-26T13:01:01Z")
It’s called quantisation. Basically, most basic midi recordings quantise the notes into fixed intervals like for example an 1/8th beat or 1/16th beat. So recordings sound robotic or mechanical rather than ‘free’ for want of a better word. Drum machine programmers realized this in the 80s and put a bit of randomness into the playback. Since that is the last time I messed with MIDI, I’m sure there has been a quantum leap forward since the days of Mr Floppy and his DX-7. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-midi-sound-so-awful/381817/7 "2006-11-26T15:11:01Z")
As a non-musical personal by all means, even I can sense that the QuickTime MIDI instruments sound a lot better than the Windows originals. And QuickTime is free of charge, so even if it’s not quite up to professional synthesizer standards, it may be worth a shot.