The good old SoundFont format is definitely becoming a thing of the past. But still, I’m sure that most of us have a couple of favorite SF2s stashed in a safe place somewhere on the Hard Drive. Some of my favorite free piano sample libraries for example are actually SoundFonts.
Now, the chances are you probably already have a favorite SoundFont player VSTi, but here is a list of the best freeware plugins in this category, just in case you want to try something else, or need some new features.
Follow the links for download info, demo videos and screenshots:
- bs-0 by Bismark
- DSK SF2 v2 by DSK Music
- Phenome by Prodyon
- Shortcircuit 1 by Vember Audio
- SFZ+ Professional by rgc:audio
- XS-1 by Jeskola (Donationware)
My favorite plugin on the list is SFZ+ Professional, it offers all the basic tools I need when working with SoundFonts. Shortcircuit is a great choice too, with the only drawback of not being able to browse through different presets without reloading the SF2 file. Cheers to joe maro and Rumpelfilter for reminding me to add Shortcircuit to the list!
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This article is a part of the bpb Freeware Studio series. Each article in the series features a selection of the best freeware VST instruments/effects, or other audio related software in a certain category. Something similar to the Free Sample Shootouts, only this time it’s all about software. If you’re looking for freeware tools to add to your studio arsenal, you’ve certainly come to the right place. The goal here is not to list all the free software available in a certain category, but only include the freeware plugins/programs of highest quality. Feel free to suggest your favorite free software in the comments section below. Enjoy!
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# Two New Freeware Soundfont Players Available
I’ve tried them all apart from the Jeskola one (which I will check out soon since I’m still looking for the perfect soundfont player!)
DSK SF2 works fine and has all the basic functions you would expect! So far my favourite!
SFZ Sample Player is a nice and simple one, but I have trouble running more than one instance of it in Reaper, as soon as you have two of them the sound become distorted.
Phenome has some nice features but I have trouble with soundfonts that contain more than one preset. Phenome will not let me change the preset so you’re stuck with the first one, which is kind of crap…
so far my impressions!
XS-1 is pretty good, i was quite surprised with its features when i first discovered it.
For soundfonts i use Phenome to chekk them out but then i use the fabulous ShortCircuit to play with them.
Shortcircuit lets you import sf2 and sfz files :)
hi joe, are you using Shortcircuit 1 or 2 for this? i used to load sf2 files into SC1, but i never liked the fact that it is not possible to browse through different presets. never tried it with SC2, though.
using SC1 fore that. yep i know what you mean thats why i browse soundfonts with another player like DSKs or Phenome…
but mostly i know my soundfonts so i dont really have to search a lot…
i just do all of that cause i love the possibilities that come up when i use SC1 :)
I never thought about using Shortcircuit! Great idea, will check that out! Opens up a lot of possibilities indeed!
i guess you’re right guys. not being able to browse through the presets is a drawback, but even so, shorcircuit offers superior functionality when compared to other freeware sf2 hosts. so i’ve decided to add it to the list.
cheers joe and rumpel! ;]
Just been going through SF players myself and found ShortCircuit2 is really the business. It has a browser to load by single click like Phenome, but is searchable which is really very useful.
It is also a fully fledged sampler to edit samples and zones etc to fix or adjust those pesky soundfonts. Of course it also loads .gig and .kit and normal .wav and .aiff.
It doesn’t have direct from disk (DFD) like SFZ+ though.
This needs an update with your newer posts :)
yup, i’ll be updating all BPB Freeware Studio articles soon. :)