Sy Zabrocki wrote: >I was clicking through some piano tuner web pages. One page linked to a >A-440 WAV File which would play a sound at A-440. It just didn't sound >right so I checked it with my Accu-Tuner. IT WAS 15 CENTS FLAT!!! >Maybe my tired old sound card just couldn't handle A-440. Sy, you are right to suspect your sound card. The wav file that you downloaded may very well have been right on A-440 if played back on a sound card with a precisely correct crystal frequency. Unfortunately the makers of sound cards do not attempt to control their crystals accurately enough for piano tuning applications. That is why Dean and I must supply calibration procedures for the RCT and TuneLab. Once the sound card error has been compensated for, the error is very constant, and will probably not need recalibration for the life of the sound card. But the regular Windows WAV playback functions do not provide for any calibration. Actually, 15 cents is quite good. I've seen sound cards that were off by more than that. -Robert Scott Real-Time Specialties
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