Absolutely blind comparison... not even gonna tell you what it is

[ds11]

This really surprised me and may also surprise you once I say what the difference is.

Organs! Feel free to guess what's going on.

http://soundcloud.com/ds11-1/org1

http://soundcloud.com/ds11-1/org2

UPDATE: These two clips were created with the same organ VST instrument with the exact same settings and the same MIDI data. The ONLY difference is that organ 1 was done in a 44.1 khz project file and organ 2 in a 96 khz project file. It is interesting to note that the VST developer says that though it can run at 96, it is recommended to not use in excess of 48 khz for optimal performance and reliability.

Poll results at the time of releasing the answer:

Yes, there is a perceivable difference. I prefer organ 1. 2 15.38%
Yes, there is a perceivable difference. I prefer organ 2. 0 0%
Yes, there is a major difference. I prefer organ 1. 2 15.38%
Yes, there is a major difference. I prefer organ 2. 8 61.54%
Yes, there is a difference, but not too much. 1 7.69%
No, I do not hear a difference. 0 0%

Another edit: I forgot to mention that both files were saved as 44.1

[ds11]

Any guesses what the difference is?

[Oldone]

One is heavily compressed the other is compressed but there are some transients still there which make it interesting. That's kind of what the sound and the wave files indicate.

[Ryko]

Not the same organ ? Very two different tone.

[ds11]

Same organ.

No actual compressor used, but that doesn't mean it hasn't been compressed by another process.

This forum doesn't get a lot of traffic eh? Too bad it's so far down the list. I'll wait for more votes. Interested in hearing more guesses!

[erikdrink]

The low-end is more exposed on organ two.
Does the signal go thru some kind of tube-eq?
Or some kind of tape?

[ds11]

No EQ applied and not recorded to tape or through tape machine circuitry or tape emulation plugin.

[erikdrink]

Hmm...

[psykx]

I was going to say tape until you said not.. tube preamp then? something that adds harmonic distortion.

[ds11]

No tubes involved No plugin effects at all either.

[erikdrink]

Two different ways of converting it?

[ds11]

Nope! There were not too different A/D converters involved in the process.

[erikdrink]

Different cables?

[ds11]

Oh man that would cause quite a stir, but no.

[erikdrink]

Hehe, just trying my best here

[ds11]

All good guesses! There's like a 0.0001% chance someone will guess it haha. Hoping to get more votes before answering.

[erikdrink]

If it's that little chance you must give out some hints?

[ds11]

Not a real organ It's a VST instrument. Both tracks used the same MIDI file (first recorded with a MIDI keyboard).

The settings within the VST itself are EXACTLY the same.

[erikdrink]

Hmmm

[@ndy]

The second track has more click of the keys. A variation that big is not good. That VST has issues.

[erikdrink]

Issues ehh?

[ds11]

It has a knob for key click level, so one could adjust accordingly depending on which method they prefer to use. I get what you're saying though. But it'll make more sense when I reveal the answer. Probably will pretty soon - I think it's clear from the polls that there's a major difference - and that's exactly what I want to highlight.

[erikdrink]

Can't wait...

[ds11]

Ok! I edited my first post to include the answer

[erikdrink]

Very interesting!

[Red Black]

So basically in the second example the organ is not functioning as it should . . is that what you are taking away from this?

What organ VSTi is this out of curiosity? If I were the developer I would not be happy with such a difference . . .

[Tieg]

Who cares?! It sounds better "messed up". Roll with it!

[windmillsound]

Yes there is an appreciable difference (not actually better or worse just very different) which proves....

That this individual VST instrument could be coded better, to generate a more similar output under both conditions.

It could be that the sample files it uses in each situation are different and not well matched, or it could be that the coding has not been done well - but it is not possible to comment on that from the sound files.

[ds11]

Well it's not a sampled instrument. The sound produced is calculated in real time - models of an actual organ's output signals reproduced mathematically. I'm guessing the math is great but 44.1 just wasn't enough to capture it. Maybe 96 just allows capturing more of the information that the model provides.

Maybe I'll try with an even greater sample rate. I know most people can't hear the difference between 96 and higher, but the difference between 44.1 and 96 usually isn't this much so maybe it'll be surprising.

[yerusalan]

2 has more pronounced tone. Clearly 2 is a better instrument.