TOPIC: Batch convert SFZ to SF2, no changes [I give up]

Thanks for all the replies.

I feel that my original question may have been lost. I have many SFZ fonts that I want to convert to SF2 because it is becoming harder and harder for me to find SFZ players. I have seen several "ways' to batch convert" using the CMD line: none of them worked for me. So it's more about the batch command than it is about the ins and outs of SFZ vs SF2.

OK. I worked with the SFZ format for many years, many years ago. I know quite a bit about it. That was in the days of EMU and Creative Sound Ballster. I was writing scripts to alter many SFZ parameters and using NRPN and RPN ans SYSEX codes. All the files I worked with were called Soundfonts and had the sfz extension.

So I am puzzled that you discriminate between SFZ and soundfonts. SF2 and soundfonts? SFZ and SF2?

Not trying to be a smartarse. I have "been out of the loop" for for a while and I wonder if I have missed a step....happens to us old F**ts.

So you're talking about at least 15 years ago? "The days of E-MU and Creative Sound Blaster were as far as I know in the late 90s and early 2000s. If that's correct the SFZ-format has been developed a lot since then.

I am also surprised you say it's hard to find an SFZ-player, because there are several SFZ-players to find including good ones which are for free. Plogue SForZando is free to download both for Windows and MAC-OS and can be used as a stand-alone application but also can function as a VST-plugin which you can integrate into your DAW. In your earlier postst I see you use Windows, so installing SForZando should not be a problem. In general SForZando works very stable on both Windows and MAC-OS. So if that's not the case on your computer-system you

I myself am doing the opposite as you do: I am busy converting soundfonts (SF2 is the extention-name for soundfont-files) into the SFZ-format. It still means I have to alter a lot manually in the text-editor. The modulators of soundfonts for example cannot be converted - then I have to find the right SFZ-opcode which resembles the same functionality. And vice versa for what you want to do.

...

While writing this I begin to suspect what probably might be the case. Is it correct the SFZ-instruments you want to convert belonged to another application such as a DAW?

A few years ago I wanted to convert the SFZ-instruments which were included into an old version of Cakewalk Sonar, though that didn't work for me either. Later I understood the opcodes which normally are imbedded into the SFZ-file were not there and must be integrated into other files of Cakewalk. So there was no other option for me than using the samples to build a new soundfont from scratch.

Sforzando seems to me to be a half-finished mess. Sorry. I have tried it and tried it. It has pages that have noting on them. I can't even use envelopes because they all have silly names, apart from the most basic ones. I am happy to let others worry about tweaking this and that parameter, while I work on music.

Anyway, not much point arguing about this AFAICS. I still have not seen a way to batch convert one or the other.

SForZando is a player and not an editor. That is what you were asking about. It actually doesn't do more than loading the soundbank and for that purpose it allows people who build SFZ-soundbanks themselves to test if the instruments sound correctly. When the program allows you for example to easily adjust the volume envelope than mistakes will easily be made as well.

Maybe software like Chicken Systems Translator is more what you are looking for. It is commercial software and the advanced version are definitely not cheap, but this software is used by many professional musicians. Another option is Awave Studio. You can try a demo version for 30 days, though the demo version lacks the batch convertion function which is available in the paid version.

Also it can be a good idea to upload the soundbanks you want to convert to an online storage device like Google Drive. You can share those files with other people if you want to, which gives them more insight about the cause of your problems.

is it really necessary to convert all that .SFZs? as there are a lot of soundfonts rambling around on the web in both .SFZ and SF2 format.
i myself converted the VSCO2.sfz and dumped it on Drive. it is just a plain conversion, no editing, because it is in stereo and i dont believe in stereo instruments, so i am not going to waste my time on editing stereo samples. i dont know what you need, but see if there is something useful for you here;

drive.google.com/drive/folders/10EWxBs5_...KbAyS880?usp=sharing

regards