Are there any soundfont players out there, compatible with 64bit Windows and useable inside a DAW, that aren't a nightmare to use? by that I mean, actually letting you use all the patches inside a sf2 or sfz file without needing to import them manually 1 by 1?

 

Kontakt maybe?

 

Try Falcosoft BassMidi VSTi 1.5.
https://falcosoft.hu/softwares.html#bassmidi_vsti
It's about the only one that works properly.

 

https://www.plogue.com/products/sforzando.html

 

His sites down for some reason, but Ronan Fed has a good one:

https://plugins4free.com/plugin/3810/

I downloaded it from his site, and that one was a VST3, even!

I'd say it's better than Sforzando, which sucks for some reason, even though all Plogue's other products are actually really good . . .

The Ronan Fed one is pretty basic, which I like, and has a surprisingly useful features, you can just check a box to turn off velocity sensitivity, which can actually be pretty useful for some .SF2 files.

 

I am in the same as you. The best one I have found so far is the NN-XT from Reason Rack Plugin, but I also want to know if there is another one with the same depth and flexibility with the ability so see the waveforms of the samples. The best one I have found so far is TAL 64, but unfortunately it doesn't support soundfounts
There is also TX16Wx, looks like an old version of Kontakt but at least it does support sounfonts. What I don't like about it is that you can not load the soundfonts from its file explorer, you have to manually open every single soundfont to properly load it (unlike the aforementioned NN-XT of Reason where you can quickly load the files with the pc keyboard using just 1 hand).

How? It only opens the audio files that are contained in the soundfont but doesn't open the soundfont mapping and settings, is a pain in the ass to open every single sf2 and loading all the samples manually

 

VSTSynthfont is by far the best and easiest to use. Low on resources and nice and simple.

 

I would say that Sforzando and Sfizz are the way to go for .sfz

Sforzando can also read and convert soundfonts, which works quite decently, don't know about Sfizz and soundfont compatibility (yes, soundfonts and .sfz are not the same!!!).

Sforzando is best when you want to work with libraries that have extended features and GUI, like most of the libraries that Karoryfer offers (including his fantastic free libs).

 

Garritan ARIA player if you need multi channel output / load multiple patches.

 

Maybe give this a try.
https://github.com/Birch-san/juicysfplugin


I used to use simple cakewalk sfz long time ago but they not available now.
https://www.kvraudio.com/product/sfz-by-cakewalk
https://www.kvraudio.com/product/sfzand_by_cakewalk

 

Last edited: Sep 30, 2023

I still use Samplelord, wich can load up to 16 soundfonts.
It's 32bit, so you must use JBridge.

 

I use Falcosoft Midi Player and Synthfont.

Synthfont is the best for editing and mixing -you can edit a whole midi file, change key, adjust volume of specific instruments, use different soundfonts for different instruments etc. It has also many other features, which may make it a little intimidating at start. You cannot jam with a midi file, you either play or listen. It is not free, but you can find it on the sister site.

Midi Player is much simpler, with a smaller GUI (not full page) and you can jam while it is playing. No editing or saving -it's just a player. It is free. My go-to player. You can also play any VSTi with it.

 

Last edited: Sep 30, 2023

Sforzando or maybe HISE

 

I'm just getting around to trying this (my older computer had really out of date GPU, so it was buggy), but this also loads SF2, the Wuzik Bundle is worth getting because it comes with a ton of sample sets/etc . . .

There one in it called Wusik ONE that's just samples of various formats, and it loads .SF2 files.

https://www.wusik.com/online-store/Wusik-Fall-Bundle-p544574503

It's more CPU intensive than Ronan Fed, but it definitely has a better interface and is more feature reach, i.e. can also make multiple sample layers/etc . . .

Some of the presents for other stuff, like EVE, are really good.