sf2 files all over the web download as exe robots, what's the problem?

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Level 1

5 points

sf2 files all over the web download as exe robots, what's the problem?

I have gone to several "free" sf2 font sites, gone through a few hoops to qualify for the download, only to find that the file on my desktop is unusable, or so I am believing, because in an "exe" format. What simple fact am I overlooking? All sorts of interesting soundfonts described, only to find that these are geek contaminated. Am I a victim of anti-mac racism, or is this the ongoing defect with belonging to a minority computer race?

Imac duo core, Mac OS X (10.4.8), garageband 3 newbie

Posted on Dec 2, 2006 2:49 PM

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Answer 1

HangTime

Level 9

53,853 points

Dec 2, 2006 2:53 PM in response to akrauss

Two suggestions:

1. Keep looking, there are 10s of thousands, could jsut be bad luck in choosing

2. Try using StuffIt Expander to decompress them

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Answer 2

akrauss Author

Level 1

5 points

Dec 2, 2006 3:05 PM in response to HangTime

Two suggestions:

1. Keep looking, there are 10s of thousands, could
jsut be bad luck in choosing

2. Try using StuffIt Expander to decompress them

Hope it was just bad luck. I guess the type of sound I'm looking for gravitates to non mac processors. The one that generated my "complaint" question wasn't recognized by stuffit expander.. I thought an "sf2" file was a specific type that followed a protocol. Apparently, there are sf2 files and then other sf2 files.

BTW Just revised my email in the Apple ID - should have read "saber.net" instead of "pacific.net"

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Answer 3

HangTime

Level 9

53,853 points

Dec 2, 2006 3:21 PM in response to akrauss

Apparently, there are sf2 files and then other sf2 files.

There are some slight variations that GB doesn't work with.

http://www.thehangtime.com/gb/gbfaq2.html#installsoundfonts

But that's not what you're seeing. Someone packed the sf2 into a self expanding zip file. There are several ways a file can be packed.

http://www.thehangtime.com/gb/gbfaq2.html#usesoundfonts

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Answer 4

akrauss Author

Level 1

5 points

Dec 2, 2006 7:31 PM in response to HangTime

I bullied my machine into getting files for me by ignoring error messages, opening the "bad" folders and dragging the soundfonts out to their destination in the banks folder (library/audio/sound/banks) then trashing the empty folders. Sometimes required two drags to expander, there being different file formats. Moral: don't take "no" for an acceptable message by finder.

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