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KeyboardMag.com >> This Month >> Software Sampler Summit '08
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Click on the Images Software Sampler Summit '08To kick off the new year, we’ve rounded up 13 of the latest and foremost soft samplers out there, in three categories: A: Those that work with or are part of a particular host program. B: Those that are cross-platform and work with different hosts. C: And two “virtual keyboard workstation” plug-ins that have important sampler functionality. For a primer on what you can do with soft samplers, see “What’s This For?”. A:ABLETON SAMPLER(Mac, PC) $199, www.ableton.com The cleverly-named Sampler is an optional add-on that works only in Ableton Live. Sampler has a good set of voicing options, and it’s well-integrated into Live. Most of the factory presets take advantage of Live’s Rack feature for organizing one or more Samplers with one or more of Live’s effects, and Sampler’s zone edit window opens up into Live’s track/clip display area. Sampler has a few useful tools for sound design. Crossfade looping is provided, as are several loop types (back-and-forth, release loop, etc.). A modulation oscillator with its own pitch and amplitude envelopes can do either FM or AM modulation of the sample waves. The start time and length of loops within samples can be modulated from an LFO or envelope, which allows you to create a short audible window that you can then sweep through a long sample for some wild effects. Unfortunately, the LFOs and aux envelope are global, as is the modulation oscillator, which means they’ll affect all the layers and zones in a multisample. That’s why installing several Samplers in a Live Rack is so useful: Each Sampler can have its own modulation setup, and the key and velocity zoning can be handled in the Rack. The Rack can be set up with Macro knobs for parameters that you want to have global control over, such as filter cutoff frequency. Sampler’s multimode filter includes a couple of state-variable modes, which can morph (via automation or MIDI control) from lowpass to highpass. Also in the filter section is a waveshaper, which can be positioned either before or after the filter. Like the modulation features, the filter is not programmable per zone — its settings are global to the instance of Sampler. Again, putting several Samplers in a Rack is the solution. By today’s standards, Sampler’s library is not large. The best-represented sound categories are ambiences and pads, but basses and leads are also included. The manual hints that Sampler may be able to load presets in other formats, but (as I’ve found is often the case in Live’s documentation) details are scarce. I tried importing Native Instruments Kontakt 3 presets under both Live 6 and a beta version of Live 7, but they were encrypted (on Kontakt’s end) and wouldn’t load — unencrypted patches created using Kontakt work. Loading single WAV files into Sampler is drag-and-drop. Sampler is a useful addition to Live, but if you rely on a soft sampler for serious sound design and “hardware keyboard replacement” type work, you may find that a third-party instrument will give you a better library and more detailed zone programming for not that much more money.
CONS BOTTOM LINE PLUG-IN FORMATS AUDIO FILE FORMATS RECOGNIZED THIRD PARTY PATCH FORMATS IMPORTED AUDIO FORMATS SAVED/EXPORTED STREAMING FROM HARD DISK MAXIMUM POLYPHONY MIDI CHANNEL PARTS INCLUDED SOUND LIBRARY SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS APPLE EXS24(Mac) $499, price is for Logic Studio, www.apple.com Of all the soft samplers covered in this roundup, Apple’s ESX24 is arguably the oldest. Released back in February 2000 before Apple bought developer Emagic, EXS24 was the first 24-bit capable, host-based sampler, and caused quite a stir with its multimode filters and dual LFOs. Since EXS24 was introduced, updates have added amenities such as matrix modulation with up to ten sources and destinations, sidechain modulation of synth parameters, and an additional LFO. When Apple took over Logic’s development in 2002, they immediately bundled the formerly à la carte EXS24 sample libraries, then proceeded to develop the Jam Pack series of affordable expansion packs, which work with both GarageBand and Logic. With this year’s launch of Logic Studio (see our mammoth review on page 64), the first five Jam Packs are now part and parcel of this package, providing EXS24 with an extremely versatile collection of professional-grade sampled instruments right out of the box. Compared to competing samplers, notably NI Kontakt and Ableton Sampler, the EXS24 synth engine is looking a little more basic than the newer instruments. That said, it’s still quite flexible for the essentials of subtractive synthesis and the integrated sidechain’s ability to use audio to drive virtually any synth parameter is especially cool. That the underlying engine has been around awhile may be one reason that it’s very CPU-efficient on current machines, even with its filters in use. One of the long-standing beefs among EXS24 users was its wildly out-of-date zone and sample editor, which made rolling your own instruments the technical equivalent of a slow crawl through broken glass. Fortunately, the release of Logic Studio has made the majority of those issues a thing of the past — EXS24’s new editor window is a huge leap forward from previous versions. You can now drag and drop samples into zones, adjust velocity and keymaps using visual tools, and keep track of your audio using familiar left-hand file browser interface. This goes a long way toward bringing ESX24 up to speed with most of the competition, at least in terms of laying out the basics of a sampled instrument. While several of the other samplers require the use of a third-party audio editor for detailed sample editing, EXS24 benefits from being a part of Logic Studio in that double-clicking on any sample in an instrument will invoke Logic’s own audio editor. Of course, you can easily override this globally within Logic, allowing alternatives like Bias Peak, Adobe Audition, or Apple Soundtrack Pro 2, which you get as part of Logic Studio. In use, the EXS24 functions like a wonderfully stocked workstation, as opposed to a source of unending synthesis gratification. It’s familiar, offers straightforward sound editing, and is an integrated component of Logic. For certain users, having access to Apple’s undeniably excellent Jam Pack collection of orchestral, ethnic, and electric instruments may be reason enough to rely on EXS24 exclusively. PROS CONS BOTTOM LINE PLUG-IN FORMATS AUDIO FILE FORMATS RECOGNIZED THIRD PARTY PATCH FORMATS IMPORTED AUDIO FORMATS SAVED/EXPORTED STREAMING FROM HARD DISK MAXIMUM POLYPHONY MIDI CHANNEL PARTS INCLUDED SOUND LIBRARY SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS DIGIDESIGN STRUCTURE(Mac, PC) $499, www.digidesign.com Built exclusively for Digidesign Pro Tools software, Structure is one of several new entries in Digidesign’s growing line-up of instruments developed by their A.I.R. division. Structure runs as an RTAS plug-in, with up to 128 multitimbral parts, and boasts a feature set that’s quite impressive, especially considering we’re talking about a version 1.0 release at the time of this writing. For starters, the way in which sounds can be combined is quite clever. Patches can have an unlimited number of “parts,” which could be a single sample, a multisample, an audio or MIDI effect, or a MIDI processor. These parts can be easily rearranged, and what’s more, patches can be nested as “sub-patch” parts within parent patches. You can even drag parts from other patches to create complex layers using components from other instruments. I can’t think of another sampler that makes it this easy to create layered sounds where there are complex differences between the layers. The included library isn’t massive by today’s standards, but it is jam-packed with solid, well-programmed sounds, and Orchestral Elements from East West is included. In particular, the synth pad and keyboard patches are top-notch. Just as Pro Tools is known for its clean, easy-to-use interface, Structure is arguably the easiest soft sampler to work with in our roundup. The layout is very sensible and intuitive. Tabbed menus are used to organize various synthesis and library management sections. Along the bottom of Structure’s main window are six “smart” buttons, which can be assigned to patch and effect parameters for quick-and-easy access to critical sound-shaping controls. For detailed sample editing, the wave editor can be freely expanded, giving you plenty of room to zoom in on waveforms. There’s very little you can actually do to a sample from Structure’s editor, though. Looping facilities are basic — one loop per sample, adjustable crossfading, and auto loop point searching are the highlights. It’s possible to cut and copy portions of a sample, but for real corrective work (e.g., removing DC offset or unwanted clicks) you’re expected to use the audio editing features in Pro Tools, which is understandable. Editing keymaps and sample zones is refreshingly easy, and as you might expect from a full-featured instrument, there’s a lot you can do, such as define velocity crossfades, release triggers, and key-switch controls for alternating among a set of articulation choices or patch variations. Integration with PT is tight: Regions can be dragged-and-dropped from your session directly into Structure, and voilà — the regions are automatically mapped and ready to play. REX files can be directly imported as patches. When a REX file is loaded, Structure automatically splits it into two parts; a sampler part, which contains the slices of audio, and a MIDI part, which plays back these slices at the session tempo. The MIDI part is essentially a REX player that resides inside of Structure. From the player you can create up to four variations (re-arranged versions of the REX loop), which can be saved with the patch. Very cool. Effects are another of Structure’s strong suits. There are nine types to choose from, including a healthy set of modulation, delay, and lo-fi tools. Convolution reverb is also on board. There are four effects send busses with four insert slots each. In addition, a patch can have potentially unlimited insert effects, which amounts to some serious sound-shaping possibilities. PROS CONS BOTTOM LINE PLUG-IN FORMATS AUDIO FILE FORMATS RECOGNIZED THIRD PARTY PATCH FORMATS IMPORTED AUDIO FORMATS SAVED/EXPORTED STREAMING FROM HARD DISK MAXIMUM POLYPHONY MIDI CHANNEL PARTS INCLUDED SOUND LIBRARY SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS PROPELLERHEAD NN-XT(Mac, PC) $499 price is for Reason, www.propellerheads.se Propellerhead Reason 4 (reviewed Dec. ’07) is famous for being an all-in-one, MIDI-based virtual studio with a strong collection of soft instruments, signal processors, mixers, and other modules, with an integrated sequencer. However, because Reason can ReWire into host DAW programs, many people treat Reason as an “expansion suite” of virtual instruments. Some wonder if such an inexpensive sampler (considered as a part of the total list price for all devices) can be as good as the “big boys.” But the audio is 32-bit floating point, and the resampling algorithm uses FIR filtering (finite impulse response, a high-quality method) to “predict” where samples should go, rather than simply changing a clock frequency or doing simple interpolation. As a result, sounds within NN-XT preserve their fidelity and transpose well. There are also eight stereo output pairs, which can be processed via Reason’s processors and mixed within Reason, or sent as separate outs to the host DAW. Granted, you won’t find key-position crossfading (only key-position switching), multiple import/export options, or the morphing filters in E-mu Emulator X2. However, not only does NN-XT provide all the expected sampling options, it also has a few tricks up its sleeve. Like other samplers, the NN-XT combines samples into multisamples, which can be layered or split to cover specific keyboard ranges. But it can also load REX files, where each slice in the file is mapped chromatically to the keyboard. This allows playing the individual slices (you can play back the file as a loop, but it’s simpler to use Reason’s Dr. REX loop player). As to modulation, velocity options are relatively limited: filter frequency, modulation envelope decay time, volume, amplitude envelope attack, and sample start. However, controllers are a different matter, starting with the two modulation wheels. The first one acts like a normal mod wheel; the second can also act like a normal mod wheel and be controlled via the NN-XT user interface, or respond to one of several external modulation sources. For the six modulation destinations — filter frequency, modulation envelope decay time, LFO1 amount, LFO1 rate, filter resonance, and volume — each modulation amount control has “W” and “X” checkboxes for choosing either the normal mod wheel or external control. You can also choose both. When creating your own samples, the Automap function takes root note information from the samples you want to map, (if there’s no such information, you can enter it manually, or invoke a pitch detection algorithm), then sorts them in the display and sets zone split points in the middle of the root notes for the zones being split. You can even auto-layer: Zones with the same root key will cover the same key range. Another very cool zone-related feature, Alternate, lets you layer variations of a sound and NN-XT will alternate among them in round-robin fashion. This is ideal for avoiding the “machine gun” effect with repeated drum sounds, and is used to great advantage in the optional Reason Drum Kits ReFill sound library. Speaking of ReFills, due to Reason’s popularity there are lots of available third party sounds (Sonic Reality may have the biggest such collection) as well as sounds from Propellerheads, including an orchestral for NN-XT that ships with Reason. Overall, NN-XT is a remarkably powerful, useful, and fine-sounding sampler at a bargain price. PROS CONS BOTTOM LINE PLUG-IN FORMATS AUDIO FILE FORMATS RECOGNIZED STREAMING FROM HARD DISK MAXIMUM POLYPHONY MIDI CHANNEL PARTS INCLUDED SOUND LIBRARY SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS E-MU EMULATOR X2(PC) $399.99, www.emu.com E-mu has been doing samplers since the late Bronze age, and their experience shows in the X2. Note that you need a piece of E-mu hardware for it to work; X2 ships with the Xmidi 2x2 USB MIDI Interface, but also works with other E-mu audio interfaces. As expected, the X2 architecture combines samples into multisamples with splits, layers, and crossfades, then saves that as a Preset that lives in a Bank. You can also create “Multisetups” for assigning presets to MIDI channels (64 in standalone mode, 16 as a plug-in). X2 comes with 23 effects with automatable parameters, suitable for insert or aux buses; you can put two of them in series, or in parallel via the aux busses —auxes sent to the same ASIO output automatically sum. Including 55 filter types may seem like overkill, but some provide animated, atmospheric effects you won’t find anywhere else. Perhaps the coolest filter feature is Morph Designer, a 6-stage definable filter that lets you create, store, and recall your own filter types. I’m a huge fan of using MIDI controllers to add expressiveness, and the X2 accommodates that well. But note that with sound libraries like the Proteus X Composer bank (included with X2), E-mu put serious thought into control assignments — they’re very consistent, and given the huge number of presets, that’s quite a task. However, you can’t “MIDI learn” the 16 available controllers; instead, you make global assignments in advance. Although this is less flexible, it encourages using consistent assignments for all your presets — not necessarily a bad thing. Synthswipe is one cool tool. It automates the process of sampling your hardware synths by driving the keyboard via MIDI, then sampling the output. You set the note range you want to sample, the interval at which you want to sample the notes (every semitone or whatever), the number of samples between the lowest and highest velocity, and the sample length. Once the samples are in the X2, there are automated loop-point functions. Although you seldom hold down a key for the same length of time every time you play a note, Synthswipe commits to a particular “key-down” time. The workaround is to sample the basic waves with open filters and a gate-shaped envelope on your hardware keyboard, then use X2’s filters and envelopes to reconstruct the sound to your liking. DSP for tweaking samples includes fade, normalize, reverse, bit reduction, time compression, pitch shift, and transform multiply (basically convolution). In fact, the editing and processing options are so comprehensive, you can think of the X2 software as a “bonus” digital audio editor. Twistaloop is a time-stretching process that resembles REX or Acidization, i.e. it uses transient markers that denote beats. However, its detection process seems less prone to false readings than the competition; furthermore, you can have loops within a loop. For example, there can be three two-measure loops and two one-measure loops within an eight-measure loop. Then, you can assign loop selection to something like a mod wheel, so you can “play” the mini-loops and transition seamlessly from one loop to another. Of course, twisted loops can sync to host tempo. There’s a lot more, and the X2 is a mind-blowing sampler — perhaps literally, because taking it all requires some serious brainpower. However, this wonderful instrument fully justifies scaling its learning curve. PROS CONS BOTTOM LINE PLUG-IN FORMATS AUDIO FILE FORMATS RECOGNIZED THIRD PARTY PATCH FORMATS IMPORTED AUDIO FORMATS SAVED/EXPORTED STREAMING FROM HARD DISK MAXIMUM POLYPHONY MIDI CHANNEL PARTS INCLUDED SOUND LIBRARY SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS B:IMAGE-LINE DIRECTWAVE(PC) $99, www.image-line.com For basic sampling tasks, DirectWave offers Windows users a viable alternative to the big guns. It lacks high-end features like hard disk streaming and velocity crossfades, but it’s also very affordable. As a sample playback device, DirectWave works in any host that supports VST. When used in Image-Line’s flagship FL Studio workstation, or in a host such as Ableton Live or Mackie Tracktion that can route audio to synth plug-ins, DirectWave actually samples: You can insert it in an FX bus and record audio into it. The program’s other claim to fame is the downloadable library. Unlike many samplers, it installs without a sound library, but the Select Preset button opens a window in which you can browse materials from the SampleFusion website (www.samplefusion.com). Many are free downloads; some have to be purchased. The disadvantage of this system is that you have to wait for the download in order to audition the preset before deciding whether you want to use it. DirectWave has a good set of sample zoning functions, including velocity and key zone splits and mute groups. There’s no sample switching from MIDI controllers, however, nor any type of automatic switching from one sample to another within a zone. The zone layout can be edited graphically. Each zone has its own voicing parameters, including dual filters, three ADSR envelopes, two LFOs, and a modulation matrix with 16 routings. Two more LFOs are global at the preset level. DirectWave can also sample audio directly from other plug-in synths, when instantiated in Ableton Live or Mackie Tracktion. The filters can run in series or parallel, and each has a choice of five modes, including allpass. An unusual “shape” parameter causes the output of the filter to clip in a warm, expressive way. Each zone also has some simple effects (ring modulator, bit-crushing distortion, and phaser) and send knobs for the global delay, chorus, and reverb. The chorus is thin, but the reverb is okay. DirectWave has a built-in sample editor. You can cut, paste, truncate, and normalize the data using a decent graphic waveform display. Loop points can be adjusted, but there’s no crossfade looping or zero-crossing locator, and I got no viable loops from the automatic loop finder. Time-stretching is not implemented. In theory, DirectWave can load presets in a variety of formats, including Native Instruments Kontakt and Battery, but I had little luck with this feature. I was able to drag and drop WAV files from the desktop, but DirectWave declined to load sounds from my Kontakt 2 or Battery 3 library. According to Image-Line, Kontakt 1 and Battery 2 are supported. They also told us that DirectWave’s file import options are licensed from Chicken Systems — but the list of supported formats on the Chicken Systems website shows, again, only the names Kontakt and Battery, with no indication as to which versions of these file types may or may not work. REX files were imported into DirectWave in a friendly way, with the entire loop positioned on C1 for reference and individual slices on the ascending white keys. No MIDI data can be extracted from the REX files, however. As with most samplers, the library is a mixed bag. The loop points in the “French/flugelhorn” preset are ultra-smooth, and the tone of this preset is rich. The “Arco Strings” preset is somewhat nasal and less convincing. Neither of them has any velocity cross-switching, filtering, or even modulation wheel response. Ditto for the “MDWurl” electric piano preset: Its samples are nice and long, with a natural decay, and again, its loop points are smooth, but there’s no filtering, no velocity layering, and no modulation wheel response. PROS CONS BOTTOM LINE PLUG-IN FORMATS AUDIO FILE FORMATS RECOGNIZED THIRD PARTY PATCH FORMATS IMPORTED AUDIO FORMATS SAVED/EXPORTED STREAMING FROM HARD DISK MAXIMUM POLYPHONY MIDI CHANNEL PARTS INCLUDED SOUND LIBRARY SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS MOTU MACH FIVE 2(Mac, PC) $495, upgrade from previous version, $195, www.motu.com MachFive is a reliable and well-rounded sampler with uncommonly good support for third-party sample formats, with no “import” step needed. If you need one sampler to support all your platforms — operating systems, plug-in formats, and file formats — MachFive is an excellent choice. Version 2 is a major upgrade. It removes part, polyphony, and keygroup limitations, and beefs up editing with beat slicing, a modulation matrix, batch processing, and unlimited undo and redo. MachFive 2 also boasts a new semi-modular synthesis architecture and a deep selection of effects. You’re unlikely to replace a modeling-based synth plug-in with MachFive, but it’s now far easier to create hybrid synth-sample patches. The effects are particularly strong, with a deep selection of rich-sounding reverbs and graphical editing of parameters. A full-featured mixer completes the package. Under the hood is a strong editor and sample playback engine. The engine itself operates at 32-bit resolution, with output up to 24-bit/192kHz, and tons of I/O and surround support, not only for the plug-in itself but the effects, as well. One of the DVDs is dedicated to sample content that takes advantage of the higher-quality output options. While some libraries included with soft samplers sound like a grab bag, this is an impressive collection, including an entire DVD of Vienna Symphonic Library instruments, and another for grand piano. Editing capabilities are formidable. MachFive has extensive keygroup support, basic key-switching, and what MOTU calls Layers and Layer Rules, which allow for expressive selection of different samples based on a series of “if-then” relationships. A new Loop Lab lets you beat-slice audio and trigger different slices via MIDI. Loop slicing integrates especially nicely with MachFive’s drag-and-drop MIDI and audio support. You can easily drag audio in, slice it up, and drag MIDI and audio out, provided you have a compatible host (such as Cakewalk Sonar or MOTU Digital Performer). NI’s Kontakt 3 has a similar facility, but MachFive’s broad native sample format support likely gives it the edge, depending on your source formats. Version 2 also has far more sophisticated envelopes than the original MachFive, with syncable envelopes and unlimited breakpoints. As MachFive’s capabilities have grown, its interface has had to fit them all in. One of the major selling points of version 1 was its single-window editing. MachFive 2 packs a ton of functionality into one screen, with a trade-off of some elements being on the tiny side. Depending on the task, there are so many different kinds of widgets — overlay screens, dialog boxes that you need to dismiss before continuing, and so on — that some users might prefer a more boring-but-consistent interface. Others may find that the interface speeds their workflow because of how it associates different looks with different tasks. On the flip side, MachFive 2 offers several UI innovations. You can expand the Keygroup, Sample, and Loop Lab editors to fill the window for more detailed editing, or pop them out as a separate window, which can fill your entire screen or a second monitor. This, along with direct format reading, drag-and-drop host integration, and deep editing features, make MachFive 2 a very compelling option. PROS CONS BOTTOM LINE PLUG-IN FORMATS AUDIO FILE FORMATS RECOGNIZED THIRD PARTY PATCH FORMATS IMPORTED PATCH FORMATS SAVED/EXPORTED STREAMING FROM HARD DISK MAXIMUM POLYPHONY MIDI CHANNEL PARTS INCLUDED SOUND LIBRARY SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
NATIVE INSTRUMENTS KONTAKT 3(Mac, PC) $449, www.native-instruments.com Kontakt is a top-flight sampler with a sophisticated feature set, and is one of a handful of instruments in our roundup that are truly cross-platform compatible. It’s not tied to a particular host, and it can run stand-alone or as a plug-in on Mac and PC. The Kontakt format is also widely supported: Currently, third-party soundware developers favor Kontakt over any other sampler format. Additionally, there are many libraries released that include Kontakt Player, a feature-limited version of Kontakt, as a playback engine. These libraries can be opened inside Kontakt for further editing, layering, and manipulation. Kontakt uses a “rack” paradigm in which individual elements of an instrument preset — the amp section, envelopes, filters, effects, waveform and keymap editors, etc. — are treated as modules that can be minimized to conserve screen real estate. You can adjust Kontakt’s browser view (small, mid, and big size), and although the rack can’t be freely resized, you can detach the waveform and keymap editors from the rack, which helps make the interface feel less crowded when editing multisampled patches. Velocity crossfading, sample alternation, and multisample switching via performance controllers are all part of Kontakt’s vocabulary. Kontakt also features a complex MIDI processor that can be programmed to create all kinds of effects such as arpeggiation, parameter randomizing, and so on. You can also program Kontakt using a scripting language — it’s not for the faint of heart, but can yield some interesting ways to control a patch. The included library weighs in at 35GB and includes a well-rounded, usable collection of patches oriented for modern pop, electronic, world, hip-hop, and orchestral styles. Notably, the orchestral instruments are from the Vienna Symphonic Library. The built-in effects are above average, with a respectable palette of modulation and lo-fi processors. Kontakt’s convolution reverb is exceptional, and you can load your own impulse responses, which opens the door for seriously creative sound design and putting sounds in your own acoustic spaces that no one else necessarily has. Along these lines, Kontakt’s modulation capabilities are quite flexible, and can be pressed into service for all manner of rhythmic effects. All of the major sampler formats are supported for import. Kontakt does a decent job with translating sampler-specific parameters for key-switching, but it isn’t flawless. For example, you may need to adjust filter settings and amp envelopes when working with TASCAM GigaStudio format sounds. Kontakt is well-equipped for multitimbral operation. There are four banks, each of which supports up to 16 MIDI channels. You can have more than 16 patches in a single bank, and quickly build layers by assigning multiple instruments to the same channel. Additionally, you can create Instrument Banks, in which you can house up to 128 presets. Only one preset can be active, but you can recall presets using MIDI program change messages. This makes Kontakt an ideal choice as a replacement for a hardware sampler. PROS CONS BOTTOM LINE PLUG-IN FORMATS AUDIO FILE FORMATS RECOGNIZED THIRD PARTY PATCH FORMATS IMPORTED AUDIO FORMATS SAVED/EXPORTED STREAMING FROM HARD DISK MAXIMUM POLYPHONY MIDI CHANNEL PARTS INCLUDED SOUND LIBRARY SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
STEINBERG HALION 3(Mac, PC) $399, www.steinberg.net Originally released back in 2001, Steinberg’s HALion 3 is one of the older contenders in the soft sampler fray. But it’s been kept up to date with upgrades, and version 3 most notably includes a standalone mode for use with any ReWire-capable host. HALion has a total of seven menu pages, selected by large oval-shaped buttons at the bottom of the screen. Though this might seem like a lot to the casual user, the pages are mostly easy to understand, and I did the bulk of my navigation and setup without referring to the user manual. Apparently I wasn’t the only one who noticed the multitude of screens, because one of the new version 3 features is a “macro” screen. This combines much of the basic info and sound shaping control you’ll need for given patch into one window. Sound hierarchy is straightforward. Programs contain sample and keymap settings; and banks each contain 128 programs. Programs and banks can be independently saved. This is how things work in Cubase or in standalone mode; however, there was no facility to load or save banks when I used HALion inside Apple Logic Pro. This isn’t too much of a drawback, though — you can load multiple instances of HALion using one program per instance. In theory, HALion sports a great level of compatibility; it can load programs and samples from a veritable laundry list of sample formats, but in practice, it can be very finicky in the way it goes about its business. To begin with, file extensions have to be exactly right or HALion’s browser won’t see the files. This may not be an issue for, say, Cubase users on the PC, but it can wreak havoc for Mac users. And though HALion will load programs in many formats, it’s a good idea to know the source samples’ directory (i.e. on your computer) yourself, because HALion sometimes has trouble locating them on its own. Even when I pointed it to the correct directories, it wouldn’t read AIFF file extensions, but had no problem with AIF, which refers to the same thing — seems like it wants to see a three-letter file extension. On the upside, creating your own keymaps and programs uses simple drag-and-drop methods. HALion’s key zone window sports a large grid where dragging zones horizontally sets the key range, while vertical dragging sets the velocity zones. The sample editor is easy to understand and offers a nice balance of simplicity and flexibility, but any major editing tasks are best performed in a dedicated sample editing app. Mangling sounds was a lot of fun, as HALion features ten different filter types (including Waldorf models), impressive modulation routings with two syncable LFOs, and a neat step modulator. Finally, the HALion 3 uprade allows the use of 27 different effects in up to four simultaneous inserts and four buses. These run the gamut from basic reverbs, choruses, and delays to pseudo-talkboxes, Leslie-like rotary speakers, and bit crushers. I gave the filters the acid test by running a sawtooth wave from my Minimoog through them and making the wickedest snappy bass tones I could, and HALion passed with flying colors. The tone was rich and buttery, and the point-and-pull envelopes made filter and volume shaping a cinch. Additionally, the models of Waldorf low-, band-, and highpass filters offered up some cool tonal variations. Compared to the competition, HALions’s included sample library is bit lean with its 160 instruments. Though HALion’s interface tends to feel like an older VST plug-in, it packs a lot of features and is the obvious choice for Cubase users. PROS CONS BOTTOM LINE PLUG-IN FORMATS AUDIO FILE FORMATS RECOGNIZED THIRD PARTY PATCH FORMATS IMPORTED AUDIO FORMATS SAVED/EXPORTED STREAMING FROM HARD DISK MAXIMUM POLYPHONY MIDI CHANNEL PARTS INCLUDED SOUND LIBRARY SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
TASCAM GIGASTUDIO 4(PC) $599; Giga Virtual Instrument, $399, www.tascam.com GigaSampler was the first software sampler that streamed instruments from hard disk, rather than loading everything into RAM. Suddenly, the concept of a multi-gigabyte sampled instrument became not only possible, but affordable — particularly because when GigaSampler was introduced, RAM was relatively expensive. However, it had a reputation for being temperamental, in a large part because it pushed the computers of the day to their limits. Even when moving on to the GigaStudio (GS) line, which expanded on the original concept, system requirements remained strict, it worked only in standalone mode (in which case you needed a card with Giga GSIF-specific drivers) or as a ReWire client, and stability issues remained. Still, GigaSampler’s extreme power and top-level sound libraries established it as the first-call sampler for film composers. Nowadays computer power has caught up, successive updates have increased stability, and the Giga line spawned Giga Virtual Instrument (GVI), an additional plug-in version that takes advantage of the libraries created for Giga. However, both GigaStudio and GVI are in transition as we go to press; GS3 is giving way to GS4, which is currently in beta and should be available by the time you read this. The most important enhancement is that GS4 takes advantage of true 64-bit operating systems (Windows x64 and Vista 64), which allows accessing a whopping 128GB of RAM. Why so much RAM if you’re streaming from disk? Because the initial attack still lives in RAM for instant playback, and when you’re dealing with multisamples that have lots of velocity switching, RAM requirements add up. GVI4 is slated for release shortly thereafter, and it’s the first Giga product to be available for the Mac as well as Windows. Giga’s 128 MIDI channels appear in the built-in mixer, which lets you do 32 fader groups; the mixer can also host VST effect plug-ins. Every channel includes EQ, compression, and eight aux sends. GS4 is slated to add support for hosting VSTi and GVI instruments alongside GS4 instruments, with extremely low latency as the hosted instruments also take advantage of Giga’s kernel-level streaming. The GigaPulse convolution processor does reverb, mic modeling, and instrument resonance, and it’s an overachiever: You can specify the performer’s location in a room, as well as change the virtual mic’s position — unlimited mic locations make it easy to create surround-friendly spaces. One of GS’ most important features is MIDI articulation processing, such as round-robin sample alternation to prevent repetitive sounds, strings that alternate between up-bow and down-bow, and a legato mode that allows note transitions to be sampled for added realism. Many libraries use key-switching, where playing a “note” serves as a shift key that switches to a separate articulation. Although you can get “lost in the parameters,” GS offers a Quick Edit window for access to [continued] common parameters. This is slated to be enhanced in GS4. Also, GigaStudio actually samples — it’s not for playback only. While GigaStudio remains the flagship product, GVI is a less expensive, playback-only alternative that works as a VSTi or RTAS plug-in. It has the same polyphony as GigaStudio, but is only 16-part multitimbral. PROS CONS BOTTOM LINE PLUG-IN FORMATS AUDIO FILE FORMATS RECOGNIZED AUDIO FORMATS SAVED/EXPORTED THIRD PARTY PATCH FORMATS IMPORTED STREAMING FROM HARD DISK MAXIMUM POLYPHONY MIDI CHANNEL PARTS INCLUDED SOUND LIBRARY SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
YELLOW TOOLS INDEPENDENCE 1.5(Mac, PC) $449, www.yellowtools.com Independence was created by a prominent German sound design house; you’ve likely heard their sounds in products from Native Instruments and the company formerly known as Emagic. That lineage shows in the program’s unusually deep architecture, one especially well-suited to sound designers and experimentally-inclined electronic musicians. However, getting at that power isn’t always as easy as it could be. Independence does a lot to streamline the work of a sample library developer. If you use standard naming with your AIFF and WAV files, Independence can import and map those files to key and velocity zones, saving a lot of labor. Well-conceived copy, paste, move, and “snap-to” features make short work of mapping samples to key zones, and there’s even slick visual representation of crossfades. One of the problems with sampling in general is that notes on real instruments don’t sound exactly the same each time they’re played. Independence has a set of tools for streamlining the creation, editing, selection, and performance of “alternates” to add variation to playback (round-robin programming, by another name) as well as “sections” for orchestral samples and the like. With its modules for automating realtime playback variations at the sample and alternate level, Independence is capable of some serisouly dynamic instrument designs. A lot of the included sound presets only scratch the surface of this power. A built-in audio editor is mostly limited to waveform preview and loop points, but it does have the ability to slice up audio according to transients and export MIDI files. This REX/ReCycle-style workflow is becoming commonplace these days, but it’s still handy to have it right in your sampler. Nearly everything in Independence is MIDI-assignable, with full support for key switching of a wide variety of parameters. That makes Independence an excellent choice for people who like to play complex samples live from a keyboard controller. In addition to the sample editing section, there’s a full-featured mixer with sophisticated routing, plus a “Performance” section that consolidates many of the MIDI settings and provides an overview of layers. Independence is finely-tuned for efficient performance relative to your computer. I was able to load extensive layered libraries on a modest PC with 2GB of RAM — one running the officially-unsupported Windows Vista, no less — with no problems, both in host and standalone modes. While Independence has a lot of power under the hood, the user interface has some speed bumps. Yes, there’s extensive support for alternative tunings, yet a lot of key modules lack basic presets. There’s a huge selection of effects, but the UI makes inserting them clunky. The interface has all kinds of shortcuts for sound design, but reading the tiny labels onscreen and navigating hierarchical menus can be a pain. Yellow Tools says improvements are on the horizon. Also, you’d be crazy not to give the completely gratis Independence Free a try, with its 2GB sound library. PROS CONS BOTTOM LINE PLUG-IN FORMATS AUDIO FILE FORMATS RECOGNIZED THIRD PARTY PATCH FORMATS IMPORTED AUDIO FORMATS SAVED/EXPORTED STREAMING FROM HARD DISK MAXIMUM POLYPHONY MIDI CHANNEL PARTS INCLUDED SOUND LIBRARY SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
C:IK MULTIMEDIA SAMPLETANK 2.5XL(Mac, PC) $449, www.ikmultimedia.com While most people think of SampleTank 2.5 as a virtual ROMpler, it’s possible to import your own samples, map them across the keyboard, and save the collection as a preset. Including the note name in the sample allows ST to map the samples automatically. You can also enter keywords to find patches using ST’s search function. Mapping is basic: There are no key or velocity crossfades (they’re switched instead), nor can you override the automatic mapping function. However, the engine is very capable. It has three synth engines (resampling, pitch stretch/time stretch, and the high-quality “Stretch” algorithm; the latter can change timbre as well as pitch and tempo), and includes 33 DSP effects (the usual suspects — reverbs, delays, filters, dynamics, plus some nice overdrive and lo-fi effects). The LFOs can sync to host tempo, and assignable macro controls simplify tweaking. The effects are particularly welcome, as you can do some serious sound-shaping and use them in a part, send, or master context. Furthermore, when layering various parts, each one has controls for keyrange, velocity range, and transpose. When using multiple sounds with layers and splits, you can save the entire collection as a Combi. The pitch- and time-stretching (called PS/TS), is useful for working with loops. A distinct algorithm called Stretch is more ideal for instrument or vocal phrases, and has some unique tricks up its sleeve — you can play chords with single-note phrases automatically synced. More remarkably, the speed of vibrato or tremolo that’s sampled into the basic sound can be unaffected by pitchbending and transposition! PROS CONS BOTTOM LINE PLUG-IN FORMATS AUDIO FILE FORMATS RECOGNIZED
ULTIMATE SOUNDBANK PLUGSOUND PRO(Mac, PC) $399, www.ultimatesoundbank.com Plugsound Pro (reviewed May ’07) is a feature-rich “soft ROMpler,” which can be expanded with Ultimate’s own UVI Soundcards — theme-specific expansion packs such as Retro Keyboards and Synths Anthology. With the included loops or third-party content, PSP will automatically sync loop playback to host or user-defined tempo (or play at their original speed), and you can drag-and-drop loops from PSP directly into your host app either as audio or MIDI data. When you drag a loop as audio, it’s exported at the correct tempo, and the time-stretching produces nice results. If you drag a loop as MIDI, the loop gets sliced and mapped across the keyboard; the resultant MIDI file shows up like any other REX file with slices ascending chromatically. Loops can be auditioned and exported while other parts are playing — this makes it easy to stay in the creative moment. There’s a lot of flexibility when it comes to building your own patches and multis. You can create layered sounds by assigning parts to the same MIDI channel, or use Expert Mode to set key and velocity ranges for each part, as well as audio output assignment and whether a part will be engaged by a key-switch. PSP doesn’t respond to bank and program change messages, and you can’t edit multisamples or imported single samples inside PSP, though MOTU MachFive 2 will open and edit them. Up to four insert effects are available for each part, in addition to two global send effects, which can include convolution reverb. There’s also a “master” section — three effects (3-band compressor, tube simulation, and limiter) on the main stereo output to give your sounds that extra polish. PROS CONS BOTTOM LINE PLUG-IN FORMATS AUDIO FILE FORMATS RECOGNIZED |
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