Software sampler - recommendations?

Romeo Knight · Post by **Romeo Knight** » 24/05/2006 - 10:29

Hi pals,

I'm searching for a good softsampler for future productions. I worked a lot with free sounds and Soundfonts and now it's time to change this.
It should have a really big and versatile library and decent standard sounds for piano, brass/horns and some orchestral samples (though I know that they most time can't compete with those specialized orchestral libs)
Lots of tweaking possibilities are fine, but not so important for me.
It should work with Nuendo and as standalone.
On my list is

*NI Kontakt
*IK Multimedia Sampletank2
*Steinberg Halion
*Tascam Gigastudio

Thanks for your input!

DHS · Post by **DHS** » 24/05/2006 - 11:26

by now it looks that Kontakt2 is the way to go.

I'd have a look to Image-Line Directwave too.

oj oscillation · Post by **oj oscillation** » 24/05/2006 - 12:03

i favorise kontakt 2. there are a lot of libs and the new script module makes even more realistic played natural instruments as i heard.

moog · Post by **moog** » 24/05/2006 - 22:12

NI Kontakt seems to be more powerfull in comparition with DirectWave, but it consumes more CPU time

Analog-X64 · Post by **Analog-X64** » 25/05/2006 - 6:32

I'm a newbie when it comes to software samplers. All I've ever known is hardware samplers like my Roland W-30, the Akai S1000 series or Kertzweil 2000S.

Do software samplers work the same?

If anyone has ever used an Roland W-30 Sampling keyboard its dead easy to use.

First you Sample a sound
Second you edit the sample to pick the start and end of your liking.
Third you map the sample to a Single Key or Multiple Keys. you can even pick a Start Point like "C5" and play the full range.

Are software samples that easy? Or do I need a Degree in Engineering to use one?

oj oscillation · Post by **oj oscillation** » 25/05/2006 - 12:00

don`t know if all softsamplers have a sample record function as my emulator x. but generally i don`t sample with those soft samplers. i load already sampled samples from hdd , which i recorded and trim in soundforge.the rest is an easy going. just place your sample on the key and draw a zone for the range etc.
so you can see , the whole thing is very confortable.no disc juggling, no cursor wheel stepping and so on. you have it all on a reach of a mouseclick.

DHS · Post by **DHS** » 25/05/2006 - 13:16

moog wrote:NI Kontakt seems to be more powerfull in comparition with DirectWave, but it consumes more CPU time

Talking about power and features, Kontakt has no rivals. On the other side, it's over-complicated. If you have to work fast and don't need fancy things, directwave is a better option. (and it's ways cheaper).

Halion3 is fast, but has a really absurd system for internal signal routing.

Analog-X64 · Post by **Analog-X64** » 25/05/2006 - 15:03

oj oscillation wrote:don`t know if all softsamplers have a sample record function as my emulator x. but generally i don`t sample with those soft samplers. i load already sampled samples from hdd , which i recorded and trim in soundforge.

Do software samplers not have good Trimming facilities? That you have to rely on external editing such as SoundForge?

I guess you get more freedom using SoundForge.

BTW: How is soundforge these days now that Sony has purchased it? I heard bad Reviews when Sony Released v10

Romeo Knight · Post by **Romeo Knight** » 25/05/2006 - 19:07

DHS wrote: Talking about power and features, Kontakt has no rivals. On the other side, it's over-complicated. If you have to work fast and don't need fancy things, directwave is a better option. (and it's ways cheaper).

Thanks for your answers so far.
I checked the Kontakt demo and yes, it seems a bit complicated though I'm already used to NI products. Sampletank and Gigastudio also look easier to use. The most important thing to me anyway is a high quality library with the basic purchase, without the need to buy extra libs.
Does Kontakt live up to that compared to the others?

oj oscillation · Post by **oj oscillation** » 25/05/2006 - 21:12

@analog:

i`m old fashioned sf 5 user.it has all i nedded for sampling and i never touched the sample edit pages of any vst sampler i tried.but i`m sure they could do the work for me too.
i don`t use sampling my own libs/loops anymore since i got already my little lib.so i don`t know if sf 10 is a bad thing.

Matrix · Post by **Matrix** » 26/05/2006 - 1:21

The IK is good karma .... imagine the sequel !! IK+

I even bought my current car cos its number plate has MGS on it

how cool is that...

Analog-X64 · Post by **Analog-X64** » 26/05/2006 - 6:09

oj oscillation wrote:@analog:

i`m old fashioned sf 5 user.it has all i nedded for sampling and i never touched the sample edit pages of any vst sampler i tried.but i`m sure they could do the work for me too.
i don`t use sampling my own libs/loops anymore since i got already my little lib.so i don`t know if sf 10 is a bad thing.

Hehehe I'm still using SF 4.5

I love my W30 Sampling Keyboard althought I know longer really use it for music production it was dead easy to use.

I find sampling software these days too complicated. I just want to load a sample or two map them to the certain sections of the keyboard and off I go.

PS: I love your remix work.

Dr.Future · Post by **Dr.Future** » 26/05/2006 - 10:55

Romeo, Kontakt's library is the best & the biggest on the market.

As for your basic question, the best "bang for the back" is Virtual Sampler 3. It's easy to use and can import any format you can think of...

Romeo Knight · Post by **Romeo Knight** » 26/05/2006 - 11:13

Dr.Future wrote:Romeo, Kontakt's library is the best & the biggest on the market.

That was the main thing I wanted to know. I should ask NI about an endorsement deal then

Markus Schneider · Post by **Markus Schneider** » 26/05/2006 - 13:19

I am using Gigastudio 3 and Kontakt. I prefer Giga on a STANDALONE workstation because it's easier to use, has less CPU usage, loads faster and comes with a very nice convolution reverb. There will be soon a VST plugin called Giga Virtual Instrument.
http://www.tascamgiga.com/gvi.html