VST Samplers?

[chysn]

Hey!

What are your favorite VST samplers? I'm looking for something that'll record samples while I'm recording a track. I don't know if that's rare, commonplace, or impossible. In fact, I don't know anything about VST samplers at all.

I don't care whether it's free or not, but my budget is probably under $200 for this.

[chysn]

(1) Serato Sample - I got the 30-day demo. It has an excellent interface, and is very easy to use. Each virtual instrument uses a single audio file, and up to 16 cue start points can be assigned from within the file.

It works well using QuNexus to launch each cue, and a single cue can be put into "keyboard mode" to transpose it based on which key is played.

Unfortunately, critical settings are global. For example, all cues must set set to continuous or gated together, and all cues must be set to mono- or polyphonic together. If the cues are both continuous and polyphonic, there's no way to stop a note; they just build up forever.

Ideally, I'd like these settings to be done on a per-cue basis, and I'd like to be able to set an end-point so that a cue ends at a specific point.

I do like the idea of being able to grab specific sections of a file, but I think I'm going to keep looking. It's not quite worth $100, and it's the first thing I tried.

[MisterHemi]

I know there are many, i've never tried them either.....


One I can think of off the top of my head is MOTU's Mach Five. I think you could get a demo too and see if it meets your needs.




I just realized the price may be more than your $200 limit.

[chysn]

Mach Five looks great, but at a spicy price. I've been looking into everything, and right now it looks like Serato is the closest thing out there to what I want to do with software. It just came out a couple months ago, so its functionality might expand over time. I think I'll give it a good shakedown and see if I can put it to good use.

[Paul Dither]

This doesn't really fit the classic sampler territory (difficult in that price bracket), but you may still enjoy playing around with it if you're into granular stuff: http://sound-guru.com/software/mangle/

[chysn]

This doesn't really fit the classic sampler territory (difficult in that price bracket), but you may still enjoy playing around with it if you're into granular stuff: http://sound-guru.com/software/mangle/

Oh, cool, thanks! Yeah, that looks promising, especially given the price. Basically, my question is "where does modular synthesis lead?" I enjoy patching and playing the modular as a standalone instrument. But a modular patch also seems to be a possible building block of something else. Sampling seems like a natural fit, as it (partially) compensates for lack of patch memory, and lends itself to reprocessing.

I've been interested in Terry Riley's work recently, and more generally the history of spliced tape music, and I sort of want to push through into that ethos. Even Subotnick now uses samples from Ableton along with his Buchla in live performances (one of which I'll be attending in a few days). It seems like an inspiring alley to wander down for a time.

I do have a hardware sampler. It's a functional, but somewhat well-worn Roland MS-1, which I picked up for like $25 USD some years ago. Its memory is meager, but it's got a nice balance of features and ease-of-use. I've considered getting another hardware sampler, but nothing really seems to fit my vision perfectly. So I'll either turn to software, or become good friends with this ancient Roland, or both.

[Shaw]

I think Kontakt 5 is a possibility, but I know nothing of it's sample import abilities.


UVI Falcon looks deadly... granular synthesis among other things.  (Now that I think of it, Kontakt may also have granular oscillators)
Here's a great review of Falcon:  http://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/uvi-falcon

[chysn]

I think Kontakt 5 is a possibility, but I know nothing of it's sample import abilities.


UVI Falcon looks deadly... granular synthesis among other things.  (Now that I think of it, Kontakt may also have granular oscillators)
Here's a great review of Falcon:  http://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/uvi-falcon

Oh, yes, thank you. I was aware of Kontakt (it's apparently the gold standard), but Falcon was new to me.

[Shaw]

I think Kontakt 5 is a possibility, but I know nothing of it's sample import abilities.


UVI Falcon looks deadly... granular synthesis among other things.  (Now that I think of it, Kontakt may also have granular oscillators)
Here's a great review of Falcon:  http://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/uvi-falcon

Oh, yes, thank you. I was aware of Kontakt (it's apparently the gold standard), but Falcon was new to me.

I started re-evaluating Falcon again... oh man. It's seriously tempting.  - know it's above your $200 price point,  but it seems an amazing bit of software...

Also worth noting,  Mach Five uses the UVI synthesis engine.

[chysn]

Meanwhile, Serato Sample is really growing on me. It can do some things that I initially missed (slicing, for example), and adding multiple instances really increases the power (which can be said of any virtual instrument, I guess). Also, in looking at other hardware and software samplers that are out there, the price is quite attractive.

[Shaw]

Meanwhile, Serato Sample is really growing on me. It can do some things that I initially missed (slicing, for example), and adding multiple instances really increases the power (which can be said of any virtual instrument, I guess). Also, in looking at other hardware and software samplers that are out there, the price is quite attractive.

at $99 it looks attractive... It lacks some of the horsepower of MachFive or Falcon, but with a 30 day free trial period, you can try it and see if it will suit your needs...

[chysn]

at $99 it looks attractive... It lacks some of the horsepower of MachFive or Falcon, but with a 30 day free trial period, you can try it and see if it will suit your needs...

I've been using the demo for a few days. To say that it "lacks horsepower" is understatement. It doesn't support multi-sampling, it does nothing with MIDI velocity, it lacks a way to loop samples, its playback mode (hold or trigger) is global and not per-cue, it doesn't have a mute mode (for hi-hat choking), and on and on. It doesn't have a lot of stuff, is what I'm saying.

But its interface is fantastic. You can know everything there is to know about it in an hour. It does a really good job handling tempo and key changing. It's definitely a specialist instrument that takes a limited feature set and does it as well as it can be done.

[Shaw]

I've been using the demo for a few days. To say that it "lacks horsepower" is understatement. It doesn't support multi-sampling, it does nothing with MIDI velocity, it lacks a way to loop samples, its playback mode (hold or trigger) is global and not per-cue, it doesn't have a mute mode (for hi-hat choking), and on and on.

Sounds like a $99 specialized tape recorder... that may be what you need (?)

[chysn]

Sounds like a $99 specialized tape recorder... that may be what you need (?)

Yes, a tape recorder with the ability to assign bits of tape to pads and match them to a specific tempo. That's more or less what I was looking for. I'm not going to purchase anything until I get back from New York, but this one has a pretty good shot.

I might still wind up with an MPX16 after all this.

[BobTheDog]

I think Kontakt 5 is a possibility, but I know nothing of it's sample import abilities.


UVI Falcon looks deadly... granular synthesis among other things.  (Now that I think of it, Kontakt may also have granular oscillators)
Here's a great review of Falcon:  http://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/uvi-falcon

Oh, yes, thank you. I was aware of Kontakt (it's apparently the gold standard), but Falcon was new to me.

I started re-evaluating Falcon again... oh man. It's seriously tempting.  - know it's above your $200 price point,  but it seems an amazing bit of software...

Also worth noting,  Mach Five uses the UVI synthesis engine.

Yeah falcon looks very good, it seems to be let down as far as I can see by the fact it can't actually "sample" anything though! If it had recording and auto sampling I think I would get it.

[Shaw]

Yeah falcon looks very good, it seems to be let down as far as I can see by the fact it can't actually "sample" anything though! If it had recording and auto sampling I think I would get it.

Ha!  I'm so used to working in the DAW that I isn't even notice that it doesn't SAMPLE. 

 

[chysn]

Ha!  I'm so used to working in the DAW that I isn't even notice that it doesn't SAMPLE. 

Serato Sample doesn't sample, either, within the virtual instrument itself. I assumed this was normal, but maybe not. If the DAW already records audio files that the sampler can use, then what's the value of recording within a virtual instrument?

[Shaw]

Ha!  I'm so used to working in the DAW that I isn't even notice that it doesn't SAMPLE. 

Serato Sample doesn't sample, either, within the virtual instrument itself. I assumed this was normal, but maybe not. If the DAW already records audio files that the sampler can use, then what's the value of recording within a virtual instrument?

I don't think it is an issue... i was just responding to that fact since BobDog pointed it out...

[BobTheDog]

Ha!  I'm so used to working in the DAW that I isn't even notice that it doesn't SAMPLE. 

Serato Sample doesn't sample, either, within the virtual instrument itself. I assumed this was normal, but maybe not. If the DAW already records audio files that the sampler can use, then what's the value of recording within a virtual instrument?

Maybe I'm a bit old fashioned but a sampler should be able to sample and re-sample itself. Another good reason for this is that it can then be used to implement auto sampling where the sampler will create a multisample key mapped setup automatically by "playing" another instrument via midi.

[chysn]

It often annoys me when an original poster leaves forum topics hanging, so I'll explain what I wound up doing with respect to sampling:

(1) I bought Ableton Live Intro. Although it includes a sampler plug-in (Simpler), its basic clip handling on the Session View does everything that I want to do, without having to resort to a virtual instrument. To put it simply, Ableton itself is the sampler.

(2) I added Make Noise Phonogene to my modular synth, which allows me to sample the synth (and anything else) in real time and manipulate it with my modulation sources. This adds musique concrète techniques for tape splicing (digitally, of course), granular synthesis, and rhythmic looping, and it's basically a blast to play.