First Impressions…

The first thing I notice about SampleTank 2.5 XL is the layout. I think they were one of the first ever
“virtual workstations” and they make it easy to layer or use multiple sounds.

You get 16 instrument slots right on the front panel.

Another thing that is pretty slick about the layout is that you get 5 insert fx on each instrument! I
think that is amazing and it’s only limited by your cpu.

Browsing samples, importing samples, and all other system options are handled easily from the front panel, making it very quick to get in and get working.

Quick Specs:

• Content: 2036 sounds 6.43gb of data , 33 dsp multi- fx
• Format: Standalone, vst, rtas, audio units
• Price: $399

The instrument layout:

In the left side of the screen where all 16 layers or instrument channels reside, you also get quick overview of the mixer section. You can see the volume levels, pan, which output the sound is going to, as well as the polyphony setting.

You can easily lower polyphony to save cpu cycles. It also shows you exactly how much memory each instrument is taking up, as well as gives you a quick button to empty that channel. You have solo and mute too.

Changing settings is as easy as clicking on the value and moving your mouse up or down.

The sampling engine:

You get three types of sample playback, re sample, pitch shift/tempo shift, and stretch. The re sample is the basic playback of most samplers, pitch shift and tempo shift are also pretty self explanatory.

The stretch engine is pretty unique, you can manipulate the pitch, tempo, and timbre of a sample or instrument independent of each other…it can get pretty freaky.

There’s also the standard filter, envelope and lfo settings.

The sound browser:

If there is one thing I don’t really care for, it’s the sound browser. Being the first to do something usually means you get piggybacked by a lot of others, and SampleTank 2.5 XL set the standard for software workstations.

unfortunately they haven’t updated that standard the browser shows it, it’s very cumbersome in my opinion. You have a basic top level folder for each sound category, which then opens a tree for the instruments in that category. However, some of the instruments have a default sound, as well as a tree beneath them which holds other presets!

This tree in a tree browsing sucks big time…it’s definitely not as quick as native instruments characteristic driven sound browser or many other companies like arturia.

Left to right browsing is definitely becoming the preferred way to browse for sounds in software, each move to the right should bring you closer to what you need, allowing you to narrow down the further right you go.

Main category on the far left, then individual instruments, then the presets to load…much faster than opening and closing a tree of folders.

Cpu resources and loading the sounds:

I really like how fast most of the instruments load in SampleTank 2.5 XL, especially compared to the slow loading instrument sin Kontakt. It’s very cpu friendly and allows you to work by quickly scrolling through sounds.

You can also assign midi numbers to the previous, next, and load buttons for browsing sounds directly from your midi controller.

You can import some sample formats like akai s1000-3000 and some sample cell stuff, but it definitely doesn’t import all the files that kontakt does, it can’t even import my z4/mpc 4k files…

How does it sound?

The sounds are good, remind me of a hardware workstation, many are drenched in fx but that’s okay because the fx are actually pretty good.

You have pretty much everything covered from acoustic to synth and drums. I just wish the browser was more user friendly because there are a lot of sounds here.

Some may say the sounds are dated, but I never can agree with that, unless it’s a very genre specific module, I don’t see how a sound can be dated…it’s all about how you use the sound. How can a piano be dated?

What about strings, brass, guitar, woodwinds, bass and flutes? I don’t think so!

That said, Sample Tank 2.5 XL has been riding this wave for many years and I think it’s about time for a rehaul, I’m confident they’ve made some advances in sampling as well as synthesis and fx processing, so I’m looking forward to the next workstation.

I also like the fact that it can load all the “powered by SampleTank” instruments like Miroslav, SampleMoog and SampleTron.

Since those are a bit newer than the SampleTank 2.5 XL library, I’m definitely looking forward to bringing you a review of those instruments.

The bottom line, is it a good workstation?

I love this instrument, the quickness with which it loads paired with the quality of the sounds is good enough for most production work. Even if you use it as a sketch pad to flesh out ideas quickly, then come back to replace sounds later.

it’s like anything else, it’s all a preference, and I love alot of options, SampleTank 2.5 XL has a good sound, plenty of fx options, and other tweak-ability to allow you to get in a make music.

the interface for loading and managing a multitimbral setup is very easy, though the sound browser is not very good in my opinion.

I also hate the fact that you can’t resize the window, those of us with larger screens may find the small window size useless, especially when you start getting into the 30″ screens and high screen resolution.

I can’t say for sure, but I have a feeling we’ll see IK come through with the next version of SampleTank and it will once again set a standard for sofware workstations.

go check out the demo at ikmultimedia.com, tell em I sent ya.

peep the crazy sale at ZZounds.com all 4 of their workstations for $349 plus they have the 4 payment plan going IK Total Workstation Sale

I know I been quiet for a few days but it was thanksgiving in the US and the holiday week got the best of me! Cooking, eating, cooking, eating and chilling with the family!

But we back at it this week!

To go along with the post I did about the Top 10 places to download samples legally, I wanted to take it in another direction.

When I first started making the switch over to software production, I didn’t quite have many plugins yet, so I would look around for the free stuff.

Let me just say that, while there is some good free plugins and instruments around, you really have to look, and do a bit of trial an error.

I don’t use every single free thing I can find, I just look for those that have the best sounds, are expandable, and have a nice appearance

I don’t go through the torrents and other dark corners looking for software, so if that’s you as well, then you’ll love this article.

The 5 dopest FREE workstations and samplers

Big Fish Friday…on a Saturday?

I know it’s late! But it’s still Friday where I’m at while writing this! How long the video will take to upload is a different story!

I had some crazy stuff going on today (Friday)…but I couldn’t leave ya hangin!

Technical difficulties…but I still got it done…the video took forever to export/render for some reason. The review and video was done on Friday, but everything with the video export and upload didn’t finish until after 12 midnight lol. I still had to post it!

Anyway…today we aren’t looking at a sample library, per se…. it’s a sample based workstation instrument that big fish sent me!

What is VI One?

Well just think of your fantom, motif, triton, kurzweil, etc.. and all around work horse of an instrument with sounds covering every different instrument type from pianos and orchestra to drums and synths.

This collection comes in the popular kontakt player format…so you don’t need the full version of Kontakt to play it.

The Kontakt player can be loaded as a plugin in your favorite host.  Of course if you have the full version of Kontakt then this library will show up.

according to the site:

Far more than just a sound library; consider this a major studio upgrade.

Vir2 Instruments’ VI.ONE is a massive multi-disc sample library encompassing over two thousand instruments, kits, and other sound effects, and is designed to be of maximum usability to musicians across a wide span of genres.

What’s in VI One?

Everything! lol..like I said this is basically your all in one rack module.

If you’re just getting into virtual instruments this is a great place to start because you get tons of sounds.  If you have a lot of specialty instruments but need a general bread and butter workhorse this is your instrument as well.

It’s great

How does it sound?

Vir2 is a division of Big Fish Audio, so you know the quality is where it needs to be. I am really a fan of the Vir2 instruments, they are easy to use and a very high quality.

Multiple velocity layers and nice fx are a good touch.  The recordings are done right so everything sounds tight with no weird artifacts.

How about the value?

I think it’s a great value… this instrument drops in at 199, pretty normal for a virtual instrument.   Folks like me that come from the school of $1000+ instruments welcome a plugin like this with arms wide open.

The amount of sounds you get for the price is incredible..and it’s not like a collection of loops and riffs…these are sounds that will remain useful forever, synths, pianos, bass, horns, strings…that stuff doesn’t get old, or you can’t “overuse” it.

What’s the bottom line?

I don’t really give a sub rating on virtual instruments…I just tell weather or not I like it.

If I put it on the site and take the time to give you information on it, then you can pretty much bet that I highly suggest the plugin.

This is a must have, 5 star plugin… if I had to rate it with subs it would definitely be a 5 out of 5 and would be on my “must have” plugin list.

If you need a good collection of quality instruments that can last you a long time, and give you a great alternative to all those thousand dollar rack modules you keep buying…look no further.

Vir2 Instruments’ VI One is that workstation… cuz I said so!

Every once in a while you can catch it on sale at places like musiciansfriend for 99 bucks… either what it goes, it’s a great workstation to have.

let me know what you think about it. Leave me a comment below

I already told you why I love kontakt 3.5,  but I also told you I would follow up with a video showing some of the new features in Kontakt 4 when NI sent it over for review.

So here we are!

The reasons I love kontakt 4 even more than the previous version…

kore like browsing interface is now standard in pretty much every native instrument program…maybe with the exception of battery 3

yes, this categorizes all the tons of sounds in kontakt 4, making it easy to find what you want in their library.

you can also bring in and tag your own sounds for use in their database if you’re feel adventurous.

I like it, it’s simple, it’s easy, and you really don’t have to use the library browser for their internal sounds.

Good move.

It gives you a familiar interface for sound browsing across their entire range of instruments, they are not stupid, they know what they are doing….I smell a take over….hmmm….wonder if there are any subliminal messages hidden in the navigation and interface of their programs!

They also gave each “collection” of instruments a new interface, as well as adding a brand new choir collection, all the sounds from their Elektrik Piano instrument, some solo strings from Vienna, a collection of mellotron sounds in the vintage collection, and other gooodies.

Each one is a nice visual representation of the collections contents.

But it is also functional, allowing you to access all your desired parameters

directly from the front panel.

This is a vast improvement from previous versions, and the controls seem “simpler” if that makes any sense.

Everything you need, nothing you don’t, however you can go as deep as you want if you feel the need to.

They also updated the scripting and added some humanization/dynamic functions that allow for more realistic playing.  But I will tell you the truth, I didn’t mess with that much, I’d much rather just let it do it’s job.

My absolute favorite update…and this is the truth…is the new quick load browser!

Basically, you can setup your own “virtual” file system, no matter where instruments and samples are on your hard drive or external drives or even across the network!

You can put them in your own folder structure…and the files are not copied anywhere…it’s basically just links to your stuff.  This is very helpful, as the last quick load version just organized things based on how they were on your hard drive.

Now you can set things up exactly how you work…want a folder of sounds for a specific project? Go for it…you can have the same sound duplicated and triplicated lol..if that’s even a word!

I love it…this is my favorite feature and I use it all the time. I have tons of Kontakt instruments and libraries, and I always wanted to organize them MY way…now I can, this is the feature I’m most excited about and thing is the best addition…well, that and the ability to drag the kontakt window to adjust the size

Is it worth the upgrade? heck yeah… is it worth a try if you’re new to it? Heck yeah! But again…I would NOT buy it alone, at the price it cost just for Kontakt, the better deal is getting Komplete 6… real talk.

4 payments of 124.75 at zzounds is always a good deal for budget musicians lol.

If you just plan to get it all in one swoop, head on over to native-instruments.com

lemme know what ya think about it, any questions, or if you’re using it, let me know your favorite features.

leave me a comment below