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
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Great review!!!! Keep up the good work…..and no I’m not shopping today every store in the LA area will be full
Good! I had to run out to Walmart…man it was insane!
thanks for watchin!
http://www.zzounds.com/a–1786589/item–IKMTOTWORKBUN
MAD SALE on the above reviewed SAMPLE TANK 2.5 XL. See the link. Yo! Thnx for the good review…I didn’t know how it sounded but Im definitely buying this JOINT SON!!!!!!!
no doubt son, that is liek 4 for the price of less than one! Dope!
I used sampletank with flstudio before I switched to a mpc makes a good combo
great review man …you gettin ready to play Santa tonite me`
no doubt fam I feel ya, nice lil setup.
yes indeed lol…gotta get to wrappin!
nice review joe the sound were nice and those bass sounds kicked ass were you using machine or your keyboard doring the review
thanks for checkin it out yo! I was using my keyboard to play the sounds.
I ORDERED MINE TODAY DU!!!!!!
no doubt fam, lemme know when u get it yo!
sup dude been out the game my hard drive when so iam on the back up cpu no production just internet for a while but i will be back shortly i have sample tank i like it its cool sounds just like that but i get at cha later ohh by the wat thanks for the heads up on the eastwest love it peace
awww man! glad u back up and running tho man, holla at me fam!
yo happy holidays and thanks for the Orkestral hook up from eastwest and the sounds or nice man I had that sonic synth but I sold it hey I would never sale that MPC 4000 if I were you. You can use that to sequence sampletank 2.5
sup yo!
well, I can use Maschine to sequence it just the same lol. The mpc isn’t magic, just a great sequencer, but I really have no more use for it. I may keep it just in case something happens to my computer…then again, I may sell it to fund a more powerful pc lol.
Thats cool too.
thanks for checkin it out yo
Hey whats up St.Joe I haven’t heard from you. I was asking in my last e-mail I sent to you about the IK Multimedia Synth Bundle I can get all 5 synths for 349.00 but I have the proteus vx and it sounds good so I’m thinking between the Emulator X3 and the synth bundle which to get. I have rethought my whole set up. I was thinking first can Maschine sequence on different midi channels like the MPC how does it work and second which soft synth should I go with first the EMulator X3 199.00 or IK’s Softsynth bundle for 349.00 I would get sampletank 2.5XL,sonicsynth 2, samplemoog, sampletron, and orkestral so what do you think. p.s. I am thinking about switching to a hard ware sequencer even though I have 4GB of ram and two 2.8 ghz processors with 500GB hard drive I don’t have a sound card yet I guess that’s why I’m getting the glitches otherwise its cool so let me know about which sequencer would be better MPC 500,1000 or NI’s Maschine and let me know which synth you would go with first Emulator X3 or IK’s Synth Bundle the reason is I don’t know If want to continue using DAW’s to sequence my music any more because of the CPU usage. ps I did say that good job on the sampletank demo
Whasup bro! Just been doing the holiday thang! I think go for the IK Multimedia bundle first, since it’s on sale. The emu joint is tight too, I love emu gear, but getting all those instruments for such a low price from IK is the way to go, you can always get the Emu joint later.
NI Maschine isn’t a hardware sequencer, it’s software with dedicated hardware controller.
If all you want is a sequencer, you don’t need to have the 5k, you can get a 1k or even look for a used emu command station like the mp7 or px7 joints. You don’t need to spend a bunch of money just for a sequencer. You may also look at getting a soundcard, that will help you out too, and would be cheaper than buying a mpc.
I keep going back to Ableton live for some reason like I said I have Reason 4 but I do like soft synths so the sequencer I’m looking at now is Ableton live but I have one question I know how to use multitimbral instruments like Proteus VX but how do you assign an audio channel to each midi track. Also I was thinking about the MPC 500 and like you said even thats a bit much just for a sequencer so Ableton Live 8 it is. Now I can get that for 329.00 because of being a student of course I don’t have a sequencer for vst’s at the moment I know you told me to go with the synth bundle 329.00 also but now between Ableton live and the synth bundle which would you go with first? ps and a third qeustion how is ableton live drum racks compared to a MPC as for as the slicing and goes triggering the slices.
Between ableton and IK go with ableton first if you need a vst host. As far as audio/midi for multi instruments you use the “external instrument” device in ableton and it holds audio/midi on one track.
Live drum racks can do everything as far as sample slicing and triggering that my mpc can do
Happy new year bro~
thanks bro, same to you!
can you do a demo on how to sequence sample tank 2.5 with maschine
it’s the same as using any other vst, you have to load it in a host and then send the midi out from maschine, I may do one in the future tho
Yo whats up been staying up all night last week before school starts back. I need to know between Proteus VX and Emulator X3 should I fork out the money or just stick with VX and I need to know between Beat Thang virtual and NI Maschine what do you think which one should I get
Roll wit proteus vx…
beat thang virtual is nothing like maschine, they are totally different, really depends on what you need. If I had to choose one, for my workflow and such, it’d be Maschine.
Couldn’t get it to work properly on a 64 bit DAW. disappointing.
it’s not a 64 bit plugin you’d need to use a bit bridge
how do you get this to work on mashine 1.8 i got it to work on 1.7 a while back but i forgot how i got it to work now it crachees when machine scans for it help a brother out
Reply
I no longer use this plugin and I’ve heard of many who have issues with it crashing a lot. There is no special way to install it, but I would contact IK in terms of crashing. I have friends on mac and pc that both have issues getting this to run stable in multiple hosts including Maschine.