D
db005b2689
Guest
Would like your opions on this subject please because don't know whether to buy hardware or software, 
Advantages and disadvantages between Hardware and Software Samplers
messyman
New member
hardware can't be beaten for playing live. You've no idea just how long scandisk takes until you have ti run it in the middle of your set 
Lots of people claim that hardware samplers have better sound... i don't hear any difference myself though. If you havea decent souncard then 16bits @ 44.1 kHz sounds pretty much the same to me as any of the Akai samplers.
Software means an almost infinite amount of sampling time is available to you...
MM
Lots of people claim that hardware samplers have better sound... i don't hear any difference myself though. If you havea decent souncard then 16bits @ 44.1 kHz sounds pretty much the same to me as any of the Akai samplers. Software means an almost infinite amount of sampling time is available to you...
MM
dirtymike
Dirteezie - 4 Feezie
A hardware sampler won't be wiped out by a virus.
balma
New member
messyman said:hardware can't be beaten for playing live. You've no idea just how long scandisk takes until you have ti run it in the middle of your set
Software means an almost infinite amount of sampling time is available to you...
MM
True.
There are no difference on the sound, only if you're sampling at lowee or higher rate than 44.1 KHZ
Software samplers are more for long hours of editing/selecting/downloading/storaging.
Harware samplers are closer to an musical instrument than software samplers.
Hardware samplers are betterto carry. easier to manipulate the samplers for playing or jamming or triggering on a live set up,using them as an instrument betwenn others.
Some hardware samplers, as the BOSS Dr SAmpler or the Korg Electribe ES.-1, are pocket samplers. You can take to exteriors and sample sounds, or taking it to your living room and connect it to the TV for sample whatever.
you can even get small hardware samplers with huge storage capability like the SP 808ex with 63 min of 44.1 mhz stereo sampling.
I prefer hardware samplers. there are a huge variety to choose, it depends of your skills, budget and music style.
D
db005b2689
Guest
Thank you this gives me a better insight to both, cheers
M
mazammit
Guest
balma said:
What do you mean it depends on your skills? I'm not trying to say you're wrong or anything, I just am a bit confused. And why does it depend on your music style? It might sound like I am disagreeing with you, but I'm not. I just don't ,UNDERSTAND shall we say, how you figured that. Peace balma
balma
New member
mazammit said:
it depends of my skills... speaking english
Well, there are more complicated samplers, like those professional studio oriented models. They have more advanced and specific functions, several features dedicated exlusively to sampling,
Also there are some easy, cheaper and smaller samplers like the BOSS Dr Sample or Korg ER-1 (and a lot more), some of them DJ oriented, these ones are more user friendly.
The samplers inside workstations "should" be easy to use...
S
Somebody
New member
How is a hardware smapler more like an instrument? Get a controller for your software setrup and it's realtively the same. Consider that new MV8000. That is going to have mouse and monitor capabilties so you won't be forced to stare at a small lcd all day long, using a jog dial and some buttons.
They're essentially the same bro. It's all prefernce. I do enjoy hardware more than software, but to each his own. I like pounding on pads, using faders, etc...but you can do that with the right setup with sofware too.
They're essentially the same bro. It's all prefernce. I do enjoy hardware more than software, but to each his own. I like pounding on pads, using faders, etc...but you can do that with the right setup with sofware too.
R
RickD
Guest
They are NOT the same....
What you all are failing to take into consideration are the fitlers, envelopes and amps inside a hardware, standalone sampler, which greatly affect the sample. Take the sample out of it's original domain by 'importing' the sample into something like HALION (God Forbid! see below,etc, the sample is no longer going to sound the way it did inside that stand alone sampler. Some people say they can't hear a difference, but that doesn't mean there isn't one! To me, there is a huge difference. It's like when people tried to say that there is no sound loss in MP3s!
They actually believe that! They download these small, crappy files and think it is the same as the CD, and you can't tell them otherwise. So, yeah, some people can't hear a difference.
But there HAS to be. Maybe not in the wav itself, but surely in how the wave is processed, and eventually, heard by your ear.
It HAS to be different. The two playback systems are different. The envelopes filters and amps are different. The quality of your soundcard, etc, may not be as high quality as the built in Balanced output jacks of a Roland S760 or Akai S5000.
Therefore, the sound has to be different. A good example, is all of the DXI synth stuff. To me, it all sucks. You can't tell me the FM7 or FMHEAVEN is really a dx7. I die laughing when I hear statements like that. They are toys.
I guess if you've never had a dx7, you may get fooled? But no way is it the same. Not even close.
So, to me, there is a difference between stand alone samplers and soft samplers, in your pc.
In conclusion: SOME samples, in fact, quite a few, sound fabulous in your pc sampler. I am starting to use GS, and I'm sure many of the sounds will 'import' or 'convert' very favorably.
As for HALION, which is a software sampler I tried extensively, check this out:
HALION stinks! It plain out stinks! It does not 'import' samples properly, ruining Roland samples and most of the newer akais as well.
The bottom line to me is how the samples sound, so it doesn't matter how it works if the samples don't import or convert well.
Check this out: I spent many 17 hour days converting a huge library to HALion files because I thought HAL was going to be the answer. Shocked, was I, when I started playing them back, one by one, over the following days. Glitches, loops didn't import, Roland samples are not compatible, and even some of my favorite Akai samples were butchered by HAL's importing process.
Do what you want. I'm switching to Gigastudio, starting yesterday, and I'm putting GS in a separate PC, and I'm going to try this all again.
HALion was like a toy. A bad sounding toy. SOME of the samples sounded great in HALion... my problem is that waaaaaay too many samples didn't convert well. Therefore, I find Halion totally useless. I tried it, it failed MY test. I do NOT recommend HALion to anyone.
Boy, did I waste a lot of time trying to get it to work...
I'm glad to be done with it. Never again.
You can't tell me there is no difference between samples, samplers, and sound quality.
There most certainly is.
What you all are failing to take into consideration are the fitlers, envelopes and amps inside a hardware, standalone sampler, which greatly affect the sample. Take the sample out of it's original domain by 'importing' the sample into something like HALION (God Forbid! see below
,etc, the sample is no longer going to sound the way it did inside that stand alone sampler. Some people say they can't hear a difference, but that doesn't mean there isn't one! To me, there is a huge difference. It's like when people tried to say that there is no sound loss in MP3s!They actually believe that! They download these small, crappy files and think it is the same as the CD, and you can't tell them otherwise. So, yeah, some people can't hear a difference.
But there HAS to be. Maybe not in the wav itself, but surely in how the wave is processed, and eventually, heard by your ear.
It HAS to be different. The two playback systems are different. The envelopes filters and amps are different. The quality of your soundcard, etc, may not be as high quality as the built in Balanced output jacks of a Roland S760 or Akai S5000.
Therefore, the sound has to be different. A good example, is all of the DXI synth stuff. To me, it all sucks. You can't tell me the FM7 or FMHEAVEN is really a dx7. I die laughing when I hear statements like that. They are toys.
I guess if you've never had a dx7, you may get fooled? But no way is it the same. Not even close.
So, to me, there is a difference between stand alone samplers and soft samplers, in your pc.
In conclusion: SOME samples, in fact, quite a few, sound fabulous in your pc sampler. I am starting to use GS, and I'm sure many of the sounds will 'import' or 'convert' very favorably.
As for HALION, which is a software sampler I tried extensively, check this out:
HALION stinks! It plain out stinks! It does not 'import' samples properly, ruining Roland samples and most of the newer akais as well.
The bottom line to me is how the samples sound, so it doesn't matter how it works if the samples don't import or convert well.
Check this out: I spent many 17 hour days converting a huge library to HALion files because I thought HAL was going to be the answer. Shocked, was I, when I started playing them back, one by one, over the following days. Glitches, loops didn't import, Roland samples are not compatible, and even some of my favorite Akai samples were butchered by HAL's importing process.
Do what you want. I'm switching to Gigastudio, starting yesterday, and I'm putting GS in a separate PC, and I'm going to try this all again.
HALion was like a toy. A bad sounding toy. SOME of the samples sounded great in HALion... my problem is that waaaaaay too many samples didn't convert well. Therefore, I find Halion totally useless. I tried it, it failed MY test. I do NOT recommend HALion to anyone.
Boy, did I waste a lot of time trying to get it to work...
I'm glad to be done with it. Never again.
You can't tell me there is no difference between samples, samplers, and sound quality.
There most certainly is.
balma
New member
A 44.1 Mhz sample should sound as a 44.1 Mhz sample everywhere.
The quality of the gear reproducing it is the changing factor.
The quality of the gear reproducing it is the changing factor.
R
RickD
Guest
response...
"A 44.1 Mhz sample should sound as a 44.1 Mhz sample everywhere.T he quality of the gear reproducing it is the changing factor."
That's what I'm saying. And since every manufacturer of a hardware sampler uses their own filters, envelopes and output amps, and circuitry, etc, and since everybody's sound cards are different, and since all of the software samlers make their own software different, and each has its own envlelopes and filters and such, you can be pretty darn sure that the same 44.1 mhz sample sounds different EVERYWHERE just about.
People who say there is no difference in the sound have no ears, or no knowledge of the huge differences in gear that reproduce that same sample.
Yes Veronica, there IS a difference.
"A 44.1 Mhz sample should sound as a 44.1 Mhz sample everywhere.T he quality of the gear reproducing it is the changing factor."
That's what I'm saying. And since every manufacturer of a hardware sampler uses their own filters, envelopes and output amps, and circuitry, etc, and since everybody's sound cards are different, and since all of the software samlers make their own software different, and each has its own envlelopes and filters and such, you can be pretty darn sure that the same 44.1 mhz sample sounds different EVERYWHERE just about.
People who say there is no difference in the sound have no ears, or no knowledge of the huge differences in gear that reproduce that same sample.
Yes Veronica, there IS a difference.
balma
New member
balma said:
Your explanation showed me that I was wrong on the first point. Thanks!!!
Maybe I was focused on the quality of the sampling process, but not for playing samples.
chuck pump
oldschooluser
cant beat
to me you cant beat the feel of hardware...plus you can resell it
to me you cant beat the feel of hardware...plus you can resell it
Fumbling on Ecstasy
New member
It has a lot to do with your soundcard and monitors. With my Apogee AD-8000 and Event 20/20bas monitors, I can hear huge differences between hardware and software. I still prefer the sound of my Emu E5000 to any softsampler. Even a program like spectrasonics atmosphere, which I think sounds great, doesn't have the depth of my hardware in sound quality. Absynth comes pretty close in sound quality to my hardware, but it's still not quite there. Absynth is probably the best sounding softsynth out there in terms of straight soundquality, and not patches.
balma
New member
EMU samplers are really original, and they a re a perfect example of all the variations that hardware samplers could have. I've used the ULTRA and some filters sound great.
The new KORG Electribe is also a cool hardware sampler, using bulbs.
I have an Akai AX 60 ,is not a sampler, but with an external sampler I can tweak the samples with real analog filters.
The Ensoniq TS 10 is not a sampler, but it can read lots of sample libraries and make sounds. You can make so many things with the samples with several sampler models.
Hardware samplers
The new KORG Electribe is also a cool hardware sampler, using bulbs.
I have an Akai AX 60 ,is not a sampler, but with an external sampler I can tweak the samples with real analog filters.
The Ensoniq TS 10 is not a sampler, but it can read lots of sample libraries and make sounds. You can make so many things with the samples with several sampler models.
Hardware samplers