hey everyone i just bought an athlon xp 1600 @ 1.4 ghz, and iwill kk266, and 512 mb of ram. i want to use this computer to run logic and exs24. the thing is i can't buy logic or exs until i sell some hardware gear. i'd like to sell my akai s2000 rack sampler....so, with this machine (and a solid asio card soon), will i be able to get enough voices and the stability to match my hardware? alos, will i have cpu left over for more instruments (es2, evp88, b4, battery, ppg, etc)? could anyone with a similar setup lemme know the kind of performance they're getting? i'm just really, REALLY paranoid about selling my hardware for software, but i know it's something i should do if it will work....thanks for your help...

are u nuts?, unless u got some totally out of date 12/8bit sampler, DONT sell it. Having a hardware sampler takes a huge load off your computer. I mean unless u got another computer running logic and another running exs. just my advice. i'm running cubase vst 5 and have an Akai S-5000 w/USB and running Aksys, which runs virtually like a softsampler, runs pretty smooth.
just my 2 cents

quodos

remember that softsamplers run on you cpu thus restricting whatever else your doing.

your akai wil beat any softsampler anyday in terms of polyphony and multi-timbrality

you should definately check out the demos then, you will be able to decide if you want to go soft (nice catch phrase ain't, i just made that one up. )

You guys make some good points. That being said...

I have the exact same setup: T-Bird 1.4GHz, Iwill KK266 and 512MB RAM with Logic Platinum and EXS24. I've had up to 12 instances of EXS24 going at a time as well as a fair number of effects, some other VSTi's like Pro-52 and B4, and even Reaktor on occassion (I have yet to max out my system). Works great, never had a problem or a crash even with a high audio track count.

I used to have an Akai S5000 but I sold it last year after I got the EXS24, and I haven't missed it a bit. I agree that having a hardware sampler to offload some CPU workload can be helpful, but I have found that I really prefer being able to do everything within Logic and store all relevant settings in on file.

Surely not everyone prefers to work this way, but you can definitely work quite nicely without a hardware sampler on the system you describe.

One thing,
You'll be able to get more voices from the computer than from S-2000. I'm pretty sure of that.

And one more thing
We buy these fast CPU's to use them. Not to save them for who knows what. So go ahead and get your EXS sampler. Remember, when your computer starts to choke you can always save your tracks as audio files, and do it all over. That's very convenient.

That's how I do my stuff latelly. And I love it. Pretty soon we will need a Midi interface with just 1 in and 1 out for the controller keyboard. The rest will be virtual !!!! Yeah

I had an s2000 also.

Im glad i sold it though (believe me, you wont get much for it) i payed a £1000 for it a few years ago. Its amazing what software can do now.

sell it, while you still can!

Hope you won't mind my comments... But I don't really see much reason to use Hardware-Samplers today. I used to have an Ensoniq-TS10 (8 meg for loading samples) and other machines. Korg-Wavestation, X5... and I sold it all. Today I use an Ensoniq-Mirage just as a Midi-master-keyboard and the sbLive audio-card with the APS drivers and 3 Gig of samples. That's all I ever need. And it's just more simple to use it, instead of using those tinny screens that HSamplers has.
I get 64 voices on 32 channels, good effects (APS, no the sbLive ones) and a very low noise-floor. Ok, you will say: "but the quality..."
My friend that owns a pro-studio heard a music that I did using just this ("ThumbMuhab" http://dashage.n3.net) and couldn't believe on the quality of it... And I only used SoundFonts, the APS effects. One Reaktor-Synth for an Arp-Omni strings. And that's all! I didn't even use Cakewalk to record multiple audio tracks. Was all on MIDI and I just recorded right into SoundForge and use a simple Finalize/Max. plugin...
The only thing that I miss on sbLive-SoundFonts is more filters, Transwaves (like Ensoniq) and Reverse/Ping-Pong loops... But that's not something that I used much on my TS10. And can be done with some simple Software-Samplers...
Just my 2 cents. Regards, WilliamK

[ 25 November 2001: Message edited by: Dash-Synthesis ]

i sold my hardware sampler and don't miss it at all. I debated for about a year. I really like working in the virtual realm, so for me it was easy. Now I'm getting rid of my other H/W to buy maybe Halion.

good luck
dw

if you had some high end akai or emu (like some people here who suggested not to sell your hardware), id say it depends, but since we are talking about an s 2000 here, sell it, sure. that things got nothing to offer that your computer couldnt do better, faster, and more of it at the same time. and when people complain that i.e. vsampler or halion dont have very nice filters (EXS is pretty nice IMO), they forget that most hardware samplers have very bad filters too, the s 2000 being one of them, definetly.

as far as the "can i use X, Y, Z, ... at the same time too?", yes sure but it depends on how much of it. of course the computer has limits and you will run into them eventually. but with an athlon XP 1,4 GHZ you should be on the safe side. hey, i only got an athlon 800 as VST machine and i cant complain

thanks for the replies...

it looks as if the sampler is on its way out....

the thing is, when i get my parts this week and assemble the machine, i'd really like to try logic and exs BEFORE i buy them. this is the major dilemma with softsynths in my opinion. i have a certain level of performance in mind, and the only way to see if the machine can reach that level is to try, but you have to purchase before you can try, or rely on the experiences of others. don't get me wrong, i trust you guys, but there's obviously something to be said for having the software running on your computer so you can get a first hand idea of how well it performs. obviously logic platinum and exs are not cheap. i've been using logic for a while now, but on a mac, and i love it, so no problem there. but ive yet to try the exs. what if i don't like it? no music stores around me have a setup to try first hand, and of course no one allows software returns...so what's a guy to do? try the cracked versions? theyre easy to come by, but again, not even close to the same as actually having a legit version. i guess you just have to put your trust in the developers and the current users, i just have a hard time doing that.........

It says it all, Hans Zimmer threw out his racks of Akai and went for a PC with Gigasampler. I think like Halion sits between EX24 and Gigasampler. EX24 has the better filters now, but everbody is like doing upgrades nearly every month.

How about the Emagic Gold/EXS Bundle, it cost only about the half then Emagic Platinum and the EXS24? For more Details: http://www.emagic.de/english/news/index.html#010

Bye,
Steffen

I agree with all said but one thing

You cannot get 128 notes of polyphony out of a softsampler or synth

but i have one synth...and i never use unless to combat the latency my ds2416

but hardware is crash proof

of course you can do 128 voices - i tried that in vsampler by playing 65 keys full of crash cymbals with both my arms and while the vsampler limits the polyphony at "64 voices", its actually 64 stereo voices, which in hwsampler lingo is 128. voila :-)

the limit is that you probably cant get 128 voices all with active filtering and modulation. but 1. who needs that and 2. not all hw samplers can do that either, theres the new akai series, the better emus, and... (?) well an s 2000 cant do it fwiw :-)

hey people love kurzweils even though they have a rather limited polyphony too.

If U use your sampler only in your studio, I think there is no point keeping it, I sold my S3200XL, 'cause I consider it a very expensive machine with too many limitations, using Halion or any other softSampler makes my world much easier, there are sooo many advantages using soft instruments........
As sooner U sell your sampler, the better. I sold mine a year ago and I had to sell it for a third of what cost me, I got 150.000, and paid 450.000pts.
The only point keeping it is if U want to use it in concerts.