KVR Audio

SparkySpark · Post by **SparkySpark** » Fri Aug 28, 2015 10:33 pm

Hi all,

I have been reading up on romplers for bread'n'butter sounds (i.e. piano, strings. etc). Today I use Synthmaster Player and some other synths, but I also need a decent piano (and other basic sounds).

I'm raised on the Proteus lines, so Proteus VX was a fantastic discovery for me. However, I read on this forum that it doesn't support 64 bit hosts (I'm using MuLab - such a beauty!).

Now the question is what I should do: Should I run the 32-bit version of MuLab (I think there is one) and go on with Proteus VX? Or is there a better option (after all, the VX is about ten years old)?

I don't really like the BIG downloads. (Note that Proteus 1 was 16 MB if I'm not incorrect, and its piano patch was featured on a number of CD's.)

I looked at the UVI Workstation but it also looked a bit big. At least it stated that I needed 2 GB of free space for the installation.

I don't really need top of the line patches either, so just something that works, is free, and has decent quality of "normal" sounds, like the VX.

Thanks for any tips!

Sparky-Spark

Tricky-Loops · Post by **Tricky-Loops** » Fri Aug 28, 2015 10:46 pm

Maybe Rapture Pro (by Cakewalk)? It has pretty good instrument patches, too, and it's not as big as KONTAKT! Needs only 13 GB!

Or you could try Wusikstation which doesn't need that much space! If EVE is included, it has some nice piano patches!

Karma_tba · Post by **Karma_tba** » Fri Aug 28, 2015 10:54 pm

Have you considered Plogue's sforzando? It has 32 and 64 bit versions decent sound and a small footprint. There are quite a few free libraries, Garritan offers one that has a couple of pianos and more. It will load sfz, converted sf2, and wave. Oh yeah it's free!

arkmabat · Post by **arkmabat** » Fri Aug 28, 2015 10:57 pm

M1 or maybe try opening inside a chainer plugin? Ive used Proteus in a x32 daw on x64 win8.

ccDuckett · Post by **ccDuckett** » Fri Aug 28, 2015 11:03 pm

I've got MuLab and a boatload of 32-bit plugins (including Proteus VX), so I run mostly the 32-bit Mulab- if there's something that I absolutely need the 64-bit version for, I run that one. You're not limited to just using one version, both run fine on Win 7 x64. Hope that helps!

SparkySpark · Post by **SparkySpark** » Fri Aug 28, 2015 11:31 pm

ccDuckett wrote:I've got MuLab and a boatload of 32-bit plugins (including Proteus VX), so I run mostly the 32-bit Mulab- if there's something that I absolutely need the 64-bit version for, I run that one. You're not limited to just using one version, both run fine on Win 7 x64. Hope that helps!

Ah okey, thanks! Does that mean that I can open the songs I've written in the 32 bit version too?

Thanks also for the other tips. I have tried a few of them before but was happiest with "my" old sounds from the end of the 1980's/beginning of the 1990's.

SparkySpark · Post by **SparkySpark** » Fri Aug 28, 2015 11:36 pm

arkmabat wrote:Proteus in a x32 daw on x64 win8.

Win8 even! Cool. I'm hoping for a new computer and would like the VX to be playable in Win10 too.

That said, the UVI Workstation looks really good at their web site (however, iLok seems to get in the way: http://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=146106).

Sp-Sp

BBFG# · Post by **BBFG#** » Fri Aug 28, 2015 11:52 pm

The list of what you could replace it with these days is long. Start with free and work up from there.
I would suggest steering clear of Rapture and Wusik for the time being though. See where they are in eight months to a year before getting caught in their cycles.

Tricky-Loops · Post by **Tricky-Loops** » Sat Aug 29, 2015 12:33 am

BBFG# wrote:The list of what you could replace it with these days is long. Start with free and work up from there.
I would suggest steering clear of Rapture and Wusik for the time being though. See where they are in eight months to a year before getting caught in their cycles.

Well, it's known that you're WilliamK biggest enemy...

(I was, too, but Wusikstation 8 looks promising so far)...

...but what do you have against Rapture (Pro)?

Because Gibson bought Cakewalk and wrapped up Dimension Pro and Rapture in one product

BBFG# · Post by **BBFG#** » Sat Aug 29, 2015 12:50 am

Tricky-Loops wrote:
BBFG# wrote:The list of what you could replace it with these days is long. Start with free and work up from there.
I would suggest steering clear of Rapture and Wusik for the time being though. See where they are in eight months to a year before getting caught in their cycles.
Well, it's known that you're WilliamK biggest enemy... (I was, too, but Wusikstation 8 looks promising so far)...

...but what do you have against Rapture (Pro)?

Because Gibson bought Cakewalk and wrapped up Dimension Pro and Rapture in one product

I am not William's enemy. I have nothing against either synth per se, except that both have been pattern-istic in their process, developing and marketing. And this is a bad part of the repetitive cycle to jump into for either.

Like I said, better to check them out in eight to twelve months.

CapnLockheed · Post by **CapnLockheed** » Sat Aug 29, 2015 2:18 am

One word......KONTAKT. I just can't see using any rompler that will ONLY play it's own proprietary samples and/or offers me little provision for tweaking them....but that's just me.

kbaccki · Post by **kbaccki** » Sat Aug 29, 2015 3:39 am

You can get the Proteus content from the rights hilder himself... https://www.digitalsoundfactory.com/e-mu-proteus-pack

Runs in Cakewalk Dimension or Dimension LE (included). I have the pack for kontakt, and it's.. well.. Proteus sounds, minus hardware features, of course.

Other than that check out Calliope... http://sonic-cat.com/calliope/

I've used Purity quite a bit for basic rompler sounds, and recently grabbed Calliope on sale. Pretty good for the price, plus some nice layering options for both. Purity is win 32bit only, while Calliope runs in the free Kontakt Player. Calliope sample content is a notch better than Purity, and the DSF Proteus content, for that matter.

planetearth · Post by **planetearth** » Sat Aug 29, 2015 3:44 am

CapnLockheed wrote:One word......KONTAKT. I just can't see using any rompler that will ONLY play it's own proprietary samples and/or offers me little provision for tweaking them....but that's just me.

Kontakt is very good (though it's also proprietary), but Proteus VX gave you quite a bit of control over the playback of the samples for its time. You couldn't edit them per se, but you could control a lot in real time (via MIDI). Besides, editing the samples in the player wasn't terribly practical in 2004-5, when most machines had a maximum of 3.5 GB of usable RAM, and the DAW became unstable if you tried to use half of that.

Considering you got some 2000 sounds from the E-MU Proteus sound libraries for free with a multi-timbral player (with effects!), it was a great deal.

The Proteus Player was great for its time...and even a several years afterward.

As I understand it, the Emulator X VST (which wasn't free) still works in 64-bit DAWs and 64-bit OSes.

And as others have pointed out, you can always use Proteus with the 32-bit version of your DAW, render the file, and then bring it all into the 64-bit version of the DAW to finish the project.

Steve

planetearth · Post by **planetearth** » Sat Aug 29, 2015 3:52 am

kbaccki wrote:You can get the Proteus content from the rights hilder himself... https://www.digitalsoundfactory.com/e-mu-proteus-pack

Runs in Cakewalk Dimension or Dimension LE (included). I have the pack for kontakt, and it's.. well.. Proteus sounds, minus hardware features, of course.

Other than that check out Calliope... http://sonic-cat.com/calliope/

I've used Purity quite a bit for basic rompler sounds, and recently grabbed Calliope on sale. Pretty good for the price, plus some nice layering options for both. Purity is win 32bit only, while Calliope runs in the free Kontakt Player. Calliope sample content is a notch better than Purity, and the DSF Proteus content, for that matter.

Yes, you can buy "Proteus sounds" for Dimension, Kontakt and other ROMplers, but they're not quite the same. Most of the patches have a simple delay and reverb on them, whereas in Proteus, they had whatever worked best for the sound. For example, for a Fender Rhodes electric piano, Proteus would add chorus or phaser, with maybe delay and a bit of reverb. The Dimension pack just had the same delay and quite a bit of reverb on every patch. Still, it's better than going without the sounds (especially if you really need them for a project), and you can always edit them in Dimension or Kontatk to taste.

I worked with Tim (the rights holder/developer) and showed him this "discrepancy" in the sounds. Very nice guy, and if you're looking for some classic Ensoniq or E-MU sounds, DSF has quite the collection--because they're the ones who made the original sounds!

Steve

chili beans · Post by **chili beans** » Sat Aug 29, 2015 4:50 am

I would suggest Sampletank 3 custom shop. Its free and it comes with instruments in each bread and butter category(best free piano ive heard) plus it has the has the ability to add there new expansion sounds. Did i mention its free!

Rompler replacement for Proteus VX