Agree with you there.. the sound quality of the samples wasn't all that spectacular.. Surely they will have improved upon this though in ST3??!

But we have to realize ST was created 12+ years ago. I don't think they touched the samples quality in ST2 (please correct me if this is incorrect) and it was solely an upgrade in the software features.

I think they are starting from the ground up on ST3 with resampling everything.. probably part of the reason why it has been taking them much over half of a decade to actually release a product.

That said, I'm not sure I will spend much money on ST3 with how IKM handled ST2.. milk it until blood runs, no updates.. not sitting well with me.

You guys still going on about ST 3? At least the bitwig threads have cats

IK Multimedia ST3 progress log [confidential do not publish]
Date: January 24, 2013

Addendum:

"Had to admonish one of the Amplitube developers - he earlier went into the sealed off Sampletank 3 development room and turned off the computer I was playing Freecell on"

*flame suit on* I own Sampletank and Kontakt and I prefer Sampletank in many ways. Kontakt just makes things a bit complicated to use imo. I love Sampletank's simplicity. I don't need 100% realism just something that sounds good enough for me to get my ideas out personally. I am not saying one is better than the other in fact I am saying get both because there are some things that Kontakt does really well that Sampletank doesn't and vice versa example I prefer my brass instruments from Kontakt but I prefer strings from IK.

They just did a desktop update for T-Racks a month ago. They release a lot of iOS stuff sure but I am with them in the respect that iOS is the future. Why not learn the iOS market and have a strong foot hold into the market that will be dominant in 5 years?

iOS (and other mobile platforms) is where the money's at right now. But will professionals be making music in the next five to ten years using mobile devices? Absolutely not! :s

sampletank free already does what you are describing. You can expand it with their expansion tanks.

People said the same thing about DAWs and now its the dominant way of recording. Pros are touring more and more and still want to create so iOS makes it really easy to create on the go. I mainly follow hip hop producers and many of them are saying that they use iOS stuff when on the go as a sketch pad already. Just wait until its powerful enough to really do some full on productions maybe not orchestra stuff but definitely top 40 worthy stuff once the mobile platform is powerful enough.

Which I'd be ok with, but it's still 32 bit.

I am not sure why Sampletank in its current form needs to be 64 bit considering how small the sounds are. Its not like we are loading 3 gig piano patches ala Alicia's Keys

+1

+2

No need to "suit up" ... you're entitled to your opinion. Honestly, I only had Sampletank installed for a short amount of time (I think I got it in a group buy), I thought "oh yeah, this is alright... lots of sounds" then I got Komplete and when I heard the Kontakt library I was like "wait on, Sampletank actually sounds pretty s**ty", and poor sampletank swiftly got un-installed... so maybe I didn't spend enough time with it to appreciate it... who knows

I always pass this tip along when ST gets a bad rap for audio quality...

There's an effect called Tone Control in the FX section of Sampletank that makes it a WHOLE different instrument. Put it on one of the Master effects slots, turn down the effect gain to 1.6 or 2, and try different tube and eq settings. I prefer tube 3 and 5 for a clearer tone.

It puts ST pretty much head to head with many of the more popular and MUCH more expensive VIs tonally. It's a more polished, mastered sound, and may change your mind about it!

Also, if you like the instruments in ST, but are a die hard Kontakt fan, eSoundz is having a sale on their Infinite Player line, that lets you run Sonic Reality's libraries inside Kontakt/Kontakt Player.

They've got most of the sounds from the ST Xpansion Tank and Retank series as Kapsules and Konstruction Paks, and they DO sound much clearer and punchier played back thru the NI engine, but you need the Infinite Player "shell" to use them. Check it out here:

http://www.esoundz.com/details.php?ProductID=2459

You can even get Miroslav Philharmonik by the section, renamed as the IP Orchestral Series. Some instruments even feature keyswitching for changing articulations on the fly, something even the full MPO doesn't do.

Lastly, it works with Kontakt Player without timing out, and as an NI third party library, will get you the crossgrade price on the full version of Kontakt, even during the summer 50% off sale. NICE!

KVR/eSoundz: Xenobt