Vember Audio has released their new sampler VSTi for Windows - Shortcircuit, and also a free version, aptly named Shortcircuit Free, which is exactly the same except it is restricted to 2 notes of polyphony.

Shortcircuit was created as a reaction against the ongoing trend where software samplers are being designed with the primary intent of library playback. It is intended for people who consider a sampler to be a musical instrument in its own right, and not just a way to emulate other instruments. It has been a very high priority to make sure that adding and editing individual samples as fast and logical as possible.

The sample hierarchy in shortcircuit allow you to place samples directly at the highest level of the multi, without having to deal with instrument hierarchies and patches. Want to add a sample to your song? Just drag & drop the sample into shortcircuit and you're ready to go. Samples can be put in groups for multi-sampling and kit-building, but the complexity is only there when you need it.

Sound quality is of highest concern, and shortcircuit uses very high-quality interpolation to ensure that your samples sound as good as the source material, regardless of the pitch you play them at. All filters & effects are calculated at the precision required for them to sound the way intended and oversampling are used when required to prevent aliasing.

Each voice in shortcircuit features two filter-slots, and the selection isn't limited to the traditional pick. In addition to the regular lowpass/highpass/bandpass/notch & peak-filters and variations thereof there is an array of filter algorithms (not strictly filters in the traditional sense, but called so because of their location in the audio path) including distortion, bit-reduction/decimation, gating, ring-modulation, frequency shifting and phase-modulation (better known as FM). The selection even includes analog-style oscillators that you can mix with the sample.

Shortcircuit costs EU€150 and is available for online purchase immediately and of course you can first try the fully functional Shortcircuit Free which is available for download.