MAGIX

Literally any normal DAW would be better. Don't waste your time on this. The support isn't the best either.

Independence Free is a lite, free (obviously) version of MAGIX's Independence Sampler. It comes with a very generous suite of about 2GB worth of sampled instruments. They are all excellent quality, with the drum kits being a particular standout. It's honestly worth the download & fuss of installing it just for the drums. But there's also some other nice percussion, electric piano, guitar, bass, and a smattering of synths. Since it's free and the samples range from good to outstanding, it should be an easy 5-star. But the setup is a bit bizarre and the workflow / UX is not the most intuitive. You have to download the base product first, and then you have to download the library separately. It's a custom installer, so you're at the mercy of MAGIX's servers and workflow here. This could be a lot simpler but I'm sure they have their reasons. The interface is on the more difficult side compared to other samplers out there. You may need to read a bit of the manual or watch a video on Youtube to figure out the basics.

You can test it free for 7 days without giving any info, but then you need to register with an e-mail after that. Overall it's a great FREE product with some excellent samples that's worth some of the fuss of setting it up and a less than friendly user interface.

Pros:

• Excellent quality samples, especially the drum kits.
• Very generous 2GB library.
• Good CPU / RAM performance.
• Free (!).
• Unlike other free VSTs that have been around for a long time, this is still 100% supported by its developer.

Cons:

• Installation is a bit of a pain and slower than it needs to be.
• Interface is not the most user-friendly, but reveals itself over time.
• A few other random quirks (e.g. there's an acoustic piano, but it's only available as a default instrument, not menu selectable. Weird!).

The most unstable instrument plugin I've ever come across.

Verdict: Unreliable, unstable, outdated.

Background:
I hadn't used a DAW in years, so I wanted an entry-level DAW to start working on music. I chose Music Maker by Magix and Independence came with the software.

At first I thought the problems with Independence were due to my setup or configuration. After all, I had no reference point to compare it to at the time.

I opened support tickets, and as an IT professional I am no stranger to troubleshooting or communication errors to the support desk. But getting help with this problem has been proven to prove futile.

Unfortunately, I had also chosen to buy instrument extensions for a not insignificant amount of money.

After spending an enormous amount of time debugging and trying to get this plugin to work stably I gave up. Deleted Music Maker and Independence and moved on. Something I haven't regretted in terms of actually being able to produce music.

I can't recommend Independence to anyone, I found it useless.

Independence is a great tool to have when you want to have a variety control over your sounds that other samplers seems to miss. Granted, this VST has not been updated in sometime, but it contains features that some new samplers even lack. MIDI Bank & Prgram changer for layers, presets saving & recall for effects & modifiers, internal VST fx & instrument support and more... all with being low on the CPU. Using it as is, you can make this a mainstay of your virtual setup. I have the version qithout sounds, as I prefer to roll my own, and it suits that purpose very well.

A 'Must have' percussive library - not so many good free set like it :)Some really nice percussions in there, for sure sit well in almost any mix :).

I've used already Yellow Tools Independence 2, upgraded to version 3. But during the phase before the handover to Magix I've abandoned it and tried many other Samplers and find me after years back again with Independence. From my point of view this product is currently underestimated on the market. Let me try to bring it to the audience where it should be.
My deep respect for the developer.

Thomas.