Multisample formats compared to single WAV

[superddman]

Now days many samplers do a great job to accurately pitch shift single WAV samples. Isn't the only difference of multisample formats like SF2 over single WAV samples that they have a whole key range sampled?

[BertKoor]

Pitch shifting isn't the only concern. There are also velocity layers. Most instruments sound quite different when played soft or loud. And some samplers have different samples for the attack or release stage...

[Xnah]

Now days many samplers do a great job to accurately pitch shift single WAV samples. Isn't the only difference of multisample formats like SF2 over single WAV samples that they have a whole key range sampled?

Most natural instruments don't sound the same pitchshifted. It's not just the frequency but also the timbre of the tone. e.g. the high E string of a guitar is made of different material than the low (bass) E string. In a piano different notes have a different number (3-4) of strings.
btw. Many SF2's are single sample, and if you look inside the wusiksnd format (for Wusikstation), many sounds also contain one single sample). ... and many multi-sampled instruments simply consist of a large number of WAV files. And indeed in addition to that there's multi-velocity, release samples (e.g. Scarbee & Trilogy come to mind).

On the other hand, for most synth generated sounds a single sample could suffice; except that you can never put the modulations (filter sweep etc) in a sample, without losing the live and dynamic feel. (that's why 303 or 808 samples can never replace the real thing).