KVR Audio

Fogflip · Post by **Fogflip** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 6:18 am

With so many different sample companies out their it becomes confusing on who has the best, which ones do you trust for quality as well as fairness when spending your hard earned money.

dysfunctionz · Post by **dysfunctionz** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 6:26 am

-Bela D Media
-Toontrack
-Rayzoon
-Garritan
-Acousticsamples
-9-Volt Audio

RyanG · Post by **RyanG** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 6:32 am

Besides the audio and instrument quality, watch out for support and DRM issues - especially if the company uses proprietary software.
For example, I think most people would agree that East West has some very good quality samples - but their DRM is stringent and customer support is allegedly terrible.

digitalmessiah · Post by **digitalmessiah** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 6:33 am

Sample Magic
Loopmasters
Discovery Firm
Sony
East/West (Soundsonline)
Zero-G
Best Service
Future Loops

justin3am · Post by **justin3am** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 6:33 am

EWQL
Soniccouture
Bela D Media
Goldbaby

koolkeys · Post by **koolkeys** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 6:37 am

VSL(probably the best quality samples around, and they take wonderful care of their customers)
Chris Hein(excellent guy, most detailed libraries I've seen)
Scarbee
Spectrasonics(the quality is well known)
Steven Slate(best drum libraries I've seen)

Wow, I could go on and on. Lots of great stuff out there including many that have been mentioned. But those are some of my favorites.

Brent

deleted · Post by **deleted** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 6:59 am

Big Fish Audio - Their Construction Kit CDs are awesome. I always wondered why anyone would want to make music with construction kit format CD's, but then I started getting paid to write music. I'd never use them for my own productions, but writing a jingle with one of these things takes minutes

I think the reason why I use Loopmasters and Big Fish Audio is that they're well priced, and the samples are labled well- I hate loop CDs where no one has bothered to label the tempo or key, or have folders differentiating the sounds.

Loopmasters - I like the artist series, looking forward to TIM HEALY dropping one next month...

In terms of multisamples, I really like Precision Sound's quirky instruments, and Pro Kits have some cheap instruments that are really nice. Bela D Media do nice things too.

The only drum samples I've baught specifically are Goldbaby kits.

musictronics · Post by **musictronics** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 7:02 am

I recently purchased a bundle from Pettinhouse. I was impressed with the quality of the samples and with the service - the deal was for direct download only, but because my ISP offered only a modest download allowance per month, they sent me the products on DVDs at no extra cost whatsoever. I would definitely buy from them again, full marks Andrea!

An interesting complement to this thread would be a list of sample providers to avoid, if anyone is game! I have inadvertently purchased some utter rubbish over the years, but I will refrain from being explicit here, for fear the manufacturers may hunt me down wielding large farm implements...

ugo · Post by **ugo** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 7:09 am

Over the last year or so, I've purchased from:
Soniccouture
Precisionsound
Bolder Sounds
Big Fish Audio
In all cases, the transactions and downloads went smoothly and I've been happy with my purchases.

koolkeys · Post by **koolkeys** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 7:11 am

musictronics wrote: An interesting complement to this thread would be a list of sample providers to avoid, if anyone is game! I have inadvertently purchased some utter rubbish over the years, but I will refrain from being explicit here, for fear the manufacturers may hunt me down wielding large farm implements...

That wouldn't be a good idea. It's been tried before, and it's always an argument starter. It's all subjective so there is no definitive opinion on a company and their products, so it's impossible. And you will likely get more disgruntled users who are overreacting to small problems and telling everyone to help put the company out of business.

This is KVR, ya know.

Brent

mckenic · Post by **mckenic** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 7:20 am

All the indi devs here have wicked good stuff with EXCELLENT support!

Dusted William has an amazing set at the moment, I like PeaceLoveProductions stuff but dont really hear about em much on here! Dangerous Bear, Heroditus (sp?), GoldBaby... just look for the indy guys in the Samples thread - Seriously! Oh and Homegrown (IIRC) has a brillinat sale at the mo.

Watch-out for stuff you cant resell should you ever need to, if thats a concern!

Dave

koolkeys · Post by **koolkeys** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 7:28 am

mckenic wrote:
Watch-out for stuff you cant resell should you ever need to, if thats a concern!

Dave

Which is MOST sample developers, large and small. I'm not sure if that's really a big deal because there aren't too many that do allow reselling of samples.

Brent

Mr. Tunes · Post by **Mr. Tunes** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 7:35 am

watch out for samples that have been nicked from old records, or sampled from other sources period. that's fine for DJ use, but if you use it in your tracks everyone's going to get sued. that's what i personally think about when we say the word "trust" in regards to sample libraries.

Meffy · Post by **Meffy** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 3:37 pm

I've had great results from many already mentioned, but am surprised nobody has mentioned eSoundz. Quality material, broad selection, best support anywhere, and great true music stories from Squids.

Hivernal · Post by **Hivernal** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 3:52 pm

Orange Tree Samples
Lyrical Distortion
Kirk Hunter Studios

What companies do you trust with samples?