IK Multimedia Xpansion Tank 2 Group Buy

[torgo]

Zedd - did you pick up the Piano Collection 2?

If so, what do you think of the "new" sounds we didn't have in the original?

In retrospect, was it worth passing up another set in order to get those extra sounds?

[DarkStar]

Can I use my epointz with this GB?

ePointz cannot be used on any eSoundz GB. They can be used for products that are downloadable from eSoundz, but not for products downloadable elsewhere (such as IKMM).

http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic ... 96&start=3

Pick a referrer while you're there.

[zedd]

Zedd - did you pick up the Piano Collection 2?

Nope... I had been planning to choose between Piano Collection 2 and Omnisynth 2 for my final pick... but then I realized that I was more interested in the new content in Symphony Strings. I have the original strings collection, but I decided that it was worth grabbing this one for all the solo string content.

And am I happy with my selection? Yes I am!

The new string content has some very good stuff in it, and I am glad to have it in my library. Plus I got quite a bit of content that I didn't already have with this one, whereas the Piano and Omnisynth collection didn't offer very much new stuff.

[Mikelo]

if its going to collect dust on the bookcase then its a waste of money..

That's precisely why I suggested earlier that the guy who just bought the Independence Pro library or that users of Kontact, Wusik, etc have an idea of what exactly they're looking for in this deal.

Having to deal with a proprietary sample format and yet another playback engine only adds to the likelihood that these sets would end up going unused.





It blows my mind to hear negative comments about the Independence Pro program and its library. Even with its "fire sale", you could get two entries in this group buy AND the Wusik package for the same price.

For that kind of cost, it had bloody well better be a spectacular sound set. Finding users expressing disappointment makes me think it's way overrated and glad to have skipped that sale.



An extra that hasn't been linked for many, many pages now:
http://asseca.com/wiki/MGUI/SampleTank25GUI

Independence has a stunning library. There is no doubt about it.
Its not the actual product that most people are complaining about, its the customer care.
And yes, I bought the Ik Multimedia Sample Tank XT group buy because I knew that I needed certain sounds and to add another dimension to my music.
Adding more than one play back engine is not a problem. If I want to use Sampletank, I just select it in my virtual instrument rack on cubase and it appears and works and that's alongside Independence Pro, Wusik station, Steven Slate Drums (Kontakt) and various other samplers and virtual instruments. They all get used.

[barbecutie]

IK Multimedia Xpansion Tank 2 Group Buy

Now 8X1! Currently at 6741 users.

Group buy ends June 6th!

http://www.ikmultimedia.com/xtgroupbuy

and

http://www.esoundz.com/details.php?ProductID=4293

BBC

If you are purchasing from eSoundz - be sure to refer someone. You and your referral will earn ePointz which can be used to purchase downloadable items from esoundz.com and downloadablesoundz.com.

esoundz user: BarBeCutie or see epointz referral thread below for other users:

http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic ... ht=epointz

[torgo]

Zedd - did you pick up the Piano Collection 2?

Nope... I had been planning to choose between Piano Collection 2 and Omnisynth 2 for my final pick... but then I realized that I was more interested in the new content in Symphony Strings. I have the original strings collection, but I decided that it was worth grabbing this one for all the solo string content.

And am I happy with my selection? Yes I am!

Thanks - Like you, I chose Symphony Strings 2 since it has about 350 meg of solo strings content that we didn't have in the original Symphony Strings package. I'm happy with it too. That one was an easy selection.

I still haven't made the final decision on Piano 2 and Omnisynth 2.

At the moment, the six I have marked as "skip" are Nashville Pop, Hip Hop Grooves, Electronic Drums, Modern Tech, Up Tempo and Hip Hop Instruments.

But in the long run, Hip Hop Instruments is probably a better selection than the Piano Collection 2 set since I already have PCv1 or the Omnisynth set since I have ST2 XL.

[Ceej]

I've got Piano Collection 1, which means Piano Collection 2 is an easy skip for me. (I've "only" bought in twice, so I have to be a little more selective.)

I'm probably not going to bother with Symphony Strings 2... I have 1 and am not overly impressed with it. I'm picky about orchestral stuff and I have EWQLSO Gold anyway.

I went ahead and upgraded to Omnisynth 2 (I have 1 there also) primarily because I convinced a friend of mine to go in on this deal so we could do some collaborations, and that's one of the ones he picked. I will probably pick up Acoustic Drums 2 (again, had 1) for the same reason. (He actually did get Piano Collection 2 also, but I figure I can just tell him not to use the 2 unique sounds there that I don't have...)

At the moment, I'm leaning towards getting all the remaining multi-sample packs except those which I have from the Rare/Vintage Group Buy. That means I'll get all 15 of them except SS2, Piano, Vintage Keys, and SampleArp.

For grooves/loops, I was in the ReTank group buy and I don't use drum loops much, so for now at least I'm thinking I'll skip all the Drum/Percussion side. (World Grooves is a little tempting, but I do have that RAW pack...) So I can get 4-5 of the construction kits too. Trip Hop and Down Tempo Electronica are probable yesses, and then maybe Modern Tech Rap? Hip Hop? Up Tempo? Maybe I should just get World Grooves anyway.

[torgo]

Ceej - now that you have the Omnisynth 2 package, what do you think of it?

[Xenobt]

torgo, Omnisynth 2 is pretty nice, better than most GM sets I've heard, with the "bigger" patches giving you more multi-sampled instruments.

It's also been pointed out here that the new Omnisynth 2 is much bigger than Omnisynth. But I don't know how much of OS2 ended up in the XL library, if you already own it.

I also took a VERY close look at nashville pop, but there are some performances that I can hear the drummer fighting the click to stay on time in the Country Folk drums, and some loops that stagger a bit at the loop point. So I ended up with the new OB and Vocal collections and I'm happy to leave the loop stuff be and sequence my own drums.

And some mixed loop/multi-sampled instrument sets would be VERY helpful too. (maybe in ST3?)
The point is well made about the stringed inst. chords and notes in CFR. Mapping them across the keyboard as a playable multi-sample would be MUCH easier to sequence AND on the CPU.

I do find some of the inconsistent programming stuff odd too, since it would seem that the latest versions of some sets could have remedied that after years in existence.

But as someone else posted here (too long ago to remember!) is that it gives an excellent opportunity to roll up your sleeves and get into the guts of the ST2 engine. I'll SURELY make use of JavaJ's efforts on the Vocal set and post my edits to other sets as I finish them...

I'm still just getting my feet wet in this GUI and was wanting to know if the loop point itself can be adjusted? I spent many hours in the eighties with my VERY basic Akai S612 and X7000 samplers smoothing bumps, warbles and out of tune sustains in the library sets, so I've got the patience!

Anyone done this yet?

P.S. LOVE Piano Collection 2 and World Grooves!!!

[Ceej]

I haven't really had much time to play with any of the ones I've downloaded so far. Omnisynth 2 seems fine as far as it goes. It sounds better than most GM modules. I like that it comes with a SampleTank config file to make it respond to program changes and load up the right instruments automatically in most cases (doesn't seem to work for drums though, not too surprisingly I guess since there usually isn't a program change message for drum tracks).

It's definitely a "jack of all trades, master of none", I'd say. There are few if any programs in there that will compete with more specialized sample packs, but that's not really its purpose. Get it if you want a decent GM set. As a go-to pack of general purpose sounds it's a bit less compelling.

[zedd]

I still haven't made the final decision on Piano 2 and Omnisynth 2.

If I were you, knowing that you have Sonik Synth and a lot of other ST libraries, I would stay away from Omnisynth. My guess is that at least 90% of the instruments are the same ones in Sonik Synth 2, so selecting that pack is just asking for a lot of work, and will not provide much new stuff for all that work.

Probably the Hip Hop Collection might be a better option for you.

I'm probably not going to bother with Symphony Strings 2... I have 1 and am not overly impressed with it. I'm picky about orchestral stuff and I have EWQLSO Gold anyway.

I have the original as well, and I wasn't much impressed with it. In fact I didn't even have it installed on my new computer. But upon listening to Symphony Strings 2 it was with delight that I noted not only new solo instruments, but a whole lot of string sections and ensemble strings that I don't even remember. I think some new ones have been added, and maybe there were fixes to some old ones.

In its current condition, there are still some presets which are not very appealing, but there are also a whole bunch that sound great and I imagine will be useful when doing orchestral stuff... even for layering with strings from other libraries.

I'm still just getting my feet wet in this GUI and was wanting to know if the loop point itself can be adjusted? I spent many hours in the eighties with my VERY basic Akai S612 and X7000 samplers smoothing bumps, warbles and out of tune sustains in the library sets, so I've got the patience!

Anyone done this yet?

You can't adjust the loop points in ST, but all you have to do is to loop a MIDI note in your DAW. The full groove loops on B0 (or B1), so play (and record) that note for the length of the loop, and then loop it manually. Make the sequence tempo just a little faster or slower, and you will effectively be adjusting the loop point.

And now I'm off to bed...

[I.P]

to IK guys: any chance to support scroll-wheel on browser??? browsing through sounds is a pain with so many libs

**or is it there already in a secret setting or something?

[Ceej]

Scrollwheel in browser works when running SampleTank standalone. It apparently also works as a VST if your host is Cubase.

If you want it to work in other hosts, you can use Asseca's SampleTank25GUI plugin. It's a bit of a pain, but it works, and adds some other functionality like being able to navigate the browser and other parts of the GUI with keyboard shortcuts.

http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic ... 64#4103364

There's a link to earlier in the thread where DarkStar linked to this plugin. Scroll down about 4 messages later to a follow-up from me with a brief note about the things I had to do to make it work. Hope you can do the same; it's really nice to have the scrollwheel back!

(Edit: Sorry, should note that SampleTank25GUI is Windows-only.)

[I.P]

thanks very much Ceej!!

problems with IK multimedia plugins = a very very classic situation!
(especially with ableton) so i wasnt surprised!!

this solution you posted seems to be ok anyway so thanks again

(a bit more and youll have to be a hacker to run IK plugs properly)

[Xenobt]

Thanks Zedd, but I meant the sustain loops in the instrument sets. I've worked with Stylus for years, so I know the MIDI re-trigger trick for full drum or perc. loops!

I need to know if I can adjust the loop that sustains the sample itself.

Also, I've got a folder on my HD now titled SampleTank 2 that contains some multis, but every time I try to load them, I get the "Instrument X not found" prompt for some instruments, but some load fine. Is there a certain place to put those ikmp. patches in the folder structure so they'll see all the multi parts?

I bought everything but vintage keys, so I should have them somewhere!

Same with the ST2 effects I downloaded from the esoundz freesoundz area. I put the two folders in the main effects folder, but I don't see them in the pulldown list of effects on the GUI even after relisting.

Is there a main folder structure for Mac that I'm missing? I've got the images, preferences, effects and presets folders under the ST2.x folder, not the main STXT sounds folder.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!