IK/SR VI HOT BUY - GROUP BUY on eSoundz!!! SampleTank Instruments for $99 + more!

[torgo]

This has most likely been answered but not sure where right now:

If I buy two instruments and the bonus freebies get to 2 for the GB, does that mean I get 2 bonuses for each instrument I buy, or are the number of bonuses not dependent on how many instruments you buy?

In other words,

Buy 1 instrument = Get 2 bonus libraries.
Buy 2 instruments = Get 4 bonus libraries?

Or,

Buy 2 instruments = Get 2 bonus libraries (no perks for extra instruments bought)?

It would be: buy 2 instruments, get 4 libraries.



And now would be a good time to repeat a recommendation I've made earlier and to a few people who have asked via PMs... you don't have to choose your bonus libraries right away.

The number of choices you get might end up influencing your selections. That might sound silly at first, but if you really look hard at the choices, you might find different combinations that would tempt you if you could get them together.

Regardless, the thing to know is that esoundz does NOT put a time limit on you to make your choices and download your bonuses. IK makes you download your instrument libraries from them pretty quickly. But esoundz doesn't mind if you take your time about it.

So... if you find that the number of choices makes a difference, it's okay to wait before choosing your bonuses. I have found with past group buys that sometimes patience really pays off.



And of course, feel free to ask if you have any questions about specific sound libraries.

-torgo (esoundz = bhall1968)

[torgo]

Squids - repeating an earlier question... do the Jazz Grooves, Blues Grooves, etc packages have ALL the same features as the XT versions?

(Not counting the XT player itself, of course.)



You mentioned that they have the MIDI slices. Thanks for that info, as the individual product pages on the esoundz web site make no mention whatsoever of the MIDI maps being included. (That's a rather significant omission.)

So just to make it clear for those who might be considering this group buy, are there any features missing from the libraries on the bonus list that would be included in the XT versions?

[Musical Gym]

Thanks for clarifying.

From what I gather each instrument bought will qualify the buyer to get 2 free libraries (based on 200 participants), but the number of bonus libraries could increase if we reach an even higher level of participation (next level)?

[jayrmac]

Not the same company. You have to register seperately at IK.

Hi,

I'm having a similar problem. I have the serial number for the Miroslav Group Buy, and I'm registered with IK Multimedia, but when I visit the IK User Area the product doesn't appear under Downloads or Sounds. It's probably a question for IK support, but I thought I'd try here first, since people here seem to be very helpful.

Great deal on Miroslav!

J

did you enter your serial in the user area?

Many thanks to Acronym, Sepheritoh, Torgo and Lank 1. I realise my mistake now: it's not enough for me to be registered at the IK site, I have to register Miroslav before it will appear in the User Area.

I had a similar problem once before on the IK site, but couldn't remember what I did.

Many thanks again for the helpful feedback.
J

[Reverend Rhythm]

I've been away, so I just saw that we are at 178! Great news!

[torgo]

Thanks for clarifying.

From what I gather each instrument bought will qualify the buyer to get 2 free libraries (based on 200 participants), but the number of bonus libraries could increase if we reach an even higher level of participation (next level)?

Yep. The max is 10 bonus libraries. This could become an absolutely amazing, total no-brainer of a deal by the time it's over.

And for everyone who has already entered and already made your (currently only) bonus selection, be sure to keep an eye on your esoundz user area. After we cross 200, a second bonus selection (plus whatever mystery surprises Squids might have in store for us) will appear in your user area. Another one will appear at 300, etc.

No telling how high this one will go. Last year's big group buys (one on the libraries, one on the instruments) both started out really slow but took off into the stratosphere once they did hit start hitting good levels.

[torgo]

Not the same company. You have to register seperately at IK.

Hi,

I'm having a similar problem. I have the serial number for the Miroslav Group Buy, and I'm registered with IK Multimedia, but when I visit the IK User Area the product doesn't appear under Downloads or Sounds. It's probably a question for IK support, but I thought I'd try here first, since people here seem to be very helpful.

Great deal on Miroslav!

J

did you enter your serial in the user area?

Many thanks to Acronym, Sepheritoh, Torgo and Lank 1. I realise my mistake now: it's not enough for me to be registered at the IK site, I have to register Miroslav before it will appear in the User Area.

I had a similar problem once before on the IK site, but couldn't remember what I did.

Many thanks again for the helpful feedback.
J

Oops... I had thought about typing out complete, step by step instructions. But I get too long-winded, so I kept the previous post shorter and more basic.

Yep, registering yourself on the IK web site creates your user area. Registering the product (using the code you get in your esoundz user area) in the Support part of the IK web site is what puts the product in your IK user area.

After that, you download the instrument *program* in the Downloads section of your IK user area, while the *sound library* that goes with it (which is by far the more important part) will be in the Download Sounds section.

And your group buy bonuses won't be on the IK site at all. They'll be back in your user area on the esoundz site.



It's easy to get confused by it all.

[torgo]

By the way, for everyone getting Miroslav (or for those who already own it):

Be sure to check the "Free Soundz" area on the esoundz web site. There are some extra bonus combo presets for Miroslav waiting for you there.



-torgo (esoundz = bhall1968)

[sinedomine]

That's not correct Torgo. The Jazz and Blues Groove ReTanks have slices and midi.

Hi Squids. I can't find slices and midi for those packages. I bought them in last 10x1 group buy... it would be really interesting to get them

ciao from Italy

[torgo]

Thanks for confirming that I hadn't lost what is left of my mind, sinedomine. The MIDI thing was why I picked up the IK-branded versions of those packages.

The word at the time was that the ReTanks were missing one key feature that were included in the XpansionTanks. I thought MIDI was the missing piece, and the product pages for the ReTanks don't mention MIDI.



Squids - this might potentially be a really big draw for the group buy - something to attract Ocean Way Drums, Drum Masters 2, Neil Peart or Epik Drums owners to participate in a "lowly" SampleTank-based group buy.

Can you please clarify if there are any differences at all in features between the XpansionTank drum groove titles and the ReTank versions?

[Squids]

Squids - repeating an earlier question... do the Jazz Grooves, Blues Grooves, etc packages have ALL the same features as the XT versions?

(Not counting the XT player itself, of course.)



You mentioned that they have the MIDI slices. Thanks for that info, as the individual product pages on the esoundz web site make no mention whatsoever of the MIDI maps being included. (That's a rather significant omission.)

So just to make it clear for those who might be considering this group buy, are there any features missing from the libraries on the bonus list that would be included in the XT versions?

Those titles are exactly the same. ALL "ReTank" libraries h ave the midi slices.

Also the "XT Player" itself is "SampleTank Free" which doesn't need to be included since it's free and people can go get it from IK.

[Squids]

That's not correct Torgo. The Jazz and Blues Groove ReTanks have slices and midi.

Hi Squids. I can't find slices and midi for those packages. I bought them in last 10x1 group buy... it would be really interesting to get them

ciao from Italy

EDIT: We checked both titles and they do both in fact have the slices and midi like the other ReTank titles. The midi files cannot be seen from the browser of SampleTank (perhaps that is why you thought they were missing?) but they are right next to the .STI, .STW and .STH files (the sound files in the folder of the products where SampleTank is browsing to for loading the sounds).

The ReTank titles of the same name as the XT titles have the same material for the most part but in some cases actually the ReTank titles have more such as in the case of Dirty South and Trip Hop. Those titles were split up with different material for XT titles like Down Tempo Electronica and others. Some of those song construction titles that were migrated to the XT series also contain non-slice/midi versions but actually many of those extras we've added to the ReTank titles too. I agree the descriptions of those products need to be improved. We are actually in the midst of a MAJOR new version of eSoundz which will have an overhaul of description improvements, updates and more audio/visual.

[torgo]

So... Squids, please double check me on this:

You could potentially "demo" the audio drum loops using SampleTank's relatively easy to use interface and pick out the grooves you like, regardless of the tempo.

And then you could load the corresponding MIDI slice into your sequencer of choice and have that same loop play on, say, Neal Peart's "Snakes and Arrows" drum kit in Infinite Player...

Would that be the type of awe-inspiring thing we could do with the MIDI maps in these ReTank libraries, Squids?

[Squids]

So... Squids, please double check me on this:

You could potentially "demo" the audio drum loops using SampleTank's relatively easy to use interface and pick out the grooves you like, regardless of the tempo.

And then you could load the corresponding MIDI slice into your sequencer of choice and have that same loop play on, say, Neal Peart's "Snakes and Arrows" drum kit in Infinite Player...

Would that be the type of awe-inspiring thing we could do with the MIDI maps in these ReTank libraries, Squids?

No that will not work because midi that plays slices are chromatic and just play them in order. It's not GM or iMAP midi files. They're the same thing that one would get if they exported REX to a sampler out of Recycle (only Recycle doesn't export REX into SampleTank which is why we created "ReTank" titles because we had to use special customized software to be able to do that so people could have something like this in SampleTank).

But, there IS one cool thing people CAN do with the midi from slice grooves like this and that's extracting a groove template. Some DAWS can do that which is a cool feature. If you like the "feel" of a particular groove you can apply it to something else. However, it's not a big reason to see OWD or DM users getting this. No, I think the reason to get this is simply if you realize the potential of SampleTank. You said "Lowly" before but I completely disagree on that. SampleTank 2 still remains an extremely unique and powerful software instrument. It's a staple piece in many people's computer-based studios (including mine) and while other sample-based products can do more advanced things in other ways it doesn't change SampleTank's particular function in the songwriting, performance and production areas. It's quick, easy and full of musically useful features and effects. Since the engine is now FREE it also makes sense for anyone to have it on hand because it's a great swiss army knife type tool.

All one has to do is watch the videos I did to get an idea of what you can do or just download it and mess around with it. Really, it's so handy to have and the sound is very musical. It's also nice when you need a lot of samples going and you don't want to tax your computer too hard. Great for fleshing out ideas quickly. I really love SampleTank and even though I use Kontakt as well I don't find it replaces SampleTank - especially the effects (I love the gritty analog character of SampleTank's effects).

[torgo]

Too bad the MIDI thing wouldn't work. If I remember correctly, you're working on some kind of collection of artist MIDI loops. How's that going?



I was teasing with the "lowly" SampleTank thing.

A lot of people get down on SampleTank v2.5's engine (Kontakt users tend to be particularly snobbish) because it doesn't use disk streaming. The samples are smaller, typically of a slightly lower resolution, and you have limitations in place based on the memory in your machine.

All of that is true. But I find that none of it matters.

I can only speak for myself here, but I find that by the time the sound gets to the speaker (after going through Amplitube Hendrix or other effects) any extra resolution is lost.

So from there, having instruments that use less CPU and drive space is a Good Thing. And a lot of the SampleTank-based sounds use very little memory as well.

It's also a relatively easy to use engine, and it has a boatload of effects already built in.

If you can get a large library - or a good specialty library that you can really use - at a great price, it becomes a no-brainer.


Sonik Synth is a well rounded library that is a steal at $99. Miroslav is an outstanding specialty library.

And for the Tron-heads like me, SampleTron combined with Squids Tron Exclusive Extras as a freebie bonus choice is a slice of heaven.