IKM SampleTank 3 (ST3) Now Available

[Vocalpoint Studios]

@ Vocalpoint Studios: what level do you have your RME DSP buffer set to as your default?

The problem I'm having seems to be connected to the buffer size. I set the RME to the lowest buffer size (which I use 99% of the time, unless mixing when latency is not an issue) and ST3 crashes and will not load.

However, when I set the buffer to 64, it plays.

I've got to think this can (and will) be fixed. There is no other plugin on my PC that crashes or fails to work (at all!) due to a low buffer setting. Are there some that tick up the CPU usage? Sure. But none die.

I will pass this along to IK tech staff.

Mine has been @ 256 for years. Every since switching to RME - it works so perfectly - I have never encountered a latency issue or any other need to ever set it to anything else. Maybe it's my use of Presonus Studio One - but I did use Nuendo for years and never moved the buffer size...

VP

[Burillo]

dunno why it works that way but i'm only able to download one part. technically i'm able to start more downloads but they are prone to timeout errors so i have to restart downloads.

an issue i've encountered so far is that the more instruments i import, the longer it takes to import each new instrument. for now i'm importing SampleTron, and it is 15 minutes already and still going (building instrument database...), while Miroslav took 2-3 minutes.

EDIT2: my advice would be to import 2-3 legacy libraries and reload the plugin (and do a rescan, to be safe). mass import seems to be the weak spot and there seem to be memory leaks somewhere - it started at 600MB before importing anything, after importing 4 libraries it's 1.2GB already - reloading the plugin and rescanning the library brought it back to 600MB.

that said, 600MB (actually, now 400MB) on launch, without any instruments loaded, is quite a footprint.

[Burillo]

not able to load any XL sounds from ST3 - only ones i imported from XL.

EDIT: OK now it works. weird...

[blueman]

The pianos do sound nice, but, for me, they are unusable with "Acoustic Resonance" enabled (Win 7; RME FireFace 800; Studio One v 2.6.3) -- the CPU jumps around and eventually maxes out with pops and clicks. This entire effect needs to be reconsidered!

Are others having similar problems using the "Acoustic Resonance" effect? Is it stable for you?

[Burillo]

Are others having similar problems using the "Acoustic Resonance" effect? Is it stable for you?

with 32GB RAM and overclocked i7-3770K (and REAPER), i don't think i'll make for a good benchmark, but i got no problems with Acoustic Resonance. i don't like the pianos very much though - they're nice, but kinda dead (i guess i'm spoilt with Pianoteq).

[Burillo]

so, i've quickly gone over the ST3 soundset. IMO, it's pretty much what i expected it to be - mostly more of ST2 sounds. not that ST2 was bad, but nothing has changed since then - some great sounds (drums, basses), some OK sounds (keys, synths), some poor sounds (pretty much all solo instruments, vocals). that said, i always used ST2 for sketching and on-the-go compromise, and ST3 fits that role perfectly well, with a bonus being dramatically improved drum sounds and having all ST2 sounds in x64, so i'm glad i upgraded. if you're aiming for realism, you'll be sorely disappointed and should look elsewhere, otherwise this has a lot of nice sounds that could be usable in some contexts, and it has a lot of potential for creative destruction.

[MickGael]

I've finally been able to go through the various soundsets. Not that my opinion matters to anyone, but...

I find most of the sounds deeply disappointing. I'm actually surprised how uninspiring so many of them are. Had I been able to try before buying, based on the sounds, I would have passed (even at the intro pricing).

[SaganTech]

From the manual:

3.1.3 - Syncing Loops
Instruments in the Loops category have their original tempo in the name. For example, “Dubstep 1 140 bpm.”
When you load a Loop Instrument, you will see a SYNC button on the right side of the MACRO panel. Click this
button to change the Loop Instrument’s tempo to match the global tempo that is displayed in the bottom bar.
When used as a plug-in, this will usually be the tempo set by your D.A.W. or host application.

I imported st2's 'seventies retro grooves' and they imported ok. But... then there was no way in ST3 to sync them. They already have the BPM in the title but there is no sync button on the macro page.

I then tried renaming them with a '120 bpm_LP' appended to the name and that worked. At first I thought it did not work but then I realized there is a limit on how far ST3 will stretch the tempos. If they are stretched to far, apparently ST3 reverts to the original tempo.

This seems like quite a lot of work to have to rename all of your imported ST3 files just to get back to ST2.5 functionality. Any ideas?

[mhog]

This seems like quite a lot of work to have to rename all of your imported ST3 files just to get back to ST2.5 functionality. Any ideas?

http://www.den4b.com/?x=products&product=renamer

[FrankT]

After some days using ST3 some feedback...

Thanks for the report, Frank. Welcome to the beta team

[basslinemaster]

5. ST3 works fine for me in Cubase 7.5 and Studio One Professional. I have problems with the standalone version though as I cannot choose my RME Asio driver in the Audio settings. The RME drivers tend to be rock solid and I have never experienced a similar problem with any standalone VSTI. Hence I guess this is a ST3 issue.

When I use ST2.5 in FL Studio, it takes about ten seconds to load, MUCH longer than any of my other VSTs. I also have to run ST2.5 in admin mode just to use ST2.5, no other VST requires this. Did the same developers who made ST2.5 make ST3?

[Peter - IK Multimedia]

5. ST3 works fine for me in Cubase 7.5 and Studio One Professional. I have problems with the standalone version though as I cannot choose my RME Asio driver in the Audio settings. The RME drivers tend to be rock solid and I have never experienced a similar problem with any standalone VSTI. Hence I guess this is a ST3 issue.

Thanks for the other constructive thoughts and suggestions in 1-4. Have you reported #5? It seems there may be an issue with a single interface or manufacturer here in this case. http://www.ikmultimedia.com/contact-support

[Peter - IK Multimedia]

For those unaware, there is a 3.0.1 update available in your IK User Area and we also have Introductory pricing available until September 30th. All details on that and SampleTank 3 itself can be found at http://www.ikmultimedia.com/sampletank3

[blueman]

http://www.den4b.com/?x=products&product=renamer

Actually, this is news I can use Thanks!

[Peter - IK Multimedia]

Yes, so-called and speculation seem to be the theme here, contrasting most other SampleTank 3 conversation we've seen and what we've been contacted about by many users... But it is all a matter of opinion, and everyone is entitled to their own of course. There are some categories that people are not fond of, but many that we've heard quite a few good things about. I know that it is a matter of opinion, but opinions vary here and the vocals and a couple other things that haven't been well-received are certainly not representative of the quality library at all. The demo version will be out soon and that will give people more of a chance to use a smaller yet representative set of sounds to make their own decision. I've posted one of these before but there wasn't much acknowledgement but it seems like a great use of the product (since it was after one day and no consultation to the manual and still is quite well done).

Benoni Studio (mod on Pro Tools forum DUC with a well-followed YouTube account) did some “Mellow Glitch Dubstep” after 1 day of use and not consulting the manual:

This user notes that they especially like the low end of the piano (piano, cello, tambourine are ST3): https://soundcloud.com/naoki-ohmori/eve ... lker-cover

And finally we have a piece using ethnic and other instruments from ST3: https://app.box.com/s/vlz8xgvxtiolmemgz5u2