SampleTank 4 on the way

[Triphop]

I'll say this, installing ST4 Max was a grueling process! It's a massive library and I agree with the masses, that a more user-friendly installing system should have been in place. It took forever to finally get this installed and lots of concentration. I'm still getting my head around the new software and so far I find it to be just okay. Hopefully my thoughts will change on that the more I get acclimated with it. The sounds are a mixed bag. Some very good, some so-so, and some flat out horrible. Most of the sounds need effects to really liven them up if they are going to fit in a mix of a song. On a scale of 1-10, so far after a day of installing and a few hours of use, I am going to give this product a 7 out of 10. Mainly because of the insanely labor-intensive installation process. I am yet to try to use this in any of my tracks, just really been messing around with it and trying to familiarize myself with it.

Question, why do I have an arrow over my SAMPLETANK 4 Library as if it is saying I still need to download it. Am I missing something. As far as I know, I downloaded everything. Really confusing me!

[Triphop]

Actually, I figured out why I had that download arrow over the Sampletank 4 library. It was because it never installed. Ughh. Anyway, all good now, but I need to repeat a question someone else asked on here. Why do you have 3 variations of sounds to choose from in the Sampletank 4 library, but they all sound exactly the same??? I'm so confused!

[abernathy]

Is there really no folder view in ST4? I've finally got everything working, I think. But I've added my old ST3 folder and there seems to be no f**king way to see my Imported Instruments in their groups...? I can't see my old Philharmonik folder - the instruments are just mixed in with everything else. I have old Sonic Synth instruments and custom samples I imported from my K2500 under a K2500 folder - but these are no longer grouped in any useful way. I hope I'm missing something, because otherwise I'm ditching this crap and going back to ST3. I have wasted an entire day with this beyond horrible install experience and what seems in many ways to be a step backwards from ST3. Such a drag and total waste of money.

[Anlon]

My verdict after downloading, installing and fiddling around with ST4 Max. I’m probably one of the very few who prefer the individual downloads. The reason for that is the way I went about it. I downloaded a batch of instruments i.e. all the drums, installed them, checked the folders, if they’re working, and while I was doing that the next batch was downloading.

The resizable GUI is nice. Instruments load pretty fast (on my SSD). The sounds I heard so far are quite a mixed bag, but I suppose that’s the case with all "bread and butter" libraries. The Brandenburg piano sounds fantastic, some of the drums are nice. I’m disappointed by the Miroslav CE libraries though. They’re pretty awful and I’m glad I never bought them (I was planning to last year).

On a side note: IKM should have made the instruments lists available well in advance. I ordered yesterday after the lists were published and although I initially wanted to buy ST4 I went for ST4 Max, seeing how many instruments are missing in ST4. I suppose people who already owned ST3 rightfully thought ST4 would be an upgrade for them, not a downgrade.

[damayor]

so can we get some reviews from sampletank 4? Really hesitant on buying as i really disliked sampletank 3. only thing i really loved was the pianos.

[abernathy]

So there IS a folder view - I actually RTFM. But sadly it appears to be crippled - it doesn’t show everything, like ST2 imported instruments from ST3. Or am I missing something?

[groverken]

Here’s another problem - some of my downloads failed, one of them being “SampleTank 4 Max Instruments Part 2”. When I go back to my drop down list it’s missing - just “SampleTank 4 Max Instruments” which is actually called part 1 if you download it. Question - is part 2 really needed? If so, where has it gone from my download list? If not, why was it there in the first place?

[Vaultnaemsae]

So there IS a folder view - I actually RTFM. But sadly it appears to be crippled - it doesn’t show everything, like ST2 imported instruments from ST3. Or am I missing something?

Sorry, not sure I understood but if you mean the ST4/ST3/etc. multis - they show up by clicking on the main black box in the top area of the UI. But my ST2 one are buried inside another folder so not easily visible.

[Vaultnaemsae]

Here’s another problem - some of my downloads failed, one of them being “SampleTank 4 Max Instruments Part 2”. When I go back to my drop down list it’s missing - just “SampleTank 4 Max Instruments” which is actually called part 1 if you download it. Question - is part 2 really needed? If so, where has it gone from my download list? If not, why was it there in the first place?

It seems that 'part 1' in the case of that file means 'part 1 of 1'...If I understand correctly. Go figure...

[groverken]

Here’s another problem - some of my downloads failed, one of them being “SampleTank 4 Max Instruments Part 2”. When I go back to my drop down list it’s missing - just “SampleTank 4 Max Instruments” which is actually called part 1 if you download it. Question - is part 2 really needed? If so, where has it gone from my download list? If not, why was it there in the first place?

It seems that 'part 1' in the case of that file means 'part 1 of 1'...If I understand correctly. Go figure...

Ah - now I understand. Part 2 was "Part 2 of 1". A most intuitive way of working!

[groverken]

Here’s another problem - some of my downloads failed, one of them being “SampleTank 4 Max Instruments Part 2”. When I go back to my drop down list it’s missing - just “SampleTank 4 Max Instruments” which is actually called part 1 if you download it. Question - is part 2 really needed? If so, where has it gone from my download list? If not, why was it there in the first place?

It seems that 'part 1' in the case of that file means 'part 1 of 1'...If I understand correctly. Go figure...

Ah - now I understand. Part 2 was "Part 2 of 1". A most intuitive way of working!

Now - what I should have done is restart the download. It restarted OK which means that it's still on IK's site. Looks like it's a slightly smaller size than Part 1. I'll let you know if it finishes.

[Vaultnaemsae]

Here’s another problem - some of my downloads failed, one of them being “SampleTank 4 Max Instruments Part 2”. When I go back to my drop down list it’s missing - just “SampleTank 4 Max Instruments” which is actually called part 1 if you download it. Question - is part 2 really needed? If so, where has it gone from my download list? If not, why was it there in the first place?

It seems that 'part 1' in the case of that file means 'part 1 of 1'...If I understand correctly. Go figure...

Ah - now I understand. Part 2 was "Part 2 of 1". A most intuitive way of working!

Now - what I should have done is restart the download. It restarted OK which means that it's still on IK's site. Looks like it's a slightly smaller size than Part 1. I'll let you know if it finishes.

I just mentioned that as I noticed that all the files which had only one part (like the SFX one) listed that part as 'part 1'...

[Bruceferraudi]

I'm also eager to hear feedback about the stability and quality of sound. I never used Sampletank before version 3 of which I have due to a hardware bundle. At first I was super excited to receive what I thought would be a wonderful addition to my compositions but instead has been the only vst (or daw) on my computer which crashes every single time I use it(usually within the first 20 minutes). I've read several other reports of this on here and other sites and it seems to be a more common issue than I initially thought.

I have a decent (not amazing) computer with a i7 quad core and 8gb ram+ssd hybrid with Studio One Daw and probably 10 3rd-party vsts instruments (NI/Maschine, UVI, Korg, Xpand, Tal) and 50 3rd party effects(all free) and none of them crash, except Sampletank. The download and installation process was also a nightmare.

Here's the thing though....I really desire to have a product like Sampletank to work as advertised bc it appears to be a wonderful design and concept for which I would be the perfect fit for and for which I've been yearning for in the software realm since parting with my Motif ES6. Ideally it would be a huge timesaver not having to track hardware again and I much prefer to Kontakt's unintuitive interface and don't want to invest hundreds/thousands in 3rd party stuff that would be overkill for my purposes.

So far however it's fallen short most notably in the area of stability but also in sound quality as it's really hit and miss with the instruments. So again, before I commit to purchasing very interested to hear everyone's thoughts on the sounds and stability.

[MadDogE134]

now since i installed 4.0.1 i have no ST4 multi choices up top in black box... it only lists ST3 although both my ST3 and ST4 locations are listed in settings location. originally 4.0.0 showed ST4 multis but now they're gone.

also i own "The Grid" (it is in my ST3 folder) but no matter how many times i authorize it (having to authorize many things again) it remains locked not that i want to use it lol... jus' sayin' it is fouled up. matter of fact this whole thing is a mess lol slowly getting it sorted but dang... what a bloody headache this has been

[damayor]

in-depth reviews please?