Is Serato sample worth it for Ableton users?

[nachenko]

The title summarises it all.

Serato Sample is on sale right now at Plug-in Boutique. I should be served with Ableton’s own sampler, but some times I find some missing bits, so I was considering getting Serato.

For example, I can slice a sample using Simpler, but I can’t change pitch of one of those slices, it applies to all of them. There are a few limitations this way.

So my question is, is Serato worth it? Is it giving me possibilities Ableton is not offering?

Thanks!

[Gamma-UT]

It's a budget-vs-convenience thing mainly. Serato has some nice features are quick and easy to do but 99 times out of 100 you can do what you want in a Live Drum Rack. For your specific example, you can right click on the sliced sample in Simpler and convert to a new MIDI track: that will render it to a drum rack with MIDI and you can tweak each slice to your heart's content on each pad.

[mschenkel]

I have serato sample and I wouldn’t recommend it unless you are sampling full tunes. It isn’t really a great slicer, it shines at finding samples/intersting bits out of complex materials if you Like an algorithm to pick for you. Otherwise is a waste of money. It is really meant for people sampling stuff out vinyls.

[dreamvoid]

I don't sample other peoples stuff (like Vinyl) and use it to mangle and stretch my own samples in context of a mix etc. It is one of the fastest sound design tools and great to flexible fly in vocals and FX.

[deastman]

I just picked it up on sale. I really like how fast it is to throw in some random material and have bits of it automatically mapped to pass, with control over parameters per pad. I don’t sample other people’s songs, but I’ve been toying with the idea of creating my own bits of songs as starting material, as if it was lifted from someone else. For the sale price I got, it’s worth it to me to try out. Also, they have a tutorial video showing how to utilize it within an Ableton drum rack in a way I hadn’t previously known about. More to come when I’ve spent some time with it...

[SoundPorn]

Yes it's absolutely worth it even if you have Ableton and every other sampler vst ever made because none of them can do what Serato does effortlessly with pitch and key finding.

[JiggSaw]

Yes it's absolutely worth it even if you have Ableton and every other sampler vst ever made because none of them can do what Serato does effortlessly with pitch and key finding.

I'm an Ableton Live user and I 100% agree with this statement. Plus their timestetch algo is probably the best I've used.

[fortycoats]

I have lots of loose bits from iOS and find it very useful for finding bpm/key info.

Most likely going to upgrade, got the LE version from Novation collective. Think that freebie is still available for a few more days

[mschenkel]

Yes it's absolutely worth it even if you have Ableton and every other sampler vst ever made because none of them can do what Serato does effortlessly with pitch and key finding.

Besides when the algorithm is off and you can’t fix it. Same with detected tempo.

Not saying that if someone uses it is an idiot unless I would say that to myself since it is in my default template, but I really think that I could have lived happily also without it and probably put that money in something else.

I’m just trying to save a few bucks to a fellow I don’t know if he thinks it is the case, please don’t take it personal.

It is no paulstrecth, the amp envelope is a nonexistent AR, no filter/pitch envelope, no fx; it is really bare bones feature wise.

So if you’re in need of a different, maybe better, stretch algorithm/pitch shifter go for it.
If you need a key and tempo detector go for it but don’t trust it blindly.
If you are looking for a very intelligent chunk picker/slicer with some randomization to do the job for you(which was the reason I got it for), go for it.
If you’re reaching out for a new tool to hack(extreme time stretch, throw single cycle waveforms and other crazy stuff and get the software out of its comfort zone, go for it, as you could go with pretty much anything else; it will yield interesting results.
If you’re are looking for a deep tool for sample mangling steer away, your DAW will certainly take care in a way or another(since you’re in Ableton you can throw audio chunks at the timeline and move the source start point without moving the clip for example or as said before with drumrack or whatever).

Choose your poison.

And beware: don’t ask junkies if they like the drug because you already know the answer.

Cheers

[nachenko]

Thanks everyone for their opinions. I’ve made up my mind around this. After reading your opinions, I think I’ll save my money for now.

After all, if I change my mind, I’m sure this one will go on sale again in a few months.

[SoundPorn]

Well its usually on sale for half off and paying anything under $50 for it is a steal.
It has the best pitch stretch algo on the market and its Key Detection and BPM Detection are invaluable because even today most daws do not have a conveniant tool to do that quickly.
Even better is the key lock it has which i don't kno of any other sampler that allows you to play audio locked to a key.
And you can adjust the attack and release per slice and if u want decay u can just stretch the sample.
Theres a reason u see so many producers use this with Ableton bcuz its just fast .

[PlantsnMusic]

I think it would be worth it, I do not have much experience in Ableton but as a studio one user I think it was worth it. Especially if you can get it during a sale.