The most future proof format for sampled instruments is SFZ

[JeffLearman]

I'm not likely to buy another NI product.

I loved the one I did buy, but it got discontinued and no longer works. OK, it's true that this can happen to any product, software or hardware (in my case, it was both hardware and software.) And I pretty much did get my money's worth from it. So, no huge bones about that.

But as a hobbyist, Kontakt is just too expensive for what it provides, for me. That's not a criticism of NI, it's just my personal choice. (I have the free version, but rarely find sounds that I can't find better substitutes for, so I rarely use it.)

dI'm delighted that there is a great alternative for sample sets that I can use to create my own. Originally that was sf2, but when I learned about sfz I pretty quickly converted to it, since it's one less step in my process (plus the other obvious benefits, like being able to easily host on github, though that came much later.)

The big benefit of sfz isn't that you HAVE to tweak it, it's that you CAN. That point seems to be missed by many posts above.

Also, as a soundware creator, it's pretty easy to stick to the original version of SFZ and avoid extensions. Most players support the first version opcodes, especially the common ones. But if you want to make sure your customers get the experience you intend, then just list which player to use! It's really not a big deal to have more than one player plugin, any more than it's a big deal to have more than one EQ plugin or reverb plugin.

[audiojunkie]

So why not just archive the wav samples themselves? Why bother with any kind of wrapper? That's all we've ever done. If we need to rebuild them into a different multi-sample format, it's not much effort.

If you ignore the metadata, then all you have are trivial mappings of waves to notes (and without layers!) Believe me, the differences in sfz implementations are about fine points that are ignored in the "wave only" world.

Anyway, this entire discussion is a perfect example of what makes open source so bloody useless. Everyone goes their own way, leaving a dog's breakfast for people who have no interest in it and just want to make music.

Open source is hardly "bloody useless." Nearly all modern commercial software development depends heavily on it. Without it, there would be no cloud, no apps, no ... well, we'd be a little past where we were before open source flourished in the early 90's, but not nearly as far as we are. I've been developing embedded and other software since the 70's. Trust me, open source is a significant contribution to the world.

Does it come with disadvantages? Sure. Just like any advancement.

Note that the dog's breakfast also applies to commercial software, where you're limited to only those formats that the software supports -- or, if you want to be sure you get the identical experience intended by the soundware creator, you have to limit yourself to its proprietary formats.

I think the quote attribution is incorrect. I believe it was Bones who made the statements in the quotes above.

[audiojunkie]

As far as I know, and correct me if I'm wrong, only Sforzando supports customized user interfaces for Sfz libraries.

You're right, with the caveat that they no longer accept any new developers for GUIs. So, essentially, unless you're already in the door, Sforando does NOT support GUIs for you.

I'd like to see an open format for adding GUIs to sfz. Maybe someday.

I believe this has just recently been done. There is the Aria opcode that allows for GUIs, and it is now supported by Sfizz. Further adoption of the opcode will depend on the each developer's decision to support the opcode in their SFZ parser. Sforzando may block it still, but others can now make use of it.

[enroe]

For me there are 5 points that make a future-proof sample format:

1. It is an open format: Anyone can create their own sample files or modify
existing sample.files. The documentation is also freely available to everyone,
e.g. on “sfzformat.com”.

2. It is based on wav files, the first and simplest audio file format.

3. The sample-files can be edited and changed very easily with ANY text editor.

4. There are many players for that sample-format, all of whom largely understand that format.

5. It is widely used - and there are many ready-made sound libraries for that format.

[jancivil]

For example, NI suddenly no longer activates certain libraries that users have purchased.
This means the user can no longer use them - they are then simply gone.

"For example," - I see no example. Can you show us?

Before you jump into this thread - completely clueless - you
should work through these threads:

I asked for an example. I have seen those threads. I didn't "jump into" this one but ignored it for 3 months but finally one day (shoulda kept ignoring, the subject line = tedium to me. I think there's something wrong with me.) that assertion was a bridge too far that I felt should be addressed. This is a point of fact: are there actually <KONTAKT Libraries> users have purchased that cannot be activated? Again, I'm seeing ancient things - Kompakt! - that if I have the files I could activate in NA, in a future OS. .
I think I posted a link to the official statement.

What I see in threads like that is user error and for instance not reading the information at eg., Native Access when updating a library past the version of Kontakt they are licensed to use. I'm confident that "they are simply gone" doesn't magically happen purely from a decision at NI. Those people can open the DAW project with the version that works and nothing is gone, unless they deleted that version in favor of the latest & greatest (In which case they will in all likelihood be able to get sorted by NI without a lot of grief. This I can assert from experience.).
Beyond seeing that failure of personal responsibility, which is practically endemic here, there is this stuff where someone has an axe to grind and a polemic they must share with the group.

So we are back unfortunately to me asking for a factual and real example directly from a person that made an assertion I don't believe. It's fine to believe in something strongly and instead of face a fact inconvient to one's ideology or philosophy to deflect, no skin off of me, but that's where this convo is, stuck.

[enroe]

I asked for an example. I have seen those threads. I didn't "jump into" this one ...

Dear Jancivil,

you surprise me with your statements here. For me, the topic
of NI has long since been ticked off. It's yesterday's news!
That's exactly why there is this thread with this topic:
"Future-proof sample format".

If you haven't read the threads I linked carefully, then the topic
probably doesn't seem that important to you. If you are happy
and satisfied with your NI products and libraries, then everything
is fine. And then I hope that it stays that way. And yes, then
there is no reason to get upset or feel any kind of anxiety.

Just be happy - and make music!

[enroe]

Just one addendum on the topic "NI and future-proof software",
and to the objection of "jancivil":

NI stopped activating certain products in 2020 as part of the
transition to a new activation platform. Please look here. Only after
much user protest and much back and forth did NI comply
with the request to reactivate these affected products.

For users, this means sleepless nights and lots of headaches,
and a lot of energy is then wasted discussing activations.

And it is precisely to avoid such nightmarish discussions that it is
important for me not to use - or as little as possible - proprietary
software and proprietary systems.

In this sense, "future-proof" = no sudden nighttime nightmares and
discussions about activations = no proprietary software.

This applies to us at enroe. Ultimately, each studio or musician has
to decide individually which and how many proprietary systems they
want to use.

[JeffLearman]

no sudden nighttime nightmares

I guess software is off the table, then.

[Secretlyfromabove]

I definitely agree with this. It does make me wonder if were ever going to get another really popular simple soundfont format though, that might come with some extra nice to have features.

[enroe]

no sudden nighttime nightmares

I guess software is off the table, then.

Haha, no! why think so absolutely-like?

The term "future-proof" is relative: by the time we die, no one
will be interested - in most cases anyway - whether music
projects can still be edited or not.

So what is it about?

The point is that old music projects, songs or albums can be
edited again even after 10 or 20 years - and can be arranged
or mixed differently. Be it that the “client” wants a new version,
or that you yourself want to make a new version of an earlier
song in a new and different way. And you want to resurrect the
“old magic” again.

What is the “worst case”?

The real “worst case” is hardware damage: the computer no
longer boots or the synthesizer no longer makes a sound.

In the case of hardware - i.e. synthesizers, hardware mixers,
etc. - there's not much you can do: Most of the time you can't
buy old synthesizers anymore - then that's the end of it.

But if it's "just" the computer, everything is clear: buy a new
computer, reload and install all the software from the "backup".

This usually works quite well - Windows, for example, has
different compatibility modes - almost everything works here.
Things only get awkward when it comes to software activation:
Does the manufacturer still exist? Does the product even still
exist? Do I have to update now? How many permitted activations
have I used? ... This can be tedious - with long telephone
conversations - and in some cases you will not be successful.

That said, "Future-proof" depends on how much proprietary
software I can avoid. It depends on whether I need software
activations or not.

[TS-12]

Following. I'm looking for reliable future-proof SFZ sample player for M1 Mac.

[audiojunkie]

Following. I'm looking for reliable future-proof SFZ sample player for M1 Mac.

Isn’t Sfizz also MacOS compatible? That would be your best bet.

[atya]

But if it's "just" the computer, everything is clear: buy a new
computer, reload and install all the software from the "backup".

... or clone your system disk and all the other disks you need.
I've taken my main music machine offline a good while ago and after I cloned the system disk onto another, larger SSD only my XLN and Softube plugins refused to work from the newer disk, the rest (2 DAWs, 100s of plugins (no Waves stuff anymore) worked just fine without the need to go online or wasting serious time re-installing/-activating anything.
(After a couple HDD and SSD crashes back in the day I make sure to have everything cloned or backed up at all times, this has saved my ass more than once).
YMMV.

[enroe]

Here I have an eye-opening example of "not future-proof":

I started using my DAW way back when it was first released. Then
about 10 years ago, "Life" happened, and I've been MIA ever since.
Now I'm starting again, with a new DAW.

I'm running Windows 10, with the latest version of Reaper (of
course), and Kontakt 7. When trying to load my Chris Hein and
Kirk Hunter libraries, I discovered that they will only load in
'DEMO" mode. Chris Hein libraries want to activate using "NI
Service Center", which of course doesn't work. I tried loading the
serial numbers in Native Access, afterwhich it said that the
product was "successfully registered". Then when I tried adding
the library in Kontakt 7, it said it wasn't activated. Then it wanted
me to activate it in NI Service Center ...

Kirk Hunter libraries don't have a serial number, so I can't load
that into Native Access. When I open the library in Kontakt 7, it
stays in "DEMO" mode.

I tried contacting NI Support about it, but I'm not sure I'll live long
enough to get their reply ...

Original post is here.
Maybe someone with NI-experience can help. If you continue reading
the thread, you'll see that it's due to NI.

So that's the negative example - there's nothing future-proof!

[audiojunkie]

There is a really long anti-Native Instruments plugin on this forum that I remember some solutions for some of the problems were mentioned. It’s a long thread, but it’s worth a search.