Amigo Sampler - 8-Bit Amiga Style Sampler Plugin

[Guenon]

Just mentioning that I bought Amigo all the same, and I'm glad I did: it's already very inspiring and works for my personal workflow very well (i.e. I never ever store presets with plugins such as this, and always just want to let the plugin remember its state along with the project or track/rack/etc. template I have stored and then load within the DAW; for all that, Amigo nails it 100% and recalls everything. Of course, if there are problems recalling parameters when working preset based, that's something to fix for sure, no matter whether I personally need it or not, lol.)

As for the inspiration, it's the combination of the niiiiice sound and the sweet spot of the slice mode (with the essential "thru" playmode per slice) that makes this a hit, for me.

Then, for the biggest miss: when it doesn't find a sample, it absolutely should tell you what sample it is trying to load, indeed. Opening a project after a while, it would be terrible to have a bunch of Amigos just say "FILE NOT FOUND " and that's it. No way of seeing which file, and where from. At the very least tell the file location & filename, that is absolutely needed.

Amigo works as an instantaneous inspiration machine that is already more grand than the sum of its parts, so count me in with the people who are asking you to reconsider your stance on allowing a higher sample rate, at least 32kHz, and stereo playback. When dropping in a stereo sample, the optimal way would be: let the user decide whether to play L, R, combined mono, or full stereo. (In the case of choosing either L, R, or combined mono, default to centered playback; in the case of full stereo, default to 100% left L and 100% right R.)

I so get the vision you have, being an old demoscener myself, and it's a respectable endeavor you've chosen. You might feel like allowing 32kHz and stereo playback is a slippery slope, and people start asking for more "modern sampler features." However, as you have already made design choices like including the AKAI style stretch mode, I think 32kHz and stereo file import/playback options would just round out your current vision beautifully, instead of taking away from it! I'd understand it in a heartbeat if you said "this isnt' the place for multisampling à la Kontakt" or anything like that - but this feels like a natural refinement, in the spirit of the plugin and the typical "basement production" methods of that certain era, instead. Kind of... exactly like the included stretch mode is, heh.

Thanks for this plugin with a lovely vibe, I'm going to be using this both in Windows and Linux quite a bit !

[stash98]

Sure. No one is saying it's bad. But I'd like to use this for pads, too, which may have separate modulations going on each stereo side.

Epic pads were made back in the day with mono and then fx after but it’s not like I’m against stereo if they add it. I just work with the limitations and accept the vision of the creator.

I also enjoy how a lot of stereo synth sounds can fold to mono when sampled and sound more punchy, and then you spread them back out with fx.

[Uncle E]

I just work with the limitations and accept the vision of the creator.

Sure, it's fine. I'm not trying to bully him into doing it. But knowing that he isn't interested kills a lot of my enthusiasm for the plugin.

[Grodada]

You all tempted me so I bought it, in my files an amiga bank and the sound is powerful, on the other hand do not put the interpolation to have the old school grain. only problem, the release of the envelope does not work while the attack does. not disappointed to have cracked.

[ilchef-potenzadsp]

Then, for the biggest miss: when it doesn't find a sample, it absolutely should tell you what sample it is trying to load, indeed. Opening a project after a while, it would be terrible to have a bunch of Amigos just say "FILE NOT FOUND " and that's it. No way of seeing which file, and where from. At the very least tell the file location & filename, that is absolutely needed.

100%, and i don't know why I didn't have the foresight to implement it straight away for version 1.0
I can assure you this is a top priority fix so do not worry. I hope to have this out as soon possible.

The main thing I would say to people asking about higher resolution audio: max sample rate + interpolation does a pretty darn good job at preserving the character of the sample, while imparting minimal sonic footprint on the audio.

Part of the magic of Amigo is how stoopid simple it is. I think I am very justified in thinking that its a slippery slope. Because if I start adding layers of complexity, like selecting L/R/mono on load, these clicks will add up and suddenly the plugin loses a its fun factor one menu at a time.

[Vortifex]

I can respect that. Try to please everyone and you end up with something other than what you originally intended. It's a cool plugin nonetheless and its limitations haven't stopped me finishing a track with it

[legendCNCD]

Why stop at akai 12/32, why not continue to Amiga 14/57

[Guenon]

Part of the magic of Amigo is how stoopid simple it is. I think I am very justified in thinking that its a slippery slope. Because if I start adding layers of complexity, like selecting L/R/mono on load, these clicks will add up and suddenly the plugin loses a its fun factor one menu at a time.

I can respect this as well, as your main guideline and ethos. However, please note that it wouldn't need to ask it on load, and the experience would be 100% same as now; just having compact buttons for choosing the channel mode of the sample, at any time if so inclined, would be enough.

Ironically, the way I (and I imagine many users who will occasionally use this for stereo) will use this plugin in these situations is, for example in Ableton Live, load two Amigos in parallel inside an instrument rack, use one for L and one for R, hard panned accordingly, and then load a separate L and R sample in those instances, and control the relevant parameters using the assigned macro controls of the rack

While this is close to the original experience of using stereo samples on the Amiga (on one channel, have a separate L sample, playing from the left ... and on another channel, have a separate R sample playing from the right), it makes it lose some fun factor having to do it like this, compared to what it could be if it was optimal in its way of recreating the past (being able to play L and R within the same tool GUI, like when working on the original Amiga and Protracker, not through some host rack/parallel/dual-instance workaround).

[Guenon]

Or, if not "small buttons", it could be something like:



When the loaded sample is a stereo file, modes would be L, R, M and S, defaulting to M for 100% the same user experience as currently. When the loaded sample is a mono file, keep this locked at the mono position, again for 100% the same user experience - and maybe even show the "CHN:" block only when the loaded file is a stereo one.

Anyway, using the host workaround with parallel instances is okay, this would be better for "reimagining the best of the past to a modern production environment" within one GUI/instance imo.

[kraster]

You all tempted me so I bought it, in my files an amiga bank and the sound is powerful, on the other hand do not put the interpolation to have the old school grain. only problem, the release of the envelope does not work while the attack does. not disappointed to have cracked.

The release envelope only works when gate mode is activated.

[Uncle E]

Because if I start adding layers of complexity, like selecting L/R/mono on load, these clicks will add up and suddenly the plugin loses an its fun factor one menu at a time.

Extending sample rate and leaving stereo files as stereo doesn’t require any extra clicks or menus.

[ampetrosillo]

I do agree that 57kHz/14bit mode would be a great addition, which would be in line with the original hardware. That needs oversampling though, so why not native samplerate/14bit? It would work well enough. (And it only needs, dunno, an "AGA" button on the interface).

Stereo is not a deal-breaker for me.

[Digivolt]

Part of the magic of Amigo is how stoopid simple it is. I think I am very justified in thinking that its a slippery slope. Because if I start adding layers of complexity, like selecting L/R/mono on load, these clicks will add up and suddenly the plugin loses a its fun factor one menu at a time.

Add a hidden panel in that free real estate where the logo is that one can open if they want to experiment with those things while leaving the rest of the sampler the same ?

[I-Quit]

Because if I start adding layers of complexity, like selecting L/R/mono on load, these clicks will add up and suddenly the plugin loses an its fun factor one menu at a time.

Extending sample rate and leaving stereo files as stereo doesn’t require any extra clicks or menus.

Exactly.

[stash98]

I just work with the limitations and accept the vision of the creator.

Sure, it's fine. I'm not trying to bully him into doing it. But knowing that he isn't interested kills a lot of my enthusiasm for the plugin.

Not everyone is a jungle producer, which is the target audience here. If you aren’t, that’s cool. It’s a fairly underground genre.