IK/SR VI HOT BUY - GROUP BUY on eSoundz!!! SampleTank Instruments for $99 + more!

[subtlearts]

Some good thoughts there Torgo. Personally I've gone with Sonik Synth 2 as my main library, as it seems like it covers a lot of bases. I have SampleMoog already, which is a great collection for sure, and I have SampleTank L from the ReTank GB a couple of years ago, so expanding that to XL doesn't seem like the best use of funds given that I also have the full Kontakt library for general purpose stuff. I also generally find I can cover my limited orchestral needs from the stuff in Kontakt as well.

I'm not sure what to do about the bonus libraries. I like Mellotrons but I'm not sure I'm as obsessive about them as you - I have the Hollow Sun set (although, it's tied to Wusik Eve so less flexible than a Kontakt or SamleTank set) which is very small but pretty good-sounding, and you've mentioned that there's a decent amount in the Sonik Synth 2 collection, so I'll have to check that out once I get it all downloaded and installed. I've noticed that Squids Tron V1 is still for sale (in fact, it's *on* sale) on the eSoundz site, so if I'm still craving more Tron I'm considering buying that (and using up some epointz) and adding the Sampletron extras pack for the full meal deal at a nice price. However, I'm not quite convinced that it's the very best plan in terms of what I would get the most use out of...

I am curious about the World collection since I'm a bit of a nut for ethnic sounds, however they're also well-represented in the Kontakt library and I also have the huge Ethno World 4 Pro set from Best Service as well as a couple of dedicated smaller ones (from Nine Volt etc)...

I also like the sound of the Vintage Keys set but a) I have a Nord Stage that covers a lot of those bases, as well as a bunch of other sample sets (including NI's Elektrik), and b) if I eventually upgrade to Komplete 7, which is likely, there are all the Scarbee ones in there as well. However, that's still a possibility...

I'm actually currently leaning towards the Electric and Acoustic guitar libraries - I've never used that kind of thing a lot as I find they usually sound pretty artificial, and I have real ones on hand (though my skills are very limited compared to keys), but the demo tracks for those sets actually sound pretty good and there seems to be a lot there. Does anyone have good/bad experiences with these?

I'm not so much one for loops, so I'm less interested in the loop libraries, though the World loops one could be cool.

Hey, let's see if we can get this puppy to 300 now!

[torgo]

Tobias - I'd say your best bet is probably to wait a while before choosing your bonus selections.

Esoundz doesn't put any time limit on you, so you could wait to see what other promotions pop up after this one is over. That might change your mind on what to get through this promo.



I'm guessing that Sonik Synth plus the stuff you have in other formats will have you covered for Mellotrons. Also make sure you grab SampleTank Free, as it has a few Tron patches in its library as well.

But if you decide you do want the full library later, that combo of getting SampleTron Exclusive Extras as a group buy bonus choice plus getting Squids Tron v1 using epointz is a great idea.

[Squids]

3 away from 200! That will mean yet ANOTHER free library redeem code to choose out of the 30+ libraries in the list. Makes that a total of 2 free libraries PER VI that you purchase from esoundz during the promotion. Not bad huh?

[crackershaun]

3 away from 200! That will mean yet ANOTHER free library redeem code to choose out of the 30+ libraries in the list. Makes that a total of 2 free libraries PER VI that you purchase from esoundz during the promotion. Not bad huh?

Somebody must need a Packet of 3 for the Weekend, surely...

[crackershaun]

OmniSynth 2
http://www.esoundz.com/details.php?Prod ... de=HBGBKVR

Is there anyone who has OmniSynth 2 who can give a reasonably clear opinion of it? I know this is subjective! The kind of things I'd be interested is whether the sounds are rich or thin, have noticable velocity dynamics, work well across wide octave ranges, seem realistic enough for a GM set and/or have warm or attractive modulations which make them stand out a bit.

Thanks in advance, hopefully

[subtlearts]

Tobias - I'd say your best bet is probably to wait a while before choosing your bonus selections.

yeah I'll give myself time to look through SS2 and assess where there might be holes in my arsenal (I'm the first to admit I'm a bit of a sounds addict)...
To add to my problems, I have a €20 IK Jampoints coupon that will expire in a couple of days and I'm somewhat stumped for what to use it on, if anything - these small libraries are about the only thing I can think of. Urg.

I'm guessing that Sonik Synth plus the stuff you have in other formats will have you covered for Mellotrons. Also make sure you grab SampleTank Free, as it has a few Tron patches in its library as well.

Does STFree have anything that's not in ST L? That strikes me as odd, but perhaps I should have a look - I can't seem to find any Trons in the L library anyway, at least not labelled as such...

edit - Ah, I see, it's a completely different concept, more a teaser for the big libraries.

[Squids]

It's official. 200 has been reached! It's 201 already. So on Monday everyone who joined the Group Buy simply by purchasing any of the IK Virtual Instruments from the Hot Buy promo will get yet ANOTHER FREE library of choice via a redeem code. Well done! Now onto 300. It CAN be done but you guys might have to step it up a little. Who has posted outside of KVR? Anyone? If so then show the link. This group buy could be doing so much better and it's already great! Can't lose but they are made for you so that means you have to participate and spread the word to get a better deal for yourself and everyone else. If you're new to Group Buys then ask some of the veterans. We've had some group buys (including the XT IK one reaching thousands - overall I think it was 7,000 but that was through all of IK's network world-wide. Still esoundz alone did over 1,000 in that group buy).

GOOD LUCK! We're doing our part. I'll check back with you guys over the weekend. Don't forget to get your Mother something.

[torgo]

Does STFree have anything that's not in ST L? That strikes me as odd, but perhaps I should have a look - I can't seem to find any Trons in the L library anyway, at least not labelled as such...

edit - Ah, I see, it's a completely different concept, more a teaser for the big libraries.

Right... it's mostly from SampleTank, but it has a taste of the others thrown in as well. The Chamberlin Flutes will be almost identical to the one in SS, but the others may offer variations on the similar SS sounds.




Not sure what to tell you about the IK jampoints. I didn't realize they expired. If you're determined to get something rather than letting them go completely to waste, two other libraries worth looking into:

You might be familiar with Cinematik as a sampler of the Cinema Sessions products (for Kontakt/Infinite Player) ported to the SampleTank engine. Personally, I think they're among the best sounds in the Cinema Sessions products.

The problem with those big Cinema Sessions libraries for Kontakt is that while many of the sounds are really cool, they have all the effects already applied - and frequently many additional sounds morphing in and out. For example, you'll hear a wonderful, lush strings section - and about two seconds in, an alien spaceship roars by.

It makes the whole thing a really fun toy to play around with, but it's extremely difficult to use in an everyday musical capacity.

But the Cinematik Collection for SampleTank takes more of the "pure" sounds rather than the ones bogged down by unwanted random special effects noises.




Hip Hop Instruments is an unfortunate name for that collection. It has a pretty good stockpile of electronic drums (enough that I'd consider it a good substitute for the Electronic Drums Collection). But it also has a lot more - strings, brass, piano, etc, and the sounds are surprisingly nice.

I'm not so sure that type of set is specifically what you'd be after, as you already have other general purpose sets. But it's worth noting that it's NOT just for hip-hop like some of those loops collections. Far from it.


-torgo (esoundz = bhall1968)

[torgo]

Is there anyone who has OmniSynth 2 who can give a reasonably clear opinion of it? I know this is subjective! The kind of things I'd be interested is whether the sounds are rich or thin, have noticable velocity dynamics, work well across wide octave ranges, seem realistic enough for a GM set and/or have warm or attractive modulations which make them stand out a bit.

Thanks in advance, hopefully

I'll do the best I can...

Shorter, general review: I would NOT recommend it as one of only two bonus choices for most people. If you need a broad collection of instruments, getting Sonik Synth as your purchased instrument would be a far better way to go, using your freebie choices on other collections instead.

But if we hit six or more choices by the time this thing is over, it would fit in pretty well along with some of the other sets in a "roll your own SampleTank" kind of situation. The way to play it would be to get the better collections in areas that are important to you and let Omnisynth 2 help fill in some gaps.



Answers to specific questions:

warm/attractive modulations = for the most part, yes. Many of them do have a "warm" characteristic about them, which is typical of the SampleTank engine.


work well across wide octave ranges = not always as well as I'd like, but I'm rather demanding in that regard. Most of the acoustic instruments work within their realistic ranges.

(The one that irks me the most is the otherwise *outstanding* "003 Elec Grand CP" in the larger instruments section. It's an 80+ meg sample, which is plenty for the relatively simple waveforms of the electrics. Compare that to only 4 meg for the original one, which is the same as the Elec Grand included in Piano Collection 2.

The flaw that eats me is that the C1 note and everything lower sounds horribly detuned. That's not unheard of for electric pianos - and is actually more realistic in that regard. But in a musical sense, it's just plain painful. You just can't let your inner Leon Russell loose without that bass end.

On the other hand, it sounds great all the way up to C7, so it still has a wide range. If that detuned nature of the lower notes could be fixed, this would be one of the very best instrument sounds in the entire SampleTank universe.)




rich or thin = varies from sound to sound. Note that the larger instruments are all in "dry" form, without reverb, EQ or other effects.

But as you probably know, SampleTank has a large array of built-in effects, and they're pretty good once you learn how to use them. It's up to you to apply the effects yourself as you see fit (and to save the tones you create as your own child patches).



seem realistic enough for a GM set = in most cases, yes, but I wouldn't push it.

Some sounds are definitely better than others. I kinda dig the alto sax and tenor sax sounds here - some expression is possible with them if you're careful, and they sound better in a mix than they do solo - but I really don't like the soprano sax here. Likewise, the regular trumpet is passable, but I think the muted trumpet sounds artificially thin.

So I wouldn't want to go "blind", composing on another platform using random sounds and then trusting this set to play back anything and everything. I'd be nervous about hitting a klunker. But if you mostly stick to the basics - or better yet pick and choose sounds you like - you can get good results.



As a broader collection of sounds rather than strictly as a GM set, my take is that the sounds here are at least serviceable. They sound better than the ones you got on those keyboards of the 80's-90's, but they certainly aren't the best available versions of each instrument.

For example, the Rhodes offered here is a fairly solid representation of a Rhodes electric piano (including that classic "spike" in its velocity curve), but it's not as good as the one you'll find in the Vintage Keys collection. The acoustic guitars here are passable, but the ones in the Acoustic Guitar Collection 2 are far better, etc.




At least that's my take on Omnisynth 2. Anyone else out there have a different review on it?

-torgo (esoundz = bhall1968)

[crackershaun]

At least that's my take on Omnisynth 2. Anyone else out there have a different review on it?

-torgo (esoundz = bhall1968)

Thanks for that - really useful - more than I hoped!!

I have quite a lot of Dimension, WusikStation, GP Orchestra and Kontakt stuff etc and many Synths, so really joined the group buy for SampleTron + Extras to supplement my M-Tron.

Hence I might go for OmniSynth 2 as an extra 'layering' instrument to add to other layers, adjusting the volume to bring it in from the background.

It might seem an odd choice, but I have quite a few Piano, Vocal and World Instruments libraries too, the Trons being my biggest "gap", which is now filled.

Again - MANY THANKS for your helpful reply

[torgo]

Ah, a fellow Tron freak! I think you'll really like the 'Tron library here.


So you have the SampleTron, and I presume the "+ Extras" means you have the Squids Tron Exclusive Extras as your first choice (complete no-brainer for a 'Tron-head - you HAVE to get that one). Whatever else you get will just be icing on the cake.

Given that you have Kontakt, Wusik, and many other synths, I'd look for something other than Omnisynth 2 for extra layering and flavoring. You'd get more mileage out of something other than a GM set.

(Again, it has all the instruments, but they're not the best ones of their categories. When you want a specific sound, you'll find yourself turning to some other source every time.)


Some others to consider:

(1) *definitely* check out Vintage Keys Collection for its electric pianos and the like. You've got the Mellotron, so it's only natural to have the monster electric piano next to it.

(2) some of the grooves packages here might be nice options as extra bonuses. Especially check out the World Grooves as a potential addition to your collection of ethnic instruments. Also take a listen to the demos of the three Latin-based percussion loop collections.

(Having all the ethnic instruments is one thing. Getting the nuances of their performance down is another thing entirely.)


(3) I mentioned earlier that the Hip Hop Instruments collection isn't really just for hip hop. (key = the "instruments" one, not the "grooves" one.)

It's mostly synth leads and pads (including some ARPs and other retro synths) and a broad assortment of electronic drums, but it also throws in a touch of piano, organ, strings, and brass.




Quick notes on the SampleTron / Squids Tron Exclusive Extras sounds, in case you didn't already know...

(A) all of these sounds work in SampleTank (including SampleTank Free). But the other instruments can only play their specific libraries. That means you can only use the SampleTron interface to play the SampleTron sounds. You'd have to use SampleTank to play the ones in Squids Tron Exclusive Extras.

I have *always* used SampleTank to play all the sounds (including the old Masterbits library of Mellotron sounds in SampleTank format). It makes browsing a bit easier when you can stay in SampleTank for everything rather than bouncing back and forth between two instrument interfaces.


(B) Many of the sounds from the SampleTron library (strings, etc) have the ability to turn the looping on or off.

(For those who don't know, real Mellotrons make sounds by playing tape loops. If you hold a note for more than about eight seconds, the tape suddenly ends and you get silence.)

You still have that feature even playing them in SampleTank. Click on the "macro" button and look for a "SUS" knob on the left. If it's set to 1, it's not looping. Turn the knob all the way up to 127 to loop the sound.

[Krabat]

202 now. And 5 points go to… subtlearts (as mentioned before - danke für den Deal, Tobias)

Who has posted outside of KVR? Anyone? If so then show the link.

As written before, I have, but here's the link: homerecording.de

I've updated the post and put a link to 'Cinco De Mayo SUPER SALE' on top.

Best, Gunnar

[torgo]

Another hint for people used to other instruments: one of the main features of SampleTank is the barrage of built-in effects.

That's pretty easy to overlook if you're just trying out SampleTank for the first time or quickly browsing through sounds. Many of the sounds in these libraries will be the raw parent samples - without any effects added to punch them up.

So you might pull one up, think it sounds a bit dull or lifeless, and mistakenly think you're stuck with it as it is. Nope... tweak away with compression/EQ and four available slots for your choice of a full rack of built-in effects. Craft the tone to your pleasing - and then SAVE IT as your own "child" sound.




Many of the libraries already include a bunch of child sounds to go along with the basic parent samples. Sometimes new users will miss these.

When you're browsing through the library, look for the little black triangles in front of the name of a sound. Click on the triangle to expand the list and show the child sounds for that particular parent.

The child sounds are typically the more polished end-product sounds. But of course you can tweak those as well, turning the effects on or off, changing their settings, or swapping them out for other effects as you wish.

[subtlearts]

Hey krabat, I noticed the points already, thanks - it's been a pleasure doing business with you

I just bumped the thread on the CW forum.

torgo, thanks again for your detailed notes - not that they make my decisions any easier, but so it goes. Nice tip about the looping on the Tron sounds in SampleTank, too!

onwards and upwards...

[crackershaun]

Ah, a fellow Tron freak! I think you'll really like the 'Tron library here.


So you have the SampleTron, and I presume the "+ Extras" means you have the Squids Tron Exclusive Extras as your first choice (complete no-brainer for a 'Tron-head - you HAVE to get that one). Whatever else you get will just be icing on the cake.

Yep - First Choice was "Squids Tron Exclusive Extras" - and what a choice!

Coming from M-Tron I certainly like being able to play riffs "going out of range" and not having it just go silent. I know "it's NOT authentic" but it can still be musically valid.

I have a weekend to think on the next choice - and hopefully more later in the month.

"Squids Tron Exclusive Extras" really is a worthwhile addition to SampleTron - and I recommend to anyone else who's even vaguely a Tron freak and hasn't got it.