Installing IK Multimedia SampleTank 4 - WTF

[Bombadil]

Lol. In many cases, I've paid pennies on the retail $ for their IK goodies. The 25 anniversary group buy last year gave me far more than I could want or need. I keep my IK dmg files. Not abproblem, but given this, I wouldn't bitch too loudly about the 10 buck fee.

[machinesworking]

Yep IK are a mixed bag. I like their actual products, but they have the weirdest most bass ackwards installers and library location system I've seen. It's buggy, that's just it, too many threads about ST4 etc. not recognizing an installed library. After buying into their libraries last year I've yet to get a completely working installation. Their products are not compatible with each other, locations have changed, and the ST4 library manager in preferences simply can't find them. Fortunately I downloaded all the installers, but I'm loath to erase and reinstall everything. Just a weird company in many ways.

That said I like Amplitube, Mixbox etc. it's their sample libraries and the fact that they can be broken so easily that irritates me. I'm also not a fan of making people keep copies locally of the libraries, and charging existing customers to redownload what they bought.

[moonchunk]

I have this same experience. I don't see that they have a ticket system (where support requests can be tracked by the buyer as well as the support staff transparently), and I have gone in circles with their team about getting Sampletank 4 installed now for close to a year because its a huge download and never seems to download or unzip correctly. I recently was told it is supposed to unzip via IK Installation Manager, but that hasn't happened at my end. A user on a forum recently said that is the way it is SUPPOSED to work, so I decided to risk paying the $10 to try and download it again. Otherwise, I have all the files elsewhere, but they don't line up and their support are not giving me hierarchies that resemble what I see in my downloads of the files.

[moonchunk]

I have this same experience. I don't see that they have a ticket system (where support requests can be tracked by the buyer as well as the support staff transparently), and I have gone in circles with their team about getting Sampletank 4 installed now for months because I don't have time to try and understand the corruption (it never seems to download or unzip correctly). I recently was told by someone on KVR that Sampletank 4 is supposed to unzip automatically at the end via IK Installation Manager, but that hasn't happened at my end. A user on a forum recently said that is the way it is SUPPOSED to work, so I decided to risk paying the $10 to try and download it again. [In my case I got some zipped installers, but when unzipping they seemed to sometimes require different paths from one to the next, rather than being happy to unzip where they were, and create the hierarchy on their own, which is what I would have expected]. Otherwise, I have all the files elsewhere, but they don't line up and their support are not giving me hierarchies that closely resemble what I've unzipped from their downloaded zip installer files. Also, it would seem even their support emails are not given a consistent subject line, as I never delete support emails from any software company, and when I do a search in my email account its hit or miss, with some support emails being obvious (by searching IK or IK multimedia, or support) while others are just not found. (I saw one that had the subject of problem migrating, and the sender was a guy's name. So I think that's why I can't find them). Other companies are fairly consistent which is a good thing. Also, companies like Toontrack, UVI, Native Instruments and Arturia have continued to improve and are now smooth as silk with their installers and support, so the contrast hasn't gotten a lot better. So the Group Buys and generally positive product experience are at odds with lackluster improvement of customer relations things.

[hotmitts]

Long time customer of IK here: Trying to access my Sampletank 2 instruments.
Firstly I'm presented with a fee to pay just to download the library that I already own.
Lucky I backed up.
then I install the library. It's 8 separate installers, plus one for the Sampletank2 exe.
Which doesn't show up so I still can't access the instruments.
Spent all evening trying to do this.
user-friendly? Not in the slightest.

[hotmitts]

Seems I need to also install ST 3 in order to import the ST 2 instruments to ST 3, in order to play in ST 4.
Of course, how could I not have realised!

[hotmitts]

Seems I need to also install ST 3 in order to import the ST 2 instruments to ST 3, in order to play in ST 4.
Of course, how could I not have realised!
Maybe. I hope.

[hotmitts]

Seems I need to also install ST 3 in order to import the ST 2 instruments to ST 3, in order to play in ST 4.
Of course, how could I not have realised!
Maybe. I hope.

But no.

[Examigan]

I thought this sounded familiar:
viewtopic.php?t=543488

[hotmitts]

I thought this sounded familiar:
viewtopic.php?t=543488

Yup I'm having trouble after all that time, it don't seem to work....how can it be this obtuse?

[glokraw]

This is my folder structure, and I can play my ST2.5 and ST2_XL sounds in ST4:

users/Public/Documents/IK Multimedia/SampleTank 3/Imported Instruments/Guitar

...so any ST2 acoustic guitar instruments would go in

users/Public/Documents/IK Multimedia/SampleTank 3/Imported Instruments /st2-5Guitars/Acoustic

Samples likewise to

users/Public/Documents/IK Multimedia/SampleTank 3/Imported Samples/st2-5Guitars/Acoustic

My ST2_XL samples (.pak files) are at

users/Public/Documents/IK Multimedia/SampleTank 3/Samples/22_ST2 XL

Note that the numbered folder names with underscores like
22_ST2 XL are official IK locations, whereas my "st2-5Guitars" is just my folder named so I remember what's what. Official Syntronik synth sounds are named and placed likewise in the same folders.

I do manual installs, extract the archives and move the contents where ST4 will find them, no all-at-once program-manager extravaganza installing gigs of things I'll never use. Priority sounds first, stop and play so it's not drudgery, others maybe never get installed. Hope it's useful info. (ignore the backwards backslashes, they are just a linux thing, yours must face the 'wrong' way

ST2-5-in-ST4.jpg

[surreal]

Must check this aswell

[ATS]

Sampletank 4 was crashing on my like crazy. I wrote support and heard back once. I wrote them back and never heard from them again. I wasn't rude at all either, just answering their email in a normal way.

[glokraw]

In my attempts to use of ST4 in linux, a bumpy road until recently, terminal output always contained lots of graphics card issues, failed shaders, and other things gamers and artists might understand.

Maybe you have some graphics driver you could upgrade or roll back?
Cheers

[Vocalpoint Studios]

After reading through this thread and experienced many of the issues here - espeically the single worst installer I have ever seen - AND having hit the "please pay to download your stuff again" roadblock a few days ago - I have decided to strip all my IK stuff off the DAW this weekend.

Enough is enough - there are much better options than using clunky ST4 sounds these days.

VP