KVR Audio

disturb · Post by **disturb** » Tue May 01, 2007 11:05 pm

I'm in sampler hell right now, about to switch from one to another, i have a bunch of different formats supported by one, not the other etc...

Long story short, i'd like to convert everything to a "buffer" format, something safe and easy that won't screw up the mappings and enveloppes, and allow me to make a database of raw patches (read no crazy modulations or sampler specific stuff).

Seems like the best choice will be either akai, or sf2 ...?

Any comments ?

cheers

zircon · Post by **zircon** » Tue May 01, 2007 11:14 pm

AKAI is still widely supported, but somewhat frustrating to use and underpowered. SF2 is also underpowered. Kontakt 1.x is probably the most accessible format out there, and it's highly programmable.

whyterabbyt · Post by **whyterabbyt** » Wed May 02, 2007 8:46 am

sfz isnt the most common, but as a 'buffer format' it might offer the most flexibility. not sure what the current state of translation-software support is, though.

Bob Nova · Post by **Bob Nova** » Wed May 02, 2007 3:02 pm

disturb wrote:I'm in sampler hell right now, about to switch from one to another, i have a bunch of different formats supported by one, not the other etc...

I know what you mean...I got sick of issues like that,too.So now I use Kontakt 2 only.If something doesnt work with it, hell with it.LIfe's too short and there's too much music to be made to spend hours buggering around with this stuff.

steff3 · Post by **steff3** » Wed May 02, 2007 6:04 pm

exs - other than SF2 or Akai (S1000) it supports 24bits, quite a lot of mappings, also alternations.

can be read by Kontakt, HALion, Ableton Sampler, every conversion software ......

best

precisionsound · Post by **precisionsound** » Wed May 02, 2007 11:49 pm

The universal format is SoundFont (Sf2) but it lacks some really nice features. If that is not necessary it's THE format to trust.
The converter to use that I like very much is Extreme sampler converter. It can convert HALion and Kontakt to Sf2 for example, but only the features available in Sf2, of course.
Be aware of and avoid release samples and key switches, and accept 16bit.

lawapa · Post by **lawapa** » Thu May 03, 2007 12:26 am

Sfz supports so many features you won't need to lose the 24bit release/switches.

Awave supports covert to sfz from a big list of other formats.

dougsyo · Post by **dougsyo** » Thu May 03, 2007 1:35 am

I'd say either Kontakt1 or sfz. EXSC can produce both, and several products can read either-or. IIRC, right now none of the sfz players stream - they require RAM-based samples. You won't get a Sampletekk piano into DimPro without a LOT of RAM.

Doug

chickeneps · Post by **chickeneps** » Fri May 04, 2007 1:42 am

disturb wrote:I'm in sampler hell right now, about to switch from one to another, i have a bunch of different formats supported by one, not the other etc...
Long story short, i'd like to convert everything to a "buffer" format, something safe and easy that won't screw up the mappings and enveloppes, and allow me to make a database of raw patches (read no crazy modulations or sampler specific stuff).
Seems like the best choice will be either akai, or sf2 ...?

To take an opposing point of view, I wouldn't go for a "buffer" format until you get the sampler you really like. THEN that will indicate what buffer format you want.

I would strongly NOT recommend SoundFont. It stores samples as mono, and makes stereo samples by "linking" two mono samples. Awfully '90's. There are a couple other reasons.

Really, Giga would be the choice, but then again if you aren't using Giga that seems silly. But to me, the idea of converting all your sounds to singular format that may not be the natice one of the sampler you are going to get seems impractical and without reason.

Your new sampler will indicate what that format is. Just wait for it.

A good conversion program can help keeping tabs of all this; you aren't restricted by the imports of the sampler. There are those that were mentioned, plus Translator www.chickensys.com and CDXtract www.cdxtract.com

audiojunkie · Post by **audiojunkie** » Fri May 04, 2007 2:13 am

Hey Garth,

I haven't spoken to you since my "EPS classic" days (Back in the days of floppies and when DOS was still used quite regularly). I used to be a registered user of your EPS software. How are you? How are things going?

@disturb: Garth makes a very valid point. You could use any of the translator programs, but it won't mean much if you don't take into consideration the actual sampler/player you are going to use.

--Sean

chickeneps · Post by **chickeneps** » Fri May 04, 2007 5:20 am

Doing great! Are you Burns? I looked through my list...)

audiojunkie · Post by **audiojunkie** » Fri May 11, 2007 7:12 am

Sorry, I didn't get a chance to check my messages until now. No, I'm Sean Ercanbrack.

chickeneps · Post by **chickeneps** » Sat May 12, 2007 4:06 am

Oh yeah - great to hear from you. It's been a long time since those days. Things sure have changed.

G&L_player · Post by **G&L_player** » Sat May 12, 2007 4:34 am

chickeneps wrote:To take an opposing point of view, I wouldn't go for a "buffer" format until you get the sampler you really like. THEN that will indicate what buffer format you want.

Exactly.

However, if you're using a few of them, as many do, you're bound to carry some redundancy with you. SampleTank, Kontakt2, Giga, Reason (NN-XT)...just try and pick one. I dare ya!

So, having a sampler converter/translator is almost a standard utility in the sampling arena.

MaliceX · Post by **MaliceX** » Sat May 12, 2007 6:32 am

Of course one has to consider the sacrifices made when switching between formats, it's always a good idea to keep the original copies regardless of whether you are going to use them or not. (Original is always the best...though there's some exceptions in terms of usability. DLS compared to SF2/sfz for instance.)

To answer the question, the most 'widespread/well-supported' format I would have to say is SF2, despite its limitations, I have seen SoundFont support in a lot of things nowadays, and is easily interchangeable to another format since it doesn't contain too many 'format-specific' features like most others do.

Most widespread/well supported format ?