Sampletank 2.5 and Cubase 4

[BERFAB]

I don't think I've ever gotten the hang of the 'sends' thing when it comes to multi-instrument machines like Sampletank. Reading someone else's post on the subject got me thinking as to whether I'm doing this right.

Ever since Cubase 4, I almost never use the VST rack. Instead, I just load up individual instances of ST2.x (or SS2, Miro, etc.). That way, I can easily put a different Combi on any track, along with the regular patches.

But if I do this, are all the sounds going out the same send? I just assumed that each instance had it's own unique output.

Is this method wrong?

Cheers
-B

[harmony gardens]

I don't think I've ever gotten the hang of the 'sends' thing when it comes to multi-instrument machines like Sampletank. Reading someone else's post on the subject got me thinking as to whether I'm doing this right.

Ever since Cubase 4, I almost never use the VST rack. Instead, I just load up individual instances of ST2.x (or SS2, Miro, etc.). That way, I can easily put a different Combi on any track, along with the regular patches.

But if I do this, are all the sounds going out the same send? I just assumed that each instance had it's own unique output.

Is this method wrong?

Cheers
-B

I don't think there's a wrong way to do it, if it works for you, and there are some advantages to both ways. As you said, it's easier to load up combinations if you have individual instances. You can still use a separate audio output for each voice with individual outputs if you do some tweaking and set up an audio track for the outputs you use. Since we don't have a way to load combi's on a per channel basis, if you load a combi into Sampletank, it wipes out your previous work, so there is no way to load two combis in one instance. (we've discussed this one before here, somewhere)

The advantage of using the rack to insert the instance is it will set up your audio tracks automatically for you.

The downside of individual instances is the resource load on your project, but if Cubase allows you to freeze synths, like Sonar does, it's good to use it that way. I have projects I've done with one instance and some I've done with more than one.

The new 2.5 effects structure makes the choices available to us even more perplexing. I don't think I'll use as many vst effects, now, since we have so many routing options now, and the built in effects in Sampletank are so good. There are fewer reasons to use individual audio tracks, I think.

That's the best I can do right now, with all these new loops to play with.

[BERFAB]

Thanks HG.
The way I've been working, the load hasn't really been all that terrible from using multiple instances.

Like I said elsewhere, the new Combi's are like getting a brand new synth--there's new beats and leads and basses and pads--all great stuff. So it's just more intuitive for me to use them with instrument tracks rather than the VST rack.

Cheers
-B