Need Sample Advice

[Karl the Hermit]

I've been using SF2's for making music, but then I recently researched Kontakt, and I have more questions than answers.

As I understand it, SF's are mostly one-shot notes sampled for each key on a keyboard (or at least several octaves of a particular instrument). The general exception is percussion, where different instruments are mapped to different keys. I've had decent success with various SF players because I understand them. You take that raw note into your daw and effect and midi-warp as desired.

But then...

Kontakt! It's a lurid bitch, but I'm not sure if it's something I don't need. I have no desire to chop up and wav's and shit. And any fx I want to add I can do in a daw. Also, I don't even know if the samples are all separate samples mapped like a soundfont bank. The only 2 improvements I can see with Kontakt over SF's is that I can split the tracks on a drum kit, and the Kontakt library is very extensive.

So is it really worth it for a guy who wants a well-sampled, one-shot from an instrument without all the bells and whistles to get Kontakt, or should I stick with my oldskool SF's?

[synthmagic]

I would definitely take Kontakt over SFZ files, anyday. Not sure what music or samples you like, but if it is drum kits you are after, then I think you would be in your element with Kontakt. I use Abbey Roads 60's drummer from NI (it's great) and I could not imagine trying to replace that with an SFZ file of 60's drum sounds. Plus, with Kontakt, the drum kit will already be setup, will be able to play patterns that are included and normally comes with features to help make great drum sounds and personalise them or use the presets/snapshots etc.

When you look at the sheer amount of inexpensive libraries that are out there for Kontakt(and more each day), it is definitely worth considering.

[kingozrecords]

Maize sampler is fairly fast to use and make a sampler with, it might be a faster option. But I also like Grace and TX16w?? I think that's the name. Also, if the full the image-line sampler is cool too.

[kinwie]

Kontakt or SFZ is a personal taste imo.
Kontakt is superb, yes.
SFZ is a format amd still can improve, maybe with the next version, SFZ V3.
The laidback is that, not much sfz players support its full potential. For example, for now the most advanced "true" sfz player is Plogue sforzando. But since sforzando itself is free as beer, it's not much evolved in these years. What we got now with sforzando already a great gift from the dev.
If more devs make more advanced players then SFZ will be better of course. As example, right now another 'true" and open-source sfz player, sfizz, is being develop and toward great result. More and more features are implemented and added.
Programming wise, sfz is much faster. Setting up note_polyphony for drums is just like few seconds...

[enroe]

I've been using SF2's for making music, but then ...
As I understand it, SF's are mostly one-shot notes sampled for each key ...

Well, SF2 is fully capable of multisamples, velocity-splits etc. Here some
answers confuse SF2 and SFZ. They are different formats:

sf2 is a closed monolithic format. That means:
You have a single sf-2 file that contains both the samples and the
playback rules. Special software is required to change an sf2 multisample.

sfz, on the other hand, is an open format.
That means: The sfz-file itself only contains the playback rules. The
samples are in their own folder and the sfz-file references these
samples.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Both sf2 and sfz are not proprietary. This means that they are
future-proof in this regard.

The openness of sfz has the great advantage that you can edit such
a file with any simple text editor. And that you can change the playing
rules in a simple way. This advantage should not be underestimated,
because everyone can use their own "favorite editor" to change the
ADSR envelopes, the Velo sensitivity, the pitch bend range etc.

But then ...
Kontakt!

It depends on your personal taste. I'll give you an overview:

advantages with Kontakt:

-- very capable for any kind of multisamples
-- has its own scripting (even more flexible)
-- comes with many liberaries (ca. 55 gb)
-- great offer of sample-libraries (free + paid)

disadvantages of Kontakt:

-- costs ca. 400 €
-- you have to deal with a copy-protection
-- proprietary format

advantages of sfz:

-- free sfz-sampler
-- very capable (multisamples, round-robin, ... )
-- open format for easy editing (not proprietary)
-- wide range of multisamples (free + paid)
-- no copy-protection

Whereas Kontakt would be the direct jump into the world
of sample-libraries, the sfz-format would offer you a more
evolutionary step-by-step approach to sample-libraries.

In the end it's a matter of taste. But it seems to me that you
are so enthusiastic about Kontakt that you will take this leap
into the "Kontakt-world".