Initial Audio's SourceLab

[havran]

I had bought licenses for HeatUp 3, Sektor, and one or two other products, so I was on their email list and learned about this new product (SourceLab) months ago, but it seems there has been no talk about it here.

I wonder: why is that?

[trusampler]

I own it, it's been very useful for me so far. It does what it says it does and good if you own previous expansions

[starflakeprj]

I also own it. Bought it because I own around 20 expansions for the HeatUp 3, but I think the UI is terrible, so I never use it

[bosscillator]

I also own it. Bought it because I own around 20 expansions for the HeatUp 3, but I think the UI is terrible, so I never use it

This (unfortunately). I checked out the demoes, found it interesting but didn’t buy it because of the UI. Maybe they will change it soon.

[Benedict]

There are a few sampler synth powerhouses out there, but sadly, most really are not that well designed. One makes it all but impossible to bring in samples, another...

The issues here are that Initial, like a few others, focus on a certain part of the market that don't know or even seem to want to know how to do anything beyond the surface. So while SourceLab may be capable, their marketing makes what it might do obscure leaving it as a less easy to be clear about Kontakt (but cheaper). People like me who don't give a fig about presets, can't tell what it might be able to do and worse when d'loaded can't use it easily as it is a bit of a mess.

For Halion, I might invest the time, but for something that even the Dev can't give a clear line on, pffft. If I did invest the time, and struggle, likely in six months they abandon or change it up to be AI shizz. Whereas Steinie are more likely to keep Halion alive and focused (even if still a bit of a nightmare).

[havran]

Thank you, @Benedict -- I appreciate your viewpoint and your having taken time to reply.

[twal]

SourceLab 2 is out not sure how long.

[mesamask]

That's why:

sourcelab2.jpg

I saw this and it was game over for me

[exonerate]

That's why:


sourcelab2.jpg
I saw this and it was game over for me

The UI images there are showing what can be done with the Skin Editor. The Skin Editor was added so Sound designers can create there own interface for their preset packs. Completely drag and drop no scripting, this is a feature we are constantly working on. But it is completely optional if this "Real" look is not for you then you can ignore it.

I see comments about if we will keep supporting it in future, I can 100% guarantee this thing is getting updated constantly, now and forever . We already believe it is one of, if not the best synth on the market already. But it can be even better, this is why we are constantly updating it and supporting it with fresh content. Also you pay once and get all updates free. As you can see we are on version 2 already, SourceLab came out in May last year.

I am the developer by the way . So if anyone has any questions I can answer.

[Held]

Looks interesting, but how much disk space does it need? Storage has become expensive.

[exonerate]

Looks interesting, but how much disk space does it need? Storage has become expensive.

Needs about 4GB for the Factory content. Then there is the 4 free expansion packs ( ~3GB ) but these are optional.

[mesamask]

The UI images there ...

Well, it's certainly up to you if you're feeling comfortable advertising with something like this:

keyboard.png

... or this ...

slopCombo.png

Personally I'm instantly pulled off by that AI slop stuff, and I'd never ever use this for advertisement.
Talking about "real" look...

I very much appreciate a customizable GUI, I got Sektor and always liked you can change its' colors "on the fly". But it's kind of a different story.
Unfortunately I can't find anything out about how your "Skin Editor" for SourceLab is working (without installing the demo). Nothing on the YT playlist, nothing on the website. Speaking of website, more AI slop:

highFive.png

also:

moreSlop.png

If it wasn't for all that crap I might even consider buying SourceLab, but this entire AI slop approach ruins it for me right away. I'm not supporting that in any fashion.

[exonerate]

The UI images there ...

Well, it's certainly up to you if you're feeling comfortable advertising with something like this:


keyboard.png ... or this ...

slopCombo.png

Personally I'm instantly pulled off by that AI slop stuff, and I'd never ever use this for advertisement.
Talking about "real" look...

I very much appreciate a customizable GUI, I got Sektor and always liked you can change its' colors "on the fly". But it's kind of a different story.
Unfortunately I can't find anything out about how your "Skin Editor" for SourceLab is working (without installing the demo). Nothing on the YT playlist, nothing on the website. Speaking of website, more AI slop:


highFive.png


also:

moreSlop.png
If it wasn't for all that crap I might even consider buying SourceLab, but this entire AI slop approach ruins it for me right away. I'm not supporting that in any fashion.

Ok no problem, we have used AI for images sure, we are a small team and really the UI was more to show what the interfaces can look like, this feature is really for 3rd party sound designers and UI designers to use, again completely optional you don't have to use them.

We have been through a very fast iteration process, implementing huge changes and improvements to SourceLab based on user feedback. Now we are at version 2 and the dust is settling a bit, we are now focused on videos and tutorials so users can get the most from it.

[hypenotic]

Hi everyone,
I’m one of the developers of SourceLab.

Just to clarify: the image that started much of the discussion was a YouTube thumbnail, not part of our main product marketing or the actual plugin interface. We used AI for a few quick promotional visuals and example skins to demonstrate the capabilities of the new Skin & Plugin Editor added in version 2. These skins are completely optional — they’re mainly there for third-party sound designers who want to create their own custom interfaces.

We fully agree that SourceLab should be judged on how it sounds and what you can actually do with it — not on a thumbnail.

The core strength lies in its flexible 6-layer hybrid engine (wavetable + sampler + granular + loop slicer), deep modulation, sequencing, and especially the drag-and-drop Skin & Plugin Editor, which lets users build complex custom instruments and signal flows without any scripting.

We’ve been updating the plugin regularly with free lifetime updates and are committed to improving it based on real user feedback.

If you have any questions about the engine, the Editor, or how it performs in practice, feel free to ask. I’m happy to answer.

Thanks for the discussion.

For those interested in seeing what’s possible with the Skin & Plugin Editor, here’s an audio demo video of a complete virtual instrument (including its custom UI) that was built entirely inside
SourceLab:

SourceLab interface:

Custom instrument built inside SourceLab: Best regards,

[hypenotic]

@benedict It is super easy to load samples in SourceLab, it even has root note detection & auto mapping for multisamples if not named with key in the file check this