KVR Audio

meeks · Post by **meeks** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 5:06 am

I tried to salvage a thread without starting a new one, but my attempts failed, so I'm asking again:

Being a Kontakt user, what exactly is this "giga" format (besides the obvious tascam sampler format)? To be precise, I keep reading references to things called "performance parts" and other things that I'm not familiar with. It sounds as if the format can retain dynamic information when played.

If I were offered different format versions of a sample set, such as Giga or Kontakt, which one should I get (knowing that the most recent kontakt update loads and converts giga files)? Even in this post I see reference to giga being the pro-standard (not that it means anything to me); but what exactly is this difference and should I be stearing towards it, especially if the sample set was recorded for it (giga) in the first place?

DevonB · Post by **DevonB** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 5:16 am

Help if you'd be very specific to what libraries and what 'bits' you want to know more about.

I also prefer not to 'translate' from one format to another. It almost ALWAYS spells trouble as nothing is perfect.

Devon

meeks · Post by **meeks** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 5:40 am

Specifically I'm looking at the C7 group buy over at NS. $65 for 3 libraries is looking to good, and the demos are pretty good as well.

To give a specific example, in the past I've purchased two products from Art Vista, the Malmsjo Piano (excellent) in nki format and Cool Vibes which was in giga format and it apparently had parameters, such as ring length versus key release, that kontakt just could not deal with (release the key and the sound stops, very unnatural and annoying). Beautiful sounds but still working on a true usable nki (even though artvista was kind enough to send me a nki that someone else made).

In reality, I'll probably go with the nki, for that is what I use. But I'm still curious as to whats going on in the translations that nki isn't picking up. (I'm begining to see that samplers are sensitive little buggers).

DevonB · Post by **DevonB** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 6:23 am

meeks wrote:In reality, I'll probably go with the nki, for that is what I use. But I'm still curious as to whats going on in the translations that nki isn't picking up. (I'm begining to see that samplers are sensitive little buggers).

Actually, they aren't sensitive at all. The problem is, it's like walking into the mall, and expecting 10 people you run into have all the exact same skills and abilities as the next person. You know that not to be true. The reason is, each sampler has its own abilities that other samplers do not. So what do you do if you have a patch for sampler A that uses 6 LFO's, and sampler B only has 1 LFO, or none at all? What happens when one sampler supports release triggers (meaning it triggers another sample for the release sound once your keyboards gives a note off signal IE you lift your finger off the keys) and other one does not? What happens if one sampler supports 4 multi velocity layers, and another supports 16? or 256? What you get is sounds lost in translation, and you get a lot of features stripped out simply because the other format can't handle it.

In general, it's better to buy samples in the format your sampler uses natively. It's been this way for the last 10 years I've been using samplers. If it can play a format NATIVELY, not 'import' and 'translate' it, that's what's best to pick. Only sfz+ plays Giga files natively that I'm aware of, while all others have to load it in and translate it to its own format.

Devon

meeks · Post by **meeks** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 7:44 am

Thanks, points taken!

(sfz+ can do that

I've heard rave reviews on it but I thought it mainly a sf2 player, I'll take another look.)

DevonB · Post by **DevonB** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 2:16 pm

meeks wrote:Thanks, points taken!

(sfz+ can do that I've heard rave reviews on it but I thought it mainly a sf2 player, I'll take another look.)

Sorry, should have said only sfz+ beta that was never actually released plays Giga natively (and perfectly, I might add. I tried it on all of my Giga libraries, and it all worked flawlessly.) I have my doubts that that it'll ever be released 'fully' though.

Too bad.

Devon

zircon · Post by **zircon** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 2:54 pm

No, actually, high-end samplers are pretty sensitive. Even if you're loading native samples, you can run into lots of problems. For instance, with QLSO Gold (Kompakt-based), I had to spend hours adjusting buffer settings and reloading samples before I could get a proper render. This is a common problem with Kontakt/Kompakt and products based on those, and I hear GS3 is even MORE buggy and finicky.

giga -vs- nki