I've been thinking about buying Sonic Synth 2 and SampleTank 2, but I am having a bit of a hard time figuring out what makes them seperate products. Both are huge libraries of bread and butter sounds running on the SampleTank 2 engine, and they are roughly the same price. So what's the difference?
And also, do they overlap on content? I ask mainly because I'd hate to buy both and find that they have a lot of the same stuff in them.
Sonic Synth 2 & SampleTank 2: What's the difference?
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Lawnmower Of The Damned Lawnmower Of The Damned https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=29783
- KVRian
- Topic Starter
- 850 posts since 16 Jun, 2004
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- KVRian
- 1302 posts since 9 Oct, 2003 from California
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- KVRAF
- 3476 posts since 9 Apr, 2003 from NE Ohio, USA
And alsodgkenney wrote:http://www.kvr-vst.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=60760
http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=72612
http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=72647
http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=73300
And I'm sure Squids will be along to help you decide, too
Doug
Logic is a pretty flower that smells bad - Spock, in "I, Mudd"
For a good time click http://www.belindabedekovic.com/video_fl_en.htm
For a good time click http://www.belindabedekovic.com/video_fl_en.htm
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- KVRist
- 267 posts since 15 Apr, 2002 from Wiltshire, UK
While both cover a wide range of genres, Sampletank caters for more acoustic and popular styles, while Sonik Synth 2 is more geared towards electronic and electronica/dance/prog-rock genres. While they both compliment each other and there are far greater benefits in owning them together (cross-grade purchases, upgrades etc), if you are only considering purchasing one, i'd go for Sonik Synth 2.
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- KVRian
- 1256 posts since 22 Aug, 2003
If you're only choosing one, it all depends on what you want.
I haven't used Sonic Synth 2, but I do know that it's really mostly for synth stuff. Whereas the synth stuff in SampleTank 2XL is mostly worthless.
Since I prefer to synthesize my synthesis the normal way (with synthesizers
), I don't really have any interest in Sonic Synth 2. SampleTank 2XL is a good collection of mostly usable sounds in a pretty good interface/plugin. If you're looking for an orchestral library, look elsewhere, and if you're looking for sampled synths, look to Sonic Synth 2, but if you're looking for great pianos, awesome drumkits, mostly terrible brass, funky basses, excellent ethnic percussion kits, and a few choice lead guitars, SampleTank2XL is for you
I haven't used Sonic Synth 2, but I do know that it's really mostly for synth stuff. Whereas the synth stuff in SampleTank 2XL is mostly worthless.
Since I prefer to synthesize my synthesis the normal way (with synthesizers
), I don't really have any interest in Sonic Synth 2. SampleTank 2XL is a good collection of mostly usable sounds in a pretty good interface/plugin. If you're looking for an orchestral library, look elsewhere, and if you're looking for sampled synths, look to Sonic Synth 2, but if you're looking for great pianos, awesome drumkits, mostly terrible brass, funky basses, excellent ethnic percussion kits, and a few choice lead guitars, SampleTank2XL is for you -
- KVRAF
- 4692 posts since 28 Jan, 2003 from In these very interwebs
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- KVRAF
- 4143 posts since 7 Sep, 2001 from Melbourne, Australia
From what I recall, the ST2 content is actually different patch-by-patch from the SS2 content.
Ie - you won't find the same pianos in ST2 that you'll find in SS2.
Sonic Reality seem to be taking over alot of the sound design in ST2 now so I don't know if that's something that'll change in future or if I just got the original info wrong.
The difference between the two is definitely in focus.
SS2 is using some aspects of the ST2 engine to turn it into more of a sound design tool than purely a rompler. It's very much focused on synths which isn't to say it doesn't have some great instruments (like a 152MB piano) in there.
But quite alot of the content is actually what's called "Elements" in SS2 and this is for sound building. You can extend the sound palette massively by building new sounds from a combination of different elements. Because SS2 is quite new, people haven't really taken this concept very far yet, but luckily it comes which a whole selection of these "Combis" to play with and adapt.
But noone explains these things conceptually better than Squids, and I've only really just started looking at SS2 at this time.
Caleb
Ie - you won't find the same pianos in ST2 that you'll find in SS2.
Sonic Reality seem to be taking over alot of the sound design in ST2 now so I don't know if that's something that'll change in future or if I just got the original info wrong.
The difference between the two is definitely in focus.
SS2 is using some aspects of the ST2 engine to turn it into more of a sound design tool than purely a rompler. It's very much focused on synths which isn't to say it doesn't have some great instruments (like a 152MB piano) in there.
But quite alot of the content is actually what's called "Elements" in SS2 and this is for sound building. You can extend the sound palette massively by building new sounds from a combination of different elements. Because SS2 is quite new, people haven't really taken this concept very far yet, but luckily it comes which a whole selection of these "Combis" to play with and adapt.
But noone explains these things conceptually better than Squids, and I've only really just started looking at SS2 at this time.
Caleb
Happiness is the hidden behind the obvious.
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- KVRAF
- 4692 posts since 28 Jan, 2003 from In these very interwebs
Ok, seriously:
The engines are very similar (SS2 is based on ST2, as you know). ST2 has some extra features that SS2 doesn't have. They are:
1) Swtchable loop sync on each channel (SS2 has loop sync on always, and doesn't need it to be switchable because it's a closed sound set).
2) Ability to load and save FX chains.
3) Ability to bypass the entire effects chain with one button
4) Ability to "lock" the effects chain so that loading a new instrument does NOT overwrite the effects chain (you keep the effects from the previous instrument).
5) Ability to load new sounds from other ST2 libraries.
6) Ability to import WAV files and Akai discs.
7) Ability to change the GUI colour.
Ability to view information about an instrument (inc. size) before loading it.
All in all though, these are fairly minor differences. By far the biggest difference is in the sound set.
ST2 has an all-round sound set, without any particular emphasis. The biggest version is 4.5 gigs.
SS2 has an all-round sound set, but with an emphasis on synthesisers synthetic sounds, and weird hybrid stuff. It also has some fantastic drum kits, acoustic pianos, guitars, etc (the sorts of sounds that Sonic Reality is good at). SS2's sound set is 8.5 gigs.
ST2's sound set was mainly recorded by IK in Italy, and also contains some sounds that were featured in SampleTank1.
SS2's sound set was completely developed by Sonic Reality in the US.
Subjectively, I feel that the strong points of SS2 are the synthesisers, synthetic sounds, acoustic drum kits, guitars (acoustic, electric, bass), orchestral textures, pianos, etc.
ST2's drums are very different to SS2. In ST2, the acoustic drumkits are somehwat pre-processed and more "stylised" (SS2's drumkits are very natural-sounding, designed to be processed with the effects section in the plugin). ST2 also has more modern "genre" drumkits (such as techno, house, DnB, etc), whereas SS2's electronic drums are mainly focussed on historic drum machines, and "genreless" processed kits.
ST2's electronic drums are the only part of the ST2 sound set that I use - everything else is SS2.
However, I run everything in the ST2 plugin, because I've got a few other ST2 expansions, and I like to have everything in one place (as well as having the few extra niceties of the full ST2 engine).
Forever,
Kim.
The two main differences are the engine and the sounds.thornemaelstrom wrote:I've been thinking about buying Sonic Synth 2 and SampleTank 2, but I am having a bit of a hard time figuring out what makes them seperate products. Both are huge libraries of bread and butter sounds running on the SampleTank 2 engine, and they are roughly the same price. So what's the difference?
The engines are very similar (SS2 is based on ST2, as you know). ST2 has some extra features that SS2 doesn't have. They are:
1) Swtchable loop sync on each channel (SS2 has loop sync on always, and doesn't need it to be switchable because it's a closed sound set).
2) Ability to load and save FX chains.
3) Ability to bypass the entire effects chain with one button
4) Ability to "lock" the effects chain so that loading a new instrument does NOT overwrite the effects chain (you keep the effects from the previous instrument).
5) Ability to load new sounds from other ST2 libraries.
6) Ability to import WAV files and Akai discs.
7) Ability to change the GUI colour.
Ability to view information about an instrument (inc. size) before loading it.All in all though, these are fairly minor differences. By far the biggest difference is in the sound set.
ST2 has an all-round sound set, without any particular emphasis. The biggest version is 4.5 gigs.
SS2 has an all-round sound set, but with an emphasis on synthesisers synthetic sounds, and weird hybrid stuff. It also has some fantastic drum kits, acoustic pianos, guitars, etc (the sorts of sounds that Sonic Reality is good at). SS2's sound set is 8.5 gigs.
ST2's sound set was mainly recorded by IK in Italy, and also contains some sounds that were featured in SampleTank1.
SS2's sound set was completely developed by Sonic Reality in the US.
The samples are completely different. Of course there will be some overlap in the types of sounds, but even so, ST2 and SS2 have very different flavours.thornemaelstrom wrote:And also, do they overlap on content? I ask mainly because I'd hate to buy both and find that they have a lot of the same stuff in them.
Subjectively, I feel that the strong points of SS2 are the synthesisers, synthetic sounds, acoustic drum kits, guitars (acoustic, electric, bass), orchestral textures, pianos, etc.
ST2's drums are very different to SS2. In ST2, the acoustic drumkits are somehwat pre-processed and more "stylised" (SS2's drumkits are very natural-sounding, designed to be processed with the effects section in the plugin). ST2 also has more modern "genre" drumkits (such as techno, house, DnB, etc), whereas SS2's electronic drums are mainly focussed on historic drum machines, and "genreless" processed kits.
ST2's electronic drums are the only part of the ST2 sound set that I use - everything else is SS2.
However, I run everything in the ST2 plugin, because I've got a few other ST2 expansions, and I like to have everything in one place (as well as having the few extra niceties of the full ST2 engine).
Forever,
Kim.
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harmony gardens harmony gardens https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=12815
- KVRian
- 830 posts since 19 Feb, 2004 from Richland Center, Wisconsin
Very well put Jeez. I own both myself, and the current soundset for SS2 is much better IMO. It is nice to have Sampletank 2 XL for the engine, because you can use it to run any of the IK/Sonic Reality sounds. It's important to note that with the update to 2.1, the Sampletank sound set will also be upgraded. I'm 100% confident that the new sounds will be more in a standard of SS2. It's not that there aren't a lot of really nice sounds in ST2, but I prefer SS2. Anyone who buys ST2 after January 1st from esoundz, will get the sound upgrade free, when it comes out.
IMHO, if your thinking of buying one or the other, I would get SS2 first. My 2 cents
IMHO, if your thinking of buying one or the other, I would get SS2 first. My 2 cents
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- KVRist
- 423 posts since 21 Sep, 2003
Man are the Sample Tank XL sounds that BAD???Rellik wrote:If you're only choosing one, it all depends on what you want.
I haven't used Sonic Synth 2, but I do know that it's really mostly for synth stuff. Whereas the synth stuff in SampleTank 2XL is mostly worthless.
Also, do you have to buy STXL from esoundz or can it be from any authorized dealers to qualify for the upgraded sounds for free??
SQUIDS????
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- KVRAF
- 4692 posts since 28 Jan, 2003 from In these very interwebs
The ST2 sounds aren't bad. The issue is that they're not meant to be a focal library for any particular type of instrument or sound. The stock ST2 library is better to "round out" your collection by filling in the gaps.tdm71 wrote:Man are the Sample Tank XL sounds that BAD???
So if you're ONLY using the ST2 instruments, you might be disappointed if you're looking for the kind of quality from dedicated libraries. However, if you've got several expansion packs (and SS2 maybe), then you'll find that the ST2 sound set nicely fill in some gaps for instruments that are nice to have, but not important enough (to you) to justify buying a whole library for them.
I hope that makes sense.
Forever,
Kim.
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- KVRAF
- 4692 posts since 28 Jan, 2003 from In these very interwebs
It's easiest if you buy it from eSoundz, because you'll already be in their system so the upgrade is really easy.tdm71 wrote:Also, do you have to buy STXL from esoundz or can it be from any authorized dealers to qualify for the upgraded sounds for free??
You should still be able to get the sounds upgrade if you bought it from another store. It'll just be a little more complex because you have to show some proof of purchase (email the receipt to eSoundz).
I think he's busy doing post-NAMM stuff.tdm71 wrote:SQUIDS????
I hope I can help in his absence. 
Forever,
Kim.
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harmony gardens harmony gardens https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=12815
- KVRian
- 830 posts since 19 Feb, 2004 from Richland Center, Wisconsin
There are lots of good useful sounds in Sampletank 2. I think the sounds in SS2 are just a bit more useful to me. It's all subjective of course.
We'll have to wait for squids answer on whether the free sound upgrade is only available on esoundz. I'm not clear on that myself. It doesn't much matter to me, though, because I am more than happy with esounds. They have graduating membership level, and the more you buy there, the greater the discount you get on other sound sets. Squids does anything he can within reason to take care of his customers.
We'll have to wait for squids answer on whether the free sound upgrade is only available on esoundz. I'm not clear on that myself. It doesn't much matter to me, though, because I am more than happy with esounds. They have graduating membership level, and the more you buy there, the greater the discount you get on other sound sets. Squids does anything he can within reason to take care of his customers.
Last edited by harmony gardens on Sun Jan 30, 2005 6:30 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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- KVRAF
- 2831 posts since 11 Jun, 2003
I say get both.. really, get both. You won't regret it. If I had to start now, I would get SS2 first, while definitely getting St2 later with the upgrade. Having both is invaluable.
I started with St2 and then got SS2. They compliment each other really well. They are the best investment I have made.
Oh, and I also use Sampletank2 to play the Sonik Synth sounds.
I started with St2 and then got SS2. They compliment each other really well. They are the best investment I have made.
Oh, and I also use Sampletank2 to play the Sonik Synth sounds.
Play it by ear
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- KVRian
- 1112 posts since 17 Jul, 2003 from Kauai, HI
I just bought both myself and agree--having both is great. If money is a factor, SS2 at $100 less is the way to go.
Tom
Tom