XS-1

With the new R6 update to XS-1, I am in sampler heaven. The most important addition, for me, is that the midi channel I've selected for an instrument holds when I change to a different soundfount, rather than jumping back to a default setting like it did before. This makes it super-fast and easy to audition tons of different instruments to find just the right one. The samples load fast, and XS-1 responds well to real-time switching.

XS-1 is making it possible for me to realize the value of the 6,000 or so soundfonts I have acquired. Even some of those that I didn't think sounded very good can be made usable by tweaking the settings in XS-1.

I use XS-1 more than any other plugin, and it's paid for itself many times over. Great work, Oskari!Read Review

Reading the previous reviews made me purchase this thing...... and I'm not disappointed. Of course the sound depends heavily on the quality of the soundfounds but the XS-1 threads them perfectly!

GUI: not my style, but very simple and dead easy to use. And you can easy replace it by another GUI-design provided by Jeskola.

Features: excellent. I hate VSTi's with millions of features you never use much. XS-1 has all the main ones you actually use.

Documentation: no idea really... never had to use it.

Presets: it's been said before, it's what you put in yourself. But the starter-set on the Jeskola page is pretty good.

Customer support: never had to use it but Jeskola sends the updates automatically by E-mail. You don't have to think about it yourself! Excellent!

Value for money: price is hardly an issue, it's freakin' cheap!

Stability: rock solid. Never had any problems with it.

I've checked out several SF-players but this one is by far the best. No click or crackles or crashes or loadingproblems or whatever......
Go get it!Read Review

GUI: Well, it's not the most beautiful VSTi available, but it's very easy to use.

Sound: Great. Actually it sounds better than my VSampler (for soundfonts that is)

Docs: You dont need it.

Presets: Download free soundfonts from hammersound.net, or wherever.

Customer support: What can I say. I had to e-mail Oskari once when I bought the XS-1 and got my answer almost at once.

Value for Money: Hey, it's cheap.....

Stability: Never crashed...


All in all, this has to be the best Soundfont player available. It's easy on my humble CPU, and the release 3 can load 16 channels. Of course you can stack them all, or split, or why not a combination of stack and split.

If you need a soundfontplayer, you need this one. I use it in addition to VSampler, and it's a great combination.Read Review

This is a one-hit wonder. And let me say I really love the focus of this VSTi. As other reviewers have noted, the vast selection of SF2 files now available make this product absolutely perfect.

I have never needed an owner's manual - I don't even know if one is supplied. It is really intuitive and stable. Clearly, a winning combination.Read Review

This is a great VST. Combine it with Vienna, and selected soundfonts from Hammer etc, and you have a huge amount of music making potential!

Version 2 now saves settings, allows a channel to be "emptied", and has a sort of mouse-over help.

Interface: Is OK. Workmanlike, some oddities - why an "M" button for the effects? I queried the "positive and negative" reverb send settings, but apparently this range is part of the soundfont spec. A list of all loaded presets on the main window would have been good.

Sound: Good! Great claims made on the website, and certainly better with sf2s than Kontakt (which has clicky loop points), sound quality close to Halion (which however drops notes too readily). This VST will bring out the best in your soundfonts!

Features: Fine. I don't use envelopes. The portamento is useful, as is the pitchbend range adjustment, and the keyboard sensitivity adjustment. (Sampletank doesn't have these features!) The distortion could use some warmth. The reverb is just OK, but I have Cubase SXs reverb anyway. I would have liked more than 4 presets, allowing its use as a single VST for a whole song.

Presets: this is a soundfont player. Can't really be marked down for a lack of presets.

Support has been fine (email).

Documentation is not really needed for a VSTi of this type - it does what it says on the screen. Command-line format conversion utility should be integrated with main VSTi.

It seems to be completely stable, has a low CPU use, and at this price is a STEAL. Get it.

Alan HopeRead Review