Independence Free

Independence Free is a lite, free (obviously) version of MAGIX's Independence Sampler. It comes with a very generous suite of about 2GB worth of sampled instruments. They are all excellent quality, with the drum kits being a particular standout. It's honestly worth the download & fuss of installing it just for the drums. But there's also some other nice percussion, electric piano, guitar, bass, and a smattering of synths. Since it's free and the samples range from good to outstanding, it should be an easy 5-star. But the setup is a bit bizarre and the workflow / UX is not the most intuitive. You have to download the base product first, and then you have to download the library separately. It's a custom installer, so you're at the mercy of MAGIX's servers and workflow here. This could be a lot simpler but I'm sure they have their reasons. The interface is on the more difficult side compared to other samplers out there. You may need to read a bit of the manual or watch a video on Youtube to figure out the basics.

You can test it free for 7 days without giving any info, but then you need to register with an e-mail after that. Overall it's a great FREE product with some excellent samples that's worth some of the fuss of setting it up and a less than friendly user interface.

Pros:

• Excellent quality samples, especially the drum kits.
• Very generous 2GB library.
• Good CPU / RAM performance.
• Free (!).
• Unlike other free VSTs that have been around for a long time, this is still 100% supported by its developer.

Cons:

• Installation is a bit of a pain and slower than it needs to be.
• Interface is not the most user-friendly, but reveals itself over time.
• A few other random quirks (e.g. there's an acoustic piano, but it's only available as a default instrument, not menu selectable. Weird!).

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Independence 2 Free is quite possibly the best free software out there. I know. That's quite a claim, but I REALLY like this. First of all, IT'S FREE! Unlike other free software, this one is fully functional and very useable. AND it works on a Mac with OSX10.4 or above (yeah, 10.5 too!) and PCs with XP or Vista. It's fully downloadable and you can download the 2GB of free sounds too. You need to have a little time and/or bandwidth to get everything, but it's all there and easy to install and setup.

I downloaded and set this up on one of my PCs and my Mac right away. It's got a lot of great sounds for the free version. I can't wait to see and hear the one they charge for! That must be awesome. I've played the Piano and Electric Piano sounds and they're great. I've also played the synth sounds and they rock. They're full poly, very easy to modify the MIDI stuff like aftertouch & Volume & Patch change etc. It's got lots of built in effects too. You can save and load sounds. Of course, there is no import or export or that sort of thing. The Pro version has all of that AND 70GB (70??) of samples.

It's very simple to use & very easy to modify sounds and parameters. It's got great sounds. It's even got a standalone piece that can accept input from multiple keyboards. It can stack up layers and it's unbelievably light on the CPU and sound card. You've got save and load and full audio mixing.

It's not that glamerous to look at, but that's one of the reasons it's light on the CPU. The 2GB of samples that come with the free version give you plenty to work with and are quite enticing to buy the Basic or Pro version.

The only thing left to say here is that I'm done writing. It's time to play! Go to the Yellow Tools English or German web site (www.yellowtools.com) and check this out. Download the free version for Mac and/or PC. Get the 2GB of free sounds and get playing too!!

I never had to even check out the manual or call support. This software is very intuitive and works like it should work. It must have been desinged by players. You'll spend your time playing and not fiddling with stuff. Unless you like fiddling with stuff, then fiddle away...
=:-)Read Review