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!).