Halion, Sampletank, what to do?

[Cold Truth]

well.......... heres another question, hopefully i wont have to many more. i got cubase sx today, i will have my pc in a few weeks and so i am searching far and wide for a soft synth/sampler. i have thought about keeping my proteus but for programming drums i will need midi.... sooooooooooooooooooooo....... i am wondering something: \

what is the major difference between a synth and a sampler? all these samplers look like they do the same things that synths do, but when i read about them, it all looks very complicated. theres all this mapping and talk about looping and usig certain notes as the base and AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHGGGGGGGGGGGG........ it just looks like a lot to do to play a sound, but then that may just be options and things you CAN do, not that you HAVE to. i dont know....

so i have been looking at halion and sampletank, and the that it can load emu and akai, while sampletank can only do akai.... but then they do usually come in dual formats, right?

so whats the better choice? synth or sampler? can i just load and play sounds without having to tweak them?i ike sound design and all but i prefer stock to just grab and use at will... i dont have the time to play with sounds all day.

 

[vitaminman]

Hey,

A synth like the Proteus, Triton, Motif, XV 5080, etc. all use PCM files stored in ROM. These PCM files are then mapped across the keyboard, layered with other PCM sounds, run through filters, effects, moduators, etc. and make up the patch that you hear when you dial up something.

A sampler, on the other hand, has abolutely NOTHING stored in it...YOU have to supply the PCM samples, map them across the keyboard, run it through filters, effects, etc.

The beauty of the Akai and Emu formats is that once you have them, you can load them into the sampler and use them just like you would dial up a sound on a normal synth.

Sampletank is JUST a sound module, you cannot load your own PCM files into it...you can only use the ones which come as presets, or Akai programs which you buy. You can edit the program information (key mapping, filters, effects, etc.) but you cannot touch the original PCM file.

Halion, on the other hand, is a sampler which you can create your own sample programs with, or load those of other companies (like Akai).

Neither is a better choice, it depends on what you're doing. I would prefer to have a softsampler because I like to mess with my own sounds and use them...if you're looking for bog standard sounds like horns, basses, drums, etc. and don't want to have to 'load' them, Sampletank is for you.

I don't know if anything can read Emu samples yet, the information stored is too complex for most samplers, both hardware and software, to read. Akai, on the other hand, has a very basic sample structure and therefore can be read by most everyone.

Take care,

Nick

PS: PCM means Pulse Code Modulation. PCM files are the basic building block of practically all digital audio today, including wave, aiff, the audio on cd's, dvd's, etc.