Hello People!

[BluesMeister]

Giga Samples

Gooday Middleman,

I have Gigasampler 24 which came with the Audiophile 2496
Giga is most definately a wonderful bit of gear- you don't need me to tell you that. BUT, the libraries (as they call the sample sets) are so hugely expensive that really only serious composers can justify the expense. Also the system requirements and cost of GigaStudio with 160 voices capability means that you have to be in the major league to contemplate using it to its full potential.

However, VSampler 3 is not too far away (I've been trying the alpha-test version at home) and my understanding is that it will eventually be able to import Giga samples. When it's finally released, in my view, it will be one of the best software synths around.

Which Giga samples did you get with the Audiophile

--
BluesMeister

 

[acidrock]

Plenty of free gigasamples available here,

http://www.worrasplace.com

http://www.soundbank.hu/download.html#drum

Plus you can make your own instruments,also check out this site individual instruments downloadable as cheap as $2.95!


http://www.wizoosounds.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/wizoosounds

 

[Middleman]

acidrock,

Thanks for those extra links, I will check them out.

BluesMeister,

I have all the usual ones 12 string, Rickenbacker(sp?), sax and a few pads. Some really good drum sets are in there too. I also downloaded some from Worrasplace. I agree that VSampler 3 is the way to go. Low cost, uses soundfonts and gig files. Completely eliminates the soundblaster card and eliminates having Giga running simultaneously. Also it acts as a plug-in. Not much more you could ask for in sound bank software.

Any revelations in using Vsampler 3.0 vs 2.74?

 

[James Argo]

I dunno, but I still use 2.74 and it provide everything I need till now. Thank's BluesMeister for your reply then. I haven't checked the VS 3 yet...

 

[Middleman]

acidrock,

This site link is killer http://www.wizoosounds.com/cgi-bin/...cts/wizoosounds

Great sounds and low prices. Thanks again.

 

[Toki987]

Everybody that told me NOT to frig around with Soundblaster please go to your neighborhood bar and grill and tell the tender that TOki owes you a free drink for not taking some damned good advice!!!

 

[wfaraoni]

Soundblaster live

Ive used both a soundblaster live and a soundblaster audigy card and have not had any problems with either card other than learning to configure them correctly. Ive got a spare new soundblaster live card which I got with a purchase of the live drive bay which enabled me to input midi very easily. I am presently using the bay with my audigy card. 1.6 gig 512 meg and xp pro, sonar 2xl. If you dont already have a card then and you want the card let me know I only need about $20 for it. I dont know why there is all this negative stuff about the SB card on this thread. Maybe a holdover from past experiences with older versions. The reason I went with the audigy is that it has a pitch shift effect which I use quite frequently with a karaoke program I use. I output the card to my pa system and it sounds pretty good. I dont know what the direct output can do however. Most people are really impressed with the sound I am putting out live. The specs on the Soundblaster card are really excellent as far as distortion and noise rejection as well. I have no doubt that there are better cards out there as all here are saying but if you want simple reliable input and output, let me know via email wfaraoni@yahoo.com

 

[Toki987]

I have no quams with soundblaster as a "simple input and output" midi device. The SB 16PCI I have kicks butt. But alas, there is and "until...." clause with the older cards, such as the 16, 64, 128, 512, live!, when it comes to "until you try to run multiple audio tracks with multiple midi tracks and it begins to get very busy, latency issues with software synths, effects, sonic clarity of the samples, and software availibility for many of the models that creative does not support any longer." There is very little overhead for growth if you use one of these cards. However, the marketing strategies used to unload the "old stuff" by creative is more my issue.

 

[Paul881]

Thank you guys, from what I read i your posts Middleman and Bluesmeister, I have just downloaded vsampler and it is awesome, a truly great way of managing banks within Sonar. I might even download beta version 3.0!

But I still need my s/b Live! for the midi connection. It seems to co-exist very happily with my Delta 66 +omni, so no worries there. Thanks again.

 

[BluesMeister]

Another Brief Post...

Middleman
These are the Gigs that came with my Terratec:
GM500 Mega Piano
Analogue Filter Sawtooth
Analogue Filter Square
Big Fish Audio Ross Garfield Clemente Kit
Dirty Funk Slap Bass
Doogie DX7
VR Drums Giga Funk
Filter Bass
Layer Filter Mod Wheel
Memesys Foot Control Snare
Rhodes Slow
Rickenbacker Classis Bass
Sacred Scenes For Scoring
Q Up Arts Dream Experience Demo
Not too bad considering it was bundled with the card.

Acidrock
I have downloaded a few SFs from www.soundbank.hu and they have been of good quality. Well recommended for a look.

Paul881
Be aware that VSampler 3 is in alpha release at this time. You'll need to install MIDI Yoke to get it to work. The driver that installs with VS3 simply doesn't work.

Wfaroni
It's not really negative stuff regarding the SB cards, it's just that what Creative originally started has been rapidly overtaken by the semi-pro and porfessional audio card range. The Audigy is Creative's foray into the 24/96 card territory. We are not panning the Audigy per se, rather we are saying that the earlier SB cards are now sadly lacking in their facilities and capabilities. At least that's how I read it. I have listened to a fair amount of music recorded on various PCs using SoundBlasterLive! audio cards and they all sound great. They use drum soundfonts and guitar overdubs.

Toki987
Be aware that problems you are encountering could also be hardware-related. A minimum of 128MB RAM is recommended, but 512MB is better. Also a P3 would make things move along with fewer glitches. There is a huge range of high-end audio cards available these days that will do the job, and they range in cost from the frighteningly expensive to the easily affordable. You have to decide on the facilities you want and the number of I/O ports that will suit your needs.

Possibly the highest of the highest would be the RME Hammerfall. Very highly regarded and highly priced too!

But even my budget Terratec EWX 24/96 is no slouch. I got mine from Zzounds and it was $199

The Echo Mia is now well-thought of - although in its earliest incarnation suffered majorly from pops and clicks. It doesn't have a MIDI connector though. That was a serious contender for me when I was shopping around.

The Audiophile 2496 enjoys a huge user-base with GigaStudio users and is very well thought of. I really should have given this serious consideration during my research.

It is perfectly feasible to use two SB cards, one for playback at 16-bit and one for recording at 16-bit. I think the sampling rates may be fixed at 44.1kHz - but that's perfectly acceptable. At one time I was able to connect my AWE to my EWX via S/PDIF and could happily hear MIDI files without resorting to a soft-synth.

And finally in my earlier post I referred to my Terratec not having wavetable synthesis whereas you all know what I really meant was that the Terratec doesn't have an audio chip, that's why I now have to use a soft synth to hear anything. I have removed my AWE64 Gold and it's currently on E-Bay.

--
BluesMeister

 

[Toki987]

Re: Another Brief Post...

Middleman

It is perfectly feasible to use two SB cards, one for playback at 16-bit and one for recording at 16-bit. I think the sampling rates may be fixed at 44.1kHz - but that's perfectly acceptable. At one time I was able to connect my AWE to my EWX via S/PDIF and could happily hear MIDI files without resorting to a soft-synth.

--
BluesMeister

Now that is an interesting thought. It may prevent the chip overload and ...well damn, it just might work for me.. I`ll check it out.