Samplers / Sampling

Hot on the heels of the ESI32 and EIV samplers comes Emu's latest mid-price unit. We sent Paul Wiffen to find out how the E64 differs from its siblings

Given the outrageously high asking prices of so-called classic analogue synths, it can often pay to hire them and sample the sounds yourself. Paul Ward passes on a few tips.

Timing delays, stolen notes, lack of sampler memory... having trouble playing back your sample files over MIDI? But all these problems can be things of the past. All it needs is a little care and planning — as Wilf Smarties explains.

Once upon a time an Emulator was all eights: 8-bit, 8-voice, 8-outs, but that was a decade ago. Ten years on and the latest Emulator has more of the 128 about it: 128 voices, up to 128Mb of RAM. Paul Wiffen finds out if everything else about the EIV is 16 times as good.

The would-be samplist now has a wide range of samplers to choose from in the medium to high price ranges, but the sub-£800 zone has been looking decidedly bare — until now. Derek Johnson checks out the sampler that plugs the gap...

Are you forever coming up with the same old 'N-N-N-N-Nineteen' effects on your sampler? do you reach for that jaded Peruvian noseflute sample every time you want a 'really original sound' for your latest masterpiece? Fear not, for top tipmeister Paul Ward is back, with more off-the-wall uses for you to try out at home...

News of the ESi32 has set the hearts of ambitious but fiscally challenged samplists beating faster. Mike Barnes brings you this exclusive review of the machine which packs EIII sampling power into a box costing under £1200, and wonders 'Is it too good to be true?"

David Mellor explains why he abandoned his hardware sampler in favour of Digidesign's computer based sample playback card, and takes a look at what you need to make it into a fully fledged sampling setup.

Emu took up the opportunity of a whistle-stop Autumn press tour to announce new products — including their lowest-priced sampler to date — which set the company's agenda for the coming months. Derek Johnson previews the new kit on the block.

Emu took up the opportunity of a whistle-stop Autumn press tour to announce new products — including their lowest-priced sampler to date — which set the company's agenda for the coming months. Derek Johnson previews the new kit on the block.

The S760 sampler represented excellent value for money on its release back in February this year. Now it looks even more impressive, with the arrival of the OP760/1 expansion board and the v.2.12 system software. Paul Wiffen checks them out.

Sampled piano aficionados know the particular problems involved in constructing a good loop of this essential instrument. Craig Anderton passes on a personal solution.

The TX16W was about to go down in the annals of electronic instrument history as a brilliant-sounding sampler handicapped by a pig of an operating system — until a group of Swedish users took matters into their own hands. Duncan Werner investtigates the ultimate in third-party development.

You don't have to stick to library samples all the time, and you needn't spend hours creating your own. Paul White reveals a few short cuts.

A large, painstakingly assembled sample library is of little use if it's so badly organised that you can't separate your tablas from your trumpets. Dave Stewart gives some tips to help you make your library a model of accessibility.

Roland's latest offering in the 16-bit sampler stakes is more compact, more expandable, and less expensive (by a fair margin) than its predecessors. But have they had to make significant omissions to achieve this? Paul Wiffen investigates.

The division between sampler and digital recorder has grown ever narrower with the release of the Lynex, a sophisticated manipulator of high quality, 16‑bit stereo sounds that piggybacks on to any host Atari ST computer. SOS Editor IAN GILBY takes the mouse by the horns...

A chance to do some crystal gazing at product developments in the music / recording / visual fields.