sparksongs Posted September 10, 2003 Share Posted September 10, 2003 Hello. For recording studio purposes, I'm looking to get better string sounds than those offered on keyboards. I know the Gigastudio sounds great, but I'd rather not get into becoming even more computer-oriented. I've been looking at samplers, particularly the Akai Z8, and was wondering if anyone could help with the following: If I have a CD set of sampled strings(e.g., something like Garritan), and load it into the Z8 (which I'm assuming can be done), will they sound anything like they sound on the Gigastudio System? If not, will they sound better than what's available on most keyboards? I know next to nothing about samplers, so any help or insight into this would be greatly appreciated - thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RABid Posted September 10, 2003 Share Posted September 10, 2003 I don't know about the Z8 because I don't have one, but I can give you this perspective. ROMpler - OK. I have a Fantom. ROMpler with dedicated Orchastral ROM's - Much better. I also have a Roland XV-5080 with both of the 64 meg orchestra ROMs. This makes a big difference. Sampler - I have a Yamaha A5000 and the Roland XV5080 running samples, both with 128 meg of memory. The combination helps to cover those ROMpler sounds that I am not quite happy with. It is an improvement over streight ROMpler sounds. Going totally sampler slows me down. I like the sampler/ROMpler combo solution in the XV-5080. GigaStudio - A BIG leap above a hardware sampler for realism. It is not just holding bigger samples, but more easily loading a mixed set of patches from various libraries. For ease of use I prefer GigaStudio over a hardware sampler. So for me I will say this. For live use I would go with something like the XV-5080 loaded with the ROM's and 100 Meg of chosen samples. For studio I would go with a simple ROMpler for quick sketching, and use GigaStudio for actual construction and recording. Robert This post edited for speling. My Sweetwater Gear Exchange Page Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bond1 Posted September 10, 2003 Share Posted September 10, 2003 Unless you've got a LOT of patience, go with Gigastudio. Load times are MUCH faster, i can load a 2.5 GIGABYTE piano into gigastudio in under 20 seconds. According to Sound on Sound's review of the z8, load times for some 256mb pianos can take 7 minutes! I would lose my mind if i had to wait that long, especially if i was just casually trying out some sounds out to see what worked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burningbusch Posted September 10, 2003 Share Posted September 10, 2003 Bond1, you're right. There is a point where the amount of sampler RAM you have is irrelevant as the load times are ridicules. Busch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparksongs Posted September 11, 2003 Author Share Posted September 11, 2003 Thanks much for the info. Even though I'm less than a novice when it comes to this subject, I don't think the load times would be that big a deal if I were to get a Z8, as I would probably load only strings, and once they were loaded, that would be that. Without trying to over-simplify all this (and realizing how much more powerful the Gigastudio is), if I had both systems side-by-side with the Garritan Strings loaded, would the quality of the sound be the same/similar on each system? I'm really only looking for more realistic strings that what keyboard systhesizers offer. Thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bond1 Posted September 11, 2003 Share Posted September 11, 2003 I'm not familiar with the Garritan strings and how large the samples are, but if identical samples are loaded on either system then yes they sound should be the same, as you're basically using the sampler as a playback device. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RABid Posted September 11, 2003 Share Posted September 11, 2003 At one time the Akai filters were considered a bit thin. This is why a lot of people and studios prefer Emu samplers over Akai. That may have changed with the Z series. Because of filters, and other things, like samples definately sound different on various playback units. Halion filters were considered bad in the origional release but were later improved. The Kontakt filters are pretty good. Robert This post edited for speling. My Sweetwater Gear Exchange Page Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burningbusch Posted September 11, 2003 Share Posted September 11, 2003 The problem with these string libraries is that they're SO LARGE. Garritan full library is ~20 CDs. For example one articulation, "1st Violins Long Bow 1" is 716MB on the hard disk. When loaded into Giga on my P4 with 1GB RAM it consumes 18% of RAM and takes a few seconds to load. I could easily load in the long bows for viola, cello and basses and have room for more. Additionally, I can add another GB of RAM and double my capacity. Prior to Giga, you needed racks of hardware samplers in order to have all the sections with the necessary articulations available. Soundwise there isn't going to be a huge difference. But there will be a big difference in how you're going to be able to utilize those sounds to create your music. Busch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hangee_77 Posted September 11, 2003 Share Posted September 11, 2003 I use the Garritan Strings in Gigastudio and I love it so much, very fast and easy to use. I think you'll love it once you try it, specially working with a huge amount of samples like heavy orchestra. God bless. Hanjaya C. www.hanjayachandra.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RABid Posted September 11, 2003 Share Posted September 11, 2003 Once you get used to swapping and editing samples in software, going back to hardware seems like prison. Robert This post edited for speling. My Sweetwater Gear Exchange Page Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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