EXS 24 Logic Sampler Users Group

sc@... wrote:

>
> Hi,
>
> As a relatively new EXS24 user, I'm impressed with Logic's built-in 
> sounds - up to a point. However the sax, for instance, gets a bit 
> biting at times.... So I'm looking for guidance about what 
> improvements I can expect in third-party libraries (if any); and also 
> what sort of CPU hit that might entail.
>
> Specifically:
>
> 1. Does sound quality rise a lot with number of velocity layers 
> recorded? Suppose I were to hear back-to-back, in solo violin:
>
>    a) Logic built-in with 1 layer
>    b) ProSamples Solo Strings with 2 layers
>    c) Vienna Library with (I think) 4 layers.
>
> Would the sound be noticeably improved in each step of a) b) c)?  My 
> guess is yes, but can anyone who has made the comparisons report?
>
> 2. CPU hogging.
>
> a) Does having more samples available cause less CPU drain? Put the 
> other way, if I had only one note sampled and asked the CPU to produce 
> all the notes from it, would that cause more strain on the CPU than 
> having every note sampled? Or is it the other way around (or something 
> else).
>
> b) Layers. I assume that having 2 or 4 layers hogs CPU. Is this a 
> major change? From one layer? Does it take near 2X or 4X the CPU of 
> one layer?
>
> Thanks.....
>
> steven rowat
>
>
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
> web site: <http://www.rowatworks.com>
> mailto:sc@...

steve,

The hit to your cpu will probably be less of an issue than disk speed 
and/or ram, depending on whether you are streaming samples from disk or 
doing it the 'old fashioned way'

I can't give you a good assessment of orchestral/acoustic libraries vs. 
logic's built-in samples because, honestly, I don't really use either 
(my music just doesn't incorporate those timbres, most of my exs 
samples are timbres I've made in soundhack or some synth or just 
recording my finger rubbing a bare TRS cable going through some 
effects)

however, I am a long time user of samplers, which I imagine you are 
too, so I will remind you that the 'sound quality' improvement of any 
sampler patch that relies on a lot of velocity switching of layers 
(like the vsl) is going to depend on how expressively it is played

are you going to play your midi analude through some vienna strings?

paul