The last sampler you'll ever need?

[oli o]

I've been using machfive now since 2005, whereas previously had been using Kontakt,halion and hardware, i think for some people certain samplers just feel more comfortable and easy to use which eases work flow and mach five was definately the sampler for me. However i've recently been forced into having to make the update to machfive 2 which will cost me £145 (i updated my mac os to 10.5 to find that machfive 1.2.3 no longer works!). Even though this was an upgrade that i was likely going to make, i think the nature in which it was forced has made me think twice, i mean it's going to be another £145 when version 3 comes out (i know people are going to say don't upgrade your os, but i was in a situation where i had to upgrade and it could easily be the situation again). Admittingly this post is a bit of a moan, but i've looked at the new features on mach five 2 and there's not a lot that i think i need, are the new sounds worth the price? is there any way back for me to use version 1.2.3 on mac os 10.5? It also says that i need my serial number for mach five 1 to upgrade for the £145 price, but the only serial number i have is the one on my ilok and this wasn't recognised when i tried to register my machfive on the motu website (something i'm absolutely positive i did a couple of years ago even though it says on their website that i have no products registered), i guess potentially the £145 may not even get me the upgrade, is the ilok all i need or do i need a serial number that is recognised?

Sorry for the moan guys, i would appreciate any advice or somebody to tell me what an amazing upgrade machfive 2 is regardless of the fact i have plenty of other things i could be spending £145 and have other samplers that do the job and more importantly work in 10.5.

[ToolFool]

Hey,
well of course ultimately it depends on the individuals needs - i've seen so many great software samplers, and they all now
do basically everything and more of what you would want to do.
I originally used M5 1, but like you the update rendered mine useless after a year of happy times using it.
So i bought K2 and now K3, and always found it hard. HOWEVER since the update to M5 2 i can now compare M5 with Kontakt.

M5 seems so much easier to use and yes compared to M5 1 their is so much cool stuff, it really will blow you away.
BUT....i had problems with one particular sample never loading and the customer support was quite poor to say the least.
K3 sounds i find are as good if not better - although i miss solo string instruments and a vibraphone! All of which are at least
represented in M5 2.
There are many things which make me lean both ways on these products but i have decided that DP with K3 is the best for me....
one big plus is not having to deal with an iLok. In fact if this doesn't bother you i highly recommend STRUCTURE if you are using something
that reads RTAS.
Once again like you i started to look at how much money and time would be spent on all these products so figured only spending money
on DP and K3 was the way for ME.
That said, if they bring out M5 version 3 with no iLok and full Sibelius support on the Sample Library i could be persuaded

[Shooshie]

I use a number of instruments that reside in Kontakt2 Player. I do not have the full version of K2. (or K3) But I really like what I can do in K2. It's an impressive player with enormous capabilities. I love my Garritan instruments in K2, and I have four packages from them: GPO, Jazz, Gofriller Cello, and Stradivari Solo Violin. Every one of them I now consider indispensable.

On the other hand, I've had MachFive for far longer, and I was one of the first to get the upgrade to MachFive 2. I have to say that it is AMAZING. My only problem with MachFive2 has been really taking the time to learn all its ins and outs. One nice thing about it is that basically the entire interface is in front of you all the time. But that can also be a liability; it gets confusing. Let's just call it the learning curve, for once I figure it out, it's no longer confusing. For a basically single layer interface, M5.2 is quite complex. You can automate any feature -- virtually ANYTHING -- simply buy Control-Clicking that item in the interface. It also has a mixing board, sends, returns, and "infinite" chains of effects. (as many as your CPU and RAM will handle)

I think that for creating samples, editing them, assigning layers, keygroups, etc., M5.2 is probably as good as you can get. Oh, let's include loops in that, too. It has extensive loop capabilities. The sample interface window is very clever, and you can open a full-screen version which you can keep open on another monitor, or size to share the screen with the rest of the M5.2 interface. That's also very nice. I don't create enough samples from scratch to be that concerned with that end of things, but I do edit a lot of samples that I get from elsewhere. For example, if a certain note or two have a funky sound, I can easily drop that sample from the lineup and stretch another sample to cover for it.

I'm exceedingly impressed with the effects that MachFive2 can do. They are compact, the parameters do their jobs with minimal fiddling, and there are so many available. Plus, you can use them in so many ways. You'd just have to read about it in the manual to see what I'm talking about, or actually try it with hands-on. Quite impressive. To get this kind of capability in a DAW would require endless routing of tracks, sends, and plugins. MachFive2 has made it so simple and transparent that I'm always left with the feeling that I must be missing something. It can't be this easy, can it? But it is. Once you figure out how to get around the interface, this thing is a piece of cake. Then you can add any kind of controller and automation to any parameter, have it translate controllers, and all sorts of things. Words don't do this justice.

Oh, and let's talk about Performances. You can load endless parts, output on endless tracks, endless MIDI channels, and endless effect setups already saved and ready to go. As I said above, MachFive2 is AMAZING.

I'm not going to limit myself to one sampler and say it's the last one I'll ever need, but if I did, I'd probably choose MachFive2. But I'm never going to give up my Kontakt2 instruments, either. I like both, for what they are. But MachFive2 is pretty much everything imaginable.

Shooshie

[craigw]

As anyone ever tried to use Scarbee products in Mach Five? I am sold on Scarbee's stuff (Bass and Keys) so I am leaning toward Kontakt, but I can see that Mach Five is easier to use. I like things to be easy to use. Anyone have any comments?
Thanks

[Dwetmaster]

I bought M5 because I try to stay within MOTU as much as I can. But unfortunately Kontakt seems to be way more supported in terms of sound banks than M5...

I also would like to know the answer on the scarbee stuff with M5...

[Akai96]

Between M5 v.1.2.3 and Gigastudio 3 I don't see any upgrading for me. Have tried M5 v.2.0,great but not much greater.

[bdr]

I have M5 version 2 as well as Kontakt 3. I love Mach 5, it's ease of use and the loop/beat facilities which I found very easy to get my head around. I bought K3 as an upgrade from Kontakt Player as there were quite a few libraries I wanted that has scripting features. I really don't like it as much as M5 and have avoided getting deep into it's features as it seems much more obtuse. However it is far more CPU friendly than M5, unfortunately.

As far as far as the Scarbee stuff, I have the Black Bass as well as the Vintage Keys. The Black Bass uses a lot of scripting, and although it loaded in M5 none of the scripting came across, and it was unplayable. Sounds and samples were all mixed up but when I looked at the layer page there was only one layer.I loaded a couple of the keyboard instruments, they were a little more successful in that they were playable, but the K3 version still has a few extras you miss out on.

HTH
Brett

[Dwetmaster]

I loaded a couple of the keyboard instruments, they were a little more successful in that they were playable, but the K3 version still has a few extras you miss out on.

Can you be more specific on which extra?

[bdr]

For example on the SEP(Pianet) there is scripting adding tremolo, click and instrument noise. With the Wurli there is scripting for tremolo and Instrument noise.

[Dwetmaster]

Ok without this scripting, it is still playable and better than M5 rhodes?

If yes than, I might buy it now that it's cheap and get K3 later...