Audio hardware

[Chilly]

Lo chaps,

I know this isn't really the place to ask since this isnt a audio hardware place but I dont know of any and im too lazy to google anything

I need the a piece of kit that can do the following (basicly a sampler):


-Store lots and lots and lots of samples (maybe on a SD card?)
-Can loop a given sample with the touch of a button indefinately
-Can play a sample from the beginning to the end at the touch of a button, and when the the sample is played while it;s alsready playing, it cuts the original sample and starts again (st..st...st..stuttering).
-Has a high quality line out (high resolution audio rendering: 24+bit 96+khz sample rate)
-Has many trigger buttons (at least 15).
-Can hold programs so at the touch of a button or whatever the assignation of each key can revert to a stored setup. And I mean isntantly, no stupid 1 minute wait.
-Input/output types not really that important, I'm sure I can work around it.
-Don't worry about the price. All bits of kit that match the spec are eligable

Is this a standard piece of kit? I'm not very clued up on these things and could do with some advice, if anyone knows a good audio hardware forum/community please link the mo'fucker!

Cheers,

Chilly

 

[Tom]

I shall ask on a private sound recordist's forum I'm a member of.

 

[Tom]

http://www.soundplant.org/

Using a laptop:

sing a high quality PCMCIA card, a Digigram VX or similar, in fact anything that offers balanced line in and out, together with Soundplant, will do exactly what you want.

We used Soundplant on Dr Who for the Anne Droid play ins which was very quick fire, as well as some of the pre-recorded voices, including the Trin-E and Zu-Zana episode (What-not-to-wear) and some of the multiple Daleks parts.

Have a look at www.soundplant.org for more information. It certainly is a very easy to use and set up and the joy is that if you already own a PC laptop or Mac all you then need is a USB box or similar to give you balanced in and outs.

 

[Chilly]

sweet, thanks a lot Tom.

/edit

That program is the bollocks

I'm still interested in a standalone hardware version that basicly does what that program does, though

 

[Tom]

http://www.360systems.com/docs/prod_ir_main.html

 

[Tom]

http://www.sigmabroadcast.com/spoton.htm

 

[Tom]

More:

If your friend is wanting a dedicated piece of hardware, then the only solution I can think of is the "Instant Replay" by 360 Systems. Sold in this country by Preco. 10 banks of 50 buttons, change bank by pressing 2 buttons, audio stored on an internal hard drive. Warning, no editing facilities. Also it does not do 96KHz. Very stable, does what it says on the tin.

If your friend is happy about using a PC, forget Soundplant, it's a nice piece of free software, but only plays 44.1 Khz samples. The real solution is "SpotOn" by Markie Enterprises, the dealer is Sigma Broadcast. They will even sell you the PC as a turnkey solution. Like the Instant Replay, SpotOn does not edit audio, but is written to sit alongside Adobe Audition (Cool Edit Pro). The audio is played from the hard drive in the PC, if the SD card is a real desire, then you can always have a card reader in the PC.

 

[Chilly]

Oh, excellent Tom.
that bit of software, soundplant, is very nice but has a few annoyances. I get the feeling that SpotOn is going to be very expensive before I've even looked it up

Maybe I should just write my own, eh? How hard can it be...

 

[Chilly]

Oh, excellent Tom.
that bit of software, soundplant, is very nice but has a few annoyances. I get the feeling that SpotOn is going to be very expensive before I've even looked it up

Maybe I should just write my own, eh? How hard can it be...

Strangely enough, exactly the right hardness for a final year computer science project

 

[Bodhi]

I'm sure if you spoke to Fruity Loops nicely enough it could do most of what you're asking.

 

[Chilly]

aye Bodhi, I'm pretty sure it can, but it's way too complicated to set up the way I want it.

 

[Bodhi]

I see your point, I'm having trouble at the moment figuring out just how to record in the bloody thing, or to get more than two Absynth VST's running without it crashing. the other obvious suggestion of course is Reason, but I've heard some bad stuff about that (mainly from FL afficiandos).

 

[Bodhi]

Had a look through a DVD full of recording equipment a mate passed on to me and I think I've found what you're after mate. Native Instruments do a program called Intakt which you should have a look in to. I haven't used it that much yet but it seems hella powerful for mucking about with samples, and supports VSTi so you can load it up in Fruity and you're away.