Sample this! hardware or software?: Part 1. (Digital Music).(Brief Article)

In the past couple of years, plug-ins have taken on a vital role in the use of computer technology and musical software. Plug-ins have turned computers into viable and usable musical instruments. In this article we will look at software samplers and what all this fuss is all about! Software samplers either work as plug-ins or standalones, most plug-ins are VST instruments but still can be used in DirectX software using a VST-DX adapter.

Let's look at some of the differences between the advantages and disadvantages of software samplers and dedicated sampling hardware. With software one can install a number of soft samplers, as much as your computer can handle.

Compared to the same number in the physical reality of hardware samplers there is no size and weight other than your actual computer! Of course the cost of software is less expensive when compared to hardware samplers -- much less! If one considers the cost of dedicated RAM and hard-drive space, a software sampler program is a fraction of the cost of a loaded hardware sampler.

Even though some hardware samplers have new revisions (like a ROM chip) through their life, software samplers can have entire facelifts and can be improved as one adds memory and processing speed to ones computer. The process of upgrading is rather easy and can be done as simply as downloading a newer version from the developing software company or from a CD-ROM installation. I think that the ability to have a larger display always makes it easier to work and edit data. Most hardware samplers have very small displays, which are difficult to use, to say the least, compared to an entire colour computer monitor!

A hardware sampler needs its own RAM, hard-disk and CD-ROM (usually via SCSI) but software samplers utilizes what you have on your computer. The amount of RAM and disk space available for samples has a tremendous effect on the size and quality of ones sample library. Even though some maximum RAM in hardware can be up to 128 MB, some software samplers can address up to 1 GB in a computer. As I already mentioned memory storage for hardware is usually more expensive than their computer counterpart but sometimes not. Within software samplers one can share audio files. The loop you record in your sequencer recording program can be opened and edited in the sampler ...