So I keep hearing all this hype about sampler programs like Halion, Kontakt, Battery… etc etc… but i keep wondering… what is the purpose of a program like this? I mean, what are the benefits of using it in an application such as renoise? Since renoise/other sequencers already handle samples… what could be gained from triggering (is that the right word?) them from another program?
can anybody enlighten me on this?
They are usually more sofisticated than the built-in sample player, allowing for more formats, features and parameters.
Here’s some examples I snitched from kvraudio on Kontakt:
Usually another big issue is a more advanced layering of samples through the keyboard range, compared to Renoise’ drumkit map.
But I’m no expert on this, since I haven’t used dedicated samplers much. I like the simplicity and integration that you get from using Renoise directly.
the usually have build-in effects, filters and modulators too
one big disadvantage, however, is that you can’t have control over a single note, because of MIDI/VSTi limitations: for example, if you put a chord with each of its notes on a different track and use the proper tracking command to pitch shift one of them, all of the notes will be pitch shifted.
If instead you are using an RNI, only the sample in the treack where the pitch shifting is put will be changed.
This is a major pain sometimes, but for percussions a sampler is still the best choice, at least until ReNoise is not able to load multilayered format.
So vote for new RNI format on next user poll 