Soft SampleCell Problems

[haze]

Is the trial version 1.1.3? Apparently, this is the latest update according to Bitheadz.

haze

[michael c]

I thought the full version of Osmosis allowed you to CONVERT a whole disk at a time.
A friend of mine who uses Unity told me that Osmosis didn't convert different velocity levels particularly well if at all when he converts from Akai to Unity.
It would be nice to know if the FULL version of Osmosis does indeed work properly with SSC................

[Avid]

Originally posted by haze:
support at Bitheadz is telling me that only the full version (i guess when you pay the $99) will you be able to read the whole disk, and therefore the nuances associated with the sample.

Someone at Digi must have the full version of OSMOSIS and an Akai format CD-rom, that could give us the scoop, eh?

Thanks in advance.

haze

Either the person you spoke to at Bitheadz was mistaken, or they were only familiar with the limitations of the trial version as opposed to the authorized version of Osmosis SC. Osmosis SC is not something they sell separately, it is only bundled with Soft SampleCell as far as I know. So it might not be something they have a lot of experience with yet in their CS department.

Again, from the Osmosis SC Read Me document that I quoted above in this thread, including the version number (1.1.3, the latest version) and the information regarding converting entire disks:

Osmosis 1.1.3 SC Release Notes
Thanks for trying Osmosis, an Akai S1000/S3000 to Macintosh conversion utility.

Osmosis SC is limited as compared to the full version of Osmosis in that it supports Akai disks only - the full version supports Roland S760 disks also.

The trial version is limited in that it is authorized for two weeks only. You can use all of the functionality except for 'Convert Entire Disk' for the trial period. You must use the 'Osmosis SC Authorizer' application to register the software and get a response code for complete authorization.

The Osmosis manual is included with the downloadable demo from http://www.bitheadz.com

It is also included with Osmosis SC, bundled with Soft SampleCell.

Disregarding any references to reading Roland format, and looking at the information as it pertains to Osmosis SC, which only reads the Akai S1000/S3000 disks:

Appendix D:
Sample Cell Files Compatible with Sample Cell Version 2.
Sample Cell instrument files contain pointers to the individual sample files. When converting programs, Osmosis converts the referenced samples to AIFF (Macintosh) or wave (PC) format. Thus, when a single Akai program is converted, multiple Macintosh or PC files are created. It is usually a good idea to create a folder with the name of the program first, and then convert the Akai program into the folder so all the files stay together. Osmosis can output either AIFF or Sound Designer II sample files along with the SampleCell instrument file. If the convert samples selection is Sound Designer II, Sound Designer II files will be written. Otherwise, AIFF sample files will be written along with the Sample Cell instrument file. There is a maximum of 60 zones and samples per SampleCell file. Osmosis uses the first 60 zones and samples when creating SampleCell instruments. Also keep in mind that there is a maximum of 32 Mb on the Sample Cell card, so that instruments larger than that will not be able to be completely loaded.

Frequently Asked Questions
2. My disk is not recognized by Osmosis. How do I fix this?
First, make sure that the disk is an Akai S1000/S3000, or Roland S760 disk. Osmosis does not recognize formats other than those at the current time. Second, some content CDs are multi-mode in that they may have an audio partition before the Akai partitions. To get the operating system to ignore the audio partition, Macintosh users may need to move the ‘Audio CD Access’ out of your ‘Extensions’ folder in your System folder. This extension will not appear in the Extensions Manager, so you will have to move it manually to the ‘Extensions (Disabled)’ folder. Make sure you restart after moving the extension.

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Bruce Paine
WebAdmin
Digidesign Customer Service

[Irl Sanders]

Try :

http://www.gallery.co.uk/Interpreter.html

Interpreter is from Gallery software. Runs about $250, and copies Akai discs to SD2 format. Will also do a limitied program translation - so I'm guessing modulation and such gets lost with this as well.

I've never seen a software sampler translator that works like we all expect them to - the math must be screwy, esp. when it's our ears which make the final judgement. EM-U samplers import Akai pretty well - maybe they'd consider building a software product someday!

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Irl Sanders
Music Editor
LA, CA, USA

[P BUCKLE]

Hold steady gentleman!!
Just my opinion, I don't think Soft Samplecell was meant to be the sampler you think will compete with Gigastudio or the EXS24. This is Digi's first step into this arena and I think the initial concept was to augment the 10 year old (but absolutely wonderful) hardware SampleCell. The concept is to be able to load Soft SC with the SC discs you already own and have no 32mg limit.
No conversion required.
Now what we have is a new market of folks who don't need SampleCell harware to run the new software. So these people are going to be comparing this product with the new bunch of software samplers now on the market. A sampler is only as good as the library available for it, unless you want to make your own samples.
So, enter the world of translation programs and be very frustrated with the rest of us.
Digi probably will regret offering Osmosis with SSC because it has limited functionality and always has. It has not changed that much in the last year or so and it never translated SCell tunings in the first place.........forget about it. Boy have I been down that track.
Interpreter..........well I hope Mark at Gallery won't mind me passing on that he suggested to me to go with Osmosis because Interpreter(which I bought) won't translate certain Akai discs....I'm not sure which ones off hand but I think it's the 3000 range. He also mentioned that seeing as Bitzhead had this area covered he probably wouldn't develop Interpreter any further. So Osmosis is way ahead of Interpreter and Osmosis doesn't really work.....and never has.
So the next thing I bought was "CD Extract" which is a PC prog but runs on Virtual PC and other PC emulators. They have just included PC SampleCell conversion and last time I checked they were working on Mac SCell. I don't hold much hope for this prog at all. It seems to be targeting the GigaSampler market.
So what's left? Chicken systems "Translator". Now these guys are really comitted to making a great product that works. It's already the most powerful conversion prog out there but at the moment it's only for PC.....so you could run it on VPC etc. I'm waiting on the Mac version before I spring the $ for it. I've spent way to much on these conversion Progs already.
I don't think Digi are really advertising that SoftSampleCell is a great sampler for converting all other formats . I think they are saying " here's good old SampleCell in a software format so now you can load up some big banks and play them through your Digi soundcard".
Perhaps they didn't realise how competitive this end of the market already was and how many new musician.......not post or fx.....type clients they would be baiting. I also wonder if they really want to spend R and D time working on translating other peoples sample formats.
My final speculation is that they put to much faith in Osmosis which is actually a dud product.
For those of you willing to make a huge jump in "headspace" then the only real alternative is Emagic's EXS24. This only works in Logic and it is now TDM compliant. It's quite brilliant and its translation of SCell discs is very good. I havn't checked all my discs but I loaded up some Vitous instruments simultaneously in SCell and EXS24 and all the tunings were there. There was a global tuning issue of 35 cents but once you know that then eveything was fine. As for Akai translations well they have that covered very well. Digi will have to run mighty fast to catch those boys.
In it's next incarnation the EXS24 will be able to stream directly from the hard drive so perhaps we should start lobying Emagic to make the EXS available as a direct connect plug.
Phil Buckle.

[mpayne]

Phil -

>>>>so perhaps we should start lobying Emagic to make the EXS available as a direct connect plug.<<<<

Surely that's exactly how EBS TDM is going to work (is already if you're in Europe) i.e. through DirectConnect, no?

Malcolm

[Stratman]

I think Digi is very chosey about who gets access to DirectConnect and how it competes with their products.

[haze]

support at Bitheadz is telling me that only the full version (i guess when you pay the $99) will you be able to read the whole disk, and therefore the nuances associated with the sample.

Someone at Digi must have the full version of OSMOSIS and an Akai format CD-rom, that could give us the scoop, eh?

Thanks in advance.

haze

[michael c]

Brent,
E-mailed BitHeadz about this problem and they said to download their Osmosis demo version 1.13 from their website and pull off Osmosis SC if velocity groups weren't working.
They didn't answer any questions though, and I was wondering if you had any better luck with talking to them directly.
Thanks.

[tomhartman]

The idea is good, but execution too weak. It can't compare with Giga, it doesn't have the voices, or the sound library....yet, anyway....