| |
Worth
The Upgrade
Version 5.57 offers enough major new features and improvements over 5.3
to warrant 6.0 status, but a couple of features deserve kudos right up front.
SEK’D claims up to a two-fold increase in tracks-per-CPU performance
with the new TrackSpeed technology in Sam 2496, something I can attest to,
having used it on aging, status quo and rocket-fueled PC machines with better-than-expected
results on all three. Similarly, the new Comparisonics object waveform display
mode bucks the notion of the bland PC audio interface (see Fig. 2). Each
recorded object’s sonic material can be displayed in a spectrum of
colors based on pitch. New mouse modes, asymmetrical crossfades and an improved
mixer interface further help make Samplitude’s PC GUI one of the best.
 |
|
The
Comparisonics waveform is color-coded to reflect spectral content.
|
Also newsworthy is Samplitude’s
new surround mixer, added hardware controller support and an expanded import/export
file roster. The new 5.1 mixer is Dolby ProLogic-compatible, supports joystick
input and controls six discrete outputs (with individual controls over LFE
channel level) or 2-channel surround playback systems. Samplitude can now
be driven with Peavey’s 1600, CM Automation’s Motor Mix and other
hardware controllers, and can now also record, edit, control and play back
all Yamaha DSP Factory parameters. In addition to supporting .WAV and AVI,
Samplitude now exports 16- and 32-bit AIFF files, MP3 (with an external
encoding application), .WAV (in any ACM or DirectShow codec) and mono and
stereo WMA (Windows Media Audio) files for the Web.
MIDI is also new for Samplitude. Faithful users of Cakewalk, Cubase and
other sequencers will likely stick with their app of choice for MIDI and
opt, instead, to sync it to Samplitude internally. However, Samplitude’s
bare-bones MIDI GUI is good enough to suit some users’ needs for basic
recording, graphical editing and playback of MIDI parts alongside audio
tracks. There’s a handy vertical scrolling MIDI event playlist with
controller data and such that, according to SEK’D, will be a fully
functional event editor in the next upgrade or two. Its MIDI kit may never
include notation or other power-user favorites, but count on Samplitude’s
audio and MIDI tracks to always lock up tighter than a vault.
I wish my power sequencer’s
graphical editor scrolled as smoothly as Samplitude’s does. No lunging
screen or page leaps, the screen accepts real-time mouse-drawn and -moved
note input, and it’s easy on the eyes during long tweak sessions.
MIDI sysex and controller curve data can be filtered, recorded, edited
and played back easily, and Samplitude can slave or master to any internal
software or external hardware sequencer via MTC and MIDI clock. Sam 2496
links to and loads standard MIDI and AVI files, as well, and currently,
audio tracks can be extracted and/or replaced within Samplitude. A future
version will include the same spec sheet bullet for Apple QuickTime movies.
It’s All In The Interface
As much as anything else that may have surprised me about this PC program
is the above-mentioned GUI. Samplitude is deep, and its countless menus
are lengthy, yet logically organized and easy to understand. A right-button
click provides yet more menus to a host of properties, preferences, object
parameters, DirectX plug-ins and various other editor modules. Rearranging
toolbars anywhere in the VIP display is a breeze and makes any top-, bottom-
or left-/right-handed desktop possible.
The main mixer (see Fig. 3) comfortably displays eight channels at a time,
each with a fader, peak hold meter, mute, solo, DirectX and automation
record buttons, and a row of color-coded rotary pots for channel pan,
EQ, dynamics, delay and aux 1 and 2 returns. The master section includes
level controls for a 3-band master parametric EQ, compressor/limiter,
dehisser and stereo enhancer, and there’s separate L/R master level
faders and meters and two aux sends for DirectX and/or external hardware
processors. Down the left side of the mixer are input attenuation switches,
access to preset and user-defined mixer setups, and group/ungroup, reset
mono/stereo, oscillograph/phase correlation graph buttons. And new to
the mixer is a surround-panorama miniature display on each channel showing
surround position. Whew!
The MIDI Editor, though hardly ground-breaking, is a scrolling piano-roll
sequencer that can edit, record and play back basic MIDI parts. Drawing,
erasing and playing new notes into the editor is easy, and basic quantize
and MIDI channel controls are at hand. Though a nifty scrolling event
editor alongside the piano roll lists the millisecond each MIDI event
occurs, its event type, MIDI channel, note value and an interface for
changing all these settings, it doesn’t respond to edits and there’s
no mention in the manual about using it to step-edit MIDI events.
One of my Samplitude favorites is the Object Editor. Right-clicking on
an audio object leads the way to the editor and a wealth of ways to craft
and process even the briefest of audio events for total mix control. The
editor GUI displays SMPTE start and length times, fade in/out curves and
intensity settings, left and right phase inverse switches, a volume fader
and pan knob, and knobs for and access to Samplitude’s parametric
EQ, dynamics and stereo enhancer sections. Add the ability to process
each individual object in a mix with onboard, DirectX and/or external
effects processing, and it’s no wonder that I spend more of my time
in this window of Samplitude than any other.
Go
to Page 3; Back to Page 1
Reprinted with permission from 
Magazine, August, 2000
© 2000, Intertec Publishing, A Primedia Company All Rights Reserved
|
