Actually, @wire has said everything.
I confess that there's something magical when what you've sliced appears suddenly in the OctoRex.
But, I'm no Reason fanboy and I think it's better to get used to the slice function of whatever DAW you work with.
If I use Live, I use the internal slicer, the same for Bitwig, they handle that process very well.
But if you want to make your own collection, that's another story.
Don't forget that slicing precisely lots of loops can quickly become very boring and time consuming.
In the end, I pefer slicing only when needed and not in advance.

 

Recycle works well on W10.

• Load a file
• Set the bars
• Set the ''Sens(ibility)'
• Use [Q][W][E][R] keys to adjust
• Export midi
• Save as .REX

 

FL Studio's SliceX ??? Maybe ?

 

No, I don't think that SliceX can create REX files, it uses its own algorithm just like live, bitwig or kontakt and others do in order to slice, but REX/REX2 is a proprietary format that belonged to Propellerhead and now to Reason Studios and if some DAWs and samplers are able to read it (if they pay a licence, I suppose), only Recycle & Reason can create the files.

 

The "Image-Line related" utility programs Zero-X Beat Creator and Beat Quantizer worked very nicely for slicing up 16bit waves and zapping them over to a SCSI sampler. I actually used to prefer it over Recycle for that purpose. But I am a "do it all in the DAW" guy now.

Is the Warp function in Ableton really this bad sounding? Logic is very clean. I do not even slice via Flex Time. I setup a keyboard shortcut for the function " Cut at Playhead". It turns each segment into a new region that you can do whatever you want with.

 

Last edited: Apr 15, 2023

Just a quick thought.
"Sugar Bytes Egoist" is very really creative whatever loop you throw at it thanks to its internal sequencer.
And you don't need to install its bank in order to have it work.
I say that because I think this bank isn't necessarily interesting for everybody.

 

Last edited: Apr 16, 2023

I don't think that Egoist has REX support.

 

REX file format is closed and uses custom compression (and encryption? can't remember), and while the REX file playback/extract library is available, there is no REX creation tool apart from ReCycle.

As far as I know, nobody has tried to reverse engineer the file format, and if someone did they probably would just change it and update the libraries.

not directly related, but the SDK has also this tidbit:

 

That thing looks kinda cool! I'm gonna try it. Thanks for the tip (and for that you get your very first "like" since joining in 2021?)

BTW you mentioned the stock library isnt that good, so I can just install the base program (no library) and use all my own samples and loops, right?

But yeah, from a quick read up it looks like it will read REX files (or so the info I read says it plays ANY file type?).. but I couldn't find any information on what it exports, so I can only assume its WAV or Aiff? Which if that is the case, as fun and useful as this could be, puts me back at the start again with my goal in creating a library of loops to drag and drop on the fly.

Sure I could Warp and build a library that way, but then only Ableton can read those files, right? And as I said earlier, Abletons Warp is hit or miss for me. If I switch to Mac in 3 years, that library I slaved over creating will be useless in Logic. And visa versa with Apple Loops, right? Whereas with REX files they work in any DAW, Win Mac Ableton, Logic, Fruity.. whatever, right? Say I want to create my own sample pack of drum loops to give away or sell, having both WAV and REX options seems like the best or most universal choice doesn't it?

I am not interested in learning Reason on top of everything else, so I got hold of the less than legit 2013 ReCycle (albeit labelled as x86 only - is there a x64 installer I am missing somewhere ???) to give it a test run through and see if we get on.

Thanks everybody for the tips and feedback

 

I'm sorry but I'm not really sure about REX files and Egoist, I think it won't work (like @fiction said), that needs to be verified but I uninstalled the app a while ago.
For the bank, it's just my point of view but actually it's not that heavy (600-700 MB), so maybe it should suits your needs, it's up to you.
I forgot to say that there's also an FX Sequencer like a small Effectrix and a small Drum and bass engine if you need to hear your loop in context (the drums are really basic but the bass sounds really good and with its own sequencer, you can make it sound like a 303 line, really cool if you like that.
Actually, Egoist is for slicing but it can do way more than that if you feel like it.

And to end, doesn't it look pretty?

Here's the FX section (with its sequencer) :


And a bit crazy too? (Slicer, bass, drums and whatever pages)



@pizza boy, thanks for my first like, I appreciate and for the fact that it's my first posts since 2021, well..., I'm a bit lazy...and/or shy.
But I love to read your talks, guys and I hope, girls and I thought it was time to take part in that beautiful forum/freedom place so
if I've been a little bit useful, I'm Happy with that.
And now, it's time to make music, it's like everything, when you talk a lot about something (you can replace "something" with whatever action suits you), then you feel like doing it, don't you think?

 

Last edited: Apr 16, 2023

Egoist is really cool and it's a bummer that it only reads AIFF, WAV and MP3.
At least Reason now also works as a VST/AU/AAX plugin so Dr Octo Rex could be an option for using in any DAW.
By creating a MIDI groove from a sliced REX file, rearranging slices is very similar as in Egoist. The only difference is that you don't move sliders but rather notes up and down to rearrange slices in the piano roll. And you have more freedom in rhythmic placement of slices that way.

Another lesser known option is to use "Stockholm" from the KORG Gadget plugin suite, which is a standalone VST giving you Dr. Octo Rex in your favorite DAW. It's similarly powerful as Spectrasonics Stylus RMX but you can use REX and RX2 files directly, without first importing and converting them.

Yet another hint for MacOS users: There's a nice little utility called "Easy REX Player" on the Apple AppStore which gives you fast and easy preview of REX and RX2 files. Whole folders can be imported and files previewed quickly with cursor up/down.
The paid "Converter" version adds more features like Apple Loops export etc.

 

Some Sugarbytes plugins are crazy in the number of things you can do. And combining them.
You can do so much that the learning curve is steep. But man, underrated shit.

 

While were here talking about sampling, loops etc. I wanna say to anyone here who makes and sells packs, please dont be lazy, fxxking name your samples properly. I just bought a few packs of modular synth drum + perc + efx hits to play around with and my god, it took me several hours to listen to each sample and fix them. When organizing in custom folders its a major PITA sorting out and renaming some of these "Analog_1", "Kick 1", "Hit-1", "Snare 01", "Loop 1" etc. Also, when projects get moved around on drives, updates, collaborations and so on, Ableton is a real bastard trying to find missing samples with such generic names. Like at least tag your shit with something ANYTHING unique, its a HUGE turn off

Ok my rant is over, I feel better now. Please carry on.

 

The last release is a little wonky, but it still works under MacOS Ventura even. I can't remember what year I actually bought my Recycle CD (the version on my CD still has the SCSI support in it), but its the one piece of software that has stayed kicking almost the entire time its been around hah. From OS 9 to OS X, from PPC to Intel, etc.. Gonna miss it the day I have to swap this 2018 Mac mini for new ARM Mac. But I'll still have the Mini plus a couple G4s, a G3, a G5 if I need to really use it hehe.

 

Actually, I think I'm going to reinstall "Egoist"!

Talking about it made want to toy again with it (this will give me the opportunity to test the REX format compatibility (with not lots of hope).

@fiction
Just a little question (off topic, I'm sorry).

I never took the time to play with the "KORG Gadgets Suite", I found them visually,... too... "gadgety" (ah, skeumorphism, when you hold some of us!). But, is it that good and creative? I may miss something here.

 

Oh, this one is a personal pet peeve about "purchased sample packs". You buy a sample pack from a well known producer, and then load up a sample into Logic. Then you microscope in and see that there is either a cut at a NON-ZERO crossing, or even worse; a few milliseconds of silence right at the beginning or end of the waveform. Unless you go in and edit these, (in Logic I do use Flex Time for this); your transients will be just the tiniest little bit off where they are supposed to be. The loop is either warped, or whatever; and they drift! It is only milliseconds difference, but the waveform length is how all the DAW's calculations are done (with errors included in the math).

It is easy to fix, once you know not to trust the work you have been given as "samples and loops". You just really would not expect this from something which is sold as a "product"; but you really have to look at all of them. lol. If REX files (or Apple Loops) are made this way, it's even worse because of the "locked" aspect, as It's not as easy to fix.

 

Last edited: Apr 16, 2023

I've used Recycle for years. It's brilliant at what it does and , as already mentioned, you can make rex files in Reason which can be used in turn as a VST plugin.

 

To end with the "Egoist" thing, it really doesn't read REX files (I've tried). Cold case!

 

Good question. I like them mainly because they allow me to continue my work coming from Gadget on iPhone and iPad.
Gadget on iOS is definitely good and creative if you start writing on iOS (not to forget: Adding the Stockholm gadget means REX files on a phone!) but if I was purely a desktop OS user then I might just go with Ableton and common synths and sample libs.