I am looking to branch out into using samplers more (I've spent way too long using only VA synths and drum machines). But all the popular libraries are often massive in size in order to sound as realistic as possible, but also take forever for project files to load.

I don't really care about realism. Countless round robins and velocity layers and articulations is still barely a replacement for real instrumental parts (unless the library is insanely good and the producer is insanely talented).

The vibe I'd want to go for is more 90s video game soundtracks, such as Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, or Final Fantasy X. So for that, I'm perfectly fine with semi-cheesy 90s romplers like Korg 01/W and Yamaha MOTIF. ...There's just not many options for that in the plugin space.

So I'm looking for any suggestions for a stack of lightweight sampler libraries. Plugins, a set of Kontakt libs, SF2/SFZ libs that you swear by --- anything that is decent, covering a wide palette of acoustic instruments (western, eastern, anything really), and comparatively tiny in size.

This is the small list of options I've come up with so far:

• Korg M1 (plugin, pretty compact)
• Korg Triton (plugin, pretty compact)
• Roland XV-5080 (plugin, pretty compact)
• Roland JV-1080 (plugin - supposedly all JV1080 sounds already exist in 5080?)
• Roland SRX expansions (Orchestra, Strings, Brass, World, Studio etc.)
• Roland Zenology (maybe good for sample instruments? unsure)
• Luxonix Purity (also quite compact. they're called Sonic Cat now?)
  
• Luxonix Ravity (also quite compact. they're called Sonic Cat now?)
  
• E-mu Emulator X3 and/or Proteus VX (heard good things, but might be a pain to setup)
  
• Edirol HyperCanvas (<200 MB. SoundCanvas on steroids, sounds better, perhaps an OK base)
  
• Edirol Orchestral (<200 MB. obviously cheesy, but amazingly small, could be useful for retro VGM)
  
• Edirol Super Quartet (<200 MB. guitars, basses, piano... studio instruments. not sure about this one)
  
• Xpand!2 (only around 1.2 GB, might be acceptable)
• Synful Orchestra (free, heard good things, only 150 MB)
  
• BBC Symphony Orchestra Discover (also free and heard good things, around 600 MB)

But I'm looking to build on this list. I'm sure there's stuff I missed. Any other ideas? Basically if it's a large library of instruments under 4GB total, it's worth mentioning.

 

Many of the UVI soundbanks are under 4gb. I think they are the best of smaller alternatives to giant Kontakt libraries.

 

Two forgotten winners..

Steinberg Hypersonic

NI Bandstand

 

One synth that rocked the 90s was the Roland JD800 (and its - more capable but less gritty sounding- rack brother the JD-990). I had both for many years and its probably the only digital synths i regret selling. I see now there's a plugin version of the JD800, so you might consider adding it to your list.
Whats also missing from your list -but i have no suggestions to virtual counterparts of these- is the sampling workstation keyboards that ruled the 90s. The Roland W-30: The Prodigy made this very famous back in the day and it has a unique sound because although it is 16bit, its top sample rate is a very unusual 30khz. The Ensoniq ASR-10 and the Kurzweil K2000 & 2500.
Cheers

 

Oh yeah there are tons of great hardware samplers, romplers, workstations from that era. Just wish they all had plugin versions

JD-800 is up there with the D-50 and Wavestation - very cool synths but not quite the place to go for quick and usable acoustic instruments

Unfortunately from the demos on YT, it doesn't sound that good, and has a bit of a bad reputation! Shame. But Steinberg Hypersonic seems like it fits the bill!

 

Last edited: Aug 9, 2024

A fairly extensive list of samplers and keyboards used in that generation of games can be found here: VGM Sound Sources. Might be useful to some!

 

Ok, rehashing my deleted comment to fit the rules (apologies for fucking that up earlier), look for "90's sample cds" in archive.org and other places, there's also plenty of conversions to Kontakt etc. from the original libraries for Akai, E-mu etc. in there.

You can also find Kontakt instruments of the E-Mu romplers (Proteus 2000, Vintage, Xtreme Lead and others), under the name E-Mu Proteus Racks. The whole set is about 2GB but it's an absolute treasure trove of deftly sampled instruments.

 

May I friendly suggest TAL-Sampler and TAL-Drum? When it comes to software samplers, these two heavily rock, at least for me. TAL-DAC is useful for emulating lo-fi sampler's vibe when you want to use some other sampler or synth.

There is a really interesting free Hollowsound sample bank for TAL-Sampler, and there is a really useful sample bank called "Vibrations" with tons of drumkits from Homegrown Sounds for TAL-Drum, Speedrum and Sitala (can be found on AZ). Cheers!

 

I think what has not yet been mentioned is SampleTank. The CS version is free and has almost exactly 4 GB of samples.
https://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/st4cs/?pkey=sampletank-4-cs

 

Used to love Steinberg Hypersonic 2 back in the day. It's tricky to get working in a modern DAW though.

 

Just use JBridge for your 32bit plugs. Works just fine.

 

save money and get the real gear.. i am not rich but i tell you it is something mysterious in the gear frequencies

 

original ROLI Equator (v.1) synth+library is around 2GB, fairly decent allround MPE-MIDI-capable instrument VST,
most Gothic Instruments (kontakt libraries) Sculptor series were under 1GB (except Whooshes I think), fun stuff, R.I.P...

 

For the e-Mu format libraries, it would make things easier to get the R2R release of the E-Mu Emulator X3 sampler. It seems to work via Crossover on Mac.

 

For sure. There is a certain sonic identity that many times fails to transfer to the plug version of a synth even if its made from the very same manufacturer. And this stands for even updated versions of the same hardware. Like for instance the very first MiniMoog versus the second edition. At least 10 people i know including myself swear that the very first one is somewhat fatter. But even much later on in the 90s, the (real) Roland JV1080 can produce such lows that it will have you nauseating and throwing up. Said this before, but i ve made a simple bass patch that can sweep down via modulation to this very same frequency which should be 16hz if i am not mistaken, although the machine is stated as a 20-20000hz frequency response. You can't hear it but just try and see for yourself if you got one hahah. The real 2080/3080/5080 and Integra that include the 1080's soundset and almost all features they just don't share the same timbre or extensive low range. They are too gentle and pristine which is not always a wanted thing,if you know what i mean hehe. And so is the JV1080 plugin as well. And the same goes for the JD800 vs the JD990 also known as the Super JD. Super or not, the latter has a much more pristine high end but lacks the grittiness and aggressiveness of the JD800.
Cheers

 

Last edited: Aug 9, 2024

Decent freebies K1v https://plugins4free.com/plugin/3148/
Orbhits & more https://meatbeats.com/

 

wish i earned 1000 euro so i can make my dream come true with all these synths i like to colect
kate middleton is broke lol