Is There Anything My Sampler Can't Do? Options

[stratblue]

Hi all.

Excuse my ignorance but I've got a Yamaha An1x, a Novation Nova and a Korg 05rw, and I would like to know if there is anything about any of these that my Akai z4 can't emulate with a few crafty waveforms and some tweaking?

Thanks Nick.

[soniccouture]

well, i see what you are asking, but i think the answer is 'no'.

while your sampler is a very powerful synthesis engine, it will never be able to emulate analogue oscillators like the AN1X can, for example. All synths sound very different and have different architectures, different filter shapes etc.

to start with, to emulate your AN1X you would need sawtooth/sqaure waves etc multisampled on EVERY note. You would then need all the modulation possibilties of AN1X, for example: pulse width modulation, something that it is not possible for sampler to do, as it is not generating the waveforms, it is simply playing back recordings of them.

a synth generates its own waveforms, and therefore offers much much more control over the shape and behaviour of the wave, which can be varied over time, which is what 'modulation' means.

it IS possible to make very complex, interesting sounds on your sampler, and you should do so - but every instrument has it's own strengths. so, just as your sampler cannot make a PWM string sound, your synth can't play back the sound of a baby farting thru its filters.

don't sell your AN1X, its a very powerful synth, and you'll miss it. you could do everything in your sampler, but you will be missing many sonic possibilites.

sory if this is a bit vague.. basically a samplers synthesis engine is great, but it does not have oscillators. therefore you woudl need a huge collection of samples to begine to emulate other synths closely, and even then it would not be the same.