SampleTank 4 on the way

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Testing in Studio One 4, I noticed the Red Strat idling at around 45% CPU when nothing was being played. If I emptied that part, ST4 dropped down to 4% CPU. If I only emptied the FX rack for the Red Strat, then ST4 dropped down to 33% CPU. It is really not playable, as it quickly shoots up into the 60-70%+ CPU range when played.

The Black LP is also hungry, but a bit less than that, with the CPU usage at 26% when idle, and 20% with no FX. So this one can be played with out getting the crackles.

That is on an Intel i3, with ASIO buffer set at 256.
Windows 10 and too many plugins

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To me, when IK says ST4.0.4 has been optimized, I wonder if they took load times into consideration? On my system, with Cubase 10, I find that the simple act of launching a Project file with an instance or two of ST4 in it can take up to 2 to 3 minutes as opposed to less than half that time with a similarly populated Project using many more instances of ST3, Kontakt, HALion...etc. The 4.0.4 update is as slow loading as the initial release version. At least it is on a Mac/Cubase 10 combo.

As to ST3 preset conversions, I have to wonder why IK didn’t bother to reformat/reprocess the collection’s originally recorded samples (which I assume were originally .wav or .aif) to the ST4 format, as to take advantage of ST4’s advanced editing capabilities? I mean, the ST3 libraries are already a major filler component of ST4 to start with, as seen by their inclusion in the ST4 download collection. Without their inclusion, ST4 would be woefully short on content. To me, one of the major reasons for purchasing ST4 in the first place, was to take advantage of the improved editing features. With so much of ST4 relying on the ST3 library for content, I have to wonder why proper conversion to the ST4 format wasn’t taken into consideration? The dual engine scheme seems more like a MIFDIC work-around solution.
On a number of Macs

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DarkStar wrote: Mon Apr 15, 2019 3:17 pm Having said that I would have thought that there could be a ST3 to ST4 instrument conversion program, applying sensible default values as needed, so that ST only needs one engine. But, those converted instruments could need a lot of reworking by the sounds designers to use all of the ST4 new features.
I quite agree. At very least we should have an option load an ST3 instrument and save in ST4 format, although some kind of batch conversion capability would be vastly more useful - one that you could point at a directory and say "do it all".

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Thank you for the suggestions. I know that the team are considering options in the importing/conversion/editing areas.

We also just published a tutorial video here:

https://youtu.be/aveP32NHfS0

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Looks some are having success with ST4. Me, not so much. If the next library update doesn’t fix my issues, I’m going to sell it. I’ve wasted enough time.

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"Success" is such a big word

"Some is, at last, trying to start use it", would likely be a more accurate expression

Does still not look like a finished product ready for release, IMHO, though some might use it to a certain degree by now

But the hope is always green, time will tell,..
HM

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Everything seems to be pretty stable now. What I would like to see in future update is an optimisation of CPU cores though. Red Strat maxes out my CPU, which leads to audio drop outs. As I have a Ryzen 2700x, this should not happen.

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Burillo wrote: Sat Apr 13, 2019 3:46 pm been jammin for three straight hours with ST4 on bass. no crashes :) of course, i didn't use it on everything, but that's simply because i didn't have time to assemble sounds for anything other than bass. but this makes me hopeful that i can finally use SampleTank for everything. it's so liberating to finally have one GUI for both ST3/ST4 and Syntronik sounds (ST3 can load Syntronik sounds but the GUI is atrocious compared to Syntronik). overall it's been a pleasant experience.
Good to hear! Ironically, after I installed 4.0.4, everything completely destabilized for me. Many frequent random crashes in Reaper, unusable latency and response (when using Sampletank 4, that is - everything remained rock solid without ST4 loaded). I had some mixing and sound design work to do, so I put it aside for a few days and resisted the urge to post something negative prematurely.

Since then, I have found ST4 standalone to be rock solid, but loading the VST (VST2) in Reaper caused almost instant crashing - it would let me load sounds, but if I switched to another page in the ST4 gui, or closed the window - instant crash. Then I tried turning the ST4 gui off for the VST (which you can do easily in Reaper), and then it seemed usable. Of course you can't actually use something as complex as ST4 without the native gui, but things "stabilized".

Then I remembered something: Back a while ago, I had configured Reaper to use the high-performance NVIDA graphics processor in Reaper while troubleshooting another unrelated issue. This did not solve the problem, but I never bothered to switch it back at the time.

I switched Reaper back to using the Intel Integrated graphics processor this morning, and now ST4 4.0.4 seems rock solid in reaper again - and I am getting more instruments cleanly with lower buffer settings than I did with 4.0.3 and earlier. So this issue may have come down to a "non-standard" configuration on my end. Just posting in case someone else encounters the same scenario.

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that's odd. i've been using nVidia since forever, and the integrated graphics aren't even enabled in the BIOS.
I don't know what to write here that won't be censored, as I can only speak in profanity.

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I think I've seen this touched on here, but just want some clarification:

Let's say you've got the imported libraries, Samplemoog, Sonik Synth, Miro 1, etc...

Am I correct in assuming that all of these libraries are jumbled together in the imports in ST4, as in you can't jump to say Samplemoog instrument, or Sonik Synth instrument, etc. - cause that's what I'm seeing on my end.

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You can click on the library folder in the left column, then click the folder icon just above that, in the column header. That will let you expand the folders for the selected library, same as the ST3 interface did. That way you can focus your search on only that library.

If you don't select the folder view, then yes the search becomes global.
Windows 10 and too many plugins

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zzz00m wrote: Thu Apr 18, 2019 12:03 am You can click on the library folder in the left column, then click the folder icon just above that, in the column header. That will let you expand the folders for the selected library, same as the ST3 interface did. That way you can focus your search on only that library.

If you don't select the folder view, then yes the search becomes global.
Folder button, awesome. Sweet, thanks zzz00m. Yeah, I thought that would have been insane if they didn't let you browse the old libraries like that. Gotta admit, the interface is lookin awesome here (would be cool to have option to reverse or alternate color scheme).

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Burillo wrote: Wed Apr 17, 2019 12:07 pm that's odd. i've been using nVidia since forever, and the integrated graphics aren't even enabled in the BIOS.
It might be related to Windows 10 “gaming mode”, which gets invoked for any programs I run with the NVidia adapter. Since the intel one is enabled and the primary adapter by default, there may have been more going on under the hood. Who knows - works now ;)

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musicalwarmth812 wrote: Thu Apr 18, 2019 12:34 am Gotta admit, the interface is lookin awesome here (would be cool to have option to reverse or alternate color scheme).
The interface is really good, but, unfortunately, on a dark background, the font and icons look unclear and merge with the background. Also causing some irritation drawing plug-ins in the rack. In pursuit of “analogy” of the image of the components, they look like a poor-quality scan from a drawing, the signatures under the controls are vague and hidden under the “shadow” of the controls.
Although, I confess, these are not the main problems of the plugin.
It must be admitted that version 4.0.4 already allows using the plugin with caution, almost eliminated the issue using RAM, but the problem of optimizing the use of CPU resources by the program on "heavy" presets remains relevant.

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SImeon from Praisetracks.com uploaded a nice preview video showing off some of the great sounds in SampleTank 4:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uf_H2XXV_T8

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