http://www.sampleheads.com

Here at SAMPLEHEADS we have provided you with a variety of sample formats to work with.

• Audio Sampling CD
• AKAI S1000 and compatible CD-ROM
• Roland 700 series CD-ROM
• E-MU CD-ROM (EOS for E4/E6400 and compatible)
• GigaSampler and GigaStudio CD-ROM and downloadable files
• .WAV CD-ROM and downloadable files
• Digidesign SampleCell CD-ROM and downloadable files(also can be used as Mac AIFF files)
• SoundFont files (for download only)
• Software Samplers

Audio sampling CD

The audio CD is the most basic of formats. It's also the least expensive. If you have the time, energy and skills to "sample" the audio from the CD - this includes audio extraction into your PC or sampling into your hardware sampler - then this format maybe right for you. Audio CDs of sound libraries are just like audio CDs of music- except our songs are real short and we put hundreds of the mon each disc. Pros: you can quickly listen to all the samples without loading into your hardware if all you want to do is bring in a loop or a few samples, it's quite simple compatible with everything least expensive Cons: for multi-sampled instruments, it requires LOTS of work to sample, edit, loop and map each sound why spend countless hours editing and programming when our guys have already done the work? what's your time worth? CD-ROMs in "native" formats for hardware samplers and PCs. If you use a hardware sampler or PC, you may prefer to have someone else do the tedious work of sampling, editing, looping and programming. At SAMPLEHEADS, we have a team of dedicated engineers spending countless days and nights making titles that are "ready-to-eat" in a variety of CD-ROM formats. Pros: ready to load and make music, NOW no loop editing or calculations, we've already done it (and theloops feel just right) we've calculated out the RAM usage we've made instruments and drum kits that are musical and playable consistent mapping formats compatible with just about any sampler or PC Cons: slightly more expensive format specific (e.g. Roland cd-roms typically will not work in E-MU samplers, etc.) format may not be 100% compatible with your hardware - it's rare, but it could happen,

Akai s1000

This format is considered by most to be the "standard" format of the industry. AKAI S1000 format can be read by just about all hardware and software samplers. For this reason, we program our AKAI discs in S1000 format. AKAI released the "S3000" format a few years back. All newer AKAI samplers, some Kurzweil samplers and some PC programs can read S3000. However, most "AKAI compatible" hardware and software can only read S1000 (such as E-MU, Peavey, Roland, GigaSampler, etc.). The S3000 format is very similar to the S1000 format, but different enough to make it not compatible with devices that can only read S1000. And, if this hasn't confused you enough, yet another format was introduced in 1999 when AKAI released the 5000 and 6000 series. Although the 5000/6000 can READ S1000 and S3000 formats, 5000/6000 uses a BRAND NEW file system, so when it reads in S1000 or S3000,it is CONVERTING the files into its native format. SAMPLEHEADS does not yet make 5000/6000 native discs at this time, but were considering it - HOWEVER rest assured that our AKAI format discs work just fine with S5000/6000.

E-mu esi series

Many people have asked about using our E-MU native formatted roms with their ESI samplers. Our E-MU CD-ROMs were developed for the EOS (v3) and later systems... which include all the E4 series, E-Synth, E-6400, and E4K. The ESI series samplers can not use this file format. You can however load AKAI S1000 formatted CD-ROMS (and ALL of our AKAI CD-ROMS are S1000 series). We had to make a choice on the file format to develop for... E-MU advised us that all new samplers would be E4 compatible, so we went with the future... On the software front, HALion from Steinberg can load E-MU formatted CD-ROMS.

Gigasampler

GigaSampler is one of the most powerful software sampling systems on the market today. We just HAD to make our libraries available for this amazing tool. Learn more on our Giga FAQ page. If you need more information about GigaSampler, go to the Nemesys web site.

Kurzweil

Although we do not make Kurzweil native CD-ROMs, our customers are using our AKAI and Roland CD-ROMs successfully every day. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions or get more information about Kurzweil supported sample formats at the Kurzweil web site.

.wav

The .WAV CD-ROMs and downloads contain all the same samples found in the other CD-ROM disks, just not keymapped for any specific sampler. This is why these disks are a little cheaper than our sampler specific CD-ROMs. .WAV files are extremely useful when it comes to loops and hits, especially with programs such as Reason and Acid or when just straight sequencing of raw digital audio is your thing! Learn more on our .WAV FAQ page.

Samplecell

The SampleCell format can be used in Digidesign's SampleCell and Soft SampleCell(of course!!!) as well as the ESX24 from Emagic and the Unity DS-1 soft-sampler by Bitheadz. The great thing about a SampleCell bank is that the sample data is simply an AIFF file. This makes it convenient for use of your Samplecell banks in different applications where just the raw AIFF is needed. Learn more on our SampleCell FAQ page.

Soundfonts

Creative Labs SoundFonts were originally created for users of the Creative Labs soundcards with the Vienna SoundFont editor/player. SoundFonts are now being supported by third party soft-synths such as LiveSynth! Learn more on our SoundFont FAQ page. Also check for other SoundFont information at www.soundfont.com .

Software samplers

In the last few years the software sampler has become a reality. From Soft SampleCell to GigaSampler, these virtual samplers are becoming some of the most robust and flexible samplers on the market. There's the Unity DS-1, LiveSynth Pro and Cyclone DXi for Cakewalk's SONAR and Steinberg's HALion VST sampler to name a few.