Question for Logic and Ableton Users: EXS vs Sampler

db2 · Post by **db2** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 7:03 pm

I'm curious what people prefer to use for building sample kits, EXS24, or Sampler in Ableton. The fact that sampler seems a bit basic in general and the fact that it can import EXS kits makes me lean towards the EXS but I'd like to hear others opinions

j24keys · Post by **j24keys** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 7:18 pm

I assume when you say "Kits", that you mean drum kits or a collection of samples for the purpose of chopping (mpc style). For this I use Drum Rack in Ableton because it is most efficient tool for drums or just samples. It basically turns ableton into an MPC 1,000,000. You can easily choose the sample's start/stop point as well as arrange the basic settings (release, attack, reso, etc) Ableton also gives it a 'subtrack' so you can apply separate effects on each pad/sample. Then when you're done, you can save the entire rack with the effects to be recalled again. I do this often to make custom drum kids.

Logic's EXS is best used for patches rather than kits. By patch i mean a Grand Piano, Guitar, Flute, etc, stretched across all keys. This is where sampler comes in on the Ableton Side. Either is good, though logic has more in-depth options as well as 3rd party editing capabilities like that of http://www.Redmatica.com

beats me · Post by **beats me** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 7:40 pm

Just buy Kontakt 3 and be done with it. If nothing else you can only use Sampler with Live and can only use EXS with Logic. Kontakt you can use with anything.

glitchrock-buddha · Post by **glitchrock-buddha** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 9:45 pm

If by "Kits" you mean building drum kits, neither is really that good for that since they don't have independant parameters for individual samples/groups. However drum racks are great using one sampler in ableton for each drum hit.

If you're meaning just instruments in general, exs is the better format to save obviously because so many samplers can load exs files. For general use, exs sounds better as far as it's filter and drive, but sampler has some cool options and is much nicer to work with in general (the exs editor is a nightmare, I don't touch it). As beats me said, Kontakt kills 'em both. And is quite good for drums too since you can apply effects to individual samples/groups and there are internal sends.

But like I said, Drum racks are the way to go for drums, no doubt.

pat the dog · Post by **pat the dog** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 9:49 pm

does exs still have that limitation where you can't have individual envelopes/filters per keygroup?