Is Alchemy the new EXS24?

Let's face it, as powerful as EXS24 is, there have been no attempts at redesigning the gui to make it's tools accessible. Is Alchemy the future of sampling in Logic, a bit like Halion in Cubase?

I am not familiar with Halion in Cubase but I have for some time now suspected that Apple regard Alchemy as the ESX24 successor. Nevertheless, on every major upgrade I still cross my fingers and hope that it will contain the ESX24 mark III.

 

Recently I find myself using NI Kontact more and more but I still have a soft spot for the ESX. It's a great workhorse with very few overheads and the vast majority of my projects have at least one instance in there somewhere.

 

Still holding out for a mkIII,

Alan.

Is Alchemy the future of sampling in Logic, a bit like Halion in Cubase?

I certainly hope not. I love the EXS24 and how lightweight it is. I too am beginning to lose hope that they'll ever give it a makeover and slowly learning to just deal with it. The pros far outweigh the cons.

It's not a replacement, Alchemy is too different and specialised. EXS24 is rooted in the fashion of old Akai/Emu samplers.

 

I'm confident the Logic team will bring out a new/refreshed 'simple' sampler to replace/upgrade EXS24 purely because the EDM crowd demand it - that's why Cubase has added Sampler Track, Studio One updated to Sample One XT, and Ableton/Fruity have their own selections. Any sampler that can glide an 808 kick sample is a big flavour that many young producers have the taste for.

 

Halion in Cubase is more of a Kontakt replacement, as it can host instruments with different interfaces, offers a library and is a multi-timbral instrument - for most Cubase users it's used as a preset/sound module rather than a sampler, and i believe a lot of the sounds included are from the Yamaha sample libraries. (Motif?).

 

Don't forget you can also run Halion in Logic as a Audio Unit if you own the full version (i.e. Not the version you get with Cubase).

 

Of course most people use their own third party samplers, but it's nice being able to right click on a waveform and send to EXS24 instance in Logic, so integration is key and why i believe they will eventually surface with something. It's well overdue though.

It's not a replacement, Alchemy is too different and specialised. EXS24 is rooted in the fashion of old Akai/Emu samplers.

 

I'm confident the Logic team will bring out a new/refreshed 'simple' sampler to replace/upgrade EXS24 purely because the EDM crowd demand it - that's why Cubase has added Sampler Track, Studio One updated to Sample One XT, and Ableton/Fruity have their own selections. Any sampler that can glide an 808 kick sample is a big flavour that many young producers have the taste for.

 

Halion in Cubase is more of a Kontakt replacement, as it can host instruments with different interfaces, offers a library and is a multi-timbral instrument - for most Cubase users it's used as a preset/sound module rather than a sampler, and i believe a lot of the sounds included are from the Yamaha sample libraries. (Motif?).

 

Don't forget you can also run Halion in Logic as a Audio Unit if you own the full version (i.e. Not the version you get with Cubase).

 

Of course most people use their own third party samplers, but it's nice being able to right click on a waveform and send to EXS24 instance in Logic, so integration is key and why i believe they will eventually surface with something. It's well overdue though.

 

It makes sense but Apple seems more interested in releasing their own Studio String EXS Instruments that nobody will use because - Kontakt - rather than update the functionality of the sequencer or EXS.

Apple are missing a trick really, when you consider that they have everything in place to sell (third party) add-on libraries for an updated EXS that could co-exist across Logic/GB/iOS. i.e. Kontakt/Halion style - but into the active iOS market.

 

They wouldn't have to apply so much time for reskinning EXS for the studio instruments, i don't know why they're having to hash stuff on top of old tech. Makes you think that no-one dares go in and touch EXS at this point, Camel came in, and stuck with what they knew in Alchemy. Redmatica have done jack involving EXS.

 

Right now, i'd be happy with a single sample playback instrument, with basic looping and Amp Env. But one that doesn't want me to commit to saves everytime i go to close the window and trying out ideas. Give it a nice interface, allow it to dock at the bottom, and just slowly build on it.

It's not a replacement, Alchemy is too different and specialised. EXS24 is rooted in the fashion of old Akai/Emu samplers.

 

I'm confident the Logic team will bring out a new/refreshed 'simple' sampler to replace/upgrade EXS24 purely because the EDM crowd demand it - that's why Cubase has added Sampler Track, Studio One updated to Sample One XT, and Ableton/Fruity have their own selections. Any sampler that can glide an 808 kick sample is a big flavour that many young producers have the taste for.

 

Halion in Cubase is more of a Kontakt replacement, as it can host instruments with different interfaces, offers a library and is a multi-timbral instrument - for most Cubase users it's used as a preset/sound module rather than a sampler, and i believe a lot of the sounds included are from the Yamaha sample libraries. (Motif?).

 

Don't forget you can also run Halion in Logic as a Audio Unit if you own the full version (i.e. Not the version you get with Cubase).

 

Of course most people use their own third party samplers, but it's nice being able to right click on a waveform and send to EXS24 instance in Logic, so integration is key and why i believe they will eventually surface with something. It's well overdue though.

 

What are your thoughts on Halion vs Kontakt.

I'm under the impression that Cubase's included content is buried within Halion, much like Logic's is in EXS24.

It's not a replacement, Alchemy is too different and specialised. EXS24 is rooted in the fashion of old Akai/Emu samplers.

 

I'm confident the Logic team will bring out a new/refreshed 'simple' sampler to replace/upgrade EXS24 purely because the EDM crowd demand it - that's why Cubase has added Sampler Track, Studio One updated to Sample One XT, and Ableton/Fruity have their own selections. Any sampler that can glide an 808 kick sample is a big flavour that many young producers have the taste for.

 

Halion in Cubase is more of a Kontakt replacement, as it can host instruments with different interfaces, offers a library and is a multi-timbral instrument - for most Cubase users it's used as a preset/sound module rather than a sampler, and i believe a lot of the sounds included are from the Yamaha sample libraries. (Motif?).

 

Don't forget you can also run Halion in Logic as a Audio Unit if you own the full version (i.e. Not the version you get with Cubase).

 

Of course most people use their own third party samplers, but it's nice being able to right click on a waveform and send to EXS24 instance in Logic, so integration is key and why i believe they will eventually surface with something. It's well overdue though.

 

Pretty cool...

Yeah Cubase is very similar to Logic in that Halion is at the heart of a lot of traditional presets like EXS, I.e. pianos, organs, strings.

 

You get the SE version and to ur the full Halion is something like $300, but then it can run in other DAWs but you need usb dongle connected. I haven’t got full Kontakt to compare, but when I see people editing in Kontakt it looks super cramped and small to me.