The Sound Board

For many here this isn't worth it at £28. There's little in the way of truly hidden gems, and it takes up a boatload of space. BUT - if you're starting out and have disk space to spare you could do a lot worse than this. The sounds aren't terrible, they're just not best in class. Think of its competitors not as Spitfire or Orchestral Tools, but the big romplers of the 1990s like the Korg Triton, only on a much bigger scale.

Charity offer at Humble Bundle til October 22nd.

https://www.humblebundle.com/software/i ... e-software

https://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/s ... T6oiWHJ3pO

PS1 - if you just want basic SampleTank 4, it's £1 from the same link.

PS2 - also included I believe is SampleTron 2 and this is rather good. It's more than Mellotron samples (though it has those), it's a wealth of old tape and early digital samplers with a good suite of effects. There's a good variety of controls for editing and access to the raw samples so you can mix and match. Great for evoking the future from the perspective of 1969. Also, unlike say some of the Arturia vintage samplers, it isn't overliteral with the sampling, where horrendous great clicks on the loop points are proudly preserved. This is useful stuff.

IK does make some really good products - the guitar sims, plus their Hammond B3 is second to none - but their main SampleTank and Syntronik ranges are not their strongest suit.

Opinions about SampleTron 2 seem to vary but I love it. I used weird little vintage lofi phrases in my most successful song, and I’ve found all sorts of useful bits and bobs inside. The various Trons are well represented as well.