[linux-audio-dev] fst, VST 2.0, kontakt

Forest Bond forest at alittletooquiet.net
Fri Jun 30 12:46:42 UTC 2006


> The issue here is that Mr Bond wants a sampler like Kontakt that works
> with Linux audio systems and saves its state.  The best way to achieve
> that is to work on a free alternative, eg, Linux Sampler.

I was under the impression that Linux Sampler is undergoing license changes.
Not sure where I picked that up.  In any case, Linux Sampler and Kontakt are
different sorts of samplers at this point.  Linux Sampler is more in the spirit
of Gigasampler, and Kontakt is more like an emulation of a hardware sampler (but
vastly more flexible).  Kontakt supports several built in effect types, and
complex modultation of parameters.  I don't understand Linux Sampler to support
that, but instead, I believe Linux Sampler focuses on smoothly playing huge
samples in order to achieve accurate imitations of real instruments.  Am I
incorrect?

> Comparing
> that with flogging yourself trying to get licenses changed for the sole
> purpose of hacking up some VST niceness, and the alternative seems a
> lot simpler and a lot more productive.

Assuming that kontakt is the only goal, yes.  However, I do have other VSTs that
I used extensively before dropping Windows altogether a few years ago.  One
tends to turn to the same tools over and over again to the point where they are
almost essential.  Every effect implementation is perhaps only slightly
different, however, I've found that I became reliant on those subtleties.

In any case, the VST spec itself is an open specification, even if the source is
not freely re-distributable.  I think it is a worthwhile goal to have full
support for VST under Linux, not because it isn't worth the time to create free
alternatives to current VSTs.  Having good VST support will help bring a lot of
musicians from other platforms.  People rely on these things!

> Forest, you might reconsider your decision that fst has the most
> long-term potential and check out Linux Sampler instead; specifically
> QSampler.

Noted.  However, I remain unconvinced that Linux Sampler is intended to be a
drop-in replacement for something like Kontakt.  I will look into it further.  I
played with LS a while back (actually, I packaged it for Ubuntu).  Maybe I
missed something.

thanks,
Forest
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