CompuServe Messages

Marc, Regarding noise with the Mimetics sampler. Keep in mind that even if the sampler were PERFECT, the absolute best S/N ratio you can expect is 52 db. This is the theoretical maximum with 8 bits, and the real-world value will be lower. This is roughly equivalent to a cassette tape with no noise reduction, which you must admit is a tad on the noisy side. I have three of the four available samplers here in house. Unless one of the companies sent me a doctored version (which I highly doubt), the Mimetics is quieter than one of the others, and the same as the other (though different in type of noise). I doubt we'll know for sure which is quietest until we defeat the extremely limited bandwidth filter in the Amiga. The main difficulty with the Mimetics is that the other two have provisions for adjusting input gain, whereas the Mimetics doesn't. If you think you might want another sampler because of the noise problem, I _strongly_ recommend you get ahold of the potential purchase and use it before you buy, as you may find it no better than what you now have. As to the software, I must admit that it seemed to be a bit "fragile" to me as well. I was able to crash the system on several occasions by doing fast mouse moves/clicks, and I also experienced occasional stuck notes. I have the older software, though… they are shipping me the new stuff now. If your software does not provide a visual representation of the waveform, ala oscilloscope, then you do not have the newest version either. Finally, keep in mind that the software shipped with the sampler is only a tiny taste of what it can do. To use the sampler to its fullest you need to use it as a module in the whole SoundScape system. Keep me posted as to problems and comments. Nybbles, Rick