Samples II

5-channel 4HP USB wave file sample player

See product page here.

Samples II is a Eurorack 5-channels USB Sample Player. It plays back and streams wave audio files directly from a USB memory stick giving users the flexibility to change samples and offering them virtually infinite memory space. Samples II is able to play back wave files of more then 1 hour long.

Super low latency:
The latency performance was a priority during development which makes Samples II ideal for drum samples playback. The decision was made to have trigger inputs instead of CV inputs to keep latency as low as possible. Thanks to an efficient triple memory buffering, the initial transient audio data is always available in RAM for very fast access, this combined with trigger inputs gives the module an excellent latency performance of only 0.15ms.

Changing sample sets:
Using a basic folders/directories system on the USB stick, different sample sets can be loaded by module and the user can scroll through them using the tactile switch. It is also possible to hot swap USB memory sticks on the fly. The modules takes about 1 second to load samples and start playback after the USB stick is plugged in. The very first time a folder/directory is loaded possible conversions may be necessary, this happens only the very first time.

Playback modes and settings:
If the original Samples family of modules were strictly drum modules, Samples II can do more and new interesting playback modes have been implemented for the playback of field recordings, ambient sounds and loops. The playback modes and other options can be changed in a settings text file that is automatically generated by the module and saved in the root of the USB memory stick.

Mix OUT:
Drums in Eurorack can take up a lot of your mixer channels, that’s why a MIX output is available. All the Outputs from 1 to 4 that are not patched will be summed together with Channel 5 and send to the Output 5/MIX jack. An attenuation/mixing system is available using the single on-board tactile switch for set-and-forget mix levels, the user can set the levels between each channel so no need to go back to your DAW to change levels and re-bounce/re-export. See the manuals for more details.

Playback modulation:
Even though the inputs are not CV inputs, it is still possible to modulate the playback speed for 2 channels. Using an LFO into input 2, you can modulate the playback speed of channel 1. The LFO frequency will define the playback speed. The same applies for channel 3 and input 4. This is a feature that can be activated in the settings text file. The bandwidth of the USB memory stick will limit how far the playback can be sped up, but slowing down the playback has no restriction.

Multi sample modes:
These modes allow you to assign multiple files to one channel and the system will play back a different file every time a trigger is coming in. It can go through the files linearly in alphabetical order, or pick a random file at every trigger. It is ideal for glitchy beats, interesting HH patterns with different sounds, simple random playback or sequencing wave files. Because of the USB bandwidth limitation, a limited amount of channels can be used in multi sample at the same time, please read the manual for more details.

Wave file auto-conversion:
During development a lot of effort was put in to avoid restrictions for the users as much as possible. A priority was the implementation of a wave file auto-converter, ideal to convert short wave files on the fly. Even though the DACs on the module run at 16bits/44.1khz, for the best audio quality vs amount of channels ratio, any wave file can be loaded by the module. The auto-converter will perform bit rate and sample rate conversion (FIR + linear interpolation) when a wave file is assigned to a channel for the first time. Stereo files can also be played back to a pair of outputs or only the left channel can be sent to a single output. To avoid long conversion waiting times, files longer than 30 secs won’t be converted and will need to be converted on PC/MAC beforehand.

User manual:
See product page here.

IOs:
5 input jacks to trigger the sounds with +5V signals.
5 output jacks for the audio outputs ~8Vpp at audio peak value.

Specifications:
– 4HP
– Depth: 38mm (including power connector)
– Power: +12V 135mA, -12V 15mA

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