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1995-09-24
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Common MIDI Misconceptions #101 : Sample Dump Standard
I have talked to (in person and here) many people who do not understand what
"Sample Dump Standard" is. I have heard that it can get audio from a
compact disk into your sampler, let you put a sample into a DX100, move a
sample from any sampler to any other sampler.
Like most misconceptions, some of these things are true. Sample Dump Standard
is a specification by the IMA/MMA about the system exclusive passage of
samples between MIDI devices, be they computers or other samplers. Like most
standard (one size fits all) implementations, SDS is a loose standard.
Many samplers in the world today do not support SDS. You can't move
samples between SDS and non-SDS samplers. You need Sound Designer, Alchemy
or SampleVision for that (blatant commercial plug.. hee hee).
Some samplers that do support SDS do so in a non-standard way that renders
them unable to communicate with other SDS devices. These include Pre-3.0
Prophet 2000 series and Akai S900. These samplers live secluded in their
little MIDI world, with only specially written computer programs to talk to
them.
In theory, SDS should make our (the software developer's) job easier, right?
Wrong. In order to use the individual features on each sampler, we still
have to write system exclusive routines. I have yet to hear of anyone
who had an easy time moving samples between unlike samplers using SDS.
As a means of conveying sample data between machines, SDS is, well.. less than
optimum. An example is that SDS provides no way to just change loop points. If
a computer program wants to set loop points in an SDS sampler, the computer
must retransmit the entire sample over MIDI just to change these two values.
You must always transmit the entire sample, even if you change just one
sample. This can take minutes on larger samples.
My main point here is to show that SDS will not save the world from non
standard MIDI implementations. I think the attempt to standardize sampler
transfer is a noble one, but impossible given the differing architectures
of samplers from different manufacturers. We generally are able to support
a sampler better when the manufacturer used their own system exclusive
functions which better suit the sampler's architecture.
Samplers that claim to be SDS standard:
Emu EMAX, Sequential Prophet 2000/2002, Akai-Linn, Oberheim DPX-1,
Forat F16, Dynacord ADD-1 & ADD-2, Yamaha TX16W.
Samplers that do not use Sample Dump Standard:
Ensoniq Mirage & EPS, All Rolands, Korg DSS1/DSM1, Akai X7000/S700/S900,
Casio FZ1/FZ10.