Chicken Systems has announced a new version of Translator 7 (v7.1), SamplerTools (v2.1), as well as their entire product line.
The main emphasis is on vintage samplers, supporting most floppy disk image formats with IMG, DSK, HFE, and QD encodings. Additional formats are the modern Waldorf Quantum and Sequential Prophet X. These are included and translation formats and destinations for the included AutoSampler.
Translator Hi-Tech Edition now includes Synclavier as a writeable format, allowing users to import any sound they desire. It also includes a Fairlight Voice Editor.
Estimated release date is first half of December 2020.
Also included, among many improvements, are two powerful features and two editors:
Feature: Layer Merging
Many older samplers work off one keymap of sound and do not layer discrete sounds. If they do layer, the memory is very limited so having layered discrete sounds is very expensive. Translator's new Layer Merging feature takes incoming layered samples and merges them into one single sample, making it available for the low-memory structure-limited sampler.
Feature: Map Filtering
Older samplers are limited in memory and can't handle (for example) one note for every key, etc. Map Filtering - automatically or under manual control - allows you to skip samples and spread the key ranges out to lower the eventual memory requirement of the source.
Editors - Loop and Slice
Both Loop and Slice Editors are similar to each other. Their power is in their workflow, where you can click through many pieces of sample data with one click with the BACK and FORWARD buttons, unlimited UNDO, and saving whenever you desire. These Editors are not essentially for standalone looping or slicing work - though they can be used for that - but in conjunction with translation duties. For example, if you are converting a medium-sized Brass instrument into a vintage sampler with 500K of memory, and they include layered samples, you might need to manually re-loop your samples. Regarding slicing, there never has been a bulk slicing tool, but with the Slice Editor there now is.
Additionally, improved SCSI2SD access is included, with the ability to access multiple Kurzweil, Ensoniq ASR-X, Korg Triton, Yamaha Motif/RS7000 ID's on a single SD card. And, the new versions provide proprietary disk access in MacOS 10.15 (Catalina) and MacOS 10.16 (Big Sur), as well as enhanced Retina/HiDPI display support.
New Formats:
- Akai S900, 950.
- Roland S550, S330, W30, S50.
- Emu Emax II, Emax I.
- Emu Emulator II.
- Ensoniq Mirage.
- Korg DSS-1, DSM-1.
- Sequential Circuits Prophet 2000/2002.
- Apple "Sampler" (EXS24 Mark III).
- Waldorf Quantum.
- Sequential Prophet X.
- Roland Fantom (modern).
- NED Synclavier (Hi-Tech Edition only).
- More coming soon...
Additions:
- Proprietary Disk Access in MacOS 10.16/10.15.
- Improved Retina/HiDPI-compliant GUI.
- Improved Akai Z-Series/MPC4000 conversions.
- Added MPC4000 AutoDetect options in Format Preferences-Akai.
- Added writing ->Fairlight proprietary disks/images (Hi-Tech Edition only).
- Many more optimizations.
Fixes:
- Too many to list.
- General Maintenance.
All updates are free to registered new and old Translator 7 and SamplerTools 2 users. Users can update simply by running their application and the new update will appear and allow it to be downloaded and updated.
