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If you've got gazillions of samples and loops, this sample organizer/player seems like an incredibly useful tool - and it's FREE!



They've built some thoughtful features into it, like the Random button, DAW sync, editable start point, and the ability to basically use it like a simple sample instrument playable via MIDI.

Too bad it can't access samples contained within Refills... which of course, is not surprising.

Link to download: https://www.adsrsounds.com/product/soft ... e-manager/

Interesting. Does drag n drop work?

Loque wrote: ↑

11 Jul 2018

Interesting. Does drag n drop work?

Installing later today and will find out - hopefully it does.

Drag and drop works as advertised!

It's a very useful little utility. I've collected an enormous amount of samples over the years and have done my best to organize them into categorized folders and sub-folders. But when it actually comes down to hunting for a sample to insert into a production, I typically stick to a handful of folders that I'm most familiar with, just to save time and not lose momentum. This tool gives me instant categorized access to my entire sample collection, which can still be overwhelming, but at least it exposes me to samples I would've typically ignored.

But it's not all sunshine and smiles... the auto-tagging system does a good job of parsing file names to derive appropriate tags for each sample, but I've got folders full of kick drum samples, for example, that are named 0001.wav, 0002.wav, etc. which means they don't get auto-tagged. Once they're imported, I need to manually apply a tag to each sample individually - there's no bulk tagging feature Also, it would be nice to have an option where you could tell the utility to use the folder name as the tag for the current import.

Also, it tends to play it safe and categorize any sample that has variations in the waveform over time as a loop, instead of a one-shot. It's not a big deal, you can easily mark the sample as a one-shot after it's been imported, but it's just one more thing you need to do.

But this is still an incredibly useful, and much-needed, utility. The plugin contains a link to give feedback and feature suggestions to ADSR, so it seems they may be willing to add improvements over time. And you can't beat the price!

NekujaK wrote: ↑

11 Jul 2018

Drag and drop works as advertised!

It's a very useful little utility. I've collected an enormous amount of samples over the years and have done my best to organize them into categorized folders and sub-folders. But when it actually comes down to hunting for a sample to insert into a production, I typically stick to a handful of folders that I'm most familiar with, just to save time and not lose momentum. This tool gives me instant categorized access to my entire sample collection, which can still be overwhelming, but at least it exposes me to samples I would've typically ignored.

But it's not all sunshine and smiles... the auto-tagging system does a good job of parsing file names to derive appropriate tags for each sample, but I've got folders full of kick drum samples, for example, that are named 0001.wav, 0002.wav, etc. which means they don't get auto-tagged. Once they're imported, I need to manually apply a tag to each sample individually - there's no bulk tagging feature Also, it would be nice to have an option where you could tell the utility to use the folder name as the tag for the current import.

Also, it tends to play it safe and categorize any sample that has variations in the waveform over time as a loop, instead of a one-shot. It's not a big deal, you can easily mark the sample as a one-shot after it's been imported, but it's just one more thing you need to do.

But this is still an incredibly useful, and much-needed, utility. The plugin contains a link to give feedback and feature suggestions to ADSR, so it seems they may be willing to add improvements over time. And you can't beat the price!

You don't realise how much you need it until you try it.... and once you do... you wonder how you managed all these years without it.

This is such an obvious tool that should be built into Reason - rather than as a plugin.

This would be great if many of my drum samples weren't locked behind refills. Cool organizational tool though. Especially for those who buy a lot of samples and loop packs.

After spending several hours with this utility, here are some impressions:

- Incredibly useful! I agree with a previous poster, a feature like this should be built into Reason by default, especially because so many Reason samples are sequestered inside Refills.

- As I mentioned earlier, samples won't get auto-tagged if there's no information in their file name. At first I thought this would be a big problem, but it's not so bad. Scrolling thru the samples (or browsing via the Random button) it's easy to spot ones that haven't been tagged (they're often grouped together), and if I'm inclined, I can spend a couple of minutes to manually tag them. The vast majority of samples get auto-tagged, so if a few slip thru the cracks, it's really not a big deal, and I will eventually get around to tagging them over time.

- The search feature applies to both tags and filenames. So it's not difficult to zero in on samples that have obscure or untaggable names.

- The plugin has locked up on me a couple of times during the import process. This seems to happen if it's playing a sound when I start to import a new folder. Once I figured that out - no more crashes.

- It takes a few minutes to process the samples being imported, but the UI doesn't do a good job of refreshing itself to indicate its busy. But there's a simple workaround - just close the plugin and open it again and you'll see a progress counter by the folder being imported. During this time, not all of the previously imported samples may be accessible, but they'll become available as soon as the current import is processed.

- It's great fun to audition samples and be able to instantly play them pitched on my MIDI keyboard. This has already inspired some new musical ideas that I otherwise would not have stumbled upon.

- This is a 1.0 release, so it's a little rough around the edges. The basic functionality seems rock solid, but it could use some more convenience features, especially the ability to manually bulk tag a group of samples.

Overall, this is the most exciting and useful plugin I've added to my arsenal in months, and the workflow benefits are immediately obvious.

I have 1000s of ARP2600 samples... and the tagging algorithm has decided that they are all "Arpeggiated" loop samples.

Someone at ADSR needs to do a spot of synth history and not make muppet mistakes like that!!

Not to hijack the thread but a similar feature i.e. organize your own samples will be soon added to Loopcloud too. Still the two will be partially different in terms of what they are capable of I guess.

Thank you SO much for sharing this. Never would've stumbled across it, and it's already leading to some amazing ideas. And of course it goes without saying something like this *in* Reason that could scan ReFills as well would just be a total gamechanger.

One thing worth mentioning is that it will add a fair bit of latency if you have delay comp on. So either turn DC off or use the big green button in the VST thumbnail to disable it when you're not sample browsing.

NekujaK wrote: ↑

11 Jul 2018

But it's not all sunshine and smiles... the auto-tagging system does a good job of parsing file names to derive appropriate tags for each sample, but I've got folders full of kick drum samples, for example, that are named 0001.wav, 0002.wav, etc. which means they don't get auto-tagged. Once they're imported, I need to manually apply a tag to each sample individually - there's no bulk tagging feature Also, it would be nice to have an option where you could tell the utility to use the folder name as the tag for the current import.

There's a great utility (available at least for PC Users) called Bulk Rename Utility. It's free and you can download it here https://www.bulkrenameutility.co.uk/Download.php

So I would suggest that - preferably prior to installing ADSR Sample Manager - you identify 'problem' folders like this one and use the Bulk Rename Utility to sort these potential problems. The GUI might seem a bit intimidating - but only because it's so powerful. The suggested application here would be to add a prefix to the file name - a typical use would be a single command that would rename all files in the kick drum folder to something like 'kick_drum_0001.wav', 'kick_drum_0002.wav', etc. You could even add details of the author, genre or sample library to the name if that would be useful to you.
Once you get the hang of it, it's really fast.

This does raise a query for me - what happens if a sample file gets renamed after it has been processed initially - does ADSR Sample Manager automatically detect the change, or would this corrupt the sample data?

wireless wrote: ↑

13 Jul 2018

There's a great utility (available at least for PC Users) called Bulk Rename Utility. It's free and you can download it here https://www.bulkrenameutility.co.uk/Download.php

Thanks for the suggestion. I actually have that utility, but didn't want to rename the samples because many of them have already been used in previous productions under their existing name, and if I reload old projects, I don't want to go thru the nightmare of hunting down the replacement samples.

That said, I discovered that Sample Manager does seem to use the parent folder name when auto-tagging, since it correctly tagged my 0001.wav etc... samples as kick drums! But there are still some situations where it doesn't apply an auto-tag, or incorrectly auto-tags. But I can live with that (especially if they implement a manual bulk-tagging feature )

wireless wrote: ↑

13 Jul 2018

This does raise a query for me - what happens if a sample file gets renamed after it has been processed initially - does ADSR Sample Manager automatically detect the change, or would this corrupt the sample data?

You can dump any previously imported folder and then reimport it, which I would assume should cause Sample Manager to rescan.

NekujaK wrote: ↑

13 Jul 2018

Thanks for the suggestion. I actually have that utility, but didn't want to rename the samples because many of them have already been used in previous productions under their existing name, and if I reload old projects, I don't want to go thru the nightmare of hunting down the replacement samples.

Good points - Thanks for the feedback!

Thought I'd have no use for this... and then I somehow ended up looking though my drum samples last night. Needless to say it's now downloaded. It's a great way of consolidating stuff from different folders without moving files manually. I've wanted to consolidate my drums in one place for a while and this plugin is perfect for that! The auto tagging system could use some work though. Got snares and vocal sounds getting tagged as bass simply because there's a 'B' in the filename it seems.

Actually nevermind. Just spent over an hr tagging. went to import ultrabeat (logic) samples and it crashed Reason. It then forgot all the tags... Also dragging a sample from it to Kong but's the Kong sample playback to loop mode for some reason.

This how a browser should work, it is really fast compared to reasons browser

QVprod wrote: ↑

13 Jul 2018

Actually nevermind. Just spent over an hr tagging. went to import ultrabeat (logic) samples and it crashed Reason. It then forgot all the tags...

Agree to a certain extent with QVProd. Although this has to be a clever product under the hood, the tagging feature is not quite getting to be super-useful. An example from me is when 'cheerfulsoloflute.wav' (which is reasonably clear) is tagged as 'applause and cheer' is somewhat bizarre. The fact that it has been tagged as that is neither here nor there really, but the fact that it has not been tagged as 'flute' or 'solo' is sad. To be fair, this utility would need to include a very clever AI to untangle the meaning from my filename, but bottom line is that I could easily be drawn into re-tagging 69,404 files (what really!?!) and that would be another lost creative session or six....

On the other hand, I am finding it useful and it's a better way to work than before (when I was ignoring most of my samples). So far, the drag and drop function has worked perfectly for me with no crashes although I've only tried dropping samples onto the sequencer and onto NNXT so far.

Would it be even better if it recognised patches as well????

The auto-tagging feature is clearly a hit or miss proposition. But even with some bad tags, I still find it useful to have all my samples/loops "under one roof" so to speak. Also, I can still browse for samples the old way thru Reason's browser, if necessary. Sample Manager just provides an alternative method.

I gave up trying to correct all the bad tagging right away - at least not until they implement bulk tagging (I emailed them about this). But I do occasionally browse thru samples using the Random button just for fun, and if I find a bad tag, I fix it and any others nearby. After a while, all my tags will be clean, and in the meantime, I still get to access samples that I never even knew I had!

wireless wrote: ↑

14 Jul 2018

On the other hand, I am finding it useful and it's a better way to work than before (when I was ignoring most of my samples). So far, the drag and drop function has worked perfectly for me with no crashes although I've only tried dropping samples onto the sequencer and onto NNXT so far.

Would it be even better if it recognised patches as well????

It does work really well for that. I came across quite a few samples and loops I didn’t realize I had.

This is so good! Especially the random sample feature, I've wanted something like that for a while! Sometimes you don't know what sounds you're looking for and just want to be spoonfed, and this plugin is perfect for that. This is definitely going to placed in my startup template.

A couple little caveats here and there, but I have a FUCK TON of samples and loops and this has really made a dent in the searching process, simply due to the fact that it's MUCH quicker than Reason's browser interface when digging through folders. Excellent addition to my tool set.

Sample Manager update is available. It's a nice set of features and fixes, but unfortunately, no bulk editing of tags Hope they're working on it.

ADSR Sample Manager update 1.0.6 includes:

- Search for files with no tags
- End marker & looping
- Drag audio trimmed to markers or whole file
- Selectable time stretch modes
- Improved loop/one-shot detection
- Keyboard shortcuts
- Halve/Double/Reset a BPM by right clicking in the sample list
- Clear search button
- Sample list order-able by Name and BPM
- Ctrl-left click on macOS for menus in addition to right click
- Improved missing library handling
- Fixed crash when multiple libraries are missing
- Visual improvements to mini-confirmation, missing sample file and BPM editing
- Sample release time not affected by stretching
- Library name editing consistent with rest of plugin
- Sample selection not lost when refreshing libraries
- Scan .aiff files in addition to .aif files.

Cant find anything if this exists or not but I just sent a feature request.

When I click the random button I would like to have a back button aswell incase I want to listen to previous random samples or I clicked to quick and don't remember what awesome sample I just had and wants. Maybe a history tab to see what samples I had randomized

This plugin has a lot of promise, but in practice, I can't get much use out of it.

Dragging a sample into the NNXT seems to work. But as soon as I click on the NNXT, for whatever purpse, Reason completely freezes up. I have to force quit. I have yet to experience an RE or VST that completely locks Reason up like that. Since this is what I would use this VST for 95% of the time--you know, browsing for samples and loading into a sampler--I currently can't use this VST, free or otherwise.

Dragging samples and loops into the sequencer in Logic Pro does seem to work, so there's that at least. Maybe this works in Reason as well, but I'd really need to be able to use the NNXT as expected.

I'm on OSX, Reason 10, BTW.