Decent Sampler isn’t exactly recent news, but we wanted to highlight the excellent work done by creator Dave Hilowitz and share it with anyone who hasn’t seen it yet.
If you don’t know, Decent Sampler is a sample player that plays libraries in the DecentSampler format (dspreset or dslibrary). You can grab the plugin for free from the Decent Samples website, where you can also get a bunch of free libraries and some paid, too.
A common complaint amongst music makers is that too many libraries require the full version of Kontakt, which is far from cheap. Sure, there are many free Kontakt libraries, but most of them aren’t compatible with the free Kontakt Player plugin.
Developing libraries for the free Kontakt Player will incur license fees, which aren’t feasible for smaller developers. Understandably, certain developers can’t afford to make their content available for the free Kontakt Player, which leaves users with the potential option of paying for a library then paying for Kontakt, too.
Decent Sampler isn’t a Kontakt replacement, nor does it claim to be the most advanced sample player on the market. It offers a free alternative that’s easy to use and has an ever-growing collection of libraries.
It’s fair to say Decent Sampler isn’t without fault, and users have experienced various bugs. One that came up quite often is that Decent Sampler would fail to reload the correct library when opening a saved project in your DAW.
However, I like Dave Hilowitz’s approach to updates/fixes because he thinks about them from both the user and developer points of view. The most recent version of Decent Sampler (v1.4.5 Windows – v1.4.2 macOS) is more stable than ever with improved library management.
There are some exciting developments in the pipeline if you’re a sample creator, including LFOs, Modulation, and potentially multiple outputs. You can check out a video demonstrating how to develop samples for Decent Sampler.
A while back, we talked about Frédéric Poirier converting over 100 Pianobook libraries to the Decent Sampler format. Now, that number is significantly higher and growing fast. Free access to thousands of weird and wonderful sounds is the appeal of Decent Sampler.
Talking of weird and wonderful, check out Dave’s latest free library made from a desk lamp found in the trash. Watch the video; it’s pretty damn cool.
Christian Henson’s (Spitfire Audio) Pianobook is a massive collection of libraries created by talented musicians worldwide. The Pianobook community is so positive, and Decent Sampler compatibility enhances that positivity.
When I say music is about sharing, it shouldn’t be beyond us to share encouragement, knowledge, or tools even in a competitive industry.
We all love music; we approach it in different ways, but it gives us all something positive in our lives. Without being overly sentimental, I like to think we have a very positive community at BPB, too, and it’s awesome to see comments offering advice or help.
Decent Sampler is available in 32/64-bit AU, VST, VST3, and AAX formats for macOS, Windows, and Linux (64-bit only).
AUv3 version is also available for iOS.
More info: Decent Sampler
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Last Updated on February 1, 2022 by Tomislav Zlatic.
