Electronic Musician reviewed Tascam’s all-singing all-dancing software sampler GigaStudio 3, and they say, “it’s a doozy.” They continue, “Tascam has listened to its hardcore users and introduced an extensive redesign and expansion of the program. … What’s more, the user interface has been vastly improved, and the program now boasts a number of sophisticated new features.” In fact, they say, GigaStudio 3 has blurred the line between sampler and digital-audio workstation.

They review the high-end version of GigaStudio, called GigaStudio 3 Orchestra, though there are two other version available called GigaStudio 3 Ensemble and GigaStudio 3 Solo. These cut-down (and cheaper) versions lack some of the more advanced features but are fundamentally the same product. They give a very detailed review of the updated and new features, from the MIDI mixer to the DSP Station, showing that this is a lot more than a simple sample recording and playback engine.

Of course, they also talk at length about GigaPulse, Tascam’s convolution-based reverb, which is included in the top-of-the-line GigaStudio Orchestra under review. The full reverb plug-in is not included in GigaStudio Ensemble or GigaStudio Solo, but these programs include the GigaPulse playback engine, so you do get fancy reverb when playing instruments that have been encoded with GigaPulse. As for the reverb quality, they are emphatic: “In the final analysis, how does GigaPulse sound? In a word: fantastic. … In short, this is a great reverb for all seasons, and it should serve nicely as the primary processor for most projects.”

In the end, they agree with most other reviewers that GigaStudio 3 is the best software sampler out. They rate it as 4.5 out of 5 and write: “All in all, GigaStudio 3 Orchestra is an impressive package. Its high-end audio quality, flexible routing and processing capabilities, advanced performance features, sophisticated editing tools, powerful search functions, and streamlined user interface make it once again the indisputable gold standard in software samplers.”

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