Destination - Apple EXS24
History and File
Format
Emagic, now owned by Apple, makes
Logic,
a professional sequencer and audio recorder. It is very popular among professionals.
Emagic decided to make a sampler that works in conjunction with Logic, and came
up with
the
EXS-24.
It only works within Logic; and like Logic, it is available in both Windows and
Mac flavors.
In 2003 Emagic released EXS-24 Mark II, which contains a nice modulation matrix and more filter types, noteably a high-pass filter. This also included the previously released trigger functions in the groups, which enabled the Giga-ubiquitous key-switching ability.
Starting with Logic 6, Apple included EXS-24 for free within Logic itself - no more paying for it seperately.
Architecture Description
The EXS-24 uses a simple method of Zones which are just KeyGroups.
You can have an infinite amount of these per Instrument. You can also make
objects called Groups which you can sort Zones under, although
a Zone isn't required to attach itself to one.
The EXS-24 is a fairly simple sampler - using ADSR envelopes, a seemingly nice filter with resonance, two LFO’s, and the standard complement of functions. Portamento is a nice touch. One lousy thing - most of the great program parameters, such as the Filter, Envelopes, and LFO’s, are GLOBAL within the Instrument - one setting applies to all Zones. But at least, the Zones provide the basic parameters, such as tuning, velocity, and looping, while the Groups provide special adjustment parameters for the amplitude ADSR, the Filter Cutoff, and Resonance.
As mentioned before, the EXS-24 Mark II included a much better modulation matrix and filters.
Translation Comments
Due to this global nature of most of the EXS-24
parameters, Translator has some special algorithms to
distribute the Group adjustment parameters accurately.
Also, a particular parameter will only be written in the
Global section if it applies to every Zone in a accurate
way. Some parameters have greater tolerance for varied
values, some have none. Translator figures these for you;
for more information, see the article in Special Features
called Parameter
Tolerance.
Lastly, Translator writes as few Zones and Groups as
possible, combining connecting Zones and identical Groups.
One competitor calls this "hi-res;" with Translator, we call it standard.
The EXS-24 envelopes are also a bit unique; they behave similar to the SoundFont "rate-based" envelopes. The rates change depending on what the levels are, despite that absolute times appear on the EXS interface. Translator accurately tracks these envelopes.
EXS-24 Instruments; that is, .exs files, are only seen by the EXS-24 if they are in the "Sampler Instruments" folder within the Logic application directory. Translator provides a special folder called EXS Instruments which represents this folder, if it exists. If you drop objects on this folder or below it, they will translate into that directory. See Options - EXS Tab for more information.
If incoming formats have their parameter sets named (Groups), these names are carried over whenever possible.
Comments
Due to the widespread popularity of Logic, the EXS-24 is widely used.
Currently is the most widely-used sampler behind GigaStudio.
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These translations are currently at Level Three, which means the ultimate in coolness has been reached.
Instructions on moving PC EXS-24 files to the Mac from the PC