Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Review: No Dough Records NDS-2 Super Alpha Sample Pack

Developer: No Dough Records
Format: 24-bit/96k WAV files with fully-mapped EXS-24, Kontakt, NNXT, Halion, and Ableton Live formats.
Price:  £29.99
Demos:  Audio demos on product page.

No Dough Records is back with their second commercial sample library and have something very different to offer in contrast to the previous NDS-1 House Music.  This time out, No Dough has created fully-mapped multi-sampled instruments sourced from the famous Roland Alpha Juno.  If you're into dance music, you undoubtedly already know about the legendary part the Alpha Juno played in the Rave scene as well as early 90's techno and trance.  You know those hoover sounds you're always asking about on every electronic music forum in existence?  That sound originated on the Alpha Juno.

NDS-2 consists of 150 multi-sampled Alpha Juno sounds processed through outboard gear and recorded in ultra-high fidelity.   You'll find basses, keys/brass, leads, and polysynth patches represented here, all with a distinct 80's sound to them.  If you're looking for something with that retro sound, these ought to make you very happy.  Icy DCO-strings, warm PWM pads, spikey basses, detuned leads, and more are all in abundance here.

The quality of the recording and looping is excellent and for the most part the multi-sample points are not noticeable unless you're playing chromatic scales.  The multi-sampling helps give these sounds more of a "real" vintage sound, with the subtle inconsistencies from sample to sample lending a more alive sound than similarly-themed softsynths.

So if you're looking for some 80's-tastic sounds or are just a fan of the Alpha Juno sound, definitely give this set a listen. [9/10]



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