Atlas, XO, other sample managers - your favs and why pls

I absolutely agree but it wouldn’t be too simple given that everyone has sample libraries contains thousands to millions of samples from an impossibly large selection of sources. plus to install them you’d have to include the samples and drag and drop them to the downloaders sample folder and then import the patch with all XOs details, and then the directories won’t line up. If you look at the bottom of XO when selecting a sample it shows you the file path so you know where your sample is coming from. XO would have to provide a method for doing it properly and I doubt they would cause copyright

I find that really interesting as I think of XO and Atlas as the opposite of a preset pack machine - it allows me to dig though my existing samples and make something new. I don’t need more sources of samples, I need a smarter way to utilise what’s already there.

No offence though, we all want something slightly different! It certainly wouldn’t be bad thing, just something I wouldn’t use.

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When I first read your comment I was slightly dismissive because I’ve got know and really dig XO in the last few months.
But, through the BF sale, I grabbed Atlas 2 too (after previously being less impressed at the trial/demo stage than I was with XO).

Now, I’ve got to say I think they’re both great in their own ways… there’s a lot of overlap, but a lot of unique features to each.

I really like XO’s 8-part approach because it makes me make best use of the space… and the features it has (particularly randomisation of both parts and sounds) means I can happily sit with it on its own for hours and be/feel productive. I love its ease of exports, so it’s simple to move into Ableton or the MPC (my usual seqs). It’s groove and quantisation features are miles ahead of Atlas.
Then there’s the FX and buss/mastering options… all in all, I find XO the better creative tool.

Atlas does have it beat on a few other features though… it’s own randomisation (of pitch/velocity/pan, etc) is a bonus… I really like the mixed pad layout and ability to export to pretty much anything else.
Cool that it’s got polyrhythms, I wish XO had this.
Overall, I feel like Atlas is more focussed on getting you started, sample organisation, exporting to where you usually make your beats and it does it really well.

While I think XO is the better beat maker, neither of them come close to other tools that we all have at our disposal (Elektrons, MPCs, DAWs, etc…), so maybe the Atlas approach is the smarter one…

Either way, I’m happy to have both now.

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Atlas has just had an update to v2.2… and I think it might now make it the king of sample organisers.

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don’t believe so

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I use Atlas, XO and Waves Cosmos. I find that Cosmos is really good as a strictly sample file management tool., better than Atlas and XO in that respect due to it’s file scanning algorythm and tagging. Atlas and XO are very similar, but Atlas is now more capable with recent updates and I find it more intuitive to use. XO still has some nice sequencer touches - if they merged the three softwares, it would make a pretty perfect product I reckon.

what do you prefer about XO’s sequencer?

Maybe a dumb question but do XO and Atlas play nice with a Push? As in; does it show as a drum rack,

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Hmm, not sure. I sold my Push 2 a while back and never used the two. I know Atlas has sample slot configs that work immediatley with Ableton drum rack, but not sure how it maps in practice

XO has a nice euclidean sequencer section that’s laid out in a really helpful way. It also has some randomisation elements on both the sequencer and sample section - Atlas is kind of similar with this on the sample part, but is managed in a different way in UI. You can adjust groove per channel in XO., which I don’t think is possible in Atlas.
Another plugin suite that also works well for pattern generating is the Audiomodern Playbeat - this is good for fills etc.
It would be great if someone pulled all of these strengths into one plugin!

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Atlas is the better option for moving to a an Ableton Drum Rack to use with Push 2… it’s a simple process to export a 4x4 or 8x8 kit, and that’s how I use it in AL (I don’t really use Atlas’ sequencer).

I’ve got a drum rack template for XO that works great and shows up on the Push 2. It always looks underwhelming on the Push 2 to me because it’s just 8 parts/tracks in XO, but it’s deceptively powerful… I really like XO’s sequencer and how it generally works as a creative tool.

This sounds interesting… I’m going to check it out. :+1:

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Can anyone feedback on their experiences with the Cosmos? I like the idea of a free sample manager with some useful tagging but not fully comfortable with giving firms like Waves access to the guts of my computer as one wonders about privacy - what with their algo’s looking through all my folders. Can one restrict where they are looking for instance? Would hate to think that a firm like Facebook might be sniffing around on the back of the Waves AI.

i’d like to know this too

I use Cosmos and you need to tell it where to scan - so you can choose one main folder e.g. in my case ‘Samples’ or focus the folder selection as specifically as you want to i.e. hand pick every folder if you like.
As far as Waves scanning all your folders - I wouldn’t have a clue how secure the algorythm is in terms of the access you give it and/or how/if they share the data with other sources, but I’m not worrried about stuff like that as have nothing to hide :wink:
It’s probably the best sample management and tagging tool i’ve used - I use Waves C8 sampler and this works great in partnership with Cosmos - really handy and time saving when matching samples with any search criteria you may wish to use.

Hope that helps.

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They have already scanned and cataloged everything on your computer. Long before downloading any vst. Yours, mine, everyones here. It’s too late, it’s been too late for a long time. No privacy software or VPN or virus protection can stop them. They can’t be stopped unless you take Skynet offline.
Google and Meta know when you need to use the bathroom before you do.

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As noted on the Software Deals thread, 50% off Atlas sale until April 21

so this is a good time for you extra familiar users to talk about your favorite differences between the two?

Just saying this since you replied to my post specifically but no, I’m not familiar with either software.

thanks for the clarification

…never heard of atlas…
…but once u touched xo, i hardly doubt anybody who is into ALL kinds of beats, ALL kinds of grooves, ALL kinds of sample scanning/managing/picking/choosing without ever loosing oversight, ALL kinds of variations from subtle to drastic, ALL kinds of exporting, wether midi or audio, ALL kinds of daw integration and crosscomunication or standalone, ALL just a few clicks away, would use/need anything else EVER AGAIN…
…yes, sadly, it’s THAT good…i must admit…
but psssst…it’s one of THE TOPsecret sonic weapons of ALL time…
so, don’t tell anybody else…

they made all my “learned the hard way” beat skills of more than two decades totally obsolete and even took half of my logo/brand concept from me, these bastards…

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