Agreed, Elektron did an amazing job on that front. Ring able to unload unused samples, move them anywhere you want, etc.
I am unable to mark a track as Melodic so far. I sampled a drumloop on track 7 but it is seen as melodic.
Man it’s fun to make loops with the punch in fx.
Would be so epic to have punch in FX on incoming audio.
The drum sampler is automatically registered as percussion and the sampler and multi sampler is registered as melodic.
As of now there is no way of changing that, but we have asked for there to be an option to group tracks, not sure that will come as an update any time soon though.
1 Like
The ram has been updated to 64mb from 48mb so it can handle more multi samples then before but depending on the sample length it might still not be enough.
I’ve found that the magic number is to use >3sec samples. Haven’t tried that for all eight tracks though.
2 Likes
Weirdly though that isn’t true for the brain, where any drum sampler on tracks 3-8 will register there as melodic and mess up any generative notes you’re playing. You have to explicitly disable them in the brain.
I thought this also affected the punch-in grouping but apparently I’m wrong.
The melodic and percussion groupings are only affecting punch in FX and end of chain gain.
Brain is by default set to affect tracks 3-8 it has nothing to do with melodic and percussion groups.
Hope this comes true. Right now I’ve found the synth engines pretty uninspiring. Sweet spots can be found, especially using the element envelope to modulate position on wavetable making it sound fm like. But without per track effects to add character the other engines feel a bit weak. Still love the device and can make the most of the synth engines plus samples for most uses.
2 Likes
I think the engines are really cool. But you have to get creative and start using the LFO’s and 4 filters types, as well as the VCA and VCF envelopes.
I would like to see them add FM or an analog subtractive engine, but I also have the field which has both of those.
1 Like
Gotcha! Luckily the sample time is the same everywhere so I can just sample a loop as a drum hit. Thanks!
1 Like
I’m coping here. I’ll admit that. I think I love the workflow and portability. And that sound. But man, that measly 64MB of sample RAM is really really bugging me. Especially considering the massive dual blackfin processing cores. It seems they put in a Ferrari engine with a 10 liter fuel tank.
How are you happy owners dealing with this? I mean stereo samples and 64MB. Gee…
1 Like
The sample memory doesn’t bother me. However, I would like to see the CPU warning icon less often.
My honeymoon phase with the XY is still not over. This device inspires me more and more every day. As a typical GAS victim, this is very unusual for me.
3 Likes
i honestly haven’t hit a wall with that limitation…
i guess it depends on what you want to do. but the samplers in the device aren’t that deep anyways. I only sample into the XY and very rarely import samples, so maybe that helps a bit ( i honestly dont know though).
Like everything Teenage Engineering its not really the induvidual functions that makes the device great its the sum of all its parts. Its just a fun machine to use and i think everyone who has owned/own this machine can attest to that.
on the hunt for a sampler
Im personally looking into getting a deeper sampler to offload some sample duties. ive boiled it down to samplers which does not have sequencers or that hinge being awesome due to the sequencer ( ie Octatrack, Digitakt)
- 1010 Black box - ticks a lot of boxes
Deep enough sample engine, great midi implementation (midi Learn) , several outputs, looper. Might be a bit fiddly though - GR-1 - Looks really deep and cool, has CV inputs (plus for me) only has USB as inputs which is really bad, because i dont know if i need to purchase another interface just for the GR-1
- GR-MEGA - looks incredible in every way, but is currently unobtainum
- S-4 - to buggy, cant trigger Tape sampler from midi and the encoders felt like they were gonna crap out any minute, sounded really good though.
- Morphagene - i already own it! really fiddly and obtuse in many ways, more of a happy accidents machine then anything else. but maybe i should just embrace is weirdness and let that handle sample duties.
- Intellijel multigrain - would replace my Morphagene, seems to straddle the line of being weird and wonky to “normal” sampler better.
- Tempera - Not really interested at all, the UI dont speak to me at all
- SP404 mkii - the only con with this is that its maybe a bit “too normal” and the sample engine is not really that deep.
this seems like a good approach instead wanting to dump the usual load of samples onto the device. be more specific and intentional with it. yeah great one.
I imagine this is so true. I had that with the OP-Z as well. But because sample management was terrible and the device was not deep enough I started wandering off into all kinds of hardware. Went to modular even. But somewhere in my heart I still miss that fun part of the OP-Z.
thanks @MichaalHell 
1 Like
The XY is definitely a step up on the sample managment front, but a lot of devices handle samples better imo, so theres that as well. but again i find it quiet approachable since i rarely import large swats of samples.
1 Like
Not to forget the 1010 Nanobox Tangerine, which offers similar features for less money.
Back to the XY:
I work a lot with my own multisamples, but I always record and edit them on my Mac.
- I trim the sample at the end of the sustain loop, which mostly saves an incredible amount of space.
- I also pay attention to the number of samples. For less complex sounds, one sample per octave is sufficient. For complex sounds, I sample every 5 or 7 semitones, which always works.
- Also, most multisamples don’t have to cover the entire octave range.
All in all, well thought-out sampling can save a lot of memory.
3 Likes
Here is a new stand by mirai / varidock for the XY
https://www.instagram.com/p/DDKmGaFInlK/?igsh=c3NwNDFpaWZ0cXkx
2 Likes
How about the M8 for sampling? Not so immediate to actually sample as something with a dedicated button, but it’s super deep in what it can do with them.
the m8 is super capable, but its just that i don’t really gel with trackers. in regards to note notation i am kind of conservative 
2 Likes
The M8’s sampler is fantastic as long as you don’t need polyphony and multisamples. I know there are workarounds for both. But it’s all very cumbersome.
Btw, the M8’s crossfade algorithm for creating sustain loops is the best I’ve come across in hardware.
1 Like
I took a closer look at the pictures. There doesn’t seem to be a cut-out for the pitchbend.
That would be pretty bad, because it would make it impossible to operate the pitchbend. In addition, it would probably generate pitchbend data unintentionally due to the weight of the XY.
1 Like