The XL version collects together both of these discs along with a third CD including yet more sounds, and throws in an additional utility called Sampletank Converter, which allows you to convert programs from Akai S1000 and S3000‑format CD‑ROMS for use within Sampletank. A basic set of sounds common to all three versions is included on the program CD‑ROM to get you started, while the L and DJ versions include additional libraries, each occupying a single CD‑ROM. What differs is the sound library provided. The program itself is the same in each case, as is the selection of 20 different effects. There are three basic versions of Sampletank: L, DJ and XL. Instead, the program stands or falls on its ease of use, and principally on the quality of its preset sound library. Nor does it offer extensive editing possibilities for programs or effects. It won't stream sounds from hard disk, like Nemesys' Gigasampler, although IK Multimedia do claim to have developed 'RAM doubling' technology to squeeze more sounds into your computer's memory.

Unlike existing products such as Bitheadz's Unity DS1, Native Instruments' Transformator or Emagic's EXS24, Sampletank has no user‑sampling facilities at all: you can't even import sounds recorded in another audio application. Their latest release brings another piece of studio hardware into the virtual world, for Sampletank is, in essence, a high‑quality bread‑and‑butter sound module in the Roland JV1080 vein, in the form of a VST Instrument suitable for use in Cubase, Logic, and other compatible programs. Italian software manufacturers IK Multimedia are best known for the mastering application T‑Racks, which simulates a rack of valve compressors and limiters, allowing Mac or PC owners with golden ears the chance to buff their music to a high gloss. All sorts of weird and wonderful instruments have been recreated in software, but IK Multimedia's Sampletank is the first serious attempt to make a high–quality workhorse sound module available in virtual form.

Sampletank 4 vst