MusicTech's expert reviewer Andy Jones has been getting down and dirty with SampleTank 4 and was so impressed with the quality of sounds, new compositional features, mixing and effects, and the ease of use that he awarded it a 9/10 score together with the prestigious MusicTech Choice Award.

Here are some of Andy's key comments:

"It seems there is a fabulous case for an all-singing, all-dancing application that covers just about every sound you will ever need, in one. The all-new SampleTank 4 does all of that. And some!"

"It is really more on the wavelength of synth and workstations from the likes of Yamaha and Korg in terms of delivery."

"The screen is quite brilliantly simple, with icons for parts, layers and the mixer at the top, plus some of the more compositional elements (arpeggiator etc.) at the bottom, and more settings based icons at the bottom right."

"Selecting sounds (by way of timbre, genre, even mood) is now very straightforward, all things considered, which is why SampleTank 4 is a joy to use overall."

"I always want more electronic and out-there styles, although these are eminently creatable as there is so much available tweakage, so you can wrestle whatever the hell you want from SampleTank 4. And that is the message really: all the sounds you want are here - bread, butter, jam, marmalade and more - but the real story with SampleTank 4 is about everything you can do with them in terms of composing and affecting."

"And far from being irrelevant in this age of hardware, you could argue that perhaps a single piece of software that handles all of your main sounds with some aplomb is the ideal centrepiece for today's studio."

Andy's final verdict was:

"Nearly two decades on, SampleTank 4 takes the software workstation concept to the max. It's more essential than ever."

Key Plusses:

+ Delivers a tonne of sounds like no other
+ Could replace a lot of your existing plug-ins
+ Exceptional compositional features
+ Pro mixing and effects
+ Great ease of use considering the size
+ Great quality sounds

SampleTank 4 receives a 9/10 score and MusicTech's Choice Award 

Visit MusicTech
Learn more about SampleTank 4