How to Use C700: The C700 Sampler

C700 Sampler

It's time for the fun stuff! Here in section D, positioned right in the middle of the plugin, we will learn about the sampler and its various features. This guide divides those features up into two more parts: the left side and the right side of the pane. The ADSR envelope is also covered on its own page.

Let's get sampling!

Loading and Browsing Samples

There are two ways to load samples in C700: The first is to simply drag-and-drop a sample from your filesystem onto the waveform display in the center of the VST. The other way is to click "Load…" at the bottom, and from there you will find that there are three acceptable filetypes for loading samples: .wav / .brr / .spc.

Importing .wav and .brr (the SNES's compressed sample format) is straightforward, but .spc import is interesting. Importing an .spc into C700 will add every sample from that .spc file into the VST at once – be warned that it also overwrites existing samples. This is an easy way to load in several sounds at once from a song on a soundtrack, as it doesn't even require a sample rip. Note that ADSR envelope information is not preserved. It simply loads samples from an .spc in a batch.

So you've loaded a sample into C700 now – how do you load more? The Sample Number located next to the Sample Name is where you scroll through samples. In the screenshot overview above, sample #0 is Sine Wave; seen below, sample #1 is Square Wave. Clicking the up arrow (or scroll-wheeling with your mouse) will take you to Sample #1, #2, etc. You can also type a number directly into the box and hit Enter to be taken to that number sample. Once you've arrived at another number, you can once again either drag-and-drop or click "Load…" to repeat this process.

C700 Sample Number and Name

Using Samples

As described in section A (MIDI Setup), there are two methods to utilize the samples you've loaded up. The first is to set Patch numbers on the MIDI channels you're routing into C700 – the patch numbers will correspond to the Sample Number in C700 (or be offset by 1, depending on your software). Samples can also be assigned to the 16 MIDI channels at the top by clicking them and scrolling to the desired sample, although if you're using the first method, this will be overriden by those settings instead. If using this method, make sure there are no MIDI patch numbers set. (Even if using MIDI patch numbers, it's a useful organizational tool to also scroll to the chosen samples in C700's channel selectors at the top!)

Note/warning: A minor cosmetic glitch sometimes occurs with the sample display in C700. The glitch causes the same sample to display for every channel, though this does not seem to affect playback. This can be fixed by scrolling through any sample on any channel (for example, scroll up 1 and then back down 1).

Other Sample File Functions

Next to Load… are three more buttons:

  • Save Smpl… allows you to save the selected sample in .brr format. This is the SNES's compressed sample format.
  • Export… inexplicably allows you to save the sample and its envelope settings as an .xi instrument, a tracker instrument format loadable in OpenMPT, among other software handling .xm modules.
  • Unload removes the selected sample from C700's memory. It's good practice to Unload rather than overwrite a sample you don't want, because otherwise some vestigial storage space gets taken up in C700 until you restart your DAW. This may cause unexpected glitchiness once you get close to the 64KB storage limit and require a DAW restart.

You can generate a random waveform by clicking the Khaos! button at the top right of the Sampler section. Keep in mind it will overwrite whatever is loaded for the selected sample.

If you exceed the available memory of 64KB, the filesize indicator at the bottom-right will turn angry red and you will likely hear a glitchy popping sound. Once you reduce the size it will change its color back, but you may also have to restart your DAW for samples to play back correctly.