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I think I have one last question before I finally take the plunge and pick up an ES2.
Can I apply an attack & decay envelope to an sample, specifically one that is has a looped sustain part?

Say I sample a simple saw wave, and the sample has no envelope, it just starts & stops at same volume. I set a loop point so that I have made the saw-wave into an oscillator of sorts that can be played as long as I like with a key sustain.
However when I play it I want it to have a nice envelope, with a slow attack and decay. I this possible? Or do I need to sample it with the attack & decay in the sample.

Sorry for the long winded explanation, I don't know if there's a standard name for this feature on a sampler!

JoyrexJ9 wrote:Can I apply an attack & decay envelope to an sample, specifically one that is has a looped sustain part?

Yes, but the sample must have a loop point to operate with a true amp envelope. Also, because the unit has "phony-poly" (paraphonic), each note in a poly part or chord will share a single envelope. It is infuriating.

sauce wrote:

JoyrexJ9 wrote:Can I apply an attack & decay envelope to an sample, specifically one that is has a looped sustain part?

Yes, but the sample must have a loop point to operate with a true amp envelope. Also, because the unit has "phony-poly" (paraphonic), each note in a poly part or chord will share a single envelope. It is infuriating.

Great!
I'm hoping to take samples from things like my MicroBrute and Ultranova, and do some of the sound design on the ES2. I don't mind setting loop points, but I will mind running back go my synths and resampling everytime I think "hmm I wish the decay was 200ms longer".

I don't think the paraphony issue will be a problem for me. Least I hope not.

It handles small-cycle waves fairly well, and you can definitely do some good work with it. If you get the unit, send me a pm and I will send you a huge amount of waves for it, that I personally made.

When you switch the envelope on for a sample, it is ATTACK + DECAY ONLY!!! So its like hitting a piano key, the volume will eventually fade to zero. The decay parameter acts as a release time when you let go of the pad.
There is no sustain portion, regardless to whether the sample is looping or not. So, you can set a long attack and decay time to a looped sample, press and hold the pad, the volume will rise, then eventually fall to zero, even though the sample is looping and you are still holding the pad.

With a sample set to loop and the amp envelope switched OFF, the sample can sustain for as long as you hold the pad, but there will be no attack/decay portion.

Ahhh damn, that's exactly what I was after!
As some of what I want it for is long but simple ambient sounds

Thanks for the info guys, I still think I'll pick one up, I've been thinking about it for far too long!

You do have extra amp enveleope functionality in the modulation section but it does mean you will lose the LFO. Motion sequencing is then your friend here.