Superior architecture:

CDXtract is based on a very sophisticated and robust architecture that is fully object-oriented. Most of the high level functions required to work on sampler files are directly implemented in the Kernel and accessible to any format that needs to use it. The advantage of this architecture is that the same code is not duplicated again and again, moreover it increases the overal reliability. One example is the support of alternate loops that are available in some hardware samplers but not in any software samplers so far. Each sample read by CDXtract is handled by a special object called a 'Virtual Sample', this Virtual Sample is responsible for providing audio data to any other components. If this sample has an alternate loop then the Virtual sample object will emulate its looping mode and will provide audio data accordingly which means that the player and all the converters don't have to deal with this alternate loop problem, for them it's just a simple forward loop. This guarantee that an alternate loop will always be perfectly converted whatever the destination format is.

Universal conversions:

Here again CDXtract benefits from a excellent design based on a driver technology. Each source format and each destination format are implemented as drivers and all the conversions are performed through an internal format. So everytime we add a new destination format then all the existing source formats can be converted to this new destination format, and everytime we add a new source format then it can be converted to all the existing destination formats. That's why the number of possible conversions in CDXtract is growing at an exponential rate, while the competition is still adding one conversion at a time.

Innovate:

CDXtract has always been a precursor and again this version 4 includes some unique features that bring the sampler conversion to a new level of creativity. CDXtract 4 allows you to select several programs and combine them in different ways. For example you can stack them on top of each other in order to create new multi-layered programs. Possible applications are infinite, you can for example create a new violin instrument by stacking a legato violin, a staccato violin, a tremolo violin and finally a pizzicato.

CDXtract 4 includes a stack editor that allows you to adjust the velocity scale and the global velocity response of your new multi-layered instruments.

Conversion options:

Given the number of possible conversions within CDXtract, the number of options available is quite large. Moreover it's not easy for the user to understand if a given option affects or not one specific conversion. That's why CDXtract 4 has an extremely intuitive representation of all the options applicable to each conversion. All the options are represented in a conversion graph that speaks for itself. In the following example, we are converting an Akai disc to the EXS24 format. The Akai programs with the same program number are automatically merged with the 'AutoMerge' option, then the tuning reference is adjusted from 442 Hz to 440 Hz and the output level is set to -6dB. The Akai stereo samples are converted to stereo interleaved samples and they are saved in the same folder using the Aiff format.

Mac version:

Yes it's here, finally the first universal sampler converter on the Macintosh platform. The PC and the Mac versions offer the same functions with a very similar user interface. The Mac version has been optimized to run with less than 20 meg of RAM which leaves you plenty of space to run other music softwares at the same time. CDXtract works on MacOS 8.6 and higher and is also available on Mac OSX.

Advanced player and Magic player:

CDXtract has a built in advanced player that has been specially designed to work with sampler audio files. For example some formats such as Akai and Soundfont store their stereo samples as 2 separate mono samples that can have their own loop settings. Other formats such as Roland support more looping modes like reverse and alternate. The worst case scenario is when you have a stereo sample with desynchronized alternate loops and a start point inside or at the end of the loop (thus the loop begins to play backward then forward). CDXtract is the only software that can play all these samples exactly as if they were played by the hardware sampler they were designed for. The player can be configured to load and play a limited length of audio data, thus allowing you to get a very fast preview even on huge audio files.

The magic player is a new tool that you can use for fast and automatic bulk preview. Imagine that you just bought a new Akai CD full of drum loops. Open this CD with CDXtract, select the all the partitions and click on the Magic player icon. CDXtract will then parse all partitions and all volumes and automatically play all samples one after another without any user interaction, exactly as if it were a regular audio CD. And combined with the time limit option, you can for example listen to the 3 first seconds of all your audio files.

What's new in CDXtract 4.1:

• Works on Mac OSX
• Full implementation of the Kontakt format
• Bank conversion for Halion, Giga, Soundfont and VSampler
• New conversion dialog
• ...

What's new in CDXtract 4:

• Works on PC and Mac with the same features on both platforms
• New interface with a toolbar for the most important functions
• Complete pdf user manual
• Support of 8 bit, 16 bit and 24 bit samples
• Multimedia and DirectSound support for the PC version
• Conversion of the reference tuning between 440 Hz and 442 Hz
• Real time playback of any kind of loops (forward, reverse, alternate, desynchronized...)
• Intuitive flowchart display of the conversion options
• Read and convert EXS24 programs to all the other destination formats
• Read and converts Giga files even with compressed samples to all the other destination formats
• Conversion to the SampleCell format
• Conversion to the VSampler format
• Read and convert most audio file formats
• Hierarchical database that can store an unlimited number or Akai, Roland and EMU disks
• Support of virtual drives
• Magic player for quick bulk preview
• Merge programs from different locations
• Combine several programs to create new multi-layered programs
• Extended support for the Halion conversion (MegaTrigg and Crossfade)
• Combine programs with MegaTrigg and Crossfade features
• ...

What's next ?

Now that we have a robust and reliable architecture we are going to implement several new formats such as Kurzweil, ASR10, SampleTank and LM4 to name a few.