Sample format for Nemesys'
GigaSampler and TASCAM
GigaStudio software
samplers, with .GIG
file extension. These samplers stream audio data directly from the
hard disk, allowing for huge samples of very high quality.
Since conventional samplers are limited by RAM space, certain tricks are used to fit audio data into that space. For instance, note velocities are simulated by playing a sample louder or softer. Sometimes, not even every note is sampled, and notes in between available samples are interpolated to sound at the right frequency - usually by simply playing the sample faster or slower. Attack, decay, sustain and release are often emulated by using volume envelopes. Of course, these tricks all affect the resulting sound quality.
GigaSampler and GigaStudio do not have these limitations. 900 megabyte piano samples are available in GigaSampler format. In these samples, not only is each note sampled completely (including attack, decay, sustain and release) - each note is sampled multiple times with different velocities. Thus, the resulting sound is virtually impossible to tell from a real acoustic instrument.
In addition, GigaSampler and GigaStudio work with very low latency using consumer sound cards, though unfortunately only on Windows 98. For Windows 2000 and above, a professional card with GSIF interface is required.