Anyone using Samplitude Pro X8? I still have X5, and have not bothered to update as my main DAW is Cubase 12. Interesting enough, it appears my SSL US8 controller works with Samplitude. I was just wondering how many out there use their latest update.

I am looking into as am deciding between DAWs now. There is some dude on another forum that swears by it. He does some advanced stuff. Sort of jazzy -- but i like.

Samplitude is Cubase and Wavelab all in one package. The mastering is on par with Wavelab. Unlike working with Cubase and Wavelab that have completely different workflows, in Samplitude, you work with the same workflow for mixing and mastering.

I use Samplitude almost exclusively to mix and master (though a noob at mastering). Samplitude is amazing for those purposes for me. For production and recording I use Live 11 and sometimes Mixcraft (for recording guitar Wet and Dry, comping them etc and exporting those).
I started with X6. X7 was a solid update - everything was smooth on my system, super stable and intuitive (except automation which is so much easier for me in Ableton Live). The Mixer is fantastic. Object editing is brilliant and waveform edits are super helpful for me.
I trialled Samplitude X8. X8 has a few extra things but not enough for me to upgrade again. I'm sticking with X7.
For someone coming from X5, the upgrade to X8 should make a lot of sense.

As someone with all three of these products on my computer, I can tell you that this is not the case.
Didn't Samplitude Pro X not get External FX Support until version X7?
Cubase and WaveLab are two different product lines developed for completely different market segments.

WaveLab is developed for people recording and editing content like Podcasts... and dedicated Mastering Engineers - people who literally sit in WaveLab for a workday mastering tracks or records.

Music Producers don't need stuff like Source-Destination Editing or DDP Exports - both things you can get in Pyramix Pro for not much more than Samplitude Pro X Suite. I wouldn't pay Sequoia money for that (it being an option infers a Windows user, so Pyramix being Windows-only should not be a factor).

Cubase is developed for Music Producers, Composers and Film Scoring professionals.

The idea that those two market segments would ever prefer a single solution delivering the same workflow is... ridiculous. This may work for Samplitude Pro X users - specifically - because they're used to Samplitude Pro X. So, yea... using the same UI/UX for everything is going to feel good for them.

But that doesn't work as well when you try to sell Samplitude Pro X to a music producer and they compare it to something like Cubase or Studio One. That's where this nuance starts to matter a LOT more.

That is the reason why Studio One has a Song Page and a Project Page... not simply a Project Page with a few dockers that are Mastering-Oriented. Because they are two different domains, each with their own workflow nuances (more than nuances, really).

WaveLab is a more robust as a Mastering Application than Samplitude Pro X, which really is designed to be the Cubase of Samplitude's line-up (with Sequoia being more of the Nuendo). I just think that it sort of fails because Samplitude Pro X is going to be viewed more like Pro Tools than Cubase to that market segment (and that has been the common sentiment over the years - "Great for post. Shit for production.").

Cubase is absolutely a tier above Samplitude Pro X as a music production platform. It isn't even close, really.

MAGIX has stated themselves that MIDI Production is not the priority and their focus is on Audio. So, I don't expect that to change any time soon.

The issue is that most Production DAWs are more than good enough at Recording, Editing and Mixing Audio. Many - like Cubase - are amazing at all of that. Even DAWs like SONAR were more than good enough. So, those DAWs have improved massively on that end, but Samplitude Pro X has only seen stalled development in the areas where it has historically trailed those DAWs - so the rift there only grew while its advantages shrunk (and fell into disrepair, forcing MAGIX to bundle tons of third party products to address those functional niches).

I don't think it's a bad DAW. I think it has tons of potential. I just don't think MAGIX will ever really be able to get Samplitude to where Cubase is. They are unwilling to invest in development to get it there... and quite incapable of delivering a good user experience...

Most people aren't going to sit and wait a decade for it to hopefully catch up - assuming all the competition stops developing their DAWs, of course.

If you record, then the AudioWarp and Comping Revamps alone are worth upgrading from any prior version.

IMO, this is the first version that is *actually* worth upgrading to since Pro X4.

X5 and X6 were basically paid bug fixes due to how badly the UI performed.

I only got X7 because it was cheaper to take a super sale on that upgrade than buy SpectraLayers Pro from Steinberg.

I prefer the look of X5 over X8. I believe they flattened the GUI to make it "faster". Audiowarp is interesting if you need that but I can do everything I need in 5.

As I read these posts, I keep wondering exactly who is catching up with who? Samplitude has been light years ahead of most for decades.

Long time Samp user (going back to v7). I sprung for the Samp Pro X7 Suite upgrade when it came out. Been happily using it for mastering. Pro X8 didn't really offer anything I've needed so I'm sticking with Pro X7 Suite for the time being.

I'm using Samp for all mastering playback and capture and using HOFA DDP Master Pro for assembly and deliverables. IMO, HOFA is much easier than Samp for metadata entry and creating master files.

Just chiming in here to say still rocking Samplitude.

Pro X8 here for production, mix then master duties.

Very happy.

Had a stint in between on Ableton Live, enjoyed the immediacy of better midi HW integration and clip recording/arranging but ultimately reverted back to Samplitude just because it's better suited to the way I work.

I appreciate the ease of mixing in Samplitude, and still really enjoy the quality of the inclusive FX.
For reference I'm on a hybrid setup, mostly HW with occasional VST instrument usage. Multi tracking into Samplitude for audio slice and dice is chef's kiss.

An audiophile, not in the recording or mastering biz, though I'd been using an old version of Samplitude ProX that a friend has gifted me for many years.

There's been debate, however qualified, that DAWs, editors and players (e.g. Roon, JRiver, Amarra ,et al) sound better than each other, or better than others. So far, I've only used Samplitude and VLC and Quick Time, et al. Of those, Samplitude truly sounds better. But why should this be?

I really only use it to play CD track rips. But along with having, at least subjectively, uncommonly good sound quality, it also had a very transparent sounding pitch/varispeed control. I often prefer listening to many tracks with the pitch reduced by ~ 3 to 5%; really can't explain why.

But I've also read that Samplitude has a rep for being quite buggy. When I loaded that old version on a Windows XP desktop I never got the ASIO driver to work; never got any mono or stereo audio output from using it. Only the WDM driver worked. And yesterday after installing the Pro X8 trial version on my laptop yesterday, again no output unless I switched to the WDM driver. The ASIO driver was what those at the Samplitude forum said to use, so why should this be?

And yesterday a high end speaker auditioning session was nearly ruined because we couldn't get the Samplitude trial version to output to a DAC via USB, and instead had to play files on Windows Media player-with a very noticeable loss in sound quality. Finally, when we switched to the MME driver in the ProX System/Audio window there was audio from USB. Why is this?

Who knows - but you'll likely get more targeted support for such matters at the dedicated Magix Samplitude hosted forum - I would definitely give that a go.

As to your earlier comment, you'll rile a lot of people up with that kind of talk - so be prepared.

Personally, IME, Samplitude is noticeably 'more' transparent at realtime playback when you load up on the track counts - there is a pristine clarity that remains throughout.

From an engineering perspective, as I understand, it is achieved via their dedication to realtime playback purity and integrity, particularly around internal dithering. But Samplitude doesn't "sound" better in itself vs others.

On final output, at bounce, - tbh I feel like all major DAWs provide the the same quality of output, genuinely.

I actively use 3 major daws and including my time with Ableton, 4, the bounced files on each cause me no concern re quality differences between any of them, that is to say, I notice no difference there.

If however those marginal differences at real-time playback help you or others to mix better at mix stage - then you do you as they say.

again




what a nice gift a demo version !
a ton of stupidities on 2 posts, incredible:

- old version of Samplitude ProX that a friend has gifted me for many years > Samplitude trial version
- a high end speaker auditioning session was nearly ruined
- to output to a DAC via USB
- play files on Windows Media player
- very noticeable loss in sound quality
- the MME driver
- I often prefer listening to many tracks with the pitch reduced by ~ 3 to 5%
- There's been debate, however qualified, that DAWs, editors and players (e.g. Roon, JRiver, Amarra ,et al) sound better than each other, or better than others.
- Samplitude truly sounds better.
- Samplitude has a rep for being quite buggy etc etc etc
- And yesterday after installing the Pro X8 trial version on my laptop yesterday, again no output unless I switched to the WDM driver.
stop please. for your own good

Of course, that would have been my first stop, as it always was with previous issues. You can see the dialogues begin as of 3/26/25. https://www.magix.info/us/forum/real...345599/?page=1

But nothing SP suggested ever got ProX to output USB audio, and he would never have replied in time before I session had to close. Then I thought to try the MME driver, which did-but that worked sometimes if after selecting it I then closed and restarted ProX.

Sorry if this riles users or developers but I'd think such user experiences warrant some kind of a bug investigation.