Goldbaby IAMK3M review: digital is the new vintage?

Goldbaby is a small independent sample creation company that provides solid sample packs of various analogue sources. This latest sample pack is from the K3M synth created by Kawai. The K3M is a subtractive synth made in 1986. It had an 8-bit wavetable for the oscillators, which then ran through some analog filters, creating a distinctive gritty yet lush sound.

This sample pack contains roughly 600 mbs of sampled goodness that slot into either your Native Instruments Kontakt(3) sampler, or EXS24 if you’re on Logic. There are almost 1500 samples divided into 6 folders – Drums, mono, poly, multi, Raw, and Wave osc. The multis are just for Kontakt users.

The mono folder contains nice basses and leads, the poly has some awesome pads, fake strings, and other awesome 80’s sounding synth patches. There’s a bit of organ, piano, bells and brass scattered amongst the rest are a few bell, brass and other patches in there too. Throughout the whole pack, there’s the distinct 8-bit timbre, very nicely warmed up directly within the sampled K3M, and later through various analogue hardware. All in all, it’s a very nicely balanced sample pack that contains tasty samples of a bit of everything. If I was to gripe at all about it, I would moan about only one sampled drum kit, which is mildly disappointing. But that kit still sounds great, and there’s a little FX pack to sweeten the deal. I really liked the inclusion of the raw oscillator sounds, enabling you to use the synth power of Kontakt or EXS to create sounds from the ground up. Very nice!

Here’s a short track using the samples in the pack:

Conclusion
Goldbaby consistently get good reviews from around the globe, and I’m that this one will fare no differently. The K3M is a great little sample library for some sweetened 8-bit sounds, that have been very cleanly recorded.

Price
$49

… it’s a very nicely balanced sample pack that contains tasty samples of a bit of everything…

Product page

PROS

• Cheap
• warm analogue sound
• Balanced selection of sounds

LOVE IT OR HATE IT

• if you’re really not into 80’s or 8 bit, walk away… or just get over it and get creative

CONS

• Needs more drumkits
• only 2 sample formats

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