Shortcircuit 2
by Surge Synth Team
by Surge Synth Team
4.5 / 5
(33 votes)
Shortcircuit was created as a reaction against the ongoing trend where software samplers are being designed with the primary intent of library playback.
It is intended for people who, like us, consider a sampler to be a musical instrument in its own right, and not just a way to emulate other instruments. It has been a very high priority to make sure that adding and editing individual samples is as fast and logical as possible.
The sample hierarchy in shortcircuit allow you to place samples directly at the highest level of the multi, without having to deal with instrument hierarchies and patches. Want to add a sample to your song? Just drag & drop the sample into shortcircuit and you're ready to go. Samples can be put in groups for multi-sampling and kit-building, but the complexity is only there when you need it
Sound quality is of highest concern, and shortcircuit uses very high-quality interpolation to ensure that your samples sound as good as the source material, regardless of the pitch you play them at. All filters & effects are calculated at the precision required for them to sound the way intended and oversampling are used when required to prevent aliasing.
Shortcircuit was designed to sound great, all other concerns have been secondary. But don't take our word for it, download 'shortcircuit free' and find out for yourself.
Each voice in shortcircuit features two filter-slots, and the selection isn't limited to the traditional pick. In addition to the regular lowpass/highpass/bandpass/notch & peak-filters and variations thereof there is an array of filter algorithms (not strictly filters in the traditional sense, but called so because of their location in the audio path) including distortion, parametric/graphic/morphing equalizers,bit-reduction/decimation, gating, limiting, slew-rate distortion, ring-modulation, frequency shifting and phase-modulation (better known as FM). The selection even includes analog-style oscillators that you can mix with the sample.
It is intended for people who, like us, consider a sampler to be a musical instrument in its own right, and not just a way to emulate other instruments. It has been a very high priority to make sure that adding and editing individual samples is as fast and logical as possible.
The sample hierarchy in shortcircuit allow you to place samples directly at the highest level of the multi, without having to deal with instrument hierarchies and patches. Want to add a sample to your song? Just drag & drop the sample into shortcircuit and you're ready to go. Samples can be put in groups for multi-sampling and kit-building, but the complexity is only there when you need it
Sound quality is of highest concern, and shortcircuit uses very high-quality interpolation to ensure that your samples sound as good as the source material, regardless of the pitch you play them at. All filters & effects are calculated at the precision required for them to sound the way intended and oversampling are used when required to prevent aliasing.
Shortcircuit was designed to sound great, all other concerns have been secondary. But don't take our word for it, download 'shortcircuit free' and find out for yourself.
Each voice in shortcircuit features two filter-slots, and the selection isn't limited to the traditional pick. In addition to the regular lowpass/highpass/bandpass/notch & peak-filters and variations thereof there is an array of filter algorithms (not strictly filters in the traditional sense, but called so because of their location in the audio path) including distortion, parametric/graphic/morphing equalizers,bit-reduction/decimation, gating, limiting, slew-rate distortion, ring-modulation, frequency shifting and phase-modulation (better known as FM). The selection even includes analog-style oscillators that you can mix with the sample.
User interface
- Streamlined user interface for fast editing at the sample-zone level.
- Fast editing of multiple zones.
- "In context"-sample preview.
- Extensive drag & drop support (onto the keyrange-view or the list-view).
Sample/Intrument import
- RIFF wave-files (.wav) (8/16/24/32-bit & 32-bit float, mono/stereo at any sample rate)
- AKAI S5000/S6000/Z4/Z8 .akp banks (partial)
- NI battery kits (partial)
- Soundfont 2.00 (partial)
- Propellerhead Recycle 1 & 2
Sampler engine
- High-quality sinc interpolation
- Oversampling used when needed to prevent aliasing
- Double-precision float math (64-bit) used where it matters (IIR-filters).
- Single-precision float math (32-bit) used elsewhere.
- Supports any sample-rate.
- Max polyphony per instance: 256 voices
- Multiple outputs. (max 16 mono AND 8 stereo-pairs per instance)
- Nunerous supported sample-playback modes.
- 2 filters / voice (28 types)
- 3 stepLFOs / voice. Doubles as 32-step stepsequencer and wavetable LFO.
- 2 AHDSR envelopes / voice
- Powerful modulation system with the ability to modulate itself. Destinations include envelope-times, loop-points in addition to traditional destinations.
- Group LFO
- Group modulation routing.
- Group effects. (2 effects / group) (7 fx types)
Downloads
Win 32 VST
(0.4 Mb)
(5 / 5)
Best sampler ever. We're looking forward to using the 64-bit version (y)
I think if they migrate to the 64bit version, if not in urgent case, may cause the same problem as a program that was made, originally, in 32 bit, and gradually migrating, the 64bit version has not as many funcionalities as the 32bit version, the same may apply in that plugin.
https://github.com/surge-synthesizer/shortcircuit-xt/releases/tag/Nightly
(5 / 5)
Shortcircuit -XT is on the way for the next year. It's a Surge Team workinprocess plugin. VST3+AU+Linux
Does any know how to automate shortcircuit 2 parameters from daw host?, In ableton I tried the configure button, does not seem to work
You need to send MIDI CC to shortcircuit 0-15 and then the green "controllers" will start to move and respond to the cc values you send to 0-15. make sure the device you use to send cc with also share the same midi input number with shortcircuit. Once you have this set up you then route the controllers within sc to things you want to be automated.
Does this work with Cubase 10.5 Pro?
Yes, but you need a bridge for 32bit plugins. Soon Steinberg won't allow for VST2 to work.
(5 / 5)
Where's the version 1.1.2? It seems totally blown out of internet. I've got backups with older versions too, but it's be great to be able to download online.
hey man, here it is, thanks for the info btw, i really like old boring looking GUI for most plugins i use ;) http://web.archive.org/web/20170424120312/http://www.vemberaudio.se/pd/shortcircuit/shortcircuit-1_1_2.exe
Thanks, I found it by my own and updated some comments in KVR, but anyway it's great to see an answer here.
(5 / 5)
Cool and nice
(5 / 5)
Great sampler.
(5 / 5)
This takes time to understand and realize the full potential of what lies within this genius. Drumkits can be made. But where this beast shines is with its musical potential. Its an instrument in its own right...an incredibly, amazing, diverse and unique instrument! One of the best displays of programming in the digital music realm...and it's free!
(5 / 5)
A Timeless Classic Sampler! I truly hope Claes will release the source code one fine day.
(5 / 5)
One of the best sampler plugins ever developed (for creative and intuitive sampling). I hope that one day just like Vember Audio's Surge synth this will become open-source and will be further developed (64 bit version please!!)
(2 / 5)
This plugin is unnecessarily complicated. I managed to figure out enough for my own use within ten minutes but this could have easily been designed to be more user-friendly. However, the spec is somewhat deceiving because it does not have sixteen outputs, but actually has only 8 stereo outputs, which is particularly disappointing.
Maybe I'm the slow kid in the class: but I have no clue how to get this thing to just spread a one shot wave into different notes and play them.
Me too, incredibly ermetic, for me impossible to use.
Simple, just hover over the top or bottom border of the orange box of the sample on the note and hold left click to drag across the keys
This is true, snapping onto border spreads the file over other notes. Thx!
(5 / 5)
Absolutely brilliant sampler! Man it would be so awesome if Vember Audio would opensource both versions of Shortcircuit!
(3 / 5)
@VST 4 FREE .. I <3 your definition of Short Circuit as I have this VST already. For some reason SC2 doesn't work at all with FL, or Ableton... But SC1 does. SC1 is just as good... SC2 comes power-packed with more features and also seems EVEN MORE straightforward than SC1, which can be a bit confusing even after nearly a year of using it. But I LOVE Short Circuit...NOT ONLY THE 80s CULT CLASSIC "I am Johnny #5!" haha but this is EXACTLY what I desire to use and whenever I hear the term "Drum Sampler" this is what I think of... Exactly well-said.
How do I export/drag out the sample into the piano roll>
(5 / 5)
I've been using Short Circuit since it was commercial. It is the best sounding software sampler out there in my opinion, largely thanks to the filters, which are the closest thing you'll find to the sound hardware in any "virtual" sampler. I own a number of EMU samplers, so I am quite familiar with their unique sound and the nuances of the Z-Plane filters, and I've found that I can get a great EMU-style sound out of the filters on Short Circuit .
(5 / 5)
I've been using this for about half a year, and this is honestly one of the best samplers out there, and I'm not saying this exclusively to free ones. This VST is an absolute lifesaver and I use it frequently. I honestly don't even know why this isn't 5 stars.
(5 / 5)
The Power!
(5 / 5)
Enjoying it very much but after a lot of work assigning keys and adjusting pitches I cant figure out how to save my work!
(4 / 5)
It does the job! A bit frightening at the first glance - many controls, but everything is on its place and pretty intuitive though; excellent sound quality, nice design, 8 stereo outputs. A sampler I was looking for.
The only disadvantage - can't be controlled via automation.
Yeah, neither v1 did it :( That's a pity because it's a very complete sampler.
Of course it is, you just have some Controllers that you must assign to modulate from the config page. Limited, but easy.
I forgot to mention that the controllers receive MIDICC from the host, altough they're shown as plugin parameters
(5 / 5)
Super eazy & totally Funky...
Is not detected in Studio One 3 of Presonus on Win 7 64 bit.
that's because it's a 32bit plugin, you need jbridger to allow studio one to see it
I can't load samples in cubase le ai elements 7... do any of you know a solution?
I've tried, it can be import into el7. unzip/install it's done, open El7, a project, Device/update your plungin... and f11 (it has work by this way (as usual infact)
Are you able to save your Kits and if so how?
(5 / 5)
What you can't see from the image is the pad mode which has 4x4 pads exactly like an Akai pad layout. I use an MPD18 which hooks up to this like it was made for it. Use the A/B/C selector on the MPD18 to switch between pad banks and who needs an MPC or Ableton.
(5 / 5)
This one is great. Worked very well with win7-64bit.
Question: how's the compatibility with patches created with the previous version of Shortcircuit?
(5 / 5)
Thank you for building this !!!!!! I totally agree that most samplers give you no creative freedom at all !
(5 / 5)
The elder brother of one of the best virtual samplers ever created