Getting the Hollow Sun FS1R collection was something of a treat.

I had been fiddling about with the free Nebulous samples for some time. First on my rusty old S2000 and then in native format on my "new" S6000. I just loved that sound to bits. So, every time an FS1R popped up in the classifieds I was interested, but they still command reasonably high prices even second hand and I have to admit I wasn't sure if there was anything else usable in it.

Then, when Hollow Sun announced a full set of FS1R samples, I just had to get it. And now I have it.

144 programs and a staggering 907 (!) perfectly looped samples. As the contents are fully and excellently described in Leo Cavallo's review (http://www.hollowsun.com/cds/leo_rev.html) I won't go into that here, but I have to say that getting the pads alone was worth the price (and as a nice touch, they fit into my 192MB with something like 1% to spare).

Out of all the sample cds out there, this is rare true quality. This isn't something claiming to be a sample cd but really being an audio cd (the sample-it-yourself variety). This isn't a bunch of badly cut wavs thrown into some default .akp (if you even get more than one sample per program!).

No. Not only are these samples looped to perfection, the programs themselves turn them into highly usable instruments.

You don't get a ripped sound that has clearly audible repetition and beating when you play chords. These pads sound like a synth. A real synth.

I have to admit I can't tell whether they sound 100% like an FS1R. But, as Hollow Sun's Steve Howell has once put it, it's an interpretation of the instrument.

With every program having the envelopes, filters, sample start and what have you programmed to perfection it's become an instrument with a life of its own. When you play it, you don't hear static recordings of an FS1R, you hear all the warmth of a real instrument.

Loops created at Hollow Sun are seamlessly powered by Antares Infinity