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支持系统：Windows.MAC

音源厂商：https://www.soundonsound.com/

使用采样器 Kontakt加载 或 PC独立安装

文件大小：32GB

如上所述，East West 开发 Colossus 的目的是为音乐家和作曲家提供一个可以满足他们所有基本采样乐器需求的单一库。因此，Colossus 中的样本被组织成 19 个乐器组（在本文最后一页的方框中列出），其中分布着近 600 个 Kompakt 乐器补丁——尽管单个乐器的数量既被高估又被低估。一些乐器出现了两次，因为有一个 GM 兼容组（详情请参阅"GM Crop"框），其中包含从其他组中提取的声音集合。另一方面，很多乐器（尤其是合成器声音）的样本层包含非常不同的声音，它们之间有调制轮控制的变形。

在 32GB 的样本数据中，约 15GB 代表在 Ocean Way Studio B 制作的新 24 位录音，而另外 2GB 是由在著名的欧洲音乐厅环境中录制的 Fazioli F308 钢琴的新样本占用。但是，鉴于 East West 现有的采样乐器目录范围广泛，如果一些现有材料没有出现在像 Colossus 这样广泛的作品中，那将令人惊讶 — — 事实也确实如此。约 15GB 是从其他 Quantum Leap/East West 库中提取的，包括 EW/QL 的 Symphonic Orchestra、East West 的 Steinway B Piano（显然，这个 Giga 格式库的完整版本在这里重复了），还有来自 Quantum Leap 的 Stormdrum、Guitar and Bass、56 Strat、Hardcore Bass、RA（民族/世界乐器合集）、Brass 和 Voices Of The Apocalypse 的贡献。所有这些现有样本显然都经过了重新编程，以充分利用捆绑的 Kompakt 前端的各种功能。

出于本次评论的目的，将 19 个乐器组视为较少数量的关联类型（例如，所有鼓和打击乐器放在一起）是最有意义的，因此，事不宜迟，让我们深入了解声音本身。

鼓
Colossus 中包含大约 38 个鼓组，分为两组：原声鼓组和电鼓组。原声鼓组几乎符合您的预期，并提供适合流行音乐、放克音乐、爵士乐和摇滚乐等各种音乐的多种鼓组选择。相比之下，电鼓组以经过大量处理的原声声音为基础，并提供大量选项以获得更多舞蹈导向的声音。对于大多数鼓组，声音包括底鼓、小军鼓、鼓边、踩镲、通鼓和其他钹，偶尔包括拍手声、牛铃和铃鼓。有用的是，这些声音以标准的 GM 方式映射到键盘上。

声学套件一律非常实用。虽然手册很少透露任何 Colossus 乐器组的详细样本结构，但这些套件似乎具有足够数量的速度层，可以提供具有令人信服的动态的演奏。大多数套件中的主小军鼓尤其如此，它似乎不仅具有速度敏感层（随着鼓声的响度增加，小军鼓本身会发出适当的额外嘶嘶声），而且当小军鼓反复演奏时，还会自动交替左手/右手样本。这对于鼓声滚动非常有用，因为它可以避免快速连续地一遍又一遍地重复相同的样本（"机关枪"效果）。钹也非常好，有大量的溅水和嘶嘶声，而且样本很长，所以钹的尾音不会有任何被截断的感觉——在钹被触发后，DFD LED 会持续闪烁一段时间。所有原声套件似乎都是相当干的，或者只有一点房间氛围，至少对我来说，这是恰到好处的——刚好有足够的"空气"来给声音一点生命力，但有足够的空间通过混响或延迟进一步处理，而不会受到样本氛围的干扰。

套件的名称反映了单个声音的风格，这些声音从相当干涩和临床的"Studio"和"Pro"套件到大胆的"Stage"或"Metal"套件不等。不过，我最喜欢的是"60 年代复古"和"老派"套装，这两款套装都具有出色的紧凑小军鼓音色，可以适用于从流行到朋克的各种风格。其他有用的附加套装包括两个 funk 套装、带有鼓棒和鼓刷的爵士套装以及名字很棒的"Sushi"套装。虽然您毫无疑问可以购买比 Colossus 的这个系列更好的单独采样鼓套装，但 East West 似乎以非常可玩的格式涵盖了所有关键的音乐选项。

电子套装组包括"508"和"908"选项，显然针对的是特定的经典鼓机。但是，大多数其他套装的名称并没有透露太多信息，但"S&M"、"Alley-G"和"Bush Is A Fairy"等标题至少足够吸引人

As mentioned above, East West's intention with Colossus is to provide musicians and composers with a single library that can meet all their basic sampled instrument needs. As a consequence, the samples in Colossus are organised into 19 Instrument groups (listed in the box on the last page of this article), amongst which nearly 600 Kompakt instrument patches are spread — although this number of individual Instruments is both an over- and an underestimate. Some Instruments appear twice, as there is a GM-compatible group (see the 'GM Crop' box for details) that contains a collection of sounds taken from other groups. On the other hand, a good number of Instruments (particularly amongst the synth sounds) feature sample layers containing very different sounds, with mod wheel-controlled morphing between them.

Of the 32GB of sample data, some 15GB represents new 24-bit recordings made at Ocean Way Studio B, while a further 2GB is taken up by new samples of a Fazioli F308 piano recorded in a well-known European hall environment. However, given East West's wide ranging catalogue of existing sampled instruments, it would be surprising if some existing material did not also make an appearance in something as extensive as Colossus — and that is indeed the case. Some 15GB has been extracted from other Quantum Leap/East West libraries, including EW/QL's Symphonic Orchestra, East West's Steinway B Piano (apparently the full version of this Giga-format library is duplicated here) and there are contributions from the Quantum Leap titles Stormdrum, Guitar and Bass, 56 Strat, Hardcore Bass, RA (the collection of ethnic/world instruments), Brass and Voices Of The Apocalypse. All of these existing samples have apparently been reprogrammed to take the best advantage of the various features of the bundled Kompakt front end.

For the purposes of this review, it makes most sense to consider the 19 Instrument groups in a smaller number of associated types (for example, all the drums and percussion together) so, without further ado, let's dip into the sounds themselves.

Drums
Some 38 drum kits are included in Colossus, split between two groups; Acoustic Drumkits and Electric Drumkits. The Acoustic sets are pretty much what you would expect and provide a varied selection of kits suitable for everything from pop, funk, jazz and rock. In contrast, the Electric sets are based around heavily processed acoustic sounds with plenty of options for more dance-orientated sounds. For most of the kits, the sounds consist of kick, snare, rim-shot, hi-hat, toms and other cymbals, with the occasional clap, cow-bell and tambourine included. Usefully, these sounds are mapped to the keyboard in a standard GM fashion.

The Acoustic Kits are uniformly very useable. While the manual gives very little away in terms of the detailed sample structure of any of the Colossus instrument groups, these kits seems to feature a sufficient number of velocity layers to provide a performance with convincing dynamics. This is particularly true of the main snare in most of the kits, which seems to feature not only velocity-sensitive layers (with suitable extra sizzle from the snares themselves as the drum is played harder) but also automatically alternating left/right-hand samples when the snare is played repeatedly. This is great for drum rolls, as it avoids the same sample being repeated over and over again in rapid succession (the 'machine-gun' effect). The cymbals are also very good, with plenty of splash and sizzle, and the samples are long, so the tails to the crash cymbals don't feel truncated in any way — the DFD LED keeps flashing for some time after the crash cymbals are triggered. All the acoustic kits seem to have been recorded either fairly dry or with just a touch of room ambience and, for my taste at least, this is spot on — just enough 'air' to give the sounds a little life, but plenty of scope to process further with reverb or delay without the ambience of the sample getting in the way.

The kits' names reflect the style of the individual sounds and these vary from the fairly dry and clinical 'Studio' and 'Pro' kits through to the big and bold 'Stage' or 'Metal' kits. However, my particular favourites were the '60's Vintage' and 'Old School' kits, both of which featured nice tight snare sounds that would work in a variety of styles from pop through to punk. Other useful additions include two funk kits, jazz kits with both sticks and brushes and the wonderfully named 'Sushi' kit. While you could undoubtedly buy better individual sampled drum kits than this collection with Colossus, East West seem to have all the key musical options covered here in a very playable format.

The Electronic Kits group includes the '508' and '908' options, targeted very obviously at particular classic drum machines. However, the names of the majority of the other kits don't give much away but titles such as 'S&M', 'Alley-G' and 'Bush Is A Fairy' are at least intriguing enoug