Magix Samplitude 10 Pro review

Ultimately, our biggest concern is that Samplitude feels uninviting, with vast arrays of menu options and sprawling right-click menus. Wading through lists of text is at odds with keeping the focus on the creative process. It doesn't help that the manual is written in such an unbearably dull tone that we found it hard to get through a paragraph without absent-mindedly wondering what to have for dinner.

Stability is a concern, too. We initially installed it on Vista and experienced numerous crashes. Reinstalling on a Windows XP partition on the same PC improved stability greatly, but we still experienced the occasional crash. Saving of a particular project made our PC appear to hang for anything from a few seconds to three minutes - thankfully, automatic saving every ten minutes can be disabled. Meanwhile, resizing windows in complex projects caused glitches in playback. It appears that Samplitude doesn't prioritise system resources for audio playback over housekeeping duties or the graphics card's output.

Samplitude Pro's excellent effects and disappointing virtual instruments make it better suited to live recording than composing and recording solo projects. Only the more technically minded users will appreciate its many positive attributes over its frustrating quirks, though, so we strongly recommend downloading the 30-day trial before buying.

Author: Ben Pitt