The first version of SampleTank (hereafter ST for brevity) was reportedly released in 2001. A second release followed shortly after in 2003. ST 2 had some sibling products like Sample Moog and Sonik Synth that were based on the same engine but sold separately. It was a full decade before ST version 3 was announced, and rather longer for it to finally appear in 2014 (ST 3 was reviewed in SoundBytes Magazine here). When IKM’s brilliant sample-based synth instrument, Syntronik, was introduced in 2017 (reviewed here), a version 3.5 of ST was also released so that Syntronik content could be played on it, although arpeggiation was not an option in ST 3.5. With version 4, ST takes another major leap forward in both instrument capabilities and scope of content. It has a standalone version and also supports plug-in formats compatible with all current mainstream DAWs.
Authorization is via IKM’s online authorization manager. There are three versions: SE, standard and MAX, which have respective list prices of $150 USD, $300 and $500.
However, this being IKM, attractive sales initiatives are frequently mounted and the product can often be had for considerably less.
