Auddict PercX Pro $299

Mixing up onboard pattern sequencing and one-shot triggering, is this the most comprehensive percussion ROMpler yet?

The first deployment of erstwhile Kontakt developers Auddict’s new proprietary sample playback engine, PercX (VST/AU/AAX/ Standalone) is a multitrack percussion ROMpler currently aimed at soundtrack and media producers, with more pop/dance-orientated content in the pipeline, we’re told. Combining conventional one-shot triggering and MIDI sequencing in a hybrid interface, its headline feature is the unification of programmed loops and real-time performance and recording.

’X marks the spot

First, let’s get the one big disappointment out of the way: PercX is a ROMpler in the truest sense, in that it can only work with its own bundled sample library and add-on expansion packs, with no way to import external sounds into it. Said expansions currently number four and are all included with the Pro version of the instrument, amounting to 9GB of (losslessly compressed) content. But for $100 less, the Core edition nets you the main library and any one expansion, with the rest available for $50 each. Happily, the quality of these libraries is great – think huge taikos, booming bass drums, reverberant toms, punchy snare hits and shivery rolls, clattering woods and metalwork, tight congas and bongos, vibey shakers, evocative dhols and darbukas, and much more. So, while the lack of import is a downer, generally making adaptation of PercX beyond its cinematic, movie/game production focus tricky, there is a broad range within that openly stated remit.