Sonicware LIVEN Lofi-12 XT

What it needs

The Lofi-12 XT works at 24 kHz in 16 bit mono. That is a quarter of the data rate most sample libraries ship at, and it is deliberate rather than a shortcoming.

The machine also has a 12 bit playback mode. That is a playback setting rather than a storage format, so the WAV on the card stays 16 bit either way.

Format         WAV
Sample rate    24 kHz
Bit depth      16 bit
Channels       Mono

Getting the files there

Samples go on the SD card. Getting the rate right before they land there is what separates the machine's own character from artifacts of an unplanned conversion.

Prepared folder on disk
  Kick 01.wav      24 kHz  16 bit  mono
  Snare 03.wav     24 kHz  16 bit  mono

  -> SD card
     -> Lofi-12 XT

Doing it in Sample Miner

Export Options has a Hardware target dropdown. Selecting Sonicware LIVEN Lofi-12 XT sets WAV at 24 kHz and 16 bit, downmixes to mono and clears the sampler format.

24 kHz is not one of the four rates the quality dropdown normally offers. The preset sets it directly, and the dropdown shows it once it is set.

Downsampling on purpose

Sending a 44.1 kHz file means the machine resamples it, and the resampler is part of the instrument rather than a neutral utility. That may be exactly what you want, and it is worth knowing it is happening.

Doing the conversion on the desktop gives you a resampler you chose and a file you can audition first. The lo-fi character is then something you add rather than something that arrives.

The limits

A 24 kHz file has nothing above roughly 12 kHz in it. Cymbals, air and anything living in the top octave do not survive the trip, which is the trade the format exists to make.

There is no key mapping and no instrument file, so what the machine gets is a folder of prepared audio.

Sources

Specification confirmed against the Sonicware LIVEN Lofi-12 XT manual.