What are your favorite Virtual Instruments?

[TheLP]

Figured I'd get this forum kicked off considering I'm a big fan of VIs. So lets here what everyone uses. This is a good way to learn about different kinds of VIs.

Anyway some of mine include:

FM7
B4
Reason
Garritan Big Band
Absynth
Sampletank
Xpand! (Well, when I recieve it tomorrow)

I need to start adding more to my arsenal.

[filosofem]

Moog Modular V The presets are very modern sounding, but the sole purpose of my investment is that it's fully programmable.





filosofem

[aliengroover]

Guess I'm batting second. (edit-haha, or rather a close third, lol)

I'm still basically a hardware guy, but I'm really digging:

ST2XL (a staple to me)
Reason
MrRay (both the 73 and 22)
Guru
Xpand! (did a track with it a couple of hours ago...I'm liking it and already seeing a place for it)

That's it for now. I'm actually looking into adding a softsampler, and I'm leaning towards the Emulator X2. And maybe either SonikSynth2 or Philharmonik (or both) to compliment ST.
Peace

[Jerry K.]

I love Sample Tank and BFD and I don't know how I ever got along without them but I just got NI Bandstand. It sounds great and works great in PT or as a GM player. It fills a void that I needed filled!

[TheLP]

Guess I'm batting second. (edit-haha, or rather a close third, lol)

I'm still basically a hardware guy, but I'm really digging:

ST2XL (a staple to me)
Reason
MrRay (both the 73 and 22)
Guru
Xpand! (did a track with it a couple of hours ago...I'm liking it and already seeing a place for it)

That's it for now. I'm actually looking into adding a softsampler, and I'm leaning towards the Emulator X2. And maybe either SonikSynth2 or Philharmonik (or both) to compliment ST.
Peace

Hmm how are the acoustic pianos? I should be getting mine around 3 tomorrow, very excited to try it out. And I'm eager to try out the Philharmoik.

[aliengroover]

Hmm how are the acoustic pianos? I should be getting mine around 3 tomorrow, very excited to try it out. And I'm eager to try out the Philharmoik.

Eh, they're okay. I wouldn't consider them for any critical work. I'd equate them, and really the entire soundset in general, to something like the classic Triton "sound", in that it's very clean and bright. While I didn't a/b the pianos with the Triton's, I'd say Xpand's are better, though. There's not a whole lot of variety with the acoustic sounds, as alot that is provided is basically to serve as "building blocks" to your own pathes.

Again, overall, I really like it. IMHO, it's worth way more than the $23 I paid for shipping, but if you're looking for this to be a solid source of "traditional" sounds, you may be disappointed.
Peace

[TheLP]

Eh, they're okay. I wouldn't consider them for any critical work. I'd equate them, and really the entire soundset in general, to something like the classic Triton "sound", in that it's very clean and bright. While I didn't a/b the pianos with the Triton's, I'd say Xpand's are better, though. There's not a whole lot of variety with the acoustic sounds, as alot that is provided is basically to serve as "building blocks" to your own pathes.

Again, overall, I really like it. IMHO, it's worth way more than the $23 I paid for shipping, but if you're looking for this to be a solid source of "traditional" sounds, you may be disappointed.
Peace

Well I just got it, but I'm not gonna install it for a little bit as eager as I am. But I see what you're saying, and this is just another piece to add to the library, I wasn't really thinking this was gonna be anything that would be the highest in quality in regards to pianos and stuff. But thanks for the information .

[GW]

Reason 3.0 - most "bang for the bucks"/sync's better then most/costumer support/versatility... The only downside to it is that some sounds are really not up to par with the best.

Best Piano: Ivory 1.52 Funniest Bass: Broomstick Bass Most curious at right now: Independence by Yellow Tools Worst buy: GPO Would like to get to work with Pro Tools: Band-in-a-Box Most in need of upgrades: ALL NI-products!

[TelosHedge]

i love BFD. i will love it even more when fxpansion comes out with the PT7 optimized version updates in the next couple of weeks...

i also picked up guitar rig 2, and have been playing with that. the sounds are pretty wild, and they're putting out a lot more clarity then most other direct/modeling options i've tried - but now it seems i've lost all the bottom out of my signals.

has anybody used GR2, and liked? disliked? i'd love your thoughts.

[EGS]

I like Reason 3. The factory sounds are good / tons of third party sounds / the combinator is cool / CPU efficient / mature software / multichannel rewire to PT / really stable on Mac and Win.