EWQL Silver vs EWQL Gold

I read many times on this forum that Gold is far superior. However, I have been listening to demos to both Gold and Silver and the demos both sound just as good to my ear. I am aware that demos can be tweaked for best performance, so that may play a role. Are there really any significant differences in the quality of the samples? I am also aware that the silver has pitch stretching and no release trails. Would this make a huge difference in my recordings?

This may be something to ask EWQL sales but I may as well ask here first. Does anyone know if the Silver Play edition has the pitch stretching and release trails? It is fairly larger in size than the original version. Also, would it require ilok? In the Play advertisement, they say Platinum only requires ilok:

(Platinum and Platinum Plus, ilok required for each computer)

However I read the ilok description:

You need the iLok security key to run any EASTWEST product powered by PLAY, it does not come in the product box. One iLok key will register 100 products from companies that use the iLok security system.

Seems like I found a discrepancy here. Probably another thing to ask EWQL sales.

One more question! Can I record using my notation editor which happens to be Personal Composer? I am not sure if the sampler (Kontakt and/or Play) that comes with the samples is a standalone. In fact, I don't know anything about Kontakt as I am coming from a Gigastudio background. Would I have to load the samples each and every time just like in Gigastudio?

Many questions Mike... One at a time!

1. If I remember correctly (not sure, or if it's older news), because of the huge drop down prices, there wouldn't be a PLAY silver version. So it's either:
a. Gold
b. Platinum simple
c. Platinum with both 16-bit and 24-bit samples!

2. Quality to what you receive is bound to your monitors and your systems. For example (no self bloating), in my $3000 monitors I can definately hear a difference between silver and gold demos! Plus it's not only the lack of semitone samples, but also the lack of various articulations if I recall correctly! Gold is the way to go for $595 ! ( and let's face it! Between the original price of the bundle at $2000 and the 1/4th it's no brainer to buy it, even If I'm not getting paid by EW!)

3. I've no idea about personal composer! HOWEVER!

The new symphonic orchestras to come out will be in PLAY format, not Kompatk (Kontakt compatible). Either way, one or the other, every time you close the VSTs (the sampler, for example) you clear the RAM. Other wise you woudl run out of RAM in 30 secs exactly! Every time you load it you have to reload all samples. All samples existant in the project you are working on! So if you work on a solo piano work (which seems to be your favourite! ) you would reload the piano, everytime you would open your notation/sequencer...

This applies for ALL samplers/sample stations! ALL!

PS. Gold and Platinum are seperate pages. So in the platinum page you would only get the PLAY issues about PLATINUM alone. Nobody forgot to mention gold in the platinum page. IF you go to the gold page you would see the iLock info about gold.

In general all *NEW* players (PLAY) from EW need the iLock! Kompakt based ones, do NOT need that.

Thanks for your reply, that clears many things up for me. It appears that they do have a Silver Play edition, for $295, at least according to Sounds Online. The Gold price, at $700, is a little steep for me, since I do not write music for profit, but only for enjoyment. However, I am all about quality, even if this is a hobby for me. If there truly is such a noticeable difference, I may dish out the $700 for the system. The 24 bit samples sound great, but there is no way I am going to pay over $1000, as a non profit composer!

As for the VST sampler, does it require a special VST player, such as Cubase? Or will any standard midi player be compatible with Kontakt, or Play? Before I invest in all this equipment, I obviously would need to make sure I purchase the correct software. The change from Gigastudio is necessary, as I am going to upgrade my computer to a 64 bit system, and Play is 64 bit compatible. Furthermore, I do not want to be restricted to an expensive GSIF sound card, I think that's bologna. Plus EWQL rocks!

I think this ilok system is stupid, I have to keep this dumb key plugged into my computer every time I compose? Sigh, oh well.

Although I am known to compose piano music, I am taking a break from it, and am going to start writing orchestral music. I need a change. I've always loved orchestral music, and my urge to compose was due to the fact of listening to symphonies, not piano music. It's funny how I got into piano. Back in the mid 90's, midi was not as sophisticated the way it is now. There was no way at 13, that I would compose orchestras with crappy midi sounds, because I was just learning. So all my compositions were simple two tracked, one channel piano compositions by default. By 2000's, I was pretty decent at writing catchy tunes for piano, so I stuck with it. Plus, Gigastudio had some great piano samples out there, but still lacked in decent orchestral samples. So I kept composing for piano. It's now 2008, and I think I can finally explore my love and creativity for composing for orchestra, since the samples they have today are very much improved, and much more cost friendly.