Vienna Symphonic Library Special Edition II

I personally use the Gold ProXP library myself, so I can tell you for sure that it's good, but no, it will NOT run on an Intel Mac unless you also have Kontakt, that is true and an unfortunate side-effect of Native Instruments discontinuing development on their Kompakt Player software.

I'm not sure why you'd be asking me about Gold though if you aren't even sure about running Silver. You can get Silver, in its PLAY edition (so without having to worry about Kontakt) for about half the price of what you linked to (the Gold ProXP bundle) — and let's not forget that you still have to tack on the $300 crossgrade price (Kompakt Player -> Kontakt) to that if you want to use the Kontakt version of Gold ProXP.

I'm also not sure why you're consistently ignoring my suggestion of GPO, which sounds like it's definitely your best bet, but it's your money, not mine. Another thing to keep in mind is what sequencer you're using. If you don't have one, you won't be using any of these sample libraries right off the bat, so that's something to consider too. What do you write your music in? If it's Finale, then as of 2009 you'll be able to use ANY VST sample library plugin (so all of the above) and I know that EWQL will work as early as Finale 2007. If you're using Logic then you're also good to go, since it has full support for VST plugins and runs all of the above like a charm.

Originally Posted by Marius

I personally use the Gold ProXP library myself, so I can tell you for sure that it's good, but no, it will NOT run on an Intel Mac unless you also have Kontakt, that is true and an unfortunate side-effect of Native Instruments discontinuing development on their Kompakt Player software.

I'm not sure why you'd be asking me about Gold though if you aren't even sure about running Silver. You can get Silver, in its PLAY edition (so without having to worry about Kontakt) for about half the price of what you linked to (the Gold ProXP bundle) — and let's not forget that you still have to tack on the $300 crossgrade price (Kompakt Player -> Kontakt) to that if you want to use the Kontakt version of Gold ProXP.

I'm also not sure why you're consistently ignoring my suggestion of GPO, which sounds like it's definitely your best bet, but it's your money, not mine. Another thing to keep in mind is what sequencer you're using. If you don't have one, you won't be using any of these sample libraries right off the bat, so that's something to consider too. What do you write your music in? If it's Finale, then as of 2009 you'll be able to use ANY VST sample library plugin (so all of the above) and I know that EWQL will work as early as Finale 2007. If you're using Logic then you're also good to go, since it has full support for VST plugins and runs all of the above like a charm.

I'm not ignoring GPO, but I've been researching these differently sample libraries for about a year and I just haven't been able to bring myself to buy GPO. I write my music in Sibelius 5, but I also have Logic Express 8. The problem I have with GPO is that even though it is integrated well with Sibelius 5, I want something that sounds good for making orchestral pieces in Logic. It's quite hard to continue writing notation as I have no piano to write anything on and I have to transfer my music directly from head to paper, so if I get a sample library I would buy a MIDI controller too and I could hear my music before it goes on paper.

I also need a sample library because people have asked me to do film scores for movies of theirs that they are entering in competitions and I can't without a good library.

The reason I suggested Gold (Kompakt Version) is because the requirements of the Kompakt Version will definitely run on my system, while the requirements of the PLAY version, I'm not exactly sure.

Ah, I see.

Okay, well if you're looking for more realistic mock-ups then EWQL is definitely your best bet, but I would still be wary of the Kompakt Player version unless you're willing to shell out way more than $200 for the library itself, then about the same for the full version of Kontakt which you'll need to run the library. Not to mention extra for MIDI controller, at some point.

Keep in mind that PLAY is just a more efficient engine for the libraries, so if you can run the Kompakt version then you should definitely be able to run the PLAY. The reason they've amped up the required specs is partly as an advertising move - if they make people think they'll need more powerful computers to run the libraries, people will oblige and then when they get the new machines, they'll notice a "significant performance improvement" even though they would have noticed that anyway if they had kept their Kontakt versions and upgraded the hardware.

But anyway, at this point I still think EWQLSO Silver (PLAY Edition) is your more economically advantageous bet, and you have plenty of upgrade options from there when you are able to afford it.

Originally Posted by Marius

Ah, I see.

Okay, well if you're looking for more realistic mock-ups then EWQL is definitely your best bet, but I would still be wary of the Kompakt Player version unless you're willing to shell out way more than $200 for the library itself, then about the same for the full version of Kontakt which you'll need to run the library. Not to mention extra for MIDI controller, at some point.

Keep in mind that PLAY is just a more efficient engine for the libraries, so if you can run the Kompakt version then you should definitely be able to run the PLAY. The reason they've amped up the required specs is partly as an advertising move - if they make people think they'll need more powerful computers to run the libraries, people will oblige and then when they get the new machines, they'll notice a "significant performance improvement" even though they would have noticed that anyway if they had kept their Kontakt versions and upgraded the hardware.

But anyway, at this point I still think EWQLSO Silver (PLAY Edition) is your more economically advantageous bet, and you have plenty of upgrade options from there when you are able to afford it.

Ahhh ok. I think I will get play then. When I said I don't have a MIDI controller I don't mean that exactly as I say it, I have one, but it's so bad, that as soon as I begin to play it I get completely uninspired so I'm planning to buy one that I can actually use and compose music on. If it doesn't work then, I guess I'll have to save up for a better computer.

Thank you for your help!

My pleasure, good luck with your purchases.

i will give you short guideline.
there are 3 different kind of programms.
kind one is a programm only to notetate music, they sound so bad, you cant imagine.
type 2: you need a notaion software - like cubase, nuendo, logic, protools, whatever. than you have something like colossus - you have to load an instrument, it sounds ok, and thats all.
its very effective to write something in a short time, it doen't cost a lot of money but you will never let it sound "real"

for that you need a very good compuer with a lot of ram. or a lot of computers. than you can take symphonic orchestra or vienna. (i am not speaking about symphonic orchestra gold or such stuff..)
a keyboard would be fine and an excellent soundcard. and a lo of time
but you will get what you want!

your budget isnt that much. try first colossus, its very cool for people who are new in digital composing

Originally Posted by meister hubert

i will give you short guideline.
there are 3 different kind of programms.
kind one is a programm only to notetate music, they sound so bad, you cant imagine.
type 2: you need a notaion software - like cubase, nuendo, logic, protools, whatever. than you have something like colossus - you have to load an instrument, it sounds ok, and thats all.
its very effective to write something in a short time, it doen't cost a lot of money but you will never let it sound "real"

for that you need a very good compuer with a lot of ram. or a lot of computers. than you can take symphonic orchestra or vienna. (i am not speaking about symphonic orchestra gold or such stuff..)
a keyboard would be fine and an excellent soundcard. and a lo of time
but you will get what you want!

your budget isnt that much. try first colossus, its very cool for people who are new in digital composing

That is the most misleading explanation possible. While your description is vague and possibly misinterpreted in your very own words, but I think MidTown already has an idea of what software he's after.

I like to put my 2 cents to Midtown's quest for sample library. If there's one advice I'd give to people starting out with sampling, I'd say that don't restrict yourself to that "new to samples" notion. The world of sampling is more than just sample playback. Yes, starting out, you would choose to use very inspiring libraries. But the thing I notice is that for most people, they don't ever switch to the "none-beginner" practices and tools. If you're really into making music FROM THE COMPUTER (as I would imagine from your film scoring aspirations), sampling is a good knowledge to know.

If I'm not mistaken logic comes with exs24 sampler, play around with that. There are still a few libraries out there sold in this format.

It's an irony that most people worry about quality of sound so much that they'd spend hundreds of dollars on libraries and avoid learning the solid techniques behind making good results. We're all looking for quick and easy preset solutions, and it's really hard to snap out of that mode. Good library doesn't always mean good results.

My suggestion , up to you if you want to take it.

Originally Posted by meister hubert

i will give you short guideline.
there are 3 different kind of programms.
kind one is a programm only to notetate music, they sound so bad, you cant imagine.
type 2: you need a notaion software - like cubase, nuendo, logic, protools, whatever. than you have something like colossus - you have to load an instrument, it sounds ok, and thats all.
its very effective to write something in a short time, it doen't cost a lot of money but you will never let it sound "real"

for that you need a very good compuer with a lot of ram. or a lot of computers. than you can take symphonic orchestra or vienna. (i am not speaking about symphonic orchestra gold or such stuff..)
a keyboard would be fine and an excellent soundcard. and a lo of time
but you will get what you want!

your budget isnt that much. try first colossus, its very cool for people who are new in digital composing

Thank you for the explanation, but I already have Sibelius 5 and Logic Express 8. I know what type of program I'm looking for, Colossus is not what I want.

Kaiyoti, it may seem as if I want to get very technical with my sampling, however that is not the case. I would like something that sounds realistic, but I don't really want to get extremely involved. The reason I'm looking into sampling is because I'm very bad with notation, so many times I sit down at Sibelius and try to get an idea out, but by the time I figure out how to notate it the idea is gone. I think if I can just make a quick sketch using a sample library first it will really help me compose. I know it sounds like I don't need something that realistic, but the way I am I always like to get the best even if I don't need it. Thanks though.

Keep in mind, also, that GPO requires a very powerful computer as well. I used to be running on a Celeron 1.3Ghz with 512MB of RAM, and it could only crack out one string section. It even says on Keyboards review on the downside of Garritan "CPU/Computer Intensive".

I now use Reason 3 (it's not 4) coupled with GPO lite. I can complete pretty realistic full orchestra samples, run the full orchestra, and using ASIO4ALL get a REALLY low latency and still run it all perfectly on my Celeron 1.3.

I've still been frustrated with Strings...

Get more RAM. That solves most of GOP's real-time rendering problems.