What software do I need to use this sound library?

I currently use mostly Cubase and Kontakt 3. So far, all additional sample libraries I have purchased were already available in Kontakt format.

However, I notice that Quantum Leap Brass EMU does not list Kontakt as one of its available formats (at least not on that site). Could anyone tell me if these Quantum Leap libraries normally include a player of their own, or do I need to buy another piece of software in order to use them from Cubase?

Thank you.

First of all, those samples are quite old so don't even look at them. Second of all, never buy from the actual East West site, buy from somewhere like Sounds Online — much better prices.

If you're interested in EW's brass then buy Symphonic Orchestra Gold (or whichever version you can afford). You'll end up paying more or less the same amount of money and get an entire orchestra.

Thank you for the friendly warning (on both counts), Marius, and thank you for the recommendation. I'll reflect upon my actions.

Regardlessly, I've been browsing the East West site and I've seen quite a number of libraries from Quantum Leap that caught my interest (all fairly expensive, I'm afraid, but I will look them up on other sites). Since I'm clearly very inexperienced, I'll list their names here just in case there is something else I missed:

• Quantum Leap Ministry of Rock
  
• Quantum Leap Symphonic Choirs
  
• Quantum Leap Rare
  
• Quantum Leap Silk
  

The first thing I would like to know is how I would go about using these. Do they have a player or something that simply plugs into Cubase? That would be my first consideration. Also, if anyone is familiar with these packages, could they confirm that I'm not wasting my precious money here (the East West demos sounded awesome)? Any advice is appreciated.

Hi again,

Any of the libraries you listed are very solid packages, but it depends on what kind of music you'll be writing. All of them come with their own player, which loads into Cubase or any other sequencer as a plugin, called PLAY (intuitively enough) so the only thing you'd need to be able to use them is the iLok USB dongle and a computer powerful enough to run them. That last part is vitally important because all of these large libraries are VERY computer resource intensive, so if your computer doesn't have more than 2GB of RAM and a fast processor with a fast harddrive, then you shouldn't really be spending money on them — upgrade your rig first.

As I mentioned though, they're all very solid packages and the sounds are brilliant so you can make impressive-sounding mixes of your own with a little effort.

Thank you again.

Well, I write background music (as for films and games), and each of these packages have elements that I would like to incorporate into my work. I like to have as many options as possible. Naturally, I can't afford to buy all of them at once, so I'm thinking of acquiring them one by one. It'll probably take me a long, long time just to figure out one of them anyway.

As for my computer, I'm not sure of the hard drive speed, but I do have 2GB pf RAM and two 2.40 GHz processors. If I need to upgrade for my music, though, I'll gladly do it

Howdy!

If you're looking for a great starting package that'll give you a bit of everything, Goliath is the one to look at. Also a EWQL library running on the PLAY engine. As for the dongle it does NOT come with any of the packages but you CAN buy it from the SoundsOnline site. And, of course, you only need one of them and you can then license all future PLAY products (and many others) on it.

Your computer specs are decent, but you might want to double the RAM unless you want to be bouncing all your tracks from small sections.

If you're looking for a great starting package that'll give you a bit of everything, Goliath is the one to look at. Also a EWQL library running on the PLAY engine.

Well, Kontakt 3 gives me some good samples to start with (also a little bit of almost everything), so since money is an important consideration here, I think I'll pass on Goliath. (If I'm persuaded that its quality/variety is superior, I might come back to it once I've acquired the others, though.)

As for the dongle it does NOT come with any of the packages but you CAN buy it from the SoundsOnline site. And, of course, you only need one of them and you can then license all future PLAY products (and many others) on it.

This is it, right? It's pretty expensive for something that has no use by itself...

Your computer specs are decent, but you might want to double the RAM unless you want to be bouncing all your tracks from small sections.

Thanks for the advice, I just happened to be looking for another excuse to put in more RAM. :P

Goliath's sounds are almost always a step beyond K3's stock library. Check out its page and listen to some of the demos, see the instrument lists, etc. It's a great package.

That is the dongle in question, yes. It's pricey, but that's the business for ya. :P