Hi everybody, I'm in the process of upgrading my studio and want to stock up on some good virtual instruments. I have a few ideas of what I want but would like to poll the community to see what everybody's favorite VSTi's are before I make any purchases. It doesn't matter whether it's an orhcestral library or a dirty house synth. Just tell me what YOUR favorite is. Thanks!

I quite like Arturia Analog Factory. Not flexible but a crapload of great analog sounding synth patchs

Cool stuff. I checked out the demos, and it seemed to be pretty versatile to me. But maybe that's just what they want me to think. :P I heard some really nice sounding presets though. Anybody else want to chime in?

It's very broad to say "I want virtual instruments". What kind of sound you want?
If it's orchestral libraries you are after, then go EastWest, Garritan, VSL.
For more info: www.soundsonline.com \ www.bestservice.de

Quote: Original post by Steve_Kaetzel
Cool stuff. I checked out the demos, and it seemed to be pretty versatile to me. But maybe that's just what they want me to think. :P I heard some really nice sounding presets though. Anybody else want to chime in?

Sorry yes it is versatile, I should have rather said not one for tweakheads. But there are many different sounds you can get from the thousands of patchs, all rather good!

Jay

Right on, Jay. I was definitely impressed with the patches I heard.

Quote: Original post by Kryzon
It's very broad to say "I want virtual instruments". What kind of sound you want?

My original purpose for this post was to find out what everybody else's favorite instruments are, not necessarily what instrument(s) are right for me. I already have a good amount of instruments at my disposal, so I am not really looking for anything in particular. I'm mainly trying to start a discussion about what instruments are popular right now in the game audio commmunity and give people the opportunity to rant and rave about THEIR favorites.

I don't think Kontakt falls under the VSTi category so much, as it is really a sampler; but it does come with a modest amount of samples from the Vienna Symphony Library.

As for the VSL, I'm pretty happy with the quality of the sounds; my only problem is that the variety of samples(articulations, dynamics, effects) are limited, since this is really just a teaser release included with Kontakt. Before I actually dished out any more funds for the VSL, I'd have to check out the other brands. So, I'm not sold on VSL just yet.

The other sounds that come with Kontakt are hit and miss. I also find the interface a bit tedious, but then again, at times it's also very simple and easy to navigate.

I used to have a real fondness for Lounge Lizard, but have not used it in years.

I think this is a good discussion, as I'd like to think I might be in need of getting some new instruments myself.

Vienna is an awesome collection, but lately I have come to be highly fond of Spectrasonics' Omnisphere - excellent piece of software with just about everything you will ever need.

www.soundsonline.com

Anything from this website. It's all I use.

I've been using VSL Special Edition for my orchestral samples for a while now and have been really pleased with the results. Sometimes I have problems with the first note of a legato phrase sounding too low in volume compared to the rest of the passage, but all-in-all, I think it was a good buy for $465.

Quote: Original post by travis coats
Vienna is an awesome collection, but lately I have come to be highly fond of Spectrasonics' Omnisphere - excellent piece of software with just about everything you will ever need.

I watched a couple of the Omnisphere demo videos a little while ago and heard some really sweet textures. I don't remember hearing any orchestral samples though. Does it have good sounding orchestral instruments, or is it mainly used as a synth?