VSTi recommendations

[thegide]

Looking for some input here... my recording rig is newly put together and I'm trying to figure out which VSTs are worth investing in. Since I'm still a student technically, I can get a lot of stuff at academic pricing.

I've got an open order on Hypersonic2, since there's a huge selection of synth sounds and you can create custom sounds. I'm producing progressive rock and metal, so synth sounds are relatively important. If anyone has alternative recommendations, I can always change/cancel this order...

I'm also looking for a good selection of soundscapes and bass guitar sounds, as well as some general purpose stuff. I'm not ready to drop a $$ bundle on something as large as Komplete 5. I downloaded the free Kore player, but the selection of instruments is far too limiting... something in the middle of the road I suppose is what I'm looking for.

Anyways, recommend away.

[sparqee]

If you're looking for electric bass sample based VSTi I highly recommend Trilogy and/or Scarbee Black Bass. With Black Bass you have to have Kontakt by Native Instruments but if you're a keyboard player and you want to enjoy a great to play bass VSTi then it's Black Bass all the way. Trilogy requires no additional software and it has some inspiring sounds but I don't find it as easy to play expressively as Black Bass. Still, for a harder bass sound I really dig the Trilogy Picked Rock instrument. You can really hammer with that one.

Spectrasonics - Trilogy

SCARBEE Professional Audio Tools: Products

[richiebee]

I think its true to say that no one single developer does it all well. You would do well to start with Kontakt.

I'm sure Hypersonic has a wide selection of sounds, and they are probably usable. A good basis to start. But I'm sure you'll find them limiting very quickly. There's no substitute for getting among the best out there. Yes, they're expensive. Build them up a little at a time.

Kontakt comes with its own library that is also a great starting point... similar to Hypersonic. It might be the way to start the ball rolling.

R.

[thegide]

Thanks richiebee. I'll check it out. It's in my price range so...

Do you know if you can load .fxp samples into Kontakt?

[thegide]

I checked out Kontakt 3. It looks awesome! I think it would be great for my setup... but....

I'm totally PISSED OFF right now.

First of all, ordering anything online in Canada sucks, because online stores are hard to come by here. With our dollar crapping out in the last few months, ordering from the USA is no deal (factor in shipping, exchange rate, and tax and its usually more expensive).

So I'm a poor grad student, but I lucked out and found an educational version of Kontakt 3 for $299 CDN!!! (Listing everywhere else at $349). The store has free shipping and since the store is out of province, I only have to pay 5% sales tax (instead of 13%).

I take off for a few hours since it's Halloween and come back. Dump it into my cart and it's now scanning at $370! Four frigging hours and they've changed their online price.

Anyways, out of desperation I emailed them asking if they'd grant me an extension on the price, but I'm not holding my breath. Too many other things are demanding my money, from tuition to winter tires, to a pc upgrade, and studio monitors.... I was super excited earlier and now I can pretty much forget about having any decent VSTs for a while. The extra $50 isn't the end of the world (likely more since free shipping is rare), but it changes the priority of things I guess.

/end rant. Thanks for listening.

[VicDiesel]

Originally Posted by sparqee

If you're looking for electric bass sample based VSTi I highly recommend Trilogy and/or Scarbee Black Bass.

Trilogy is great, but if you're on a Mac, it basically does not work on Intel Macs. There is a kludge but not a good one.

There is also Vir2 Basis, which I hear good things about. On sale at Guitar Center and some other outlets, I believe.

Victor.

[brandondrury]

I'm not ready to drop a $$ bundle on something as large as Komplete 5.

I bought Komplete 3 several years ago for $600 on clearance and I still find it mindblowing.

I think its true to say that no one single developer does it all well. You would do well to start with Kontakt.

While a person may find individual elements more fun in other packages, I've been very very happy with Komplete 3. With that said, Kontakt is certainly a great way to go.