Recommendations for meat & potatoes VST?

[mcgoo]

I’ve recently gone back to using a PC based live rig, using Gig Performer as a host. I love the new rig, but I’m a little shy on & need a recommendation for a “jack-of-all-trades meat & potatoes” VST.

 

Between Keyscape, Omnisphere, Arturia V-Collection, Komplete 7 & MTron Pro all driven by my SKX, I’ve got a lot of bases covered.  I DON’T need more pianos, EP’s, organs, analog synths or mellotrons. I could use some more options on strings & brass, but I’m not hurting with those. What I really need are things like Harmonica, Vibes, Acoustic Guitar…. i.e., a lot of instruments not found in a traditional orchestra library or an all-purpose general vst covering a wide palette of acoustic & electric instruments. I’ve got plenty of RAM & hard drive space, so a big library would be welcome.

 

Any recommendations for Roland Cloud? UVI Sonic Pass? Sample Tank? Or something else?

 

Thanks,

 

greg

[Doerfler]

were it me, I would start by upgrading Komplete 7 to Komplete 13. The acoustic guitars are great, and of course more string and brass options. US $ 199

 

The Vibes in Pianoteq are quite good, certainly in a live situation.

 

Harmonicas are slim pickings. This is the most authentic one, IMO.   https://www.chrishein.net/harmonica.html

[johnchop]

+1 for getting more out of Kontakt libraries with an upgrade.

 

I have SampleTank 4, but I don't feel like the sample quality is sort of hit and miss, and I've had some issues with crashes.

 

As for UVI, you could always try Sonic Pass for a month if you don't mind burning $24. That's what I am doing, mostly to give Falcon a try. I didn't feel compelled to get a lot of other sample libraries as I already have Komplete AND Steinberg Absolute.

 

I'd actually recommend a hard look at Absolute (or at least Halion) if it wasn't for the damn elicenser locking you to one device. I expect they'll address this in the near future given their shift in licensing schemes.

 

Have you looked at any East-West offerings?

 

[mcgoo]

1 hour ago, Doerfler said:

were it me, I would start by upgrading Komplete 7 to Komplete 13.

 

I’ll take another look, but there’s so much in Komplete I don’t need. The stuff they have that I need is ok, but I haven’t been blown away. Maybe that has changed. Worth a look…

[mcgoo]

31 minutes ago, johnchop said:

I have SampleTank 4, but I don't feel like the sample quality is sort of hit and miss, and I've had some issues with crashes.

 

As for UVI, you could always try Sonic Pass for a month if you don't mind burning $24. That's what I am doing, mostly to give Falcon a try. I didn't feel compelled to get a lot of other sample libraries as I already have Komplete AND Steinberg Absolute.

 

I'd actually recommend a hard look at Absolute (or at least Halion) if it wasn't for the damn elicenser locking you to one device. I expect they'll address this in the near future given their shift in licensing schemes.

 

Have you looked at any East-West offerings?

 

 

Yikes- good to know re: Sample Tank. I probably will at least try the Sonic Pass- looks intriguing and it allows 3 activations so that would cover gig rig & studio DAW. I'm not familiar with Absolute, so thanks- I'll have a look. As for EW, yes, I had Composer Cloud Plus for 3 years. I own a handful of their libraries from before they offered the subscription program. Once you let go of the legacy stuff that is often too dated to be useful, and then weed out the cool stuff that's more suited to studio

, then it's not as massive as it appears on first look.

[KuruPrionz]

Updating Komplete should also provide an updated version of Kontakt, no?

 

Sonicouture has some interesting plugins, I LOVE Array Mbira - there's some crazy guy who builds huge plucked tine instruments and they modelled one. 

It sounds fantastic, very organic and acoustic sounding. It runs in Kontakt. 

 

RE: SampleTank, I've had a few problems with it too but some of the plugins it supports are pretty cool like Clavitube and Alternate Keys (reed instruments). 

So it's not all bad. Maybe just get the CS version (free) and add your own sounds?

 

For stuff that's off the beaten path it might work better to just find the interesting stuff and not get all cluttered up (don't ask me how I know this!!!).

[mcgoo]

32 minutes ago, KuruPrionz said:

Updating Komplete should also provide an updated version of Kontakt, no? ....

 

... For stuff that's off the beaten path it might work better to just find the interesting stuff and not get all cluttered up (don't ask me how I know this!!!).

Yeah, if I update Komplete, I'll get Kontakt 6. I have 5 now. As for the beaten patch... I don't really need any of that. It's the straight-ahead stuff that I seem to be lacking. I mentioned Harmonica & Vibes earlier as those are 2 such instruments that I needed for a sub date & was surprised to learn I didn't have anything for either.

[marczellm]

If a bit dated sounds don't bother you, the Roland cloud / Zen-Core has the full XV series sample set AFAIK.

[Doerfler]

42 minutes ago, mcgoo said:

 I mentioned Harmonica & Vibes earlier as those are 2 such instruments that I needed for a sub date & was surprised to learn I didn't have anything for either.

Hey Greg -

another option for vibes, excellent (IMO) company and Kontakt ready. Also, less expensive than purchasing Pianoteq

 

https://www.soniccouture.com/en/products/26-percussion/g46-vibraphone/

[Adam Burgess]

I've been using the Roland ZENOLOGY stuff recently. Nice and small, lots in there (albeit oldish Roland stuff) but still works in a mix/band, and, easy on the host.

[KuruPrionz]

18 hours ago, Doerfler said:

Hey Greg -

another option for vibes, excellent (IMO) company and Kontakt ready. Also, less expensive than purchasing Pianoteq

 

https://www.soniccouture.com/en/products/26-percussion/g46-vibraphone/

The Sonicouture plugins are excellent. The Array Mbira i mention above is Soniccouture and sounds real, it's beautiful.

 

Haven't tried their vibes but I'd love to own their entire catalog. A great plugin company.

[Julius D Majestic Studios]

On 7/8/2022 at 12:11 PM, mcgoo said:

I’ve recently gone back to using a PC based live rig, using Gig Performer as a host. I love the new rig, but I’m a little shy on & need a recommendation for a “jack-of-all-trades meat & potatoes” VST.

 

Between Keyscape, Omnisphere, Arturia V-Collection, Komplete 7 & MTron Pro all driven by my SKX, I’ve got a lot of bases covered.  I DON’T need more pianos, EP’s, organs, analog synths or mellotrons. I could use some more options on strings & brass, but I’m not hurting with those. What I really need are things like Harmonica, Vibes, Acoustic Guitar…. i.e., a lot of instruments not found in a traditional orchestra library or an all-purpose general vst covering a wide palette of acoustic & electric instruments. I’ve got plenty of RAM & hard drive space, so a big library would be welcome.

 

Any recommendations for Roland Cloud? UVI Sonic Pass? Sample Tank? Or something else?

 

Thanks,

 

greg

Roland cloud is going to cover a ton of ground.  It's got the meat and potatoes king in it, XV 5080!!!...Plus access to some of the expansion libraries too.  

 

There is also AIR instruments plugin bundle.  You used to be able to find parts of it on sale quite a bit.  You can just upgrade to the full program ... It also covers alot.  

 

But for the money Komplete is hard to beat.  

[kaptainkeys]

Might I suggest XPand?  Especially with its layering capabilities you can probably get some good vibes and harmonica sounds out of it.

[Konnector]

On 7/9/2022 at 8:31 PM, GotKeys said:

Might I suggest XPand?  Especially with its layering capabilities you can probably get some good vibes and harmonica sounds out of it.

 

I picked up Xpand!2 about 3 years ago on sale for $1.  Can't beat that. It's got a ton of patches and you can layer up to four at once. Sounds are not fully editable, but then again you don't waste hours getting lost in programming. Very fast and easy to program/layer patches. Some sounds are very good, and some not so good. No different than what a typical rompler offers. (It's never crashed on me once either and I've used it a lot.)  

[RABid]

I agree with the suggestions of the Roland Cloud and 5080.

[felis]

This might be of interest to you, especially at the current 50% off:

 

https://www.applied-acoustics.com/chromaphone-3/

[mcgoo]

Thanks for the replies folks. Something I think I did a poor job conveying in my original post.... It's not that I'm looking for vibes and harmonica specifically... It's that my current gig rig seems to lack a few basic staples. Vibes and harmonica were 2 such staples that caught me off guard when I realized I didn't have them. Dobro is another. So far the Roland cloud and uvi's sonic pass have me most interested. Next step will be to try both and figure out which better suits my needs. 

[EricBarker]

If covering your basses is your need, then I think Updating Komplete is far-and-away your best option. No, it’s not sexy, no, they’re not the very best, but I have never heard of a more complete set of VST instruments under one roof. Every last instrument you mentioned is in there, and some of them very good (their newer acoustic guitars are fantastic).

 

NI suffers from a lot of overload, “this can’t be good when there’s so much of it!” But realistically, a good percentage of it stands up to the best of the best, and the rest is quite adequate. If bang for your buck is any interest, just do the upgrade for $200, and then if any of your specific needs aren’t to your liking, you can grab those separately. But that’s probably the most cost-effective path forward.

[LarsHarner2]

Hello, I didn't want to start a new thread - but wanted to know anyones thoughts on getting Komplete 13 select for $99 (plus I might have another $20 in retailer coupon).

I would be interested in the Scarbee Bass, and the B3 emulation- I have currently UVI organs- . 

 

I considered getting the Total Studio Max 3.5 when on sale from IK- but don't know if I want to fill up 490gb. Currently my PC has 2 TB, and 1.6 TB free, but I do run backups on a 1 TB drive and not sure if I want really large libraries. 

 

I looked at Mondo Bass, and its almost as much as the whole 3.5 MAx- when that is available on sale.

I'm currently ok with Pianos, I use EZ Drummer 2 which I love- might upgrade to 3 as I am a toontrack user of 9+ years 

[erik_nie]

another option: Use sforzando and pick up some sfz files for the missing sounds.
you could even sample your own from hardware.
Very low on resources, stable and free. 

 

In my laptop time I had some crashes with several VST and was afraid to update anything.

That's why I limited my softsynths to mainstage with it's instruments, VB3 and sforzando (or use the mainstage sampler).
Updated MacOS and Mainstage after a few months of release. 
This gave me a feeling of control.


 

[MPN21]

You might want to check out Neo Soundstation 2.   A small footprint but lots of usable sounds.  

 

[John H Carter]

I'd avoid Roland cloud due to the activation requirements; you don't want to be at a gig to find its disabled without internet access. I personally use the korg Triton vst for this purpose.

 

[obxa]

On 7/9/2022 at 11:31 PM, GotKeys said:

Might I suggest XPand?  Especially with its layering capabilities you can probably get some good vibes and harmonica sounds out of it.

+1  for Expand and Triton.   When using Mainstage for  live pit/show band stuff, Xpand and the Korg Triton (and even M1)  plugs nicely  fill the gap for those miscellaneous utility sounds you need every so often.     Also typically lighter on CPU than loading up another Kontakt instance.   Xpand is usually on sale cheap too.

Cheers

[Bill Heins]

Just to point put,  you can install Absolute on several machines but you need to plug the eLicenser into the machine you are currently using. To use a different machine just plug your eLicenser into that machine. How many people are actually running several machines at the same time, either onstage or in the studio? And why do you need to run the same application on serveral machines at the same time? 😀

 

Bill