Mainstage 3 is a VST Host with some DAW capabillities and its the perfect tool for those that want to use VSTs in a life setting. Its Macbook only and comes with a whopping array of sounds, loops and riffs (the whole Logic X sound collection) at a whopping price of $30



Its incredible versatile and the sounds are on par with the best VSts.


If you have a macbook, for that price its a must have program, on top of that, there is a remote touchscreen controller running on ipad.

Bachus do you have any good recommendations for Windows7?
good host? good but cheaper afordable vst's?
thanks

Also, Ive been looking into a mac mini, whch aren't badly priced using a usb 10.1 monitor. your opinion? Could a smaller usb monitor be used with a mac mini? It could be a possible stage setup?

Free VST Hosts here also Ableton Live (Which comes in entry to fully featured versions) is designed for live onstage use. (Trials are available to see if it suits before purchase)

What sort of VSTs are you looking for? As there are many good free and entry level versions out there.

This site here is also worth putting in your favourites if you want to get into VSTs, not forgetting Synthzone itself.

Hope this helps

Bill

Cubase pro 8 got everything you will need .

sincere thanks guys, it is much appreciated.
Looks like Im going to be quite busy for a while

I am sorry there is nothing that comes close to mainstage on windows, its not a daw, but comes with a superb interface and possibilities, there is a reason every life keyboardist using vsts these days is using mainstage ...



Bill this is comparing like apples tp pears..

Mainstage is unique in most every way, the way it handles configuratione and setup of the patches with a graphical touchinterface..(using ipad) and it comes with more high quallity instruments then any other daw out there at only €30

Ableton live is a fullfledged daw, which works great next to ableton as a cliplauncher or sequencer, but it does not offer the features of mainstage which works much much much more like a traditional synthe workstation(witouth sequencer)

The exs24 sampler comes close to kontakt, and is filled with goodies, the drumset creator is out of this world, the B3 is just out of this world, it now also comes with alchemy and like 15 other instruments,like sculpture virtuall instrument


If you ever get a chance Bill, get a few days to play with mainstage and you will see how awesome its design is, it gives a keyboardist the feeling he is using a hardware instrument, and you can use any daw or whatever program next to mainstage and controll it over the same interface you controll your mainstage concerts and patches.

Its one of the reasons for me to never move away from mac...

Just play with it and you will see....

Seems however i am the only macbook addict on these boards.

Hi Bachus

I am not arguing about how good mainstage is, however OldNewb asked for Windows programs and a chose a selection that would give him some of the features of Mainstage, either free or at a reasonable price.

Also this may be of interest to PC users.

Bill

sorry bill, i misunderstood you there, i agree with you that you can get the most needed features that way..

When it comes to live, maxx has some good tools for creating performances and controll scenes, but it only comes with the most expensive version at over €700..


However if you own a mac less then 5 years old, mainstage should be a nobrainer for every musician... For an arranger player the 3 piano sounds being boesendorfer, yamaha and Steinway grands are worth the money

Another one for PC is Cantabile >>> http://www.cantabilesoftware.com/

I do think Mainstage is a great option for Live playing if you own a Mac I am hoping that the new IPAD pro will have a Mainstage option that would be cool also I am very interested in you opinion of the Casio PX 560 I am considering one as well .