Bachus, Torch, you guys have given me a lot to play with and I am very grateful. I don't plan to use VST's live as I only play organ live. They are mostly to upgrade the voices in my studio recordings. Since I've started to experiment with them again, I've noticed how much they have improved tonally. So far, most have integrated nicely with REAPER, my DAW of choice, so I have not really played around much with dedicated VST players. I'll try that next. Ahhh, so many toys, so little time .

Thanks again guys, this should keep me out of my wife's hair for quite a while now .

chas

I used Brainspawn Forte for years before I got MixCraft...

MixCraft is far easier... as a wrapper you can assign any VST in combination with splits layers etc.. and save as presets..

Forte.. you never knew when it was going to crash and was harder to use..


Now that Chas is out of his wife's hair...maybe I will see if she would like to go out to dinner...

Check out http://www.maxsynths.com/ they are free so you can't beat the price.

I just need to say +1 for Xpand 2.

While there are better VSTis out there, I don't think you can do much better for the price, even at 49 bucks. Let alone the absolutely crazy deal at $1.

This would be indeed one of the best buys.

As a freeware, I'd recommend Independence Free from Magix, but IT IS a headache to install.

This for rompler type.

Synth type - simply too many to even start to mention.

Thanks everyone. Haven't been away from the computer for five minutes since I started this. Each of your recommendations have yielded some good results. I am amazed at the quality of some of these vsti's, especially if played with the right controller. I'm getting some really good pianos using my old A70. Thanks again all.

BTW, this is FUN, everyone should play around with these even if you don't plan to use them in live mode or recordings.

chas

Just remember to eat & sleep once in a while

Bill

I agree that Independence has excellent sounds. I ended up buying the Pro version, but the UI bothered me so much that I "returned" it for a refund.
PS: I really liked your music.

Xpand!2 definately looks like a steal for $1 but current price seems to be $99

If anyone could link me to a $1 off, i would be able to try it out..

These vendors have xPand2 on sale once in a while. You might want to sign up and wait a bit.

http://vstbuzz.com/deals/xpand-2/

http://www.pluginboutique.com/product/1-Instruments/64-Virtual-Instrument/1560-Xpand-2

Thanks Torch