I guess it's the commn opinion that Steinberg's USM is not all that great. It would be nice if the Virtual Sound Canvas was a replacement. Unfortunately it's not. Some sounds are really nice (the acoustic guitar, muted electric guitar, the string ensemble), many are acceptable (pianos, basses), and some are quite awful (violin. the ooh and aah choirs).

For the price it's all right, but it's not great. And what's with the single stereo out? At least the USM had 4!

Victor.

The VSC is a typical GM synth. Most of the sounds are OK, but you won't confuse it with a JV1080. The piano, strings, and other acoustic sounds are too thin and simple. As with most GM sounds, these will be fine hidden in a mix, but you wouldn't want to use them as the main sound in a tune.

Some of the drum and bass sounds are usable.

It's very stable, and comes with hundreds of sounds, so that's a good thing.

If you do MIDI karaoke, or anything else that requires a GM synth, the VSC is a good one to have.

And if you get SONAR, it's free, so what's not to like?