OK folks...There's 3 days left on the Quantum Leap RA 50% discount Group Buy and I'm seriously considering splurging for it and wanted to know how people here feel about it.
I've got Dimension Pro and while it has a few ethnic instruments, it's not enough to whet my appetite. I love ethnic instruments and there's not too many quality ethnic sample collections around from what I gather. I wish that there was a compatible collection for Dimension Pro, but there hasn't been one to pop up yet and Quantum Leap RA seems to be the best choice for high quality.
It's a helluva price for sure, but still not cheap at about $500.00. Back In Time Records is planning to come out with an ethnic collection (Ethnotronics) using the Wusik engine, but there hardly has been any info on that, what instruments will be included and when it will be released. I don't own any of their products, but they seem to get good reviews, so I'm sure their collection will be successful, but just how compared to the ones already on the market...?
So appreciate any input on the RA collection and if indeed, it's really worth it? Since I don't intend to use it all the time, I rather just get 1 collection that pretty much meets all my needs (at least for now)!
Thanks for any input....
Cheers!
EastWest Quantum RA - worth it? (50% Group Buy ending soon)
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- KVRist
- 368 posts since 24 Mar, 2005
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- KVRian
- 1395 posts since 16 Jan, 2004
I'd like to know that as well (worth it?). Good price. The list of included instruments seems short to me, although I can't really name something it's missing that I'm looking for in particular.
I have to imagine, though, that if one is looking for a specific instrument, someone's created a free soundfont for it somewhere. Maybe I'm being optimistic there, though.
I have to imagine, though, that if one is looking for a specific instrument, someone's created a free soundfont for it somewhere. Maybe I'm being optimistic there, though.
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- KVRAF
- 2108 posts since 31 Dec, 2002 from London, UK
Did you listen to the demos?
Those were enough for me, I was hooked.
I should probably mention that if you eg. listen to "expedition" and hear something that just sounds too real for being a sample played on a keyboard, it's probably a phrase. Although RA doesn't as such contain phrases, some instruments, particularly flutes do have a few.
Ethnotronics or MOTU Ethno if you have looked at that, doesn't have nearly as many articulations, which is something you need in order for an instrument to sound real. Quite a lot of instruments in RA has 10-15 articulations.
If you want quality then you have to pay for it.$500 is a steal.
Those were enough for me, I was hooked.
I should probably mention that if you eg. listen to "expedition" and hear something that just sounds too real for being a sample played on a keyboard, it's probably a phrase. Although RA doesn't as such contain phrases, some instruments, particularly flutes do have a few.
Ethnotronics or MOTU Ethno if you have looked at that, doesn't have nearly as many articulations, which is something you need in order for an instrument to sound real. Quite a lot of instruments in RA has 10-15 articulations.
If you want quality then you have to pay for it.$500 is a steal.
Last edited by Armadillo on Wed Jun 28, 2006 3:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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- KVRist
- 68 posts since 31 Jul, 2004 from la, california
RA doesn't have every ethnic instrument you might ever need, but the ones it does have are sampled with an amount of detail and number of articulations unmatched by any comparable product.
Which means those instruments can be used in exposed settings and sound believable.
There are other collections that are more complete, but as soon as you try to use an instrument in a featured position it doesn't sound realistic anymore.
So it really depends on your application.
The full list of instruments included in RA are posted at their website so you know what you're getting, and by listening to the demos you know what can be achieved with it.
Hope this helps.
Which means those instruments can be used in exposed settings and sound believable.
There are other collections that are more complete, but as soon as you try to use an instrument in a featured position it doesn't sound realistic anymore.
So it really depends on your application.
The full list of instruments included in RA are posted at their website so you know what you're getting, and by listening to the demos you know what can be achieved with it.
Hope this helps.
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- KVRist
- 495 posts since 5 Sep, 2002 from Boston, Mass
Its the best sounding ethnic lib out there. I haven't tried EthnoWorld 3 however, the samples don't sounds on the same levels from the demos I heard. That said, RA, if you need the sounds is a no brainer 
If it sounds good it is good.
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- KVRian
- 1395 posts since 16 Jan, 2004
I'm seriously considering taking the plunge on this, as well as EWQLGO or SO. Big cash hit, but when I think about what I paid for my almost fully loaded K2000 way back when, seems cheap
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 368 posts since 24 Mar, 2005
Hey...thanks everybody. The more I listen to the MP3 demos, the more I'm like "DAMN! that sounds so good!!" Money is not a problem here, but I would not shell out a grand on the collection, but 1/2 off is just too tempting + the possibility of the sales going to 1000 and then get a 40% off another EastWest product. Yeah...I think I'm going to have to just do it.
Question for those of you who use Dimension Pro. Have you tried converting these sample sets to SFZ format for use in DPro? If so....what did you use to convert it and how did it work esp. with all the articulations? I'm not a big fan of NI stuff, but in this case, I'm like "who cares?", but still...Dimension is my Go-To Sampler/Rompler and I rather just use 1 tool for that purpose.
Thanks again....
Question for those of you who use Dimension Pro. Have you tried converting these sample sets to SFZ format for use in DPro? If so....what did you use to convert it and how did it work esp. with all the articulations? I'm not a big fan of NI stuff, but in this case, I'm like "who cares?", but still...Dimension is my Go-To Sampler/Rompler and I rather just use 1 tool for that purpose.
Thanks again....
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- KVRer
- 18 posts since 8 Mar, 2006
I don't have DPro, but I don't think you can do what you're asking, because, in my understanding, access to the samples is restricted to the native player or Kontakt, and you can't export. They are not standard Kontakt files.holymoly wrote:Question for those of you who use Dimension Pro. Have you tried converting these sample sets to SFZ format for use in DPro? If so....what did you use to convert it and how did it work esp. with all the articulations? I'm not a big fan of NI stuff, but in this case, I'm like "who cares?", but still...Dimension is my Go-To Sampler/Rompler and I rather just use 1 tool for that purpose.
Thanks again....
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 368 posts since 24 Mar, 2005
As a heads up....the QLRA GroupBuy has been extended (again) to July 3rd and the counter is up 924 sales as of yesterday. 1,000 sales gets everyone a 40% discount on another EastWest product, so it's getting down to the wire with 3 days left.
I'm agonizing here as I'm STILL on the fence and even at the 50% discount, I just can't convince myself to spend that kind of money on what will probably be a once-in-a-while used collection. BITR has Ethnotronics in the works and I'm sure it'll be way more affordable, but as anything....it runs the risk of not being nearly as realistic as RA and there's no commitment from BITR when it will come out and no actual song/sound demos of the product.
Interesting, though....go check my thread in the BITR forum - looks like they were instrumental (no pun intended!) in creating a few Ethnic libraries marketed under other brands....like the 'World Traveler' library from Sonic Reality. The sound demos on the SR site are not working, though, so no idea there! Does anyone here have that library? If so...any comments...??
winescape - yeah, I have no idea as I don't own anything Kontakt-related. I really like the efficiency and ease-of-use of Dimension Pro GUI, but it's taking time for the SFZ format to catch on and hence making me nervous that there hasn't been any (what seems) serious support for the format. Garritan is supposed to come out with a DPro version of their GPOA collection that is currently in the works, so I'm anxiously waiting for that as well.
I'm agonizing here as I'm STILL on the fence and even at the 50% discount, I just can't convince myself to spend that kind of money on what will probably be a once-in-a-while used collection. BITR has Ethnotronics in the works and I'm sure it'll be way more affordable, but as anything....it runs the risk of not being nearly as realistic as RA and there's no commitment from BITR when it will come out and no actual song/sound demos of the product.
Interesting, though....go check my thread in the BITR forum - looks like they were instrumental (no pun intended!) in creating a few Ethnic libraries marketed under other brands....like the 'World Traveler' library from Sonic Reality. The sound demos on the SR site are not working, though, so no idea there! Does anyone here have that library? If so...any comments...??
winescape - yeah, I have no idea as I don't own anything Kontakt-related. I really like the efficiency and ease-of-use of Dimension Pro GUI, but it's taking time for the SFZ format to catch on and hence making me nervous that there hasn't been any (what seems) serious support for the format. Garritan is supposed to come out with a DPro version of their GPOA collection that is currently in the works, so I'm anxiously waiting for that as well.
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- KVRian
- 1395 posts since 16 Jan, 2004
I decided to take the plunge. I looked at RA a while ago, and thought that the library sounded great, but the normal price was prohibitive for me. At $500 it came into the "seriously consider" range for me. In perspective, what I spend on other things in life, $500 is not outrageous for something that is music-related...
Just thinking, I spent $4600 on my first synth (k2000, almost fully loaded). Considering that for $1500 these days, one could buy some serious sound sets. $500 seems expensive, until you compare it to buying hardware back in the day...
Just thinking, I spent $4600 on my first synth (k2000, almost fully loaded). Considering that for $1500 these days, one could buy some serious sound sets. $500 seems expensive, until you compare it to buying hardware back in the day...