VSTi to replace Korg Kronos

[richwombat19]

I think I have come to a conclusion. Sampletank 4, together with the ST3 and Miroslav Philharmonic orchestra has all the samples I need and much more. Arturia Pigments 3 has all the synth capabilities I need.

I still really like HALion so I might add it to my collection too, but not to my basic toolbox.

Once again, thank you all for your input. Much appreciated.

[JohnPativens]

For progressive metal keyboards, I'd go for the Korg Collection 3 first, for its synthesizers especially. Then I'd add a high quality sampled or modelled acoustic piano, vintage pianos, drawbar organ, symphonic orchestra and other specific instruments as needed (ethnic reeds, flutes, accordions). For acoustic instruments only, if money is tight, Sampletank is pretty fine but I think it shines more as a full workstation with all its expansions and legacy libraries (Miroslav, Sampletron, Samplemoog, etc..). Kontakt is better for specific high quality sample libraries, but way less immediate in terms of workstation-like workflow.

[TS-12]

My friend owns Kronos and when very time I play it I find sounds in it better then my 2TB of VSTi and sample libraries,
Except:
orchestral libraries,
Steinberg Virtual guitarist 2,
stylus RMX, and some libraries I created myself from sampling hardware workstations.

[zerocrossing]

Falcon does not have an extensive sample library, does it? It could perhaps become my workhose synth?

Falcon comes with a small library, but it can run any of the UVI or UVI compatible libraries. It’s a very well appointed synth with a lot of nice sample mangling abilities. One issue is that due to its flexibility, the UI is a bit much to deal with at first. I’m usually able to figure out most plugins without much time in the manual, but I spent a lot of time watching tutorials and reading the manual. Totally worth it, but don’t expect to just launch it and dig in.

[zzz00m]

I think I have come to a conclusion. Sampletank 4, together with the ST3 and Miroslav Philharmonic orchestra has all the samples I need and much more. Arturia Pigments 3 has all the synth capabilities I need.

I still really like HALion so I might add it to my collection too, but not to my basic toolbox.

Once again, thank you all for your input. Much appreciated.

SampleTank 4 MAX, along with the ST3 collections, and Miroslav, has most of the sampled instruments you may ever need, in one browser. I say that as someone who is not using these sampled instruments to emulate a detailed symphonic orchestra, rather to add some spice!

You could also add the new IK collection, Elektromagnetic, which has 4 sampled electric pianos. Then add their Hammond B3, and you are home free for sampled instruments and keyboards.

I will leave the choice of an all-in-one synth open, as that tends to start fights at KVR, LOL! But you cannot go wrong with Pigments. That is an easy to use synth with a broad range of applications. I have it, and love it!

And I also have VIP, and a VIP enabled keyboard, so I feel your pain in that regard. Sad that it never actually achieved the level of success that it had potential for!

[padillac]

There are two ways I approach “rompler in reaper”:

1. track templates
2. PluginGuru unify

Unfortunately, imo Reaper has terrible preset management. There’s not really a way to set up presets and scroll between them. So one thing I do is build up track templates. I create a folder for pad sounds, and create child tracks and load my synth patch on to it. Select the whole thing, save as a track template. To add more patches, just insert from template, add tracks, and save as template to overwrite it. Then I just scroll through the tracks to get the one I want.

2. PluginGuru Unify provides a slick interface for any patch, which can be layered with multiple synths, each having their own FX chain, etc. The main downside I’ve found is that because it’s a plugin-within-a-plugin, there’s an extra plug-in window to deal with, and pressing the space bar doesn’t start/stop Reaper transport the way it does when plugins are loaded directly on Reaper tracks.

I use track templates more because it’s just one less plug-in layer, but I must admit I like the unify interface quite a bit. If I could figure out how to get transport playing normally I might use it more (and maybe I should just use a controller to start / stop playback).

I am a big fan of the workstation workflow where it’s super easy to navigate patches on a particular track, and those two approaches get me there in Reaper.