Garritan Personal Orchestra ( 3rd Edition ) - Windows / Mac DVD

This software program is amazing. With it you can create or edit any type of music imaginable, on almost any instrument imaginable. The scope of possibilities is endless, and the music you can create, from a perfect solo to a full orchestra, is limitless. This is a professional program, however, and almost requires you to have a strong background in music to use it. It takes a long time to learn your way around and a lot of patience to create your masterpiece. But once you do it is certainly worth it.

This software proved to be just what I imagined. At first I was concerned that the version would not be compatible with win 8.1 but downloaded from the cd correctly. However it did not immediately establish an icon so that I could access the Kontact2 player. I had to go to the file and right click on it where a window dropped down asking me if I wanted to search for an update. Upon clicking that window the icon in the player changed to a new icon in the file and then established an icon on my task bar of win 8.1. After that it was clear sailing. I could access it as a stand alone and as a VST usable by Sony ACID Studio 10.

You won't find a better orchestra sample library for this price. I've used previous version of GPO and let me just say that this version provides even more control over the instrument sounds than before. The instruments all sound very real, with perhaps the exception of the brass. When sequencing the brass instruments you need to be spot on with your note placement and proper emulation of a real brass player otherwise your results will sound very synthetic.One of my favorite features of this version is that you can set the length of the note and also the velocity. For example you can increase the velocity of a low tuba note and make it sound like the tuba player is really attacking the instrument. Great for adding intensity to your soundtracks and increasing realism of your piece.GPO uses Kontakt Player 2, which is a VST plugin ensuring compatibility with virtually any major DAW. I'm running Windows Vista with FL Studio and I have not had any compatibility issues. The plugin does not seem to be processor intensive - with a modern mid-range computer you should be able to easily have enough channels for an entire orchestra (considering the only effect you really need on the instruments in a quality reverb).