RE: Big question...can Arturia Storm synths play in Project5 or S4 producer?
February 27, 05 8:43 AM
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Welcome to the forum, Chief. Sorry for the delay, but I was doing some research to verify my belief that the two apps that you mentioned fully supported the DXi/VSTi protocol. The Orion site displays it proudly on page one, but I had to do a little digging on the Storm Studio (all the way to the forums!) to see a VSTi reference. I was sure that I had read about Storm's VSTi support (looking at the actual package), but I wanted to be sure.
Any app that supports the DXi protocol should automatically "register" its synths upon installation, and would be available immediately to any DX-compatible app, like Sonar/Project5. The VST(i)s are a bit more work: You need to place the .dll(s) that "contain" the synths/effects in a folder/sub-folder system (for easy housekeeping), then point the VST Adapter program (included with Sonar/Project5) to that folder to register the plugins. You only have to do this once, unless you add/delete some more synths along the way (and you will!).
So both of those apps should allow you to use the synths and FX within the Cakewalk applications. There's always some minor exceptions; mostly with free SynthEdit creations. Also, don't ignore the possibilities with the Rewire protocol. As to the sound itself, I've been tempted several times to pick up Storm just for the synths. Arturia's emulations of the Moog & ARP synths is enough to convince me that the sound quality won't be a major issue. I wouldn't expect it to be up with their flagship products, but I would hope that the expertise has trickled down.
Orion Platinum is one that I only have a passing knowledge of. It really looks good; the inclusion of Scala files has piqued my interest in it. Of couse, it's all about the sound, so I'd do some more research, and d/l the demos/.mp3s, and read everything that I can about the software. As for "switching" apps, I'm always looking to supplement my setup with other apps/synths/FX, but I think that you'll find a loyal base of followers here at the Project5 forum that have fought hard to make this work for us, despite the odds & shortcomings. I think that you'd be hard-pressed to find more than one person willing to bail out at this point. The same might be said for the Sonar forum, but without the same level of "fanaticism". <g>
That said, Reason 2.5 is being blown out at GC for $199.00 US, but I think that you'll have to pony up another $129.00 to upgrade to Reason3. I hope that this helped.