I’m seriously considering adding an EastWestQuantumLeap subscription to get better-sounding libraries and hopefully improve my compositions.
 
I thought I’d ask for advice here before starting
 
#1: I’m on Windows 10 with Sonar Plat and that works great.  Win10 appears supported by PLAY, so I’m just looking for thoughts on Win10 issues.
 
#2: I have a 4 Core AMD with 16 GB of RAM. I’m hoping to run EWQL Hollywood Orchestra to start with. Is that even realistic or will I need 32GB or 64GB plus SSD for all the samples?
 
On a technical note, I’m running the 47 GB Garritan CFX from a smaller 256G SSD, and it works well, so the computer has at least decent baseline performance.
 
#3: I read that the learning curve is steep (I’ve also read the manuals), and that is incredible difficult to get it to sound anything like the demos. Any thoughts on this?
 
#4: I’m probably overlooking something essential, based on not having used the product. Any advice?
 
Thanks in advance,
Allan

I'm running Sonar Plat on Win 10 and have the subscription and Play 
is working perfectly fine.  

The Play learning curve is not that steep...and there are plenty of YouTube
and Groove 3 videos to help...

It's most definitely worth the money IMO...

#1: No issues here at all. PLAY works fine.
 
#2: Not really realistic for Hollywood. You can get it to work on 16 gigs but it's a very resource intensive library and will eat up what you have in no time. The one saving grace is Sonars freeze feature. You'll use it a lot.
 
#3: This is very true. Hollywood is one of the most difficult orchestral libraries to work with but the reason is because it's also the most versatile. It doesn't have a good out of the box sound at all and requires a ton of editing to get sounding properly for a final mix but because of that, it's not a one trick pony like a lot of other libraries that have a specific sound. Make no mistake though, the difficulty it comes with is because it's a professional tool that is used across the board which you can get incredible results from.
 
#4: You'll need to spend time with it. There are very few resources available for learning how to use Hollywood so there will be a period of trial and error. Read through the manual and research working with virtual orchestras properly. Most of the professional ones work in a similar fashion when it comes to adding expression.

Mast version of play gives me cracks and clik ..it s the graphic engine snce they added mouse scroll support ...i had to roll back  spaces to pre mouse scroll version ans for play instances ... i play , record and freeze them or close the interface to be safe .....

sorry because no specific facts to back this up.  I own all the ewql stuff cuz they have some great sales at different times of the year.
 
I very rarely use them.  Personally I just don't much like the interface. They are all the same exact program(exe)interface with different skins and they remember what you had opened last.  You have to trundle through your folders to find the instruments you want.  Now the Hollywood strings are very nice sounding.  however you have to load the correct...patch which is in the same folder as others with similar names to get what you want and some of the EWQL instruments have very limited range.
 
I am a synth/keyboard players from the 1980s.  I like great patches but I don't like taking off my backpack and dialing in my jock strap, file browse for a different folder , wait for samples to load just to preview a patch that most likely may not work for my current material. 
 
I am used to just changing a patch, hitting a few keys and moving on.  It just...does not fit me personally.  also at least twice I found something I liked but it only had an octave of available samples?  again,  ...just not what I understand as a big time professional virtual instrument.  
 
No real data to back it up. If I spent the time to become a EWQL engineer like the folks creating the demos..I am sure I would have a different opinion. 

Better sounding libraries do not improve your compositions but will provide more inspiration.  I'm not a fan of the EW subscription. I would suggest getting their Symphony Orchestra Gold when it's on sale for $250.

With your cpu and memory, I agree with Kitekrazy... Symphony Orchestra Gold or Platinum is  a huge leap up from Garratan and much more appropriate for your rig...
 
Play is easy and stable now... good layout. Don't listen to the hate...it's well laid out and trouble free.
 
I really don't use much of my ewql stuff anymore... cept for "Spaces", a lovely verb, pianos (lovely coffee load break but wonderful), and some of the choirs/voices......I have a bunch, buying into ccc and half price sales... but different strokes for different folks... might be perfect for you. But don't plan on getting very far with the "Hollywood" packages... very demanding.
 
Be sure to check out the Albion blowout at spitfire... lovely stuff...
 
 

Thank you for all the detailed advice. Since my current music computer is unable to run EWQL HO it has become a more complicated decision.
 
For orchestral sounds I’m currently using Sampletank 3 along with Miroslav, so I the shorter term a reasonable upgrade path would be the Symphonic Orchestra as suggested.  That should work fine on my current system, and would even fit on my SSD.
 
All of this reminds me of the children’s book “When you give moose a muffin”
 
I truly appreciate the time you all took sharing experiences and providing guidance.
 
Allan
 
Edit: One of the reasons I have not seriously looked at SO is that it's from ~2002. So if I am to figure the EWQL stuff out, there's something to be said for being more current.

Allan, also check out Kirk Hunter Strings for Kontakt. Excellent sounding libraries straight out of the box, and tons of tutorials at the KH site. If you can get it on a good sale price, you'll get instant inspiration/WOW factor (IMO, much better than Miroslav). 

Thank you for the Kirk Hunter idea. I had not looked at that set of products.There is really a good bite to the brass and it looks as if the Stings are being updated. Very interesting.