I don't think any software product generates as much passionate response as ST3. It even gets mentioned in threads not direcly about it like referring to it as "septic tank". I pre-ordered despite a few reservations.

For starters, I wholeheartedly agree that ST3 is years late in coming and unfulfilled promises did not help. On a personal level I am VERY annoyed that multiple messages to them were ignored here and on their site. I also know some of the exchanges here could have been handled better but I cut some slack because people tend to eventually lash out when getting perpetually bombarded on multiple fronts by an angry mob.

I upgraded mostly because there is nothing else in my budget at the moment that has the cross-genre capability with minimal tweaking out the box as ST3. If I had Komplete I would probably not bother. If ST2.5 worked consistently in X3 I would probably skip. If Dimension Pro was multi-timbral I wodul likely not bother. What it comes down to is it fills a gaping hole in my workflow. I know some will chalk it up to GAS or fanboy syndrome but I'm not all that impressed. It's GREAT product 5 years ago but probably just a good one now, but it does offer a vast workstation at decent price.

I do hope it is everything you need and more.

bapu
I do hope it is everything you need and more.

it's never enough but thanks

That's a completely logic reason Dub...

I, personally, have been an ardent basher of IK...because they 
put the PC products WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY on the back-burner
in favor of I Crap...

If they had released ST3 and THEN gone after the iCrap market, there probably
would never have been an outcry...but they waited...and waited...and waited...and
announced...and waited...and waited...and waited...and announced...and waited...
and waited...and waited...and announced...and waited and waited...

you get the idea...

VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY BAD business...

Also, to compound the matter..instead of giving us the 64 bit version we've been
requesting and waiting for FOR YEARS ....as an ST 3 FREE...they have decided...after all that,
to CHARGE US for it....and eliminate the FREE version to FORCE us to pay to 
get what we asked for YEARS AGO and deserved, for all the lost time, lies, and inconvenience that
they caused....(not to mention wasted money).

Personally, if they didn't charge a $19 fee to sell their products I'd be out of the IK business...
purely because their business practices are shady, misleading, and completely irresponsible towards the
customer, as well as their Reps being the same way, treating us as if THEY OWE US NOTHING and
we should be HAPPY to pay them....

They even have the audacity to STICK IT IN YOUR FACE WITH "OVER 10 YEARS IN THE MAKING"
as if THAT is a good thing...

I've noticed that many have had IK Products on sale dirt cheap on KVR and no one seems interested
in them...one person has Total Studio 3 for 80 Euros and can't sell it...THAT says a LOT...

Sadly, people will ALWAYS yield to GAS, and the Commercialism of "I have to be the first to have it",
and companies like this will continue to take advantage of GAS and the CUSTOMERS...

Customers just can't seem to realize that, if they WAIT for a SALE, they'll get it dirt cheap...
and by NOT buying it right away THAT will cause them to put it on sale...

WE yield the power...NOT THEM....
 

I certainly can't argue with any of that. I guess in my old age I am starting to figure out that it is very difficult to buy from ONLY companies who's policies I agree with I would have few options. I HATE Adobe's policies but have not thought of a suitable replacement for what I do. The only products for compositing that are equal or better cost thousands more. Before biting . I seriously considered other options, especially after being ignored. The one option I considered most was getting a Mac and using Logic's excellent sampler.
I still think dropping the free version is huge mistake and likely the reason third party sample packs are not lining up with new ST3 releases.

Just on KVR and the guy just lowered the price to 75 Euros...
we'll see if he sells it...

I know that IK makes a good product....
but is it worth it if I have to wait for "over 10 years in the making"
to get an update while my sample libraries lie dying?

IMO....I don't think so....

This is why this is the funnest forum. Lots of debate but little rancor. going against CCLarry is like ignoring Babe Ruth on battings... but I'm a newbie and I think ST3 sounds cool and I can get it for a 100 bucks.
Oh and because I like lists of instruments (http://bigcatlists.blogspot.com/). I made a short list of the stuff I could find that was in ST3 based on pictures, demos and descriptions.

Pianos
There are 5 Acoustic Pianos. Presumably Yamaha Grand, Baby Grand and Upright and Steinway Grand.
Here's a patch list.
Baby Grand
Grand Piano 1
Grand Piano Eco
Grand Piano 1 SE
Grand Piano 2
Grand Piano 2 Eco
Honky Tonk Piano
Jazz Upright
Jazz Upright Eco
Modern Grand Piano
Natural Grand Piano 1
Natural Grand Piano 2

E Piano
There are 12 Electric Pianos.
Cembalet II
Dyno E Piano
Electric Grand 1
Electric Grand 2
FM EP 1
FM EP 2
Pianet
Stage Electric Piano
Suitcase Electric Piano
Vintage EP
Wurly Stage Piano
Wurly Suitcase

Organs
There are 25 Organs
3 Drawbar Organ
4 Drawbars B
Cathedral Organ 1
Cathedral Organ 2
Cathedral Organ 3
Combo Organ 1
Combo Organ 2
Combo Organ 3
Full Drawbars A
Pipe Organ Full
Pipe Organ Positiv
Pump Organ

Acoustic Guitars
There are 6 Acoustic Guitars.
12 String Acoustic
Nylon String 1
Nylon String 2
Steel String 1
Steel String 2
Steel String 3

Electric Guitars
There are 5 Electric Guitars.
Humbucker 175
Humbucker 345
Humbucker LP
Single Coil STR1
Single Coil STR 2
(Pedal Steel not included)

Basses
There are 10 Electric Basses.
There is A Jazz Double Bass.
Finger 4001 F
Finger 4001 F+R
Finger 4001 R
Finger Fretless Bass
Finger Hollow
Finger JBass 1
Finger PBass
Finger PBase Flatw
Finger Soft Fretless JBass
Finger String5
Finger Studio Bass
Palm PBass Flatw
Percussive Bass
Pick 4001 F+R
Pick Hollow
Pick JBass 2
Pick PBass
Pick PBass Flatw
Pick String5
Slap + Pull JBass 1
Slap + Pull PBass
Slap + Pull Studio Bass
Slap + Pull String5
Soft Pull PBass

Synth Bass
There are 91 Synth Bass sample sets

Acoustic Drums
There are Five Acoustic Sets.
There are separate snares, kicks, toms, hi-hats, ride cymbal and crash cymbals sample sets.
There are midi patterns for Blues, Country, Funky, Metal, Pop, Punk and Rock.
Alt Rock Kit
Brush Kit
Jazz Kit
Metal Kit
Pop Rock Kit
Kick Menu
Snare Menu
Kit Components
> Crash Cymbal Sets
> Hi-Hat Sets
> Kick Drum Sets
> Ride Cymbal Sets
> Snare Drum Sets
> Toms Sets

Electronic Drum Sets
55 Electronic Drum Sets
They will cover EDM, Dance, Dirty Sound, East Coast, Electro, Old Skool, R&B, Reggaeton, Soulful House, Tech House and West Coast.

Chromatic
There are 8 Chromatic Instruments.
Harpsichord
Vibraphone
Xylophone
Marimba
Glockenspiel
Clavinets

String Instruments
There are 17 string instruments.
Solo Violin
Solo Viola
Solo Cello
Solo Contrabass
4 Violins
11 Violins
> Pizz 1
> Pizz 2
> Soft
> Stacc Short
> Staccato
> SulPonte Fast
> SulPointe Slw
> SulPointe Trem
23 Violins
Cello Ensemble
Viola Ensemble
Contrabass Ensemble
Cello plus Contrabass
Full Strings
Orchestra

Brass Instruments
There are 19 Brass instruments
There are 70 samples sets that cover everything from Pop to Jazz to Orchestral.
Miroslav Philharmonik French Horn
Miroslav Philharmonik Flugelhorn
Miroslav Philharmonik Trombone
Miroslav Philharmonik Bass Trombone
Miroslav Philharmonik Trumpet
Miroslav Philharmonik Muted Trumpet
Miroslav Philharmonik Tuba
Miroslav Philharmonik Muted Tuba
Miroslav Philharmonik Trumpet Ensemble
Miroslav Philharmonik Trombone Ensemble
Pop Trumpet
Pop Mute Trumpet
Pop Tenor Trombone
Pop Bass Trombone
Pop Piccolo Trumpet
also Pop Solo and Brass ensembles

Woodwinds
There are 14 Woodwinds
There are 75 sample sets
Bassoon
Contrabassoon
Clarinet
Bass Clarinet
Flute
Bass Flute
English Horn
Oboe and Piccolo with Bassoons
Flute Section
Clarinets Section
Alto Sax
Baritone Sax
Soprano Sax
Tenor Sax

Synth Lead

Synth Pad
There are 51 Synth Pad sample sets.
Goblins
J-6 Pad
> Juniper Pad
J-8 Strings
J-60 Strings
> Juneau Lush
> Juneau Strings
> Juneau Warm Pad
Marktree
Mega Motion 1
Mega Motion 2
Mega Motion 3
Mega Motion 4
Motion Crystalline
Motion Harmonics
Motion Hollow
Octave Pad
RF Strings
String Machines
Super Motion
Syn String
Sync Sweep
Warm Profit Pad

Synth FX
There are 400 Synth FX Sounds.

Voice
There are 84 Voice single sample sets derived from Soloist Ensembles and 40 Voice Choir.
8 Voice Choir
Gospel Choir Whoa
Gospel Choir Mmm
Gospel Choir Ah
Gospel Choir Hum

Ethnic
There are 42 ethnic sample sets.
Accordion
Banjo
Bouzouki
Cumbus
Gu Zheng Picked
Gu Zheng Strums
Gu Zheng Trem and Tail
Dulcimer
Santour
Tamboura
Electric Sitar
Arabic Oud
Turkish Oud
Turkish Saz
Anklungs
Log Drums
Kalimba
Gamelan
Tibetan Bowls
Tibetan Bells
Tibetan Temple Bells
Tibetan Temple Gong
Tibetan Ting Shaw
Crotales
Indian Horn
Poongi Snake Charmer Flute
Conch Shell
Indian Bamboo Flute
Native American Flute
Irish Pennywhistle
Chinese Ocarina
Bag Pipes
Balalaika
Bottle Blow
Koto
Mandolin
Pan Pipe
Shamisen
Sitar
Tamboura

Percussion
Agogo Bells
Bongo
Cabasa
Cajon
Castanets
Claves
Congas
Afro-Cuban Latin Congas
Cowbells
Cuica
Djembe
Dumbek
Guiro
Maracas
Shekere
Studio Shaker
Tambourines
Vibra Slap
Woodblock
Samba Whistles
Sleigh Bells
Marktree
Timbales
Triangles
Tablas
Udu

Sound Effects
Including these categories
Birds
Explosions
Gunshots
Jungle sounds
Rain sounds
River sounds
Water sounds
Pink Noise
White Noise
Zaps

Loops
2,500 loop samples organized in over 100 instruments
Drum Grooves including Funk, Rock, Hip-Hop, R&B and Pop
Worldly Loops including Salsa, Merengue, Rumba and Bolero
EDM, Dubstep, Hip-Hop, House, Reggae and Reggaeton construction kits

SampleTank 2 XL sounds
All original Sample Tank 2 XL sounds will be included.

I agree that ST 3 will probably be good...but I can GUARANTEE it will be NOWHERE
close to as good as Kontakt....regardless of WHAT they do....

But the reason they sold off all those ST Instruments at pennies
on the dollar WAS to get Newbies to take the bait....and pay...

Many of us LONG TIME IK CUSTOMERS paid THOUSANDS for those SAME instruments....and got the shaft...

So....CAVEAT EMPTOR....that's all I'm sayin'....

SampleTank 3 was created to further the SampleTank flagship product line, not to imitate or be some "[insert product name] killer" so I'm glad that those who were looking for that have proper expectations for what SampleTank 3 will provide and do for them.  Making informed purchases is always a good thing, glad to see many of those on board understand what the SampleTank line is meant to be.  It will be an excellent upgrade to a flagship product, and will continue to be a unique offering of great value to many that need what it provides to them.  Only a few days left to get the preorder pricing - details at http://www.ikmultimedia.com/news/?item_id=4328

IK_Multimedia
SampleTank 3 was created to further the SampleTank flagship product line, not to imitate or be some "[insert product name] killer" so I'm glad that those who were looking for that have proper expectations for what SampleTank 3 will provide and do for them.  Making informed purchases is always a good thing, glad to see many of those on board understand what the SampleTank line is meant to be.  It will be an excellent upgrade to a flagship product, and will continue to be a unique offering of great value to many that need what it provides to them.  Only a few days left to get the preorder pricing - details at http://www.ikmultimedia.com/news/?item_id=4328

There's the pitch...but it's a swing and a miss....