. . . ST3 is a blast, by the way.  A hundred bucks for the upgrade is a no brainer, and I'd happily buy it at full list if I was a first time user.
 

Until people with actual musical talent can give their feedback and share their music... I'm liking the band instruments (still downloading the Orchestral), and i think the pianos are quite nice.
https://soundcloud.com/bi...me-sampletank-3-pianos
https://soundcloud.com/bi...ll-bailey-sampletank-3

Tunesy
It's common for companies to sell aging software on the cheap.  Nothing wrong with that.  I once bought an old version of Cinema 4D for fifty bucks.  Originally it was a couple grand or so.  Yesterday I bought a bundle of seven video games on Steam for fifteen bucks.  Originally it would have cost several hundred.

Cinema 4D for 50! That, I would have jumped on.  Licenses for that are very expensive but worth it for the full time 3d Motion graphic artist and much easier to use than 3D Max or Maya, which cost even more or Blender which is free but awkward.  Let me know if you come across a $50 sale on Nuke

bigcat
Until people with actual musical talent can give their feedback and share their music... I'm liking the band instruments (still downloading the Orchestral), and i think the pianos are quite nice.
https://soundcloud.com/bi...me-sampletank-3-pianos
https://soundcloud.com/bi...ll-bailey-sampletank-3

I think the pianos are outstanding for a workstation vsti and tend to sit better in the mix than mist of my piano plugs (at least the st2.5 versions did)

IK did a great job with the ST3 ui.  It feels elegant, simple and powerful at the same time.  I love Kontakt, but I already like working with ST3 better.

Initial  impressions
 
Download only took me about 2 hours but for some reason it took me over an hour to unzip each of the instrument files.   The install was painless although i got messages saying it may not have installed correctly (I think it is a windows issue since i get that now and then with other programs.
 
Right away I ntoiced the interface is much better.  The old interface was hideous and awkward to navigate.  This version manages to keep the navigational functionality in a way that's practical and easier to use. The extra grfaphicla stuff witht he images is a nice touch but seriously..whatever.  Not trying to downplay it but after a few instruments, I hid the feature and will likely only look at it when using one of the more offbeat instruments.
 
The mixer could probably stand to have longer faders but that is nitpoicking.  It is very useful, particularly on multimbral applications.  i even put together a drum kit using multiple channels all processed within ST3, which brings us to the meat and bones ..the sounds!  Although the ST2.5 sounds were included, the new sounds are damn good.  Part of that is due to the quality effects .  I turned off all the effects to see how much they contributed to the overall sounds.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that many were still good sounding without the effects.   Make no mistake though, the effects are awesome. 
 
Although I think some of the new ethnic instruments sound great, some illustrate some of the shortcomings of ST3.  I know a few people who play various etrhnic styles like middle eastern folk music and these styles require microtuning to be done properly.  Seems a shame to work so hard to create good sounding Ouds and such that are only functional in music designed for western tuning.  Won't effect me personally but I can see where people attempting to play such styles would be annoyed.
 
Warning, many of the sounds do take a bit to load.  For some reason they seemed to load faster in vst than standalone mode.  will have to pay more attention and compare times.  I will add more but these are initial impressions.  so far i like it and look forward to exploring more.
 
 

Man this sounds tempting...  Must resist getting sounds and software that I probably don't need anyway.

I got to play with this yesterday at GC...


This IMO is not even comparable in the least to ANY other sampler...it's far worse soundwise.
And i'm not saying that because of my feelings towards IK...I'm saying it as a user of MANY
Samplers...for the most part, it's "eh"

First...interface is better...
64 bit of course is a major bonus...
Samples are mediocre...and that's giving them due credit..
Vocal Samples are horrendous...they sound more like a synth then 
a voice..or voices
Importing Legacy Sounds is a MISS...and a MESS
Finding the way to import them was tedious...but 
once figured out was ok...
When they installed it...they imported the Legacy Sounds
while the ST3 sounds were downloading...they all showed up
and imported.  But when they installed the ST3 sounds all 
the imported sounds were gone....

The UI asks you to make a folder for importing the sounds,
They gave them their names

Miroslav
SonicSynth
SampleTank 2.5
SampleMoog
SampleTron
 
As soon as the ST 3 sounds were installed ALL of these
folders were GONE...


And the stunning 3D Icons aren't so stunning either....

I went through just about every new sample...the best were the drumkits, but still
nothing to write home about...

But, to each his own...

I think the bugs need to get flushed out...and, as for the samples...
as I stated, they are "ok"...but not "Groundbreaking" by any stretch...
If they took 10 years doing these samples they wasted their time...
I don't find them any better then the old samples...which were good also...
but dated.

I know everyone will think "oh you just hate IK" and that's why you're saying this..
not the case at all...this my TRUE and OBJECTIVE feelings about this product...
and has NOTHING to do with my beef with IK...

BTW...Tunsey  has no post count hardly, yet shows up HERE to "Laud the awesomeness
of ST3"...that seems highly suspect to me...


Maybe I'm wrong...but that's just MO...

As an fyi, Ik already had instructed people NOT to import sounds before installing st3 sounds. The installer for the st3 sounds establishes structure and path for sounds in general on st3. Probably shortsighted on st3's part to not figure some people would install legacy sounds before new ones. Not the first or last product that glitches can occur depending on order things are installed. In any case, it's not a bug at all.

And yes, it is hard to see you seperating your contempt. It's like reading Louis Farrakhan writing a review of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Nobody is going to be shocked if his review is harsh on Israel regardless of if he's sincere because it's no secret how he feels about Jewish people. Yes, tunsey popping up IS suspect but a guy who hates IK bashing a product he refers to as "septic tank" is just as suspect.

Comparing romplers to samplers is pointless.

I find it hysterical that the same person who yesterday said in another thread
 

See it as you will... you want the product, so that alone will "sway" it your way...

 
today describes
 

my TRUE and OBJECTIVE feelings about this product...
and has NOTHING to do with my beef with IK

 
 
Oh, and feelings aren't objective.
 
Just give it a rest already.