OK, so the download is HUGE... and it took me a couple of tries, and a couple of evening, but it turns out that it would be quite worth the effort.
If for no other reason, this gave me the opportunity to try the PLAY engine on my system. EW had a demo version several years ago, and it was an epic failure on my system at the time. For that reason I've always pair attention to the numerous complaints about the problems with PLAY.
So the first result is that PLAY 4 works well on my Intel Q6600 based system. No problems after a couple of days of exercising PLAY. No crashes, no instability, just works. And it is a lot easier to use than I remember, although I probably ought to read the manual<G>!
The library? Well, it's not really my cup of tea as it turns out... It is really well executed, the recordings are outstanding, and the instruments are really well designed and thought out. They have a fantastic amplifier emulator, which was probably my favorite feature.
Ironically, the guitars are my favorites, and as a guitar player I almost never use guitar libraries, but these patches are really cool, really inventive. I can see how I could use them. The rest of the instruments just did not tickle my fancy, which is to say I haven't figured out how I could use them in the stuff that I right - and I am a big Steven Wilson fan!
The problem, for me at least, is that all the samples sound exactly like Steven Wilson, his thumb prints are all over this library! On the one hand, that's really quite an accomplishment, and EW deserves props. On the other hand, anything you produce with the library is going to sound like something Steven produced. I suppose there are worse things than sounding like him, but it was never one of my goals.
Anyway, if you have ever thought about PLAY based libraries this is a great chance to really test the player on your system. I highly recommend the download if you have the bandwidth and patience.
Oh, and when you install it you need to read between the lines of the installation instructions. If you do not already have PLAY installed you will need to install it (and you will need an iLok) as a separate step. They didn't make that clear, or perhaps I just need to learn to read.
EDIT: as pointed out in another thread - the installer will try to install the dll file in some odd location, you need to browse to your VST directory or you will need to move the file after the installation.