I'd realy like to get Komplete but I can't stretch that far and need to try to stay below $300.There's more in Komplete that I wouldn't use than I would but I'd spend more buying the things I would use than I would if I bought Komplete...lol
 
 All of the music/songs I write/compose is guitar driven,I just need keys to fill in the gaps.I'm not much of a keyboard player at all and doubt I would ever write/compose a piano/synth/organ driven song but I'm not ruling out the possiblity.I have a few riffs/ideas that I want to hear played with different keyboard sounds to see if it'll help me turn the riffs into completed songs.

If you need a variety of sounds and can get a good upgrade price on Rapture and DimPro that would be the way I'd go.  Add a few "free"  packs (like francesco's) and you'll have your palate covered.  DimPro includes many orch sounds and the many acoustic sounds, plus a series of weird sounds (need Legiti?).  Rapture covers most synths, plus a lot more organs than DimPro.  You said you needed synths and organs, right?  While Rapture might not be the best organ emulation, it does fine (I use the "Jimmy" a lot and Francesco's Farfisa is very good).  between the two Cake synths you have a variety of organs, eps and acoustic pianos.  Plus thousands of synth sounds that are easy to manipulate and once you know one synth you know the other.  The samples and SFZ files can be used in the other synth, too.

The only cavet I have is both Cake synths are sharp, cutting sample engines.  Which works, but sometimes you want a smoother, rounder VA sound.  Alchemy is a nice complement.  But you ain't concentrating on synths, so the Cake stuff ought to work fine for your purposes.  If you wait until sale time, you can pick them up cheap.

@

Steve,

If  you buy it (Komplete) from Zzounds you can make 4 payments of $99 each....

http://www.zzounds.com/item--NINKOMPLETE

Alternately America Musical will do 3 payments of $133...

http://www.americanmusica...Item--i-NAT-21300-LIST

Just ways of "getting there" without forking over your whole wad of cash now...

AT


If you need a variety of sounds and can get a good upgrade price on Rapture and DimPro that would be the way I'd go.  Add a few "free"  packs (like francesco's) and you'll have your palate covered.  DimPro includes many orch sounds and the many acoustic sounds, plus a series of weird sounds (need Legiti?).  Rapture covers most synths, plus a lot more organs than DimPro.  You said you needed synths and organs, right?  While Rapture might not be the best organ emulation, it does fine (I use the "Jimmy" a lot and Francesco's Farfisa is very good).  between the two Cake synths you have a variety of organs, eps and acoustic pianos.  Plus thousands of synth sounds that are easy to manipulate and once you know one synth you know the other.  The samples and SFZ files can be used in the other synth, too.

The only cavet I have is both Cake synths are sharp, cutting sample engines.  Which works, but sometimes you want a smoother, rounder VA sound.  Alchemy is a nice complement.  But you ain't concentrating on synths, so the Cake stuff ought to work fine for your purposes.  If you wait until sale time, you can pick them up cheap.

@

  The sounds I want and need most are organ,vintage/analogue synth,and pianos,mainly B3 organs and analogue synths.Upgrading to Dimension Pro and full Rapture would be easiest on my wallet but,I'm willing to spend a little bit more to get better quality.There some patches in the Le versions of Rapture and Dimension that I like and have me thinking about upgrading.The reason I don't upgrade to the full versions of Rapture and Dimension is that they've both been out a while without any major updates or new versions. 

cecelius2


NI Vintage Organs have a decent B3, but their older B4ii is the best.  
 

Yes Sir...B4 II is a winner...
 
It is the only x86 synth that I run with a wrapper...
 
It really sounds great

StevenMikel

  The sounds I want and need most are organ,vintage/analogue synth,and pianos,mainly B3 organs and analogue synths.Upgrading to Dimension Pro and full Rapture would be easiest on my wallet but,I'm willing to spend a little bit more to get better quality.There some patches in the Le versions of Rapture and Dimension that I like and have me thinking about upgrading.The reason I don't upgrade to the full versions of Rapture and Dimension is that they've both been out a while without any major updates or new versions. 

One fairly low cost option would be to not upgrade DP at all, but buy some sound packs from Digital Sound Factory.  They have a number of DP-compatible offerings that should inlude the types of sounds you're after.  DSF wares are frequently offered at a discount in the Cakewalk store ... but I suspect the most recent sale just ended.  But there may be an advantage to buying directly from DSF.  I've found the DSF folks very good to deal with.  They even offer a "satisfaction guaranteed" claim and I have no reason to doubt they'd honor it if you found your purchase to be other than what you expected.
 
So save money now and reserve it against the eventual purchase of Komplete.  That's where you're eventually going to want to be, even if you don't realize it yet. 

I just checked and they still have them on sale. There are interesting ones. If you need more details in regards to content or audio demos (some products don't seem to have any in the Cakewalk store), head over to DSF's own web site.

 I considered upgrading to Dim.Pro because there is a B3 emulation in one of the free expansion packs then,I could get the Classic Keys expansion from DSF and I'd have all of the keyboard sounds I need. Then I found out I was getting some extra $ and I started looking around to see what was out there. 

Kontakt is the big sampler these days that people seem to make the most expansions for.  I picked it up for $200 a couple of years ago so there are sales on it.  I was hoping to find Komplete cheaper than $400 but no go this last year.

I don't know if the DSF expansions work in DimPro LE - I'd check their site.  But DimPro is a good sampler, DSF has some good packs and there are lots of SFZ files out there too - and DimPro is pretty straightforward to program the synth functions.  If you can get a good price on it there aint no reason not to get it, unless a specific sampler has an expansion you just have to have.  That is how companies make their revenue stream - new sounds.  But for a player who just needs some keys and other general acoustic sounds, DimPro is pretty efficient.

AT


Kontakt is the big sampler these days that people seem to make the most expansions for.  I picked it up for $200 a couple of years ago so there are sales on it.  I was hoping to find Komplete cheaper than $400 but no go this last year.

I'm not sure if one can even buy Kontakt as a standalone product any more.  The only options I can find to acquire Kontakt (OK ... after not very rigorous checking) are to get it by purchasing Komplete.