Dorico or Finale?

[dvl]

Hi Everyone,

I have Sibelius 6.

As I now have a 64 bit Windows system, I figured it was time for me to upgrade.

I have no wish to upgrade to Sibelius 8.4 as I have no wish to go on a subscription.

Steinberg hired much of the team that were layed off by Avid after they bought the company that developed Sibelius.

They developed a new notation software, they named Dorico, after Valerio Dorico. A late 15th century Italian typographer.

The software has many excellent features such as the same audio engine used to run Cubase. It also has Page layout, and spacing, as well as other features including engraving.

However, because it's new, it lacks features available in Finale (and Sibelius) such as Chord Symbols and Fingering. Though they say these and others will be included in free updates to those who purchase it.

It supports VST3 plugins and some VST2 plugins. Unfortunately, if you don't have a VST3 plugin for say East/West Play, and its VST2 plugin is not acceptable, I'm afraid you're out of luck.

You can crossgrade to it for $279.99 for a limited time.

I'm also considering Finale. The advantage of Finale, is, it's a mature product, with many features Dorico does not yet have, such as Chord Symbols.

Unfortunately, also unlike Dorico, Finale's maturity means it probably also has old code.

However, and I believe that this is important, according to their advertisement, it should work with all VST2 instruments, unlike Dorico. This means I can use my East/West Player and NI Kontakt.

The crossgrade price from Sibelius to Dorico is $149.

Any feedback you can provide that would help me make a decision, would be gratefully appreciated.

[andygabrys]

cross grade to Finale is currently $149 as well.

This year is the first year that Finale has been re-coded - its now a 64 bit modern code structure. It wasn't until this year.

I have personally held off since Finale 2011 cause honestly its been a bug ridden and confusing architecture since the start (been using it since 2003)- but its one of those things that once you learn the quirks you can motor.

I would say the most modern version of Finale is likely worth the $$$ to cross grade.

[dvl]

Thanks for the reply Andy.

The second to last line in my upload was "The crossgrade price from Sibelius to Dorico is $149."

It SHOULD'VE been "The crossgrade price from Sibelius to Finale is $149.

Thanks for bringing that to my attention, and for your recommendation.

Dave

cross grade to Finale is currently $149 as well.

This year is the first year that Finale has been re-coded - its now a 64 bit modern code structure. It wasn't until this year.

I have personally held off since Finale 2011 cause honestly its been a bug ridden and confusing architecture since the start (been using it since 2003)- but its one of those things that once you learn the quirks you can motor.

I would say the most modern version of Finale is likely worth the $$$ to cross grade.

[Len911]

Arpege's Pizzicato Composition Pro (Professional-if you layout and publish scores)
99 euro or ~$110

http://www.arpegemusic.com/index.htm

https://www.youtube.com/user/arpegemusic

I couldn't tell you the differences between notation software now, because back when I was looking, this is the one I chose because of the price/features, and it was head and shoulders above the others because it is so much more than just a notation software.

Any stand alone version of an instrument that is driven by midi can be used by Pizzicato. If you want automatic assignment of all instrument staves, a general midi module is convenient. For example, I bought Synthfont to host a now unavailable Sonivox General Midi soundfont instrument, but I've also used Sampletank and Halion. The sampletank and halion for example, you just need to set up the midi channels in Pizzicato and the instrument host to match instruments manually, no big deal, piano say is ch 1, violin ch 2...

I think if you compare features between Pizzicato and Dorico or Finale, you will find that Pizzicato has been light years ahead already, and is a solid and mature program, and offers in Composition Pro or Professional, features that still do not exist in the other programs. They even have a wooden "music keyboard",lol!
http://www.arpegemusic.com/mtk.htm
You certainly don't get the "composition tools".

If you want more than just a notation program, maybe you are looking for a "composition work station", I can't say enough about Pizzicato, really! I highly recommend it! You may not use every feature, but they are there if you ever want to try them.