EW Colossus ?

[ljweber70]

Does anyone have EW Colossus? If so, would you recommend it? I'm looking at some new gear and was considering Colossus for my primary sound library.Following is my current plan of purchase:1 M-Audio Keystation Pro - 88 key1 M-Audio Oxygen - 61 keyEW Colossus (for most instrumentation)Native Instruments B4II (for organ)I currently use Ivory for pianoAny thoughts or suggestions is greatly appreciatedThanks,Larry

[elser]

I can tell you about the Keystation. You can buy mine if you want. I thought I would get used to the weird action but I havn't. You might want to check out the Casio Privia. I think the action is much better and it's got good built in sounds. It's way more portable too, the Keystation is a monster, a case would probably cost almost as much as the keyboard. Add to that an inexpensive DAW controller and I think you would have better setup. Of course all that stuff depends on individual taste. Just my 2 cents...or is that more like my $450.

[lboogie77]

Hey Larry,I currently own B4 as part of the Old Native instruments Komplete 2 and recently purchased Colossus.I'm pretty picky when it comes to sounds and have to say I honestly was not "blown away" by Colossus especially b/c of all the rave reviews it seemed to rack up. I purchased it mainly to get away from my out board sound modules. I got tired of having to record all those sounds into my daw. Its faster to bounce the files.B4II would definitely be a good purchase. The sound is great (IMHO) and its not processor greedy.My final take on Colossus is it has a good basic sound set and gives you some good options to play with. If you are looking for particular sounds, I suggest looking at other products that fit the genre you produce. On the other hand if you need a bit of everything, Colossus is a pretty good pick. There is supposed to be an upgrade path to "Goliath" (something like an additional 8 Gigs of sounds). Question for you... Why are you buying the keystataion and the oxygen?Well, hope this helps...Happy Composing!77

[nickbatzdorf]

I'm one of the people who wrote a rave review of Colossus. It's not intended to replace detailed libraries of individual instruments, but rather to have a lot of usable instruments that are playable in real time - in other words either to start or complete a sample library collection. There are good, usable examples of pretty much everything. But of course the orchestral stuff doesn't compare even to EW's own orchestras. Again, there are always limitations with sample libraries set up to play completely in real time with no programming.I'm a big fan of Colossus. It's a go-to library for me when I need something in a hurry - and I have practically everything.

[nickbatzdorf]

(The orchestral stuff is just one example. What I meant is that it doesn't have the detail you'd get with, say, a dedicated bass library.)

[ljweber70]

Quote:Hey Larry,Question for you... Why are you buying the keystataion and the oxygen?77Hey, thanks for the input. I currently have a Kurzweil PC 1 in my studio that I'm using for live gigs as well. It's really becoming a hassle to haul the thing back and forth from my studio to the gigs. So, I'm going to leave the Kurzweil in the band trailer and get new gear to leave in my studio. I thought that I would go with controllers and virtual plug ins rather than keyboards with built in sound libraries. It seems more economical and flexible. But then again, I've been primarily a live player most of my life and just beginning my production journey, so maybe this isn't the best choice I've got great piano in Ivory. What I need is an excellent library of sounds similar to what the Kurzweil was giving me, but with greater quality. IE: strings; percussion; classic pianos; orchestralI'm using ProTools LE 7.1. So, if anyone sees a flaw in my plan, PLEASE jump in Thanks,Larry

[lboogie77]

If you are looking for something that will give you some sounds comparable to the PC-1, you may be happy with Colossus. It has a good cross section of instruments. Strings, horns, guitars, a pretty decent fender rhodes sound, some ethnic stuff etc...If you are really aiming to buy it, now is the time. According to EW site, if you get it before oct 30th you can get the upgrade to Goliath for $149. Not a bad deal for 8 gigs of sounds.I know the pain of luggin keyboards and amps and speakers to gigs! So getting a dedicated keyboard controller will help. However, I question why you would get two. Im not familiar with the either the keystation or oxygen. Do they both offer something unique that you just have to have? Or - could you do well with just either or. If you are used to full size weighted, you may want to get something that will give you that same feel. Hope this helps. 77

[ljweber70]

The Pro 88 is a fully weighted - key controller. The Oxygen is a 61 key waterfall - key controller. The PC 1 has ok library - strong point is strings in my opinion. Larry