EW Silver vs Colossus

[ncc1701]

Quote:Just took the plunge and ordered Colossus!Excellent, seeing as how I'm just about to go order EWQL Silver myself. Do me a favor and post any little "scratch" test track you come up with as you're learning the ropes, and I'll do the same, and maybe we can compare.Kathleen

[nickbatzdorf]

jafo, you'll be happy with it. I'm sure you'll want to add more here and there later, but it's a great all-in-one library.

[jafo37]

Thanks for your help in deciding! I will let you know how I feel about the program after I have had an oportunity to run it for a couple of days.Jafo37

[backtalkunlimited]

Jafo37: I've been considering Colossus for awhile, but I haven't taken the plunge yet. After you've had a chance to evaluate the software I will be VERY interested to learn about your impressions. In addition to sound quality, etc., one of the features that I've learned to watch for before purchasing new software is "user-friendliness" (read: intuitive feel) - often, it takes WEEKS for me to get up-to-speed with complex software. Life, as you know, is already too short.Please post on this thread when you're ready. Alan (backtalkunlimited)

[mazz]

Hi Alan,The software that runs Colossus is Kontakt Player which is a pretty common software program used in a number of libraries. Any Virtual Instrument (VI) you purchase will have the same basic characteristics: Loads as a plug-in, is addressed vial MIDI tracks (8 per instance using Kontakt Player), and needs at least one audio track for playback.I suggest reading up on the basics of using VIs prior to making a purchase so you'll be ahead of the game when you load whatever you end up with the first time. Then you can learn the specifics of whatever you buy, which may, by the way, take months to get in to. Some of these libraries are pretty deep.It's all user friendly once you know it!!! Mazz

[clonsberry]

I was just looking at the EW stuff for the first time. Wow, there are some great sounds there. But.. I'm a little confused and I couldn't find anything that unconfused me. Let me see if I've got this straight.. if I'm running on an Intel Mac, that page says I need Kontakt 2.2 but it also says that the Play engine will run natively. So.. feature arguments aside.. does that mean I wouldn't need Kontakt? The page also said that EQ supports Audio Units, which are directly supported by Garageband and Logic. Soooo... if I'm using Logic, do I need Kontakt or Play? Obviously, I don't understand the architecture of how this all fits together.

[mazz]

If you're using an Intel Mac, you need Kontakt 2 until Play is released for the library you purchase (if it's not already). Play is pretty new and it's going to take them a while to get around to making everything work with it. Currently the new libraries they just released are the only ones with Play, but none of the orchestra libraries are Play enabled yet. If you run an Intel Mac and want to run the EW orchestra libraries, you have to factor Kontakt 2 in to your price as well. Kontakt 2 is a great piece of software and comes with a nice library but it's gonna cost extra money. Any other library that uses Kontakt player will be usable inside of Kontakt 2 as well (Garritan, Big Fish, etc.). Kontakt is generally better performing as far as RAM usage than any of the Kontakt players. It has more programming flexibility and better effects also.The Kontakt player that ships with the orchestra libraries, and also Kontakt 2 and Play all run as Audio Units inside Logic. They would be treated as any other virtual instrument you open inside of Logic. You just can't run the Kontakt player on intel Mac.Hope this clears things up. Soundsonline.com has pretty good support pages as well as a very active forum if you need more info.I've got a ton of EW stuff and it's really helped me upgrade the sound quality of my work. I don't have an endorsement deal with them either!Good luck,Mazz

[backtalkunlimited]

Mazz sed: "It's all user friendly once you know it!!! "To which Alan replies (adopting tone of W. C. Fields): "Ah, yesssssss. Any child of 12 with 20 years' experience can jump right in."Fact is, I purchased SONAR4 more than 2 years ago. Now, I'm struggling with SONAR6, and I'm STILL trying to figure out how to use most of the bells and whistles therein.How long, America?-Alan (backtalkunlimited)

[mazz]

Alan, I don't know if you like to learn from books but there are some good ones out there that go beyond the manual and give practical usage examples, which manuals often don't do. For instance:http://www.amazon.com/Sonar-6-Power-Com ... &sr=8-1One suggestion I can make would be to take one bell or whistle at a time and really work with it until you understand it and can access it and use it immediately. With new software there's so many options that it can get overwhelming very fast if you try to learn them all at once. One command at a time will help you get your footing and each will build on the other. It also helps to not have a project with a deadline while trying to learn new software!I've been using Digital Performer on the Mac before it had Digital in its name and there's functions I still don't use because I don't need them. Every once in a while, I'll come across a situation where I need one of those functions and out comes the manual and I try the function a number of times until I get the hang of it. A little at a time! Then you'll know it and it'll be easy! Mazz

[jafo37]

Hi. This is Mrs. Jafo. I've been using the Colosuss software with Sonar 6 for a few weeks now and I love it. It's our first "real" collection of sounds and they are very impressive. I'm a keyboard player and the Steinway B piano is very authentic, as are most of the sounds. The church organ was one of the first sounds I touched off and, after I picked myself up off the floor because the volume was cranked and the first chord I hit was so loud and authentic it scared the heck out of me and made the cat hide under the bed, I started playing and felt as if I were in a huge cathedral making the pipes rumble and the stained glass shake. I can definately say the sounds are great. The orchestral section is authentic but a bit limited if you're looking for more than just the basics. The interface is user friendly from the get-go with most functions on a drop down menu or on the mouse wheel, but I'm sure I have yet to discover it's many layers of complexity. I'm not a guitar player so I'm having some difficulty articulating the guitar voices to make them sound authentic when I play them on the keys, just as my husband (the guitar player) is having the same trouble making the wind instruments sound smooth and real when playing them on the guitar. (Any suggestions from the experienced players?) My overall impression is that EW Colossus is a well rounded collection of the basics, the sounds are very authentic, the software "plays nice with others", it presents an "easy enough" interface to get you creating music without a lot of fussing about yet intricate enough to keep you intrigued for months. Colossus is a great starter package and well worth the money. Sorry I can't compare it to any of the other sound libraries because we don't have anything else...yet. Give us time.Alan, the "Power" books for Sonar are worth a look. We bought Power 3 a few years ago and it avoids much of the technical mumbo jumbo found in the user manual and gets straight to the point. It also includes some step-by-step tutorials that are very practical and useful. We reference the Power book more often than the manual. Manuals are written "by engineers, for engineers" while the Power books are "by a player for the players". Good luck and have fun.