Most "Well-Rounded" Soft Synth Sampler - SS2? ST2? Kontakt 2? Kompakt?

[mrbowes]

Looking for the soft synth sampler package that offers the most well-rounded set of high quality samples.

This is an economic decision as I cannot afford to buy more than two quality ($200-400 each, although money saved is money earned, so help me save here) software packages at the moment, and one of those is Cubase SX 3.

Most importantly, I want good synths/keys, strings/orchestra, drums/loops, percussion, ambient tones(although not a big factor - got a k2000), strings, and most likely anything i'm not thinking of right now - I want the whole schebang!

I've looked into the following:

Sonik Synth 2 - nice demo. had some good synths, but did not offer much else besides synth and bass pads.

Kontakt 2 - looks extensive. new product, so not much on it yet. 15GBs! anyone here with experience? i have not found a demo.

Kompakt - heard good things about it, but have yet to try it out. opinions?

Sampletank 2XL - have yet to get the demo working, but looks like SS2 w/ more emphasis on strings/non-synths. thoughts?

Others???

GAS'ing hardcore for a killer software synth that does it all good, if not great.

[oranges]

I would def go for Kontakt. I've been using it since v1 and have tried Halion etc. extensively. Kontakt is without a doubt the most user friendly and complex sampler you can get your hands on.

[Slogun]

I'd say go for both Kontakt2 and Halion Player. Halion Player is no more than US$100 excl. VAT here in Sweden. Well worth its price.

I own Kontakt2 and thinking of Halion Player. I've been playing with it a couple of times and I think it's rather good.

[Prince Alsihad]

Don't forget you'll also have to pay for the sample cds. That's where the big money comes in. Kontakt has a handful of great patches, but the real great samples are in 3rd party cds.

[TonyBelmont]

Here's my opinion on the soft samplers/ synths you were asking about...

Sonik Synth 2 - I have it and it's a processor hog... It's nice, but it's hard to find good sounds in it...

Kontakt 2 - I just upgraded to Kontakt 2 and I look forward to learning it a little better ( I literally have opened it once to look at it). I am a big fan of the original Kontakt and this looks like a big upgrade from that. This would be my first choice!

Kompakt - Basically a scaled down version of Kontakt with a different sound library.. I like it, but would go for Kontakt if you only want one. I have both and use the sounds from the Kompakt library in Kontakt.

Sampletank 2XL - Don't like it... CPU hog, and seems like a step behind Kontakt in every category.

My recommendation would be to get Kontakt2 and some sample cd's that will suit your style of music.... Also, I love Cubase SX3!!! I'm glad I dumped my HD system for it. Don't even think about using Pro Tools with Soft Synths.... Can you say "Crash City"?????