I just bought VD and Kompakt at Jim C.'s recomendation (TMEA--thanks Jim). Many, many people have told me to go the GigaStudio route, but GS is very pricy itself not to mention the soundcard you have to have etc. etc. So my question is this: What makes gigastudio so expensive? Is it really that much better than Kompakt or Kontakt? And if so, then what exactly is it that makes it better? GS has the new version coming out in April and I am still very curious about it. I am just now starting to get into all of this stuff and would like to know if GS is something that I should still be considering down the road as I get better at all this stuff! Any feedback would be great!!!

And by the way, I am a semi-idiot to all of this, so idiot terms would be great for any feedback!!

Chris - Gigastudio is a standalone sampler program (for PC only). It sort of pioneered the 'stream from disk' technology that makes software samplers so powerful. I often use it in my own composing, though curse it all the while. It's a great program, but oftentimes performs like beta software. As mentioned, it's PC-only, plus requires a GSIF compatible soundcard in addition to the high price of the program. For hard-core composer types, this can be worth it, but for many people interested in Virtual Drumline, the expense and headaches may not be worth it.

What I like about giga is that you can load in as many samples as your memory will allow, then switch from instrument to instrument via midi program changes. In Kontakt, you are limited to 16 instruments (per instance). To get more than one instance of Kontakt, you must load it as a plugin in a host program (like logic, cakewalk, etc). Kompakt on the other hand only allows 8 instruments per instance and is more of a "player" than either Kontakt or Giga. Both Giga and Kontakt allow programming and editing of samples.

Glad to help you at TMEA! Take care.
jim