Alright . . . I'm trying to figure out if I can get VD and make it work with what I have, which is: a 128 MB PC, 350 Mhz Pentium II, Sibelius 3.1.1 with Kontakt Silver 6.3, a Yamaha PSR225GM Keyboard w/ general midi connection (NOT USB), and a Yamaha DS-XG PCI Audio CODEC Sound Card (I think -I got this computer from my brother and I'm not really sure what sound card is in it, and neither is he). I understand that I probably need to upgrade to at least 256 MB, and also that Kontakt will not accept the 3rd party samples of VD. Is there a way to confirm what sound card is in the computer, and if it is compatible with Soundfonts? Or can I use Gigastudio w/ Kontakt? I'm not all that computer savvy and I'm trying to understand all this but it's a lot to figure out!! Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!!

You'll definitely want to upgrade your RAM. If possible, it'd be good to upgrade to 512mb, or 384mb at the very least. It's important to have extra RAM since you need to run your sounds (either from your soundcard or a program), as well as your operating system and Sibelius. These days, memory isn't as expensive as it used to be, so this would be a good move to make.

My guess is that your soundcard isn't soundfont compatible, so you'd either need to upgrade to a compatible soundblaster card, or purchase an actual separate sampler program like Kompakt (which would be around the same price). This would be where you actually load the sounds in.

If you decided to use the sampler program (Kompakt), I'm not sure it will be compatible with your Pentium 2. According to the Native Instruments website, the Kompakt requirements are:

Minimum: Windows XP/2000/ME/98, Pentium III/ Athlon 500 MHz, 256 MB RAM, 2.2 GB free hard disc space
Recommended: Windows XP, Pentium III/ Athlon 700 MHz, 512 MB, 2.2 GB free hard disc space

Sounds like you may have some upgrading to do, or possibly just saving up for a more current machine with a P3 or P4, or a Mac.

AB