Ok, I have made up my mind, and I am going to purchase kontakt2.  Now I only have a few questions for the pros out there who use this program.

Question #1.  I would like to know if Kontakt2 would work best straight of my comp?  Or, should I purchase an external hard drive and stream?  Here are the specs of my comp...

Hp Pavilion Note Book
Intel(R)
Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.00 GHz
1.23 GB of Ram
60 Gig Hard Drive

I would also like to run VD2 whereever I end up putting Kontakt2.  So let me know what would work best.  THANKS

I think the Kontakt program should be on your computer directly not on an external drive.  You may want to store your samples on the external HD.  K2 relies on the  computer to run effectively, the faster the computer the smoother it runs.  I don't know of many people who are using K2 on their laptop, from what I have heard it is just too much for the standard notebook computer, even with maxed out RAM.

Once you have K2 you will not need the VDL:2 program, just the samples from it, so you will never need to run them at the same time.  Keep in mind that other programs on your computer will also be using RAM, notation program, utility apps. etc.  I actually write using the GM sounds and just use K2 for playback and Sonar to make a quality audio recording.

HTH,

Gabe

Thanks Gabe!  Now with that out of the way, I probably shouldn't get Kontakt2 for my laptop, but for a desktop, right?  A desktop is something else I need to look into getting. 

Do you have any other recommendations on specs for a desktop?

THANKS!!

Is there anyone who is running K2 efficiently on a laptop?�� If so, what are your specs?  Or, how can I modify my laptop to run the program efficiently?

I haven't put it through a lot of stress but Kontakt 2 seems to be fine on my laptop. My laptop is pretty powerful though. I've got a 7200 RPM hard drive on a Dell Inspiron 9300 w/ 1 GB of RAM and a 1.73 gHz processor. My laptop has a 60 GB hard drive and i don't run any programs on it other than IE, Outlook, AIM, Sibelius 4, Cakewalk Music Creator, and Finale 2003.

I also use Kontakt 2 on a laptop - Mac G4 1.67ghz with 7200RPM internal drive, 2gb RAM. It works pretty well. In fact, we've typically done all our VDL2 demos at PASIC and other trade shows this way. For heavy stuff, I definitely get better performance from my desktop system, however K2 does work well on the laptop. The main contraints arise when you're running really thick, polyphonic scores.

By default, I don't write on a laptop, but since I travel a lot, it's necessary for me to still have access to my work when I'm on the road, which is why I frequently use this stuff on a laptop. Using K2, I can specify which instruments need to be loaded completely to RAM (rather than streaming) which helps performance. With a zippy processor and lots of RAM, this is the best scenario. There is a ceiling on everything, so you definitely won't see unlimited polyphony on a notebook.

If you decide to use a second hard drive, Gabe is correct in noting that the programs themselves should still live on the main drive, and libraries are stored on 2nd drive. As mentioned in other posts, it's debateable how much of a performance increase you'll get from this, even with a 7200RPM drive. Channeling it via firewire or USB 2.0 still bogs it down much more than if you had a second INTERNAL drive - which in the case of a notebook, isn't possible. Firewire 800 may be a little better, but I can't speak from experience on the results.

Best scenario:
Desktop system with TWO internal hard drives. Hard drive #1 is for all the normal stuff (operating system, programs, files, etc). Hard drive #2 is used ONLY to store samples. This will make for a more efficient way for your computer to ";share the load."; While you're at it, it's helpful (not mandatory, but a pretty huge difference) to use an audio interface that's geared more for pro audio. The Audiophile 2496 is a pretty inexpensive way to upgrade from the consumer cards most often shipping in PCs.

Thanks a lot Jim!  I really appreciate your in depth response.  I guess I will give it a shot on the laptop, and if it doesn�۪t work I will dish out and buy a desktop.  THANKS

Sounds like a good way to proceed. Good luck!