I have been using VDL and now VDL 2.5 for several years now and have always been pleased with the sounds. About a month ago a friend of mine played me something he had written using VD 2.5 and it sounded phenomenal. After this I listened to some of the demos on here and realized the sounds that I'm getting sound nothing like the others. I know this is a very broad question but I have no clue as to what to fix.

Ex. Here is a recording of a basic double beat warm-up using the sounds that are coming from my computer.

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Hi Jordan. I'm not sure I can tell what your question is. I listened to your sound clip (thanks for posting!), and it sounds like you're using quite a lot of reverb. This isn't necessarily ";bad"; though. It sort of gives it that [i]drumline in the gym[/i] sound. Are there some sort of cymbal sounds in there though? I can't quite make out what it is.

Anyway, write back with what exactly you're looking to do, and perhaps let us know how you're achieving your current results. Maybe someone will have some ideas.

If it's high school pep rally you're going for, I think you've nailed it :-)

Haha... That's the thing though, there is no reverb selected whatsoever. I have reverb turned off in Finale. Do I need to turn it off somewhere else? The only sounds being used are Snares Lite, Tenors Lite, and Bass Lite.

So...I downloaded the free demo of Sibelius 6 and I bought the the VDL 2.5 Template for Sibelius 6 and it sounds amazing compared to what I was getting. I think I just converted to Sibelius :)

Smart man.  Welcome to an easier/more efficient life.