Am I the only user that does not use third party libraries?

[tubatimberinger]

It has been my observation that 85-90% of all the threads on this forum have to do with issues pertaining to the use of 3rd party libraries? It seems that no one uses the library included with N3 which is vast and deep. I know there are great 3rd paty libraries out there and the LSO library has a few samples which need work, but by and large, the sounds I am able to render are quite excellent. What are your thoughts"

[pcartwright]

I certainly use the LSO sounds included with Notion, but almost never exclusively. I think many of the included sounds are very nice, but I come from a background of using VSTis with DAWs, so there are particular sounds that I'm familiar with and enjoy using. I like to blend sounds from different libraries (i.e. solo flute from GPO for the first flute and the flute from Notion's LSO as the second flute) so that the subtle nuances and differences in the samples play off each other (which I think makes for a more realistic sound).

Not to go to far off topic... Here are how I mix my sections:

woodwinds - Notion, GPO, and EWQLSO (EWQLSO usually has the first chair instrument with GPO or Notion taking the second and subsequent chairs as necessary)

brass - EWQLSO, Notion, and Project Sam - I pretty much have to go to Notion for certain mute samples not available in EWQLSO or Project Sam. I will occasionally use JABB with manually adjusted keyswitches for less common mutes.

strings - Notion and LASS - I'll also mix in GPO's solo string instruments to fill in sections of the Notion and LASS samples. I will use Notion if I need a lot of other samples from other sections since the LASS samples are HUGE, but, if I have room in RAM, I'll load LASS samples and supplement them with Notion and GPO.

percussion - Notion, EWQLSO, and GPO. It's pretty difficult to write rules for things such as tremolos and percussion patches that are designed to be "performed" on the keyboard, so I usually stick with Notion on these instruments.

keyboards and harps - Notion and GPO. I particularly like GPO on harps and celeste. I'm not really pleased with either Notion's or GPO's piano and use TruePianos when I don't need to do any glissandos (a written glissando for an unsupported VSTi will play a chromatic scale instead of only white notes)

So, as you can see, I like to use Notion's samples for just about every major instrument group alongside other libraries.

To the OT... A lot of the topics and threads that I have replied to usually involve opening up rules files for third party libraries to better exploit the capabilities as an attempt to enhance the performance with the LSO samples and to allow for certain sounds (such as the JABB brass mutes or apply glissando rules to TruePianos).

Sorry to be so long winded, but I hope that was some feedback that you were looking for.

[achambily]

For me Notion sounds have really nothing to see with EWQL...
Not the same world
I think Notion sounds are very helpful to get an idea, to make a "camshot" but not usable for "real" symphonic performance...

[wglmb]

I use a mix of Notion, GPO4, and the free version of Kontakt Player, which comes with some nice sounds.

Mostly, I only use Notion's sounds for orchestral instruments, but sometimes I want one with a different character, so I use GPO. But there's certainly nothing wrong with Notion's sounds - far from it.


Edit: I'd like to use the free Kore Player as well, but it doesn't work properly with Notion (notes get dropped).

[thorrild]

I don't agree that the contents of this forum automatically reflects users' individual work habits. I would imagine that what we see is only the problematic part of the Notion user experience. As software users, we generally don't take the time to write about how well something works; I think we tend to use the forum to vent frustrations, get advice when we get stuck, and to daydream about features we'd like to see in the future. So if a high percentage of posts deal with the use of third-party sounds, all that indicates to me is just that this is an area of Notion which is either difficult to work with, or not yet perfect in its implementation.

In a way, I enjoy reading about Notion's shortcomings and idiosyncrasies much more than, say, an ode about how fabulous this or that feature is. But that's probably just me...

Best wishes,
Thorrild

PS: I use only Notion sounds; mostly because I feel better informed about the problems I might run into with other libraries, as described in the many posts you have observed.

[pcartwright]

I don't agree that the contents of this forum automatically reflects users' individual work habits. I would imagine that what we see is only the problematic part of the Notion user experience. As software users, we generally don't take the time to write about how well something works; I think we tend to use the forum to vent frustrations, get advice when we get stuck, and to daydream about features we'd like to see in the future. So if a high percentage of posts deal with the use of third-party sounds, all that indicates to me is just that this is an area of Notion which is either difficult to work with, or not yet perfect in its implementation.

Quite correct.

In a way, I enjoy reading about Notion's shortcomings and idiosyncrasies much more than, say, an ode about how fabulous this or that feature is. But that's probably just me...

touché

[sepheritoh]

It all depend on what you are using Notion for.

Me, I am using it as a composition tool and for this purpose, Notion sounds are more than adequate. I have GPO and recently acquired Miroslav, but most of the time I use Notion sounds. The rock instruments (and guitars) lack a bit, but Notion sells an add-in pack (which I do not have).

However, I feel that if you wish to use this to render a final product for use in a blockbuster film, then the standard sounds may not be good enough. Then you would be better off using VSL or one of the expensive libraries.

Even when I want a final product that sounds great, I would do all the composing in Notion with mainly standard Notion sounds and then export to Midi, import into my DAW and do the final mixing and mastering with another library.