Garritan Personal Orchestra Virtual Instrument

This is no doubt a fine suite of orchestral samples but beware of old versions of GPO. This (2nd edition) version caused frozen tool bar and did not load or allow registration. Once reported to the seller, an immediate credit was issued after the product was returned.

I thought I'd go on ahead and give a more recent review than 2005. This library has aged rather well and still sounds amazing. They ARE still working on updates for their latest products so the GPO crew isn't quite dead yet. On to the review though. I found that the sounds were very crisp and clear, and not muddied by reverb that East West and even Miroslav end up putting in to make their product sound rich/full. It's because of this flat tone that you're able to go in and tweak everything to your liking (though the strings don't need that much tweaking, the brass will require some love and skill to work with). It has built in effects but if you're using this from a DAW, those aren't really going to prove all that useful anyway. I'm currently using it with FL Studio 10 Producer edition and I'm loving every minute of it! For as cheap as it is on Amazon, it's still worth it to get the download from their website (163 taxes and all, but guarenteed to work the second you launch it). It's a great budget orchestra and the steinburg piano alone makes it worth the buy! Definitely pick this up if you can't afford 500 dollars for East West Symphonic Orchestra.

I originally chose GPO years ago because I wanted to dabble in orchestral instrumentation. However, I was not a professional, so paying a high dollar for good samples was not a practical consideration. After using it, I was able to get professional results, so the price was a bit deceiving. It was far more than what I thought I was paying forI work on a Macintosh using GarageBand, and GPO has far more articulation and nuance control over JamPack 4. it is absolutely a joy to have an entire orchestra as close as my own keyboard. I use it to help my kids hear what different instruments sound like and to listen for them in Classical music. Listen to the numerous examples and hear for yourself!

Seller was great and refunded my money; he was really nice.Do not buy a used GPO tho; you will not be able to register it unless the original owner can unregister it first. Native instruments registration support is the worst. The person I talked to was a rare parrot teacher.

Garritan Personal Orchestra is a great way to step into the world of giga-sampling. It has realistic samples with a relatively easy to learn interface (in Kompakt). However, the samples are better used in another sampler, such as Kontakt 2 (or 3).Unlike most libraries, the samples are *completely* controlled by the mod wheel. This is both good and bad.The good: You have complete control over the instrument sound at all times. Volume and timbre are handled very well.The bad: Complete control must be maintained at all times. Again, this could be a definite up, were it not for the fact that one will inevitably need to go back and re-record particular instruments due to too much (or too little) strength. This can become monotonous and tiring after a while.While the instruments definitely sound good (some sound superb), there is no automatic or default reverb. Instead, you are given a utility that controls reverb. Honestly, it's better off just to skip this little tool and use a reverb found in another sampler or plugin instead. The ambience it creates is generally unrealistic, and while great control can be maintained, you can never quite reach that sound you want.All in all, Garritan Personal Orchestra is a wonderful way for beginners to start out. It's an excellent first library. But eventually, one will want to move on to greater things, such as East West Quantum Leap Symphonic Orchestra, or even the ambitious Vienna Soundfont Library.