Feature:
On paper, the product had EQ and Reverb and other useful features, but at least with Windows and SONAR, any attempt to use these features either crashed SONAR or crashed the whole operating system.
Quality:
This product has just come out, so one shouldn't be surprised that it has bugs. That it has the bugs it has, however, is another matter. Maybe the product works better on a Mac or with Mac software, but on Windows and with SONAR, it exhibits the behavior of a piece of software that is about midway through the testing/debugging process.
Value:
If you plan to use it on Windows, be careful. If you plan to use it on Windows with SONAR, forget it. It isn't worth the risk.
Desirability:
The hype surrounding the product certainly sounded good, and the number of GB they were using made it sound as though they had some good instruments here. As I said, the instruments turned out to be mediocre, though they could have been good if more MB had been alloted to each one. The Concert Piano, for instance, is good (and it has over 100 MB devoted to it, whereas the violins have 30 and are mediocre).
Sound:
Sound is about average. Problem is that MOTU spreads their available MB too thin. They provide a dozen mediocre versions of an instrument instead of a few good versions. In my case, with Windows and SONAR 4 Producers Edition, there were stuck notes on some instruments and clicks on all instruments. Some instruments, like the timpani roll, were a joke. It crescendos then decrescendos for the duration of the note, and there's nothing you can do about it.
Support:
The tech reps wanted to help, and some seemed more knowledgeable than others. One remarkable plus is that one could actually get them on the phone! But no, they did not solve the problem. I worked with them for over two weeks, trying to tweak SONAR to make their clicks and stuck notes go away. In the end, since the quality of the instruments was no better than what I was already using, I simply uninstalled the program and put it on the shelf.
Overall:
I've already uninstalled the product and written it off. I have some especially good soundfonts from Sonic Implants and Soundfonts.de, so it was only selected instruments that I needed. At this point, I'm hoping against hope that Sonic Implants will relent and convert the rest of their Symphonic Orchestra to soundfont format. But I'm not risking buying any more products like this.
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