GigaStudio 3 Orchestra User Reviews at zZounds

"Tascam is the worst in customer service..." submitted December 9, 2007

By a customer from earthlink.net

Overall

Sound

Value

Manufacturer Support

The Wow Factor

Musical Background: Active musician

Music Style: Rock, Jazz, Blues

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Sound: The quality is only average. I've played several different systems and found better. Value: I was never able to set-up the software and use it even though I was following Tascam's highest recomendations with regard to support gear. So would say that this software is pretty much useless to me. VALUE = 0 Manufacturer Support: I purchased Gigastudio 3 Orchestra 11 months ago in the hopes of updating the sounds for my synth. I was intending to use a laptop so that I could travel and gig with the gigastudio. Well... after many, many failed attempts to get gigastudio to run correctly with my chosen components (Tascam FW1804) I needed to call Tascam for help. Unfortunately, they were not taking calls that morning (this was during normal business hours) and they simply hung-up on my call after I had been waiting on hold for 15 minutes. In addition their support personel were NEVER able to help me set-up my system even though I was using every system that they specified on their website (no lie). Long story short... This was not the first incident of being hung-up on and being misguided by their customer service, but it's definately the last for me. I bought a new keyboard instead. It was much easier to set-up, and the customer support was great. If you are reading this can can rest assured that I am an average consumer and not one of their competitors because I have never mentioned any of their other competitors in this review. Tascam's customer service is poorly managed and it shows. You'll be happier with a different product. The Wow Factor: Well, their advertising had pulled in and I had bought the system under the assumption that this would work for me on a laptop computer. Well, $2000 into this system I decided that I was finished trying to make it work. Overall: I have already replaced Gigastudio 3 Orch with a new keyboard from a another company. The reason why I'm not mentioning the other company is because I want you to know that I'm not one of their competitors. I am fine musician who's gotten financially burned by a poorly managed company. I am trying to warn other people about this problem.

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"The best sample player, period." submitted September 13, 2004

By a customer from fairhurst.com

Overall

Sound

Features

Quality

Value

Manufacturer Support

The Wow Factor

Musical Background: Active hobbyist

Music Style: Eclectic

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SPOTLIGHT REVIEW

Sound: 24-bit sample playback, unlimited polyphony, world-class instrument resonance, mic and room modeling with GigaPulse Pro all add up to the ultimate sound from a sample player. GigaPulse is especially delicious. Every impulse set sounds great. Some may be drier than you're looking for, others may be too wet, but they all sound wonderfully musical. Feature: Built-in MIDI rules with iMIDI lets developers create plug-and-play instruments that pull up different samples and resonance models depending on how you play. Add that to 24-bits, unlimited poly, great content (including Vienna Giga Symphony from VSL), GigaPulse, compression, parametric EQ, 8 MIDI ports, ReWire... ? Quality: If you really load up the instruments and slam your CPU with GigaPulse instances, you can bring things to their knees - especially if you have old drivers or an old BIOS (as I did). Still, when you learn the limits on your machine, it just keeps on ticking. I've had perfect reliability when making good sounding music. If you hit things hard enough to pop and click, take it back a notch and things will be fine. It's great for a .00 version, but could be better. Value: It's the best sample player bar none. Add the content and GigaPulse and it's off the charts. Manufacturer Support: Tascam could really do better with their PR and customer service. They are a bit underfunded and understaffed in this area. The Wow Factor: Being able to mix and match my old libs and mix them together with GigaPulse is a godsend. My results sound better than anything I had done before. Being able to load all of VGS at once is also great - I have the entire orchestra available at my fingertips. Giga does it all from fast scratchpad to finished mixes. Overall: This is a keeper, pure and simple. I can't imagine the competition beating GS3 by enough of a margin for me to switch. My next musical dollars will go to more libs, not another sample player. I'd buy Giga again to keep my libraries playing and sounding their best.

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Tascam Gigastudio 3 Orchestra Sampling Software (Windows)

User Ratings

"Tascam is the worst in customer service..." submitted December 9, 2007

"The best sample player, period." submitted September 13, 2004