Virtual Instruments - Advice On Best One To Buy?

[andywilliamsmith]

Mac
Core Duo 2.66 mhz
320 HD
4 GB RAM
OS X
M-Audio Fast Track Pro
Yamaha Keyboard

Okay, I hope there are experts out there who can help me.

I am new to home recording, but I've been playing for a long time. I want the best Virtual Instruments money can buy (price range $0 - $1500) and my system can process without pops or annoying delays.

I've read some good (and confusing) things about East West and Native Instruments products. I am most interested in realistic orchestral arrangements, choirs and, above all, realistic piano sounds.

Am I crazy to think I can run high quality virtual instruments through GarageBand? I do not (think I) need complex sequencing programs like Logic Pro or Sonar etc. I do not (think I) need to be a sound engineer. I just want to play what I play with the most high-quality, realistic sounds coming out of the software. I will be working entirely in Midi - inputting key strokes into GarageBand - and I just want it to play back with great sound. No vocals. No guitars. No real instruments.

Any advice would be very greatly appreciated!!!

[JA]

I believe you can run AU (Audio Unit) plug-ins in GarageBand, however, I don't have much to offer in the way of a recommendation for for the realistic sounds. You'll probably get better advice at place like www.kvraudio.com

[Gothboy]

Or at the Apple GB forum: http://discussions.apple.com/category.jspa?categoryID=127

Prepare yourself though to wade through ardous and sometimes exasperating territory. Allways test the demo version before you buy anything, do a lot of reading up on the product and if it's known to be tested and working properly in your sequencer host. Order a catalogue from Sweetwater as they've got just about every VI in there.