I tend to go to "specialty" modules, sample sets, or soft synths for each particular group of sounds. For example I like Edirol's Super Quartet and Eve for piano sounds and acoustic guitars, Sonic Implants soundfonts and / or my Motif ES6 for Acoustic Drums and Electric guitars ( with amplitube as my virtual and real time electric guitar effects box ), RGC Pentagon, Pro 53, CSV80 and Moog Modular for analog synth sounds, VB1 for electric bass etc etc. The point being, other than the convenience factor, I don't care that much for using any one synth ( soft or hardware ) for all sounds. There just isn't any "all in one" solution that really seems to do it for me. I realize that what I do wouldn't work so well for someone who wants to play midifiles, unless of course you are willing to open the midifile in a vst host and then reassign specific parts to different modules ( A ton of work .. I know ).

There are a few decent GM softsynths out there, but I think some of the higher end soundfonts might sound better to me overall. Luxonix Ravity is pretty good, maybe overall better than Hyper Canvas. Plugsound makes a GM module, but I've never tried it. IK / Sonic Reality makes a higher end one as well ( Omni Synth ), but I haven't tried that one either, and I've seen mixed reviews from one end of the spectrum to the other.

You might want to research this more at KVR Audio. I'm sure there are some threads in their forums regarding GM synth modules,, and many modules are rated there and are available as demos to try out.


AJ


[This message has been edited by Bluezplayer (edited 12-15-2004).]