Soft samplers can use just about any format hardware uses, in addition to their own proprietary formats.

Some softsynths are not sampled based at all. Some don't come with many presets, others come with a lot, if you compare to a workstation. Some have as little as 100 or even less, often because that softsynth specializes in a particular type of modeled synthesis ( subtractive, additive, granular, .. etc ), and some focus on a specific group of sounds ( leads, pads, bass, etc ).

Others, like Korg Wavestation for example, come with several hundreds, even over a thousand.

Also, there are add on patches made for almost every softsynth out there, and some of these are made commercially while others are released for free. Some made by manufacturers, others by users. Hint: If you see patches that were made by Tim Conrardy for any synth ( most of his are free and he has covered quite a few synths ), grab em !! He is a superb programmer. Another example : Synth 1 is a freeware release. It comes with 128 of it's own patches. Quality of these are ok, many are nothing special. There are also about 25 or so additional sets, with some sets containing 128 add on patches. Some of these are excellent, including Tim's. You can store and instantly recall up to 10 additional patch sets in the softsynth interface.

If you are using only software instruments and are going to be doing a lot of tracks, you will need a pretty stout computer. I would recommend a modern Athlon with Windows XP if you're PC based, although a P4 is fine too. I have both, and it seems things run a little smoother on my Athlon machine, and less crashes - better CPU usage vs my P4. Most of the experts I've read or talked to tend to agree. I would avoid a Celeron Cpu if at all possible. I would recommend a minimum of 1024 mb of Ram and at least a mid grade soundcard ( forget the stock one in your machine unless it is of better quality ). Mac was once the standard bearer for audio work, but this is no longer necessarily the case. Also, there are less audio softwares made for the Mac platform these days.

Yes, you can do an entire song, including vocals, in almost any soft based daw or workstation. FL, Sonar, Cubase, CW Home Studio, Logic, Tracktion, Acid pro, etc. All of these support Vst instruments and effects and all have audio / midi recording and editing functions. FL Studio itself opens up as a vst ( or rewire device if you prefer ) in any daw that supports one of those formats.

AJ



[This message has been edited by Bluezplayer (edited 08-01-2005).]