For the last year I've spent very little time in my home studio, spending most of my time playing organ in my rehearsal room. But recently, I've been spending some time in the 'studio' experimenting with VSTi's. I'm using a 49k Akai controller and also an old but perfectly functioning Roland A70. I've downloaded a few freebies and loaded them into REAPER. What I'd like is some quality freebies and low-cost (as in best bang for the buck) general purpose VSTi's, mainly Pianos, drum machines (or groove samples), and standard orchestral instruments. Choirs and strings would also be good. Organs not required.

I'd appreciate any recommendations you knowledgeable guys (that actually USE VSTi's) could provide (along with comments on each recommendation).

Thanks

chas