Just seems weird to me to purchase a $5000.00 Arranger and then augment it with VST sounds? For what? If you think PC programs & all the effort to run them sound better why do you need both?
Why do people buy soundexpansion packs if there are allready 1200 sounds in their arranger?
Thats the simple answer Donny.
The truth however is more complicated.
In an arranger all sounds are ballanced to sound great together... Thats why Yamaha styles sound perfect on yamahas, ketron styles on audyas and korg styles on Korg... Porting between different brands is possible, yet takes a lot of work..
Products like Varranger, live styler and the lionstracs project dont have their own styles at all, so every style you want to add takes a lot of fine tuning, nothing works out of the box.
So why using Vst... I use them as extra solo sounds on top of styles and midi files on my PA3x ... Or with Karma on my kronos...
As said, Komplete (kontakt5 is part of Komplete 9) with its 16000 sounds, and even better expansions is an all around package with enough sounds available... If i would have to create a software arranger, i would build it with komplete 9. All you would need is about 500 high quallity styles and you would finally have a top of the line soft arranger.
And thats what i dont understand about the current softarrangers.... Their weak point is that they dont work OTB, so why dont they make them work OOTB. With an own soundset and an own set of sounds and starat working from there with VST support. It was what killed lionstracs, and its the burden of Varranger and live styler and the like..
To put it simple.... The softarrangers are trying to sell you an arranger withouth sounds and withouth styles... But they have the possibilitie to add as many user sounds and styles as possible... Most people are not up to such a challenge.
VSTs as Komplete, are functionaly the same as a high quallity sound module... If you dont need sound modules, you dont need VSTs..
Thats where we are different, i used to have a setup with 3 keyboards, 7 modules and an atari long time ago... And you are hapy with a single light weight portable arranger, that fills all your needs for performing