"The best" is a tough one to describe. Best for what?

Lots of folks like the Coyote Forte DXi for its sound in a number of instruments and it is very affordable.

You can get much better sounds, but you'll have to spend more than $40.

Forte used to come with BIAB as a 30-day trial. I don't know if it still does (I'm not at my music computer, so I can't check). You might want to look for the EXE file installer and see; if so, you can always install it and try it out for 30 days to decide whether you want to purchase it or not.

Other folks also like using the Cakewalk TTS-1 ($39), so in the same range, but you get that by buying Cakewalk Music Creator (you really get the Music Creator DAW with the TTS-1 included).

Or if you already have Sonar, you probably already have TTS-1.

The Coyote WS that installs with BIAB is not the same as Forte. It is merely a wrapper for the MIDI sounds that are included in Windows already (and doesn't sound very good).

So I would say that those are probably the best in the $40 range.

You can also go free by getting a free soundfont VSTi (such as Synthfont) and using a good free GM soundfont file, readily available on the internet.

Or you can spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars for softsynths which much more realistic sounds (but generally not GM, so it's not just plug and play for MIDI - you have to specify each instrument within the softsynth for each MIDI track).

Others will chime in, I'm sure.

John

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