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Great deal folks: http://www.ikmultimedia.com/st3controller/This is a killer offer. I'm a keyboard player so I'll get one of the controllers. I've never used a mini controller before so maybe I don't like it but to spend $79 and get the full ST3? That's a no brainer and I'll give it to somebody's kid if I can't use the hardware. For those who don't know, ST3 is 64 bit only so you need a 64 bit computer plus JBridge to use it with either Biab or RB. Bob
Biab/RB latest build, Win 11 Pro, Ryzen 5 5600 G, 512 Gig SSD, 16 Gigs Ram, Steinberg UR22 MkII, Roland Sonic Cell, Kurzweil PC3, Hammond SK1, Korg PA3XPro, Garritan JABB, Hypercanvas, Sampletank 3, more.
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Bob
Thanks for the tip-off on this.
It really appears to be a great deal.
Trevor
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.
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Bob "Notes" Norton  Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com
100% MIDI Super-Styles recorded by live, pro, studio musicians for a live groove
& Fake Disks for MIDI and/or RealTracks
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I was not interested in ST3 when it came out but $80 for it and a mini keyboard I think that I will get it.
Thanx bob for the heads up.
Life is short so make sure you spend as much time as possible on the Internet arguing with strangers.
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
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If I didn't already have ST3 and already have a midi controlling keyboard... I would jump on this.
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For what it's worth and that ain't much, and given I'm NOT a keyboard player, I really like the action of the iRig Keys Pro 49 (i love the full sized keys)
I had the M-Audio one but keys never felt right - you knew it was "inexpensive"
I compare feel/action to synth action keyboards I have - well at least close. And if you get full ST3 what the heck
Larry
Last edited by Larry Kehl; 04/04/16 04:24 AM. Reason: I hate typing on phone touch screen
Win10Pro,i9,64GB,2TBSSD+20TBHDDs,1080TI,BIAB'24,Scarlett18i8,Montage7,Fusion 8HD,QS8,Integra7,XV5080,QSR,SC-8850,SPLAT,FL21&others,Komp.14,IK suite&others, just a guitar player-AXE FX III &FM9T, FishmanTP, MIDIGuitar2, GK2/3'sw/GI20
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Looks like the offer is good through the end of May. Since I just upgraded to Native Instruments Komplete Ultimate, I'll probably wait a month before looking into this. I think it might be nice to have a compact keyboard for my laptop.
Thanks for noticing this, Bob.
John Laptop-HP Omen I7 Win11Pro 32GB 12TB SSD Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 12TB SATA BB2026/UMC204HD&404HD/Casios/Cakewalk/Reaper/Studio One/Notion/Dorico/Noteworthy/NI/Halion/IK http://www.sus4chord.com (under rehosting/construction)
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FYI if you go to IK's site you can get a 25 mini keyboard for $59.99 USD. It also comes with ST3. Plus you can use jam points up to 30%, bringing the total cost to $41 plus shipping.
I have Sonar and all of it's goodies, Kontakt, a lot of purchased patches for Kontakt, as well as a number of other VSTis. I am still on the fence about getting ST3 as I don't know if i would use it or not. Any input you can give me would be helpful.
Life is short so make sure you spend as much time as possible on the Internet arguing with strangers.
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
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I am still on the fence about getting ST3 as I don't know if i would use it or not. Any input you can give me would be helpful. Yep, I would like more feedback as well. I have ST2 (along with all the Xpansion Tanks). But, yes would be curious to know how the sounds of ST3 compare against 1) ST2 and 2) Kontakt and Cakewalk libraries. Thanks in advance.
John Laptop-HP Omen I7 Win11Pro 32GB 12TB SSD Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 12TB SATA BB2026/UMC204HD&404HD/Casios/Cakewalk/Reaper/Studio One/Notion/Dorico/Noteworthy/NI/Halion/IK http://www.sus4chord.com (under rehosting/construction)
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There are a ton of YT vids about it. How it directly compares to other softsynths is a good question. I'm not seeing a great sale like this from NI so it's a moot point to me.
What I have managed to find out so far is the new libraries for ST3 are definitely better than ST2 plus the interface is much better. Of course the ST2 libraries will also work.
I'm not a uber nerd about this because I have some of the best hardware keyboards available if I really want to plug them in and use them with Biab. I find softsynths more convenient so I'm still interested in them. I think ST2 sounds pretty decent and probably would not spend $350 to upgrade it but $79 or even $99 and I have another keyboard to mess with is a different story.
Bob
Biab/RB latest build, Win 11 Pro, Ryzen 5 5600 G, 512 Gig SSD, 16 Gigs Ram, Steinberg UR22 MkII, Roland Sonic Cell, Kurzweil PC3, Hammond SK1, Korg PA3XPro, Garritan JABB, Hypercanvas, Sampletank 3, more.
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I have had ST3 since release. I can tell you the quantity of sounds is incredible. There are more pianos and basses than I can scroll through and count. Add to that every kind of woodwind and string you can imagine as well as boys and girl choirs and oohs and aaahs. Drums and horns, including loops of both. and more and more sounds....
ST3 works flawlessly in Reaper as a VST. I have done songs with up to 6 - 8 instruments at one time. All the instruments can be tweeked to your hearts content. Did I mention ST3 also has a standalone mode so you can just use your keyboard to audition any of the sounds.
OK, so all that is great - right? But what about the sounds? Do they sound good? You know that line from the Phantom of the Opera where they all sing in unison, "But can she sing, can she sing?"
I have never been overly impressed with the sound quality of ST3. There I said it. But I attributed that more to the fact that I was playing the midi keys and don't know ### about how to use a controller.
But, like I said above, for this price I would buy it all again except for the fact that I already own it.
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I have had ST3 since release. I can tell you the quantity of sounds is incredible. I have never been overly impressed with the sound quality of ST3. I am trying to figure out whether it sounds good or not!
Last edited by JohnJohnJohn; 04/04/16 11:19 AM.
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Does anyone know how ST3 compares to Kontakt both in quality and quantity? I already own Kontakt and have barely scratched the surface of what it provides (but I am a sucker for more samples at a great price!!)
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Does anyone know how ST3 compares to Kontakt both in quality and quantity? I already own Kontakt and have barely scratched the surface of what it provides (but I am a sucker for more samples at a great price!!) I also have Kontakt and I asked the same question over on the Sonar forums. Consensus there is the ST3 does not sound as good as Kontakt. I wonder about IK's pricing. IIRQ ST3 started at $350, then dropped to $250, then to $150 and now it is free with the purchased of a $59 mini keyboard. What am I missing here? Is ST3 worth hundreds of dollars or not? See why I am a little hesitant of purchasing?
Life is short so make sure you spend as much time as possible on the Internet arguing with strangers.
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
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OK this will start a war: QUANTITY: SampleTank 3 double Kontakt 5 in quantity (on my PC anyway) : - Kontakt FACTORY: number of NKI's (instruments) 1270 files with samples for those at 23.1 GB. - SampleTank 3 FACTORY: number of .ST3I files (instruments, EXCLUDING ALL the ST 2 folders) 2470 and supporting samples (again excluding ST 2 "redux" samples) 25 GB's [side bar: ST 2 that is included in ST 3 stuff: 1552 instruments @ 5.3 GB - again this is above and beyond numbers above] But counts of instrument and numbers/size of samples don’t mean a much. And no bigger sample sets don’t mean BETTER sampling, better sound, or even better use of those samples in constructing a sound/instrument. QUALITY: this is relative because NONE of these plug-in "ROMpler's" FACTORY only stuff will be used or generate the next platinum record. Actually no company has an incentive to give best of anything in FACTORY set because then potential future sales of aftermarket and add-ons drops. I'm a little different than some here or at cakewalk - I agree that in general Kontakt is USUALLY better than ST3, and relative to ST2 it was a lot more true, but there are QUITE A FEW "six of one half-dozen of the other" coin flips between them - so it depends. BOTH ST3 (I include ST 2 here as well) and Kontakt 5 are BETTER in both QUANTITY and QUALITY to Dim Pro (or now Rapture Pro) but that's not saying DP/RP are CRAP! DP/RP are good and have workable bread and butter sounds and some nice beyond work-a-day sounds. If you include the Studio Instruments, as well as Sound Center and TTS-1, that comes with EVERY CW DAW (MC7 and all versions of Sonar) you got a nice rounded/working set of sounds. Again, you won't (probably) any grammy's with them Off topic: Does anyone actually buy or recommend Dim Pro (or even Rap Pro) separately from Sonar anymore? I still use a lot of external HW sounds that are BETTER than EITHER K5 or ST3 (which reminds me I can't wait for my new Montage 7 to arrive - end of month!  ) MarioD I don't remember ST3 ever being sold for $350. After introductory pricing the full price was $249 (see add below). http://www.ikmultimedia.com/news/?item_id=4328Actually its now $279 (full price not sale price) so price has gone UP, not down! But yes - crossgrades and upgrades are a lot cheaper, but so are Kontakt's and frankly Kontakt 5 factory lib set is getting pretty long in the tooth sound wise. Larry
Win10Pro,i9,64GB,2TBSSD+20TBHDDs,1080TI,BIAB'24,Scarlett18i8,Montage7,Fusion 8HD,QS8,Integra7,XV5080,QSR,SC-8850,SPLAT,FL21&others,Komp.14,IK suite&others, just a guitar player-AXE FX III &FM9T, FishmanTP, MIDIGuitar2, GK2/3'sw/GI20
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Does anyone know how ST3 compares to Kontakt both in quality and quantity? I already own Kontakt and have barely scratched the surface of what it provides (but I am a sucker for more samples at a great price!!) I also have Kontakt and I asked the same question over on the Sonar forums. Consensus there is the ST3 does not sound as good as Kontakt. I wonder about IK's pricing. IIRQ ST3 started at $350, then dropped to $250, then to $150 and now it is free with the purchased of a $59 mini keyboard. What am I missing here? Is ST3 worth hundreds of dollars or not? See why I am a little hesitant of purchasing? Thanks Mario! I'm thinking these software products are always subject to being dropped in price because once they exist there are no recurring costs. I'm thinking I'll get it because the price is cheap and if I only were to use it a couple of times for the "right" sound it would be worth it.
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Larry, no war here! I'm just trying to decide what to do and everyone's input, pro and con of both ST3 and Kontakt, is welcomed. I agree that Kontakt's factory library is getting old but you can purchase many other patches. I very rarely use the factory libs. Actually most factory libs are cut down versions of a better but more costly sample set. I totally agree that Dim Pro/Rapture Pro suffer in sound quality. It is good to know that ST3 is better than that! I got that $350 price from Sweetwater: http://www.sweetwater.com/store/search.php?s=sampletank+3$100 is a huge price to pay for a DVD set! Peace!
Life is short so make sure you spend as much time as possible on the Internet arguing with strangers.
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
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Larry, my man. You're getting the new Montage?? Damn, that board has a lot of guys drooling over at Keyboard Corner since NAMM. A lot of guys over there are B3 fanatics including me and the Montage hasn't improved Yamaha's clonewheel any but everything else is just killer. That's why I have my SK1 and a Vent.
Back on topic, I agree that Kontakt is an industry standard and I wouldn't be surprised if some serious audio geeks were to carefully go through several hundred instruments both solo'd and in a mix comparing them that K might win but from what I've heard ST3 is still very good and well worth it. The fact that IKM seems to be discounting it doesn't mean it's bad it could simply be a reflection of the market and it's hard to compete with the bigger names.
This is so subjective though. You can put a barely decent piano patch in a 10 piece horn band mix and never tell that patch is not as good as another but solo that piano with just an acoustic bass and it's a totally different story. Same with any of those other thousands of patches. It all depends on what you're doing, what the other instrumentation is, what you're looking for etc etc etc...
I'm buried in taxes right now and won't pick this up until the end of April but after that I'll test it out.
Bob
Biab/RB latest build, Win 11 Pro, Ryzen 5 5600 G, 512 Gig SSD, 16 Gigs Ram, Steinberg UR22 MkII, Roland Sonic Cell, Kurzweil PC3, Hammond SK1, Korg PA3XPro, Garritan JABB, Hypercanvas, Sampletank 3, more.
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Bob, Yep already traded my mint XS7 in so dealer could unload it quicker (still had protective cover over screen and I sent it off fully loaded with 2GB ram and a 120 GB HDD with "sounds" - plus I'm offering to split license transfer fee ($60 30/30) of Karma for Motif for new owner if they want Karma) so it should move quickly. AND I got a killer deal on the Montage becasue the my long time "dealer" at local music store is going to a training class on them and he's getting a discount on the boards used in that training, so he's passing that on to me as well as they treat me right anyway (it's good to be a 30 year customer). I'd get the 88 key one but my other two big boards are already 88 weighted and I really need a one good synth action in the mix, as it were. Larry I'll report nothing but bad stuff about it so you don't feel so badly
Win10Pro,i9,64GB,2TBSSD+20TBHDDs,1080TI,BIAB'24,Scarlett18i8,Montage7,Fusion 8HD,QS8,Integra7,XV5080,QSR,SC-8850,SPLAT,FL21&others,Komp.14,IK suite&others, just a guitar player-AXE FX III &FM9T, FishmanTP, MIDIGuitar2, GK2/3'sw/GI20
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Oh gee thanks Larry, you're so kind...I just read you're entire sig. You're really a guitar player?
Got a connection for the new Kurz Artis? Strike that. I told myself this year I WILL NOT buy another keyboard until I sell something. I guess this little IKM thing doesn't count. I mentioned I'm an organ fanatic. I have a VK8, an XK1 and a Roland VR760 in addition to my current go to one the SK1. That doesn't count my PC3, the Korg, the Esynth. They're piling up man...
Bob
Biab/RB latest build, Win 11 Pro, Ryzen 5 5600 G, 512 Gig SSD, 16 Gigs Ram, Steinberg UR22 MkII, Roland Sonic Cell, Kurzweil PC3, Hammond SK1, Korg PA3XPro, Garritan JABB, Hypercanvas, Sampletank 3, more.
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Last Chance! The Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac® Special Ends Today (May 31, 2026) at 11:59pm PDT!
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Our new rock & pop RealTracks bring a powerful mix of requested favorites, fresh genres, and modern chart-inspired styles! We have more of our popular “Producer Layered Acoustic Guitars (15)” featuring Band-in-a-Box favorite Brent Mason. We’ve continued our much-requested disco styles (10), and added new Celtic guitar (5) with a more basic, accessible approach than our previous Drop-D or DADGAD offerings. There are also highly requested yacht rock styles (17), inspired by the smooth, polished soft-rock sound of the late ’70s and early ’80s — laid-back grooves, silky electric pianos, warm textures, elegant harmonic movement, and pristine production aesthetics. Fans of heavier styles will love our new glam metal (13), capturing the flashy, high-energy sound of ’80s arena-ready guitar rock. We also have a set of rootsy modern-folk rock (18), with a warm, organic sound combining contemporary folk textures and driving acoustic strumming. And we’ve added lots of new modern pop styles (16) — the kinds of sounds you’re hearing on the radio today, featuring exciting new drums, synths, and cutting-edge RealTracks arrangements.
Country, & Americana (Sets 483–488):
Our new country & Americana RealTracks deliver a rich collection of acoustic, electric, and roots-inspired styles! We have new country pop (9) with legendary guitarist Brent Mason. There is also a potpourri (14) of bouzouki, guitars, banjo, and more, perfect for adding texture and character to contemporary acoustic arrangements. We’ve added funky country guitar (5) with PG favorite Brent Mason, along with classic pedal steel styles (5) featuring steel great Doug Jernigan. There are more country songwriter styles (8) that provide intimate, rootsy foundations for storytelling and modern Americana writing. Finally, we have “background soloing” acoustic guitar (12) with Brent Mason — simpler, but still very tasty acoustic lines designed to sit beautifully behind vocals or act as a subtle standalone solo part.
Check out all the 202 new RealTracks (in sets 468-488)!
And, if you are looking for more, the 2026 49-PAK (for $49) includes an impressive collection of 20 bonus RealTracks, featuring exciting and inspiring additions to add to your RealTracks library. You'll get new country-rhythm guitar styles from PG Music favorites Johnny Hiland and Brent Mason, along with modern-pop grooves that capture today’s radio-ready sound! There are also new indie-folk styles with guitar, bass, 6-string bass used as a high-chording instrument, acoustic guitar, and banjo. Plus, dedicated "cymbal fills" RealDrums provide an added layer that work very well with low-key folky styles with other percussion.
The 2026 49-PAK is loaded with other great new add-ons as well. Learn more about the 2026 49-PAK!
2026 Free Bonus PAK & 49-PAK for Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac®!
With your version 2026 for Mac Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, Audiophile Edition or PlusPAK purchase, we'll include a Bonus PAK full of great new Add-ons for FREE! Or upgrade to the 2026 49-PAK for only $49 to receive even more NEW Add-ons including 20 additional RealTracks!
These PAKs are loaded with additional add-ons to supercharge your Band-in-a-Box®!
This Free Bonus PAK includes:
- The 2026 RealCombos Booster PAK:
-For Pro customers, this includes 27 new RealTracks and 23 new RealStyles.
-For MegaPAK customers, this includes 25 new RealTracks and 23 new RealStyles.
-For UltraPAK customers, this includes 12 new RealStyles.
- MIDI Styles Set 92: Look Ma! More MIDI 15: Latin Jazz
- MIDI SuperTracks Set 46: Piano & Organ
- Instrumental Studies Set 24: Groovin' Blues Soloing
- Artist Performance Set 19: Songs with Vocals 9
- Playable RealTracks Set 5
- RealDrums Stems Set 9: Cool Brushes
- SynthMaster Sounds Set 1 (with audio demos)
- iOS Android Band-in-a-Box® App
Looking for more great add-ons, then upgrade to the 2026 49-PAK for just $49 and you'll get:
- 20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and RealDrums with 20 RealStyle.
- FLAC Files (lossless audio files) for the 20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and RealDrums
- MIDI Styles Set 93: Look Ma! More MIDI 16: SynthMaster
- MIDI SuperTracks Set 47: More SynthMaster
- Instrumental Studies 25 - Soul Jazz Guitar Soloing
- Artist Performance Set 20: Songs with Vocals 10
- RealDrums Stems Set 10: Groovin' Sticks
- SynthMaster Sounds & Styles Set 2 (sounds & styles with audio demos)
Learn more about the Bonus PAK and 49-PAK for Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac®!
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