I'm a newbie with a 450 MHZ DP G4 running OS X and an old midi-ready Yahama PSR-series keyboard (will that work?). My ambition is to use the computer and software synths/samples to create more realistic sounds than my Yamaha for orchestral-type music.

Can I get away with Reason, or do I need to invest in something more robust, like Logic or Cubase?

I'm looking for good sounding piano and orchestra instruments and get confused when reading about VSTs, so I'm hoping someone can point me in the right direction.

Reason is a cool app but I would look more into something like Logic with the ESP24 or ESX24 (soft sample player and soft sampler)... you will find more "realistic" sounds... actually there are a few other soft samplers that will work too but be ready to start learning midi... VSTi's aren't really all that complex... they just need midi either played live or premade midi file to work.

If you don't want to spend lots of cash... look into the "Logic Big Box" package that comes with the ESP24 and a couple soft synths as well. Its really not a bad deal.

I am sure some others will chime in with ideas for using other apps but Logic is one of my favorites especially with the ESX24

Thanks for your reply, Synthetic I'm going to be getting Logic Big Box soon. At $239, it seems like a great deal. I will probably get Garritan's Personal Orchestra when it's released or when I have an extra $250 lying around, whichever comes first...

cool... glad I could help... for samples... there are some places online to get great realistic stuff and someiimes you can just pay by the download instead of whole CD and such... check out www.primesounds.com and www.sonomic.com for samples for the ESP24

I got a sweet sounding grand piano from one of them as well as great flute and percussion sounds