I had a go with Emulator X3 today and oddly enough, that one isn't included in the collection. So no idea if that one's worth the money or not.

I just ordered one! Mostly for fun, I know it doesn't have a chance vs modern VST but I wanted something just a tad better than the overused Roland SRJV Orchestral expansions.
There aren't many demos out there, but that cartoon tune does a good job showing the sounds:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cRxVcS4AO0
I'm pretty sure that with good programming it's usable in modern productions, average people won't even notice it's a fake orchestra

Congratulations on your purchase! I still remember the day when I tried Virtuoso for the first time, somewhere in 2003 I guess. Being a former performer at the city orchestra, it gave me the exact sound I got used to while playing there.

The problem is that people got used to the over-processed orchestral sounds from the keyboards and can no appreciate enough the original vibe and sound.

Are you saying the Virtuoso 2000 is over processed or the opposite? What are some examples of over-processed orchestra sounds? Also, I asked in another thread, but do you know how the Virtuoso compares to the E-mu Emulator III/ESI sample CDS??

I have a Virtuoso 2000 I've acquired that has a bonus Mo Phatt Rom in it. I've had it for a few months and havent really had a chance to play with it yet. My keyboard room computer is down so I've been just grabbing a few analog synths as I need them into my mix room to make music there with a growing collection of, well a rediculously huge lol, and growing collection of softsynths. The Virtuoso is closer to what I can get out of the computer, then a Behringer Odyssey, Model D, and Minilogue, so no more room or complication for romplers. I keep going back and forth on selling it. I will get my keyboard room running again in a month or 2.

I enjoy 90s rompler sounds though, maybe for the character the hardware puts out, but I think more for just the smallish samples. There's something about sounds that aren't the most realistic thing, but just sound nice. I think it's because at this point they are clearly not trying to fool anyone and become their own thing instead of a fake sound. Lately I've gotten my hands on more and more however of that concept of sounds with the Korg Collection and Roland Cloud Ultimate sub. They have tons of it. Someone mentioned the SRX, there's every SRX in the cloud I believe and really very, very good.

I kind of know what to expect from the Virtuoso because I have an E4XT Ultra and before that an E6400. i've played all those factory discs, but don't know if thats similar, probably bigger samples. I've used the Proteus 2000 back in the day, and what I remember about it is that it had more natural, less hyped sound than Korg and Roland. It sounded like those two would EQ or use an exciter on their samples or something.

i wonder how much of the sound of these 90s romplers is the box they are coming from. with Korg and Roland I have all their stuff, but Emu you just cant get that way. I wish Emulator X was available still.

Virtuoso is a very good example of having a natural, raw sound in itself, as if you are sitting in the middle of the real orchestra. Others are tending to be over-processed. For the best example listen to the choir sounds from the SRX Roland card. Those plain sounds the Amen's and Hallelujah's, compared to the SR-JV-80-13 card from which it was taken, this is a sheer example of over-processing and virtually destroying the raw simplicity of it. You may find other examples too from the same card. But for Virtuoso - it has that raw acoustic orchestra vibe which might not to everybody's liking, but is the most natural sound you might hear from that era at least.

The industry standard might have it's own liking, but this is from the (currently former) player of the orchestra.

P. S.: I never had an E-MU Emulator or it's appropriate discs so I am not qualified to comment on it.