Soundfonts

Soundfonts are basically wav files that are designed to enhance a midi file.  If you own sound blaster live, you can make use of soundfonts.  Furthermore, if you own cakewalk or some other advanced sequencer, the sequencer will allow you to use the soundfonts as well.  You have to load the soundfonts into memory every time you start up the computer.

There is a problem with soundfonts however.  While they may enhance the sound of your midi file, soundfonts can only reach a certain size in megs.  An example may be that the piano soundfont may have only a few notes sampled to save memory, and may only be 4 - 30 megs big.  This obviously is a problem, because the piano will not sound exactly like a piano.  Those string soundfonts, while sounding average, will sound very electronic, and personally that is not good enough for a professional recording.

Soundfonts are ok for composers who are not serious about a professional recording, and perfect for the amateur composer.  However soundfonts are not a solution for a professional recording.  If your soundfonts are less than 100 megs in size, the quality will be noticeable.