What are your thoughts? is elements enough or will I miss anything?
Your best bet is to compare them and see whether you know you need the features from Pro! If not, enjoy Elements and upgrade if/when you find you need more features. That said, given the ongoing sale, right now is probably the best possible time to jump into Pro in terms of cost, so if you can afford it, you might just go for it!
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Really depends on your goals. If youāre not willing to spend a lot of money at once, the Dorico Elements is 49.99 euros right now with the sale, so I think itās really worth it. Otherwise, go for the Pro version.
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Yeah thatās where I am at right now between the two. I tried MuseScore 4 but that thing canāt even use my sustain pedal on my controller!!
Ive NEVER used a notation app so Im flying blind here. DAWS a plenty and C13 and WaveLab here.
I want to hack away at the notation writing if you will. A comparison shows I would be missing the Halion Symphonic Orchestra library that comes with Pro
Thanks for the help
IMO youād better try your way with Elements: it works exactly the same way with Pro (in terms of āhacking away at the notation writingā), so you can test the water without spending too much.
There will be another sale in the future, so you can still upgrade to Pro with a discount then. Of course, you can also try to sell the Pro, should you dive in right now & then find out that it doesnāt work the way youād like.
Since you own Cubase, Dorico Pro is now around 150ā¬ for you. Best deal ever, and will likely not come back for the foreseeable future.
Maybe for Steinbergās 50th anniversaryā¦ 
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Isnāt it the case that for future updates you have to calculate that you will then also have to buy the generally more expensive updates for Dorico Pro? Please correct me if Iām wrong.
Updates (so from Dorico Pro 5 to Dorico Pro 6) tend to be 99,99ā¬/$ - but no one forces you to buy the update and you can use the previous version for as long as you want. And since the update doesnāt seem to be imminent, 150ā¬ or thereabouts is an absolute steal for Dorico Pro.
You do get Iconica Sketch with Elements, which is a relatively new remix of the massive (and expensive) Iconica libraryās orchestral samples.
TBH, the lack of HSO is nothing to shed a tear over.
Iād agree that you should buy Pro now while the sale is on.
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I was happy with Elements for a long while, itās very complete and can do a lot.
For me, the main things that pushed me to upgrade were:
- Dynamic cues - I write a lot for small ensembles and having cues is really crucial and having this feature saves a lot of time
- Condensing. In my case, being able to have a choir score with four staves, and a condensed version in the piano part
I might also explore custom expressions when writing for organ, so I can have keyboard and registration changes play back correctly, but this in itself is not a showstopper.
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Thank you guys VERY much.
After weighing the options I simply hit buy before my finger could respond so PRO it is. HaHa
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Iām also thinking of upgrading from Elements 5 to Pro 5 while itās on sale.
Since you also write for choir, can you tell me if Pro enables temporary divisi (on separate staves) for choir? Steinbergās comparison table only mentions divisi for strings (but surely you could do it for any part).
Itās quite an expensive upgrade for me (NZ$450 odd on sale) but a good saving on the full price (NZ$750 odd).
Iād almost do it just for the automated (I trust) piano reduction for choral music.
Thanks for your reply!
@Magenta Presumably you do not have Sibelius as there is the cross grade price special (finishing very soon).
(Also thereās a cross grade from Finale).
Personally I think the Pro version has so many other features it is definitely worth it, because if other projects come along, it is all there.
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Doricoās divisi function is excellent. Just add a divisi point, definie how many staves you want, and you get automatic āarrowsā at the end of the system. You donāt have to worry about exactly where the divisi falls and where the system starts ā Dorico handles it automatically.
Doricoās reduction is quite smart: If the rhythms are the same, it will reduce them as chords; but if the rhythms differ, then youāll get different voices. So it makes sense to do it in chunks.
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Thanks!
Thanks very much Benwiggy, thatās very helpful!
@Magenta I forgot to link to a previous post, with the comparison chart so you can see the differences (if you havenāt already compared them)
Although you already have Elements, I think you can still download the Dorico Pro 60 day Trial version. Then you would be able to test drive it for yourself.
Well, Iāve bought the upgrade to Dorico Pro 5! I decided it was work it for the time I will save on piano reductions for choral pieces, and for being able to do more singer-friendly divisi.
Thanks very much all of you for your help.
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Best wishes with it then Magenta! Remember if you have any problems, ask here at the forum.
Run as search, many things have already been answered, but some of the posted answers can make very long threads. You will find various threads about helping to learn past whatever you already know. It will be frustrating, but hopefully satisfying when you make progress in your score.
Or start a new thread.
I usually have the User Manual in my browser open if I know I am doing things outside what I already know (ā¦ or used to know!)
I think you will be pleased you have the Pro version.
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