It’s not your imagination. There was a version of a product from Native Instruments (Kontakt Player 2?) used to supply the sounds.  What a pain that was to install and manage as I recall. I don’t recall when they went to Aria/Garritan. 

You can get the current versions of Kontakt, Komplete and Ultimate. Much easier to install and manage nowadays. All the big resellers have Komplete 11 on sale for $499 for the next three days. There is no discount for having owned the version bundled with Finale.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Komp11?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIwMTK5M_D2AIVkrrACh2oJANGEAQYASABEgJdxvD_BwE

It’s also available for download only from NI (takes forever but it works).

https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/bundles/komplete-11/pricing/ 

Kontakt 5 is $399 and has only a fraction of the instruments included in Komplete but may have everything you are looking for.

https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/samplers/kontakt-5/

There is still a free version of Kontakt Player. Scroll down to the bottom of this page. I don’t know if any strings are included in the 50mB sample library.

https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/

If you want to see what going all in involves, there’s Ultimate, on sale for $999. At the bottom of this page is a comparison chart. 

https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/bundles/komplete-11-ultimate/included-products/

Are you talking about the MIDI sounds?

(P.S. What computer Operating System are you using?)

Hi. Well, MIDI sounds I searched on the internet and found out that they have no info about the instruments only the notes.

But when I open my song on Finale, the sound in the current Finale Version is not the same as it was in my old Finale 2003, which was in another computer. Now I have a Mac Mini. So, when I open and play the song on Finale, it is not MIDI right?

Thanks a lot!

All playback is midi.

In Finale 2003, your only playback choice was the softsynth. The Garritan sounds with the Kontakt player started with Finale 2006. A couple years later Finale could use any VST sound.

If you're using Finale 25 for playback now, and you want it to sound like Finale 2003, make sure you're using the softfynth for playback.

The General MIDI sounds are part of the OS, not Finale. Same goes for the Windows version. I don’t recall that the GM sounds changed on the Mac. Back in the day, other GM libraries were available for download but that was a long time ago (System 6?)..

For many years, Finale has included a set of VI libraries. As I mentioned, they used to be supplied by NI, now they are supplied by Garritan. Of course, you can still use the operating system GM libraries instead of Garritan.

Hello All. Thanks for the replies. Well, in Finale 2003 I didn't need to install anything and I was simple computer user, just pressed the play button and the sounds were awesome. I tried today to install this Kontakt, It is quite heavy and I didn't understand how to use it, nor inside finally 25 of Mac. Maybe I need to search on the internet.

Regarding Softsynth, if it was the default library in Finale 2003, the sound is not the same in the current version. In the 25 version shows SmartMusic SoftSynth. 

I used to do music as a final product with Finale, and with the current sounds It is not possible anymore.

Thanks!

Alvaro,

If you are currently trying out the demo version of Finale 25, you do not have access to the Garritan sampled sounds that come with the paid version and are (IMO) almost always preferable to the MIDI/Softsynth sounds. The Aria player also gives you some options to add reverb to the sounds to make them sound a little closer to realistic.

Good point. The $99 upgrade is good through Jan 15.

https://makemusic.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/115007972353--99-Upgrade-offer-back-through-Jan-15-2018

Hello.

So the name of the instrument library is Garritan? And the full version contains this library?

Thanks!

Finale has, for some years now, come with a subset of the sampled sounds produced by Garritan--once an independent company, now a subsidiary of MakeMusic. Garritan produces several packages of sounds--Garritan Personal Orchestra, Jazz and Big Band, Garritan World Instruments: you get the idea. The Garritan Instruments for Finale (GIFF) represent a subset selected from the various Garritan packages. But these sounds are not included in the demo version of Finale, only in the full Finale package, although you can buy the individual packages separately according to your needs, as many Finale users have.

See https://www.garritan.com/?_ga=2.136745714.357262282.1514095148-804679756.1507564034 

for a description of the full range of Garritan offerings.

http://usermanuals.finalemusic.com/Finale2014Win/Content/Finale/GIFF_Details.htm?Highlight=Finale%2025%20sounds 

appears to give a list of the instruments included in full Finale.

Great. Tks a lot.