This is gong to run long, so forgive me ahead of time. I’ve gotten by with free VSTi’s and samples so far, but given that we’ve got Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday sales coming up, I’m thinking about dipping my toes in the commercial end of things. Keep in mind this is just a hobby for me. I’m writing classical/film score type music for my own pleasure.
What I’m looking at is an all-in-one orchestra package in the mid-level price range. It seems to me that often in this price range ($300-$450), you get either quality sounds or lots of options (Multiple articulations, solo instruments, etc.). Here are the ones I’m looking at, in order or how I rank their sounds only:
Cinesamples CineSymphony Lite
Spitfire Albion One
EastWest Hollywood Orchestra Gold
ProjectSAM Orchestral Essentials 1
VSL Special Edition Vol. 1 Essential Orchestra
NI Symphony Essentials Collection
Sonuscore The Orchestra
UVI Orchestral Suite
If you have any experience or opinions on which one you think sounds best or has the most/best options and/or features, please tell me.
My second option is to buy an individual orchestra section, one at a time. Some of these all-in-one will have a bad section, ie, brass and winds sound great but strings sound fake. Some don’t have a choir, or the choir only has 2 or 3 syllables (Oo, Ah, Ee). So what if, instead of an all-in-one, I buy a section with no flaws or weaknesses, then save up to buy the rest one at a time. The biggest drawback I can see to this is cost. An individual orchestra section can cost as much as a single all-in-one package listed above, but I won’t be compromising. I do worry about how an awesome whatever section will make my free stuff sound that much worse by comparison. And what about mixing sections from different programmers? Would I be better off to buy from a single programmer, or just use whatever sounds best to me?
If you have an opinion on using individual sections or sections to recommend (Brass, woodwinds, strings, percussion, choir), please let me know.
My last option is to do neither, but instead buy the full version of Kontakt. I recently downloaded the free Kontakt Player, but obviously lots of instruments run only on the paid version. This would open up a lot of choices in the future, but for now, I wouldn’t be able to by a new orchestra immediately. More doors would be open for future purchases. Is this sensible or stupid?
If you think one of these choices is better than the others, tell me. Thanks for any help in advance.
What I’m looking at is an all-in-one orchestra package in the mid-level price range. It seems to me that often in this price range ($300-$450), you get either quality sounds or lots of options (Multiple articulations, solo instruments, etc.). Here are the ones I’m looking at, in order or how I rank their sounds only:
Cinesamples CineSymphony Lite
Spitfire Albion One
EastWest Hollywood Orchestra Gold
ProjectSAM Orchestral Essentials 1
VSL Special Edition Vol. 1 Essential Orchestra
NI Symphony Essentials Collection
Sonuscore The Orchestra
UVI Orchestral Suite
If you have any experience or opinions on which one you think sounds best or has the most/best options and/or features, please tell me.
My second option is to buy an individual orchestra section, one at a time. Some of these all-in-one will have a bad section, ie, brass and winds sound great but strings sound fake. Some don’t have a choir, or the choir only has 2 or 3 syllables (Oo, Ah, Ee). So what if, instead of an all-in-one, I buy a section with no flaws or weaknesses, then save up to buy the rest one at a time. The biggest drawback I can see to this is cost. An individual orchestra section can cost as much as a single all-in-one package listed above, but I won’t be compromising. I do worry about how an awesome whatever section will make my free stuff sound that much worse by comparison. And what about mixing sections from different programmers? Would I be better off to buy from a single programmer, or just use whatever sounds best to me?
If you have an opinion on using individual sections or sections to recommend (Brass, woodwinds, strings, percussion, choir), please let me know.
My last option is to do neither, but instead buy the full version of Kontakt. I recently downloaded the free Kontakt Player, but obviously lots of instruments run only on the paid version. This would open up a lot of choices in the future, but for now, I wouldn’t be able to by a new orchestra immediately. More doors would be open for future purchases. Is this sensible or stupid?
If you think one of these choices is better than the others, tell me. Thanks for any help in advance.