Considering their age, I think the older generation of spifire libraries should be cheaper. They still sound quite good, and I think it's such a waste to make them all so expensive after so many years.
Yeah I hear you. but if they were valuable then they are still valuable now I Guess. I wish they were cheaper but It still sounds great and worth the cash.
It should be noted that on Appassionata for the least amount of sampler interference you should turn the Legato Offset to 150ms, and Release up to max. Otherwise, the plugin is compromising the sound of the samples in the name of playability. Unless at max, the release artificially end too soon, and with legato offset anything lower than 150ms unnaturally shortens the legatos. The actual effect on playability is negligible but the sound difference is clear, and by default it's not at these settings.
So, right now I’m trying to decide among hairloom, Abbey Road 2 or Appassionata. I already have all the Spitfire Kontakt libraries showed on this video. From the Kontakt Spitfire Audio or any other Kontakt library showed in this video which one do you think is closest to the sound and friendly user than Appassionata? Please let me know! I’d appreciate it so much
@@inspisiavideos8542 Sorry I never saw this, I imagine its a bit too late. I don't own either of those. But from looking elsewhere, the closest library in terms of both playability and sound quality seems to be Cinematic Studio Strings.
love your review on the pros and cons comparison. Chamber strings definitely requires higher learning curve that's why I love using CSS. But now Appassionata String give another option for easy playability.
Wonderful video, thanks Miguel! Could you share other effects such as reverb/EQ that you're using to achieve Appassionata sound? Or you may not be... It sounds fantastic.
Just a quick tip, if you leave timestamps in the description of your videos you create a cool effect on the video that shows those timestamps on the progress bar. That way people can easily click around to compare examples!
It's on a whole new level indeed. I wasn't interested really at first, but now hearing these comparisons on YT, it makes every other library sound cheap (legato-wise).
Firstly, thank you for this video, the piece itself is very warm. I certainly hope to hear the rest some day. Secondly, as a visually impaired creator myself, I would hugely benefit from the relevant time-stamps if you were able to put them in? Right now, I can’t make an informed decision on which library to buy, because I cannot see which one is currently being played, when it is being played. With time-stamps, your video is more accessible, and easier to navigate as a previous commenter suggested, but the benefit for everyone else is of course, the ease of making an A/B comparison. If you have the time to address this someday, users such as myself would be grateful to you. Thanks.
Of those that have come out I only have Appassionata, Abbey Road Two has surprised me, it has a very special sound. As for Albion One I think it is very overrated. In certain aspects his years are noticeable. As for Legatos, which is what we are talking about, 8DIO has some very interesting things.
I have 5 of the 8 libraries. The ones I don't have are Appassionata, Sonokinetic, and AR2. I can do without the last two but will strongly consider Appassionata the next time Spitfire Audio has a sale.
Yes, they are slightly out of tune low, I don't know if it's because they put it on tape or that day the musicians didn't tune, even so I like that humanization and imperfection.
Interesting comparison, I like the use of the same phrase, and video production used to communicate was really good. I own all the libraries used. There was one thing that bothered me - for the Abbey Road Two - you put as PRO "Warm Sound" and the con being "Synthetic Sound" - which makes me ask - which is it? The only thing I could think is that the string texture might come through more in their samples - perhaps making it a bit "synthetic". I saw one video with Hans Zimmer where he said at the start of a project - it becomes a "Sound Safari" where you have to go looking for that right sound - and that is what I see drives my collecting sound libraries. I appreciate the work that goes into these videos - and in their own way -they can be inspiring to revisit what we have.
Exactly, each project is different, not only the musical composition is important but also the sound palette, even the mix. Regarding Abbey Road, the recording quality is excellent, but there is a lack of humanization and expressiveness in the musician's performance, which is why it sounds somewhat robotic. Thank you for your words.
hi there.While I do appreciate your time and effort to make this otherwise remarkable comparison ,claiming that 8Dio has used cheap mics is hillarious at least; cause they DID created a wealth of articulations ,extremely well sampled ,and you come and say to people they used cheap mics? Have you ever used high end mics? Do you own any high end mic ? any high end mixing console? How can you make such a statement so light ? What do YOU know about high end mics and engineering to say this?
Performance Samples has great free solo cello legato as a intro to their Pacific Strings and I think a violin solo leg too somewhere - but you need full Kontakt to use them. If you don't have full Kontakt, try Arcane by Embertone for their rather nice, but slightly limited Friedlander violin. It's in the individual patches once you complete the game ;)
Only free legato I could find is Strezov Afllatus minimalist violin I, it’s slow you’ll need sample delay offset in your daw, but make sure to have it.
Really love this comparison. I have a few of the mentioned libraries myself - but I cannot make them sound like you did. Maybe you could create a little tutorial video explaining how you played and used modwheel here?
You have to have a good palette, especially for strings, size, dry and wet, and since there is no perfect library, you have to have several, combining two libraries is sometimes necessary to achieve the desired sound.
@@miguellinares I just bought Solo and Ensemble Strings by Sample modelling. It doesn't sound impressive out of the box but after tweaking, it might be one of the most expressive, realistic and playable strings library to date.
Spitfire strings are great, except for the solo strings. They just can't seem to get them right. In their defence, hardly any companies know how to get those right.
I don‘t get it! Soloist string ensembles are judged sounding ‚synthetic‘ here ? Possibly people do not know anymore how real string instruments sound with all these megalomaniac hollywood washed junk unison sound we got… B.t.w. the last should not even be inside this comparison, as it does not aim to be like these others, overprocessed, unnatural sounding stacked sound, that multiplies to ridiculously huge amounts of virtual performers with polyphonic note...
I know perfectly well what a solo string ensemble sounds like, I'm a violist, and even friends who play strings have told me that the sound is quite artificial in this particular library. There is a long way to go to reach realism in solo string libraries.
@@miguellinares So this probably traces down to tastes and articulation usage. For my taste the last library sounds superior compared to these others reviewed here. This is probably because of the soloist divisi in the last, which is just incomparable to the other libraries reviewed, which all have unison sampled medium to large string ensembles, which by the way always will multiply unnaturally with each new note added.
Considering their age, I think the older generation of spifire libraries should be cheaper. They still sound quite good, and I think it's such a waste to make them all so expensive after so many years.
Yeah I hear you. but if they were valuable then they are still valuable now I Guess. I wish they were cheaper but It still sounds great and worth the cash.
Now, all older Albions are available again 😉🙌🏻
It should be noted that on Appassionata for the least amount of sampler interference you should turn the Legato Offset to 150ms, and Release up to max.
Otherwise, the plugin is compromising the sound of the samples in the name of playability.
Unless at max, the release artificially end too soon, and with legato offset anything lower than 150ms unnaturally shortens the legatos.
The actual effect on playability is negligible but the sound difference is clear, and by default it's not at these settings.
So, right now I’m trying to decide among hairloom, Abbey Road 2 or Appassionata. I already have all the Spitfire Kontakt libraries showed on this video. From the Kontakt Spitfire Audio or any other Kontakt library showed in this video which one do you think is closest to the sound and friendly user than Appassionata? Please let me know! I’d appreciate it so much
@@inspisiavideos8542 Appasionata is the best you can get, it is a qualitative leap with respect to the previous symphonic and chamber strings
@@inspisiavideos8542 Sorry I never saw this, I imagine its a bit too late.
I don't own either of those. But from looking elsewhere, the closest library in terms of both playability and sound quality seems to be Cinematic Studio Strings.
Thank you!! Makes a huge difference.
@@semproser19 Agree. it does the magic every time.
Homay sold this to me Quite EASILY 😍 I’m DEFINITELY going to buy this Library!
love your review on the pros and cons comparison. Chamber strings definitely requires higher learning curve that's why I love using CSS. But now Appassionata String give another option for easy playability.
You should also check out Performance Samples VISTA and Pacific Strings (when it comes out)
Thank you for putting this up. This gives us something to compare. The Pro and Cons section was extremity helpful.
0:53- Cuerdas de cámara Spitfire,,,THE CLEAREST
I wouldn't find a better piece to compare strings libraries. It's one of my fav Hans Zimmer's.
Wonderful video, thanks Miguel! Could you share other effects such as reverb/EQ that you're using to achieve Appassionata sound? Or you may not be... It sounds fantastic.
"Honor" The pacific main theme, beautiful !
Just a quick tip, if you leave timestamps in the description of your videos you create a cool effect on the video that shows those timestamps on the progress bar. That way people can easily click around to compare examples!
Done! Thanks
Apasionata is unbelieavable
It's on a whole new level indeed. I wasn't interested really at first, but now hearing these comparisons on YT, it makes every other library sound cheap (legato-wise).
Firstly, thank you for this video, the piece itself is very warm. I certainly hope to hear the rest some day.
Secondly, as a visually impaired creator myself, I would hugely benefit from the relevant time-stamps if you were able to put them in?
Right now, I can’t make an informed decision on which library to buy, because I cannot see which one is currently being played, when it is being played.
With time-stamps, your video is more accessible, and easier to navigate as a previous commenter suggested, but the benefit for everyone else is of course, the ease of making an A/B comparison.
If you have the time to address this someday, users such as myself would be grateful to you.
Thanks.
Thanks Andre, solved. The musical theme is a fragment of Hans Zimmer, it is called Honor.
Something about appassionata strings that made my body shiver. Is there a complete version of this piece?
Hola Javier, si, es el tema Honor de Hans Zimmer
I really enjoy using Appassionata, probably more than CSS. Swells would have been a really nice addition to it.
Of those that have come out I only have Appassionata, Abbey Road Two has surprised me, it has a very special sound.
As for Albion One I think it is very overrated. In certain aspects his years are noticeable. As for Legatos, which is what we are talking about, 8DIO has some very interesting things.
Very useful, thank you so much for doing this comparison!
I have 5 of the 8 libraries. The ones I don't have are Appassionata, Sonokinetic, and AR2. I can do without the last two but will strongly consider Appassionata the next time Spitfire Audio has a sale.
Buen trabajo!!!Muchisimas gracias!!!!
Gracias a ti, me alegro que te haya servido de ayuda
How is Century sordino not getting any love??
Thanks for proving me that I'm not crazy. Always heard Spitfire's Symphonic Strings lower!
Nice Video anyway!
Yes, they are slightly out of tune low, I don't know if it's because they put it on tape or that day the musicians didn't tune, even so I like that humanization and imperfection.
@@miguellinares I like them too, but they are unusable with other libraries or instruments that are tuned to 440Hz!
@@EmaTosc You just have to set the pitch in kontakt +0.10 and solved
@@miguellinares never thought about this solution. Thanks!
This is great! Thank you, Miguel!
Super useful and well-crafted video. Thank you!!
Thank you! I really appreciate that.
Glad to help!
Где можно послушать целую композицию ?
To OP, For the CONs section of SSS what is downtune to 438hz referring to?? Thanks
Normally libraries are tuned to 440hz, some even to 442hz, in SSS they are slightly detuned below
Thanks for the reply. Great video!
I should also ask why you believe this to be a CON? Don’t know enough about this concept. Thanks again!
Chamber and Opus Steings are the best,now i get Cinematic strings.
Interesting comparison, I like the use of the same phrase, and video production used to communicate was really good. I own all the libraries used. There was one thing that bothered me - for the Abbey Road Two - you put as PRO "Warm Sound" and the con being "Synthetic Sound" - which makes me ask - which is it? The only thing I could think is that the string texture might come through more in their samples - perhaps making it a bit "synthetic". I saw one video with Hans Zimmer where he said at the start of a project - it becomes a "Sound Safari" where you have to go looking for that right sound - and that is what I see drives my collecting sound libraries. I appreciate the work that goes into these videos - and in their own way -they can be inspiring to revisit what we have.
Exactly, each project is different, not only the musical composition is important but also the sound palette, even the mix. Regarding Abbey Road, the recording quality is excellent, but there is a lack of humanization and expressiveness in the musician's performance, which is why it sounds somewhat robotic. Thank you for your words.
hi there.While I do appreciate your time and effort to make this otherwise remarkable comparison ,claiming that 8Dio has used cheap mics is hillarious at least; cause they DID created a wealth of articulations ,extremely well sampled ,and you come and say to people they used cheap mics? Have you ever used high end mics? Do you own any high end mic ? any high end mixing console? How can you make such a statement so light ? What do YOU know about high end mics and engineering to say this?
Could anyone please recommend a free, legato solo strings library? I can't seem to find any good ones... Violin/viola/cello...
Performance Samples has great free solo cello legato as a intro to their Pacific Strings and I think a violin solo leg too somewhere - but you need full Kontakt to use them. If you don't have full Kontakt, try Arcane by Embertone for their rather nice, but slightly limited Friedlander violin. It's in the individual patches once you complete the game ;)
Only free legato I could find is Strezov Afllatus minimalist violin I, it’s slow you’ll need sample delay offset in your daw, but make sure to have it.
IN ALBION ONE THE VIOLINS SOUND WITH A 8va UP, that is why the sound is a little bit different.
There is only octave legato patch for high strings, legato mid strings, and octave low strings and basses.
Really love this comparison. I have a few of the mentioned libraries myself - but I cannot make them sound like you did. Maybe you could create a little tutorial video explaining how you played and used modwheel here?
I don't usually pay much attention, I do it instinctively, but as a general rule at each change of arc, I lower and raise the dynamic again
You own so many libraries...!!!
You have to have a good palette, especially for strings, size, dry and wet, and since there is no perfect library, you have to have several, combining two libraries is sometimes necessary to achieve the desired sound.
@@miguellinares I just bought Solo and Ensemble Strings by Sample modelling. It doesn't sound impressive out of the box but after tweaking, it might be one of the most expressive, realistic and playable strings library to date.
Thanks for doing this! Really helpful.
Thank you for this video. Very informing. Great work!
Great comparison!
TYVM for this video!!! Go more plz!
Amazing well done!
Spitfire strings are great, except for the solo strings. They just can't seem to get them right. In their defence, hardly any companies know how to get those right.
I agree
Solo string libraries have been the holy grial of sampling since the begining
Apasionata has portamento V1, V2 and Cello on certain range of note and velocity
Thanks for the note, more than portamento, what I hear is a legato transition
What the name of this music?
Very good !!!!
Spitfire Symphonic Strings
thanks, but for me, the best were and are still are cinematic strings and studio strings legato
I was amazed by the bad sound of Abbey Road and I loved Apassionata.
What’s bad about them? There pretty decent for a quintet library.
Albion One - MVP
I thought Albion One sounded fantastic considering it's age!
For that kind of sound... I suggest BBC ( Spitfire )
Pacific Strings and Berlin Strings are The best so far, Spitfire is an OVERRATED company an TOO Expensive
I don‘t get it!
Soloist string ensembles are judged sounding ‚synthetic‘ here ? Possibly people do not know anymore how real string instruments sound with all these megalomaniac hollywood washed junk unison sound we got… B.t.w. the last should not even be inside this comparison, as it does not aim to be like these others, overprocessed, unnatural sounding stacked sound, that multiplies to ridiculously huge amounts of virtual performers with polyphonic note...
I know perfectly well what a solo string ensemble sounds like, I'm a violist, and even friends who play strings have told me that the sound is quite artificial in this particular library. There is a long way to go to reach realism in solo string libraries.
@@miguellinares So this probably traces down to tastes and articulation usage. For my taste the last library sounds superior compared to these others reviewed here. This is probably because of the soloist divisi in the last, which is just incomparable to the other libraries reviewed, which all have unison sampled medium to large string ensembles, which by the way always will multiply unnaturally with each new note added.
Spitfire LIBS ? No! until they fix the interface ! Completely unreadable on 4K screens. Total disaster. Too bad because they sound so awesome !
None. All sound pathetic against the real thing