Native Instruments Symphony Series String Ensemble

[Marius]

This is pretty exciting...the new string ensemble is made in collaboration with none other than Andrew from Audiobro!









The demos sound extremely promising.

[Marius]

Watching the short articulations video...looks like they've been pretty stingy on the RRs for these. 4 for staccatos, 4 for spiccatos, 2 for pizz. etc. Interesting.

[Guy Rowland]

AUDIOBRO?!!!!!

Blimey crikey, who saw that coming? No-one. I mean, we knew strings was coming, but not Audiobro.

Functionality is LASS, massively simplified. Programming looks excellent, as I now expect from NI. Only 2 sections per instrument, but combined on the violins I see to give 4 voice auto-divisi. The runs sound very good. 4x repetitions is a little frugal.

Tonally.... I think it will come in for a little criticism here. It doesn't have the super-lush sound of ONE / Mural, for example, and I was finding some of the demos' strings a little fizzy. Also I want hear some detailed legato, such a strength of LASS - crucially LASS was recorded in a dry hall, this appears to be ambient.

So I'd like to hear a true walkthrough really, someone playing through some of the patches. There's no way it makes any sense for me to buy this given as I have LASS, CineStrings, Sable, ONE, Symphobia blah blah, but it looks like yet another good option to confuse us all further.

[blakus]

Wow, definitely didn't see this coming. Huge fan of AudioBro here! Although I don't use LASS anymore, it was a game changer for me.
The demos haven't impressed me so far, it sounds quite sterile and the transitions sound sluggish - this could be just a problem with the demos though.

Interestingly, Andrew mentioned on VI that LASS is still their flagship product and will continue to be developed (LASS 3?). I guess this collaboration with N.I. will suit the wider audience it is aimed for. It appears to be more simple in design, function and features. Definitely a clever financial move for AudioBro, I'm interested to see how it's received by us more "orchestral" nerds!

[Jack Weaver]

It seems like a light, Euro touch kind of sound. Not necessarily my cup of tea. The programing looks like it shows the influence of Andrew et Cie but tailored to meet a specific marketing niche. For me it doesn't have that sculpted sound and aggressive dynamic that LASS is known for.

It's crafted well and I'm sure it's a more than adequate stablemate for the SoundIron/Kontakt brass library. Knowing AudioBro they've learned a lot through the process and will tuck it into their bag of tricks for their own line of products. I hope Andrew and Sebastian laugh all the way to the bank.

Just guessing that our crowd would look more forward to a new set of Hollywood string players creating an updated samples set for the prequel to the LAND of LASS. I have no reason to doubt AudioBro's ability or disparage their reasons for doing this library. We all know they have more up their sleeve. They just take their own, sweet time to get things done. I'l bet with this project that had a lot of arduous labor done by NI employees or contractors.

Given all that I just said, if it did find a way to my sample drives it would probably find a use somewhere. Just not first call.

It's notable that neither the string nor brass library clearly featured the sound of all the articulations in their instructional videos. That is probably a Native Instruments in-house marketing decision. But I have to say I don't appreciate spending a lot of time watching their videos and not being able to hear what the patches actually sound like.

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PS- Man, it's such a relief being able to write what I really think over here... Thank you Sound Board!

[Guy Rowland]

PS- Man, it's such a relief being able to write what I really think over here...

You most certainly can, Jack - and look how civil the place is! Freedom to speak freely does not thankfully equate with a noisy jungle.

One point on that though - The Front Page here is viewable to everyone, all news and reactions to news. When we're into the nitty gritty of a library (or anything else), that would take place elsewhere in the forum, for members-only.

Back to the strings - just to draw everyone's attention to the fact that there are other videos about the library on the NI website, but they're hidden from view. You need to click the three lines icon on the top left of the video window on the Tutorial Videos page http://www.native-instruments.com/en/pr ... al-videos/ .

[Jack Weaver]

Guy, thanks for the words to the wise.

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[Piet De Ridder]

Despite having some of the same misgivings as Guy and Jack — so many demos and videos and still not having a really good idea of how the library actually sounds in detail — I heard just enough things which I rather like to give this a go.
(While downloading I was suddenly thinking: who are they going to team up with to do the woodwinds?)

I'll get back with some impressions in a few days or so. In the "Instruments & Libraries" section.

_

[Lawrence]

Yay, a new Piet review!

I vacillate between LASS, HS Gold and CS 2 for various purposes. I really can't justify the cost of Berlin, Mural, Sable, but I love the agility and small sections of LASS, the lush sound of CS2, the full and present sound of HS. Prices like the price of the new NI stuff make it tempting to take a shot, but I dunno. How many templates does one want to set up?? I end up confused and frozen sometimes with too many choices, and I find myself mucking about downloading and learning new products instead of writing. Seems counterproductive.

[Guy Rowland]

Equally anticipating your thoughts Piet, especially how transitions sound with the ambient recordings.

And very much in the same boat as Larry - my staples are LASS 2, CineStrings (and runs), Sable, Project SAM stuff, OSR and now Albion ONE. There definitely comes a point of diminishing returns for me, ever-chasing that elusive perfection, or always wanting just one more variety of tone. Sure is a crowded market these days.