Spitfire Albion ONE 10th anniversary update

[Guy Rowland]

Another updated product - Spitfire have added the following to Albion ONE

In the latest edition of our flagship product - updated in celebration of Spitfire Audio’s 10th Anniversary year - we’ve expanded beyond our recent “ONE” re-recordings of the initial Albion “legacy” product to include:

New UI design and NKS-ready integration
Orchestral: 15 new combination patches, combining different techniques and instrument groups in exciting ways
Percussion: Additional Easter Island hits plus new mixes by Jake Jackson
Stephenson’s Steam Synth: 63 new sounds and 67 presets, all by Spitfire Co-Founder Christian Henson
Brunel Loops: 78 new recordings across 8th, 16th and 12th rhythmic patterns, plus 90 new presets, including 51 from Christian Henson

Free for ONE owners, on general sale for £299 inc VAT (usually £399) til Jan 11.

[Lawrence]

I find this a little confusing-by "legacy" do they mean owners of Albion 1 (such as myself) ? Is it an upgrade from 1 to ONE for $99? If so, for those who have both, do you consider the difference to be worth $99? (It's certainly a reasonable price if worthwhile.)

[Guy Rowland]

I'm not quite sure Larry, it's free for ONE owners, and just noticed its also discounted for new customers too (added to the OP) - does anyone know about an upgrade from 1? If it were £99 I'd say that was definitely worth it. Really do love the strings in ONE - buttery but a nice bite and huge range in the shorts.

[PhJ]

It's tempting, I'm still at 1 too.

[byzantium]

Yep I got an email saying I can upgrade from my 'legacy' "1" to the new "ONE" for €99.
I was just going to ask here if peeps thought it was it worth it, when I spotted the thread.

I don't use "1" or to be honest really like much of it apart from Easter Island Hits and the Low String Octaves and Low Pizz.
I didn't bite on the original upgrade to ONE offer which was a bit more expensive.
I think I remember reading at the time that the percussion in ONE was phasey? - I don't know if they sorted that out?

But seeing the low price this time, wondering whether it would be worth it this time round.
(I have CSS, CS2, and some Adagio/Agitato/Adagietto/Anthology)

[Lawrence]

Pretty clever pricing, if it's 1 to ONE.

[Guy Rowland]

I honestly haven't noticed anything phasey about the percussion Paul - I see there's new mixes there though so maybe they've tweaked something. FWIW neither the woods or especially brass thrill me, ONE is all about the strings for me. I can't really compare to any of your libs Paul - my set are LASS, CineStrings, Sable, Symphobia. ONE sounds different to them all, very lush to my ears. Perhaps doesn't cut through a mix like some others and it's not for the big fff lines, but for melodic beauty it is fabulous. Just be aware that the legatos (which are by far the best I've heard from Spitfire) are a funny lot in terms of arrangement - for strings you get Full octaves (v1, v2, va) in a relatively low register, Hi octaves (v1, v2), low octaves (c, b) and mid (I think V1 and V2 running G2-G4). In other words, you're restricted arrangement-wise, but still very much worth it though imo.

[Lawrence]

I've just emailed them to try and clarify their offer.

[byzantium]

Ah thanks for all the info Guy - so legatos only exist in octaves in ONE - strange. I must have a listen to walkthroughs over the Christmas.

[Guy Rowland]

...except for those mids, they're non-octave.

[playz123]

My thanks to Spitfire for the free update; very nice Christmas present!

[Lawrence]

Cool, thanks Anders.

[Quasar]

Never got ONE, never thought I would. But the $99 upgrade from 1 shocked me and I purchased it immediately, on auto-pilot like the Star Trek Borg or something...

I still really like the pastoral vibe of Legacy, but am amazed at how different and non-redundant ONE is compared to 1. The close mic position seems much closer and drier, and the overall tone is much more, if not bombastic, ïn your face, 21st century style. I also appreciate that none of the brass patches have baked-in octave doubling (which always bothered me about 1).

There are reasons not to get ONE if it's not a free upgrade, but for anyone who has Legacy, it really is a whole other universe at a fantastic discount. Don't not get it because you think that Legacy already has you covered, because it doesn't. Great library.

[byzantium]

Thanks Q

[playz123]

I, for one, am extremely impressed by this upgrade. It's not just the orchestral stuff, the Stevenson's patches and Brunel loops have some excellent and inspiring content as well, and for those who need to go back the Legacy patches are still there. In fact, this gift probably could have been a paid upgrade, but instead it's a wonderful Christmas gift from Spitfire. As for those who still have the original Albion 1, I'm not sure if it will see much use anymore...it doesn't here, but I know there are still some things in it that people like. And $99 to upgrade to Albion ONE seems more than fair to me.

[Erik]

the phasey thing about drums has been discussed on VIC. Never noticed it but havn't used them much.

The same people say it's all sorted out in this update.

Theres' some new combination patches in there too (same samples). A lot of content added in edna engine as well, but very granular sounding and at times very fuzzy (stomp boxes used)

[tack]

and for those who need to go back the Legacy patches are still there.

Although, the legacy patches are quite neutered compared to Albion I, often missing even basic longs.

[byzantium]

Based on thoughts here, and having another listen through, I decided to go for the upgrade as a Christmas present to myself. I got no real use out of the original Albion (I didn't really like a lot of it), hopefully I'll get more use out of this later (when I ever get around to downloading it).
It does sound a good deal better on the latest walkthrough, and I think it's probably worth it just for the 'synth' material alone, some of which sounds great. Seems a huge amount of content for just €99.