ProjectSAM: Orchestral Essentials I and II free update 2.0 and sale

[Guy Rowland]

There's an up-to 50% off sale for new customers and a free update for existing ones with the 2.0 update to the Orchestral Essentials series (a pretty remarkable £77 each in the UK). It has the same kinds of new features that the other 2.0 updates have in their range:

New engine and design
all-in-one browser
reimagined Multis
improved legato engine
envelopes and filters

They work in Kontakt 6, praise be. As with the Symphobias, it takes a few seconds to load the all-in-one, and the multis take a little while too, otherwise it's a very slick and lovely experience. It's all geared for quick and fast performance, but under the hood you can tweak anything.

Well, ALMOST anything. One thing I was a bit disappointed at is that these legatos are close-mics only, which is the right choice for being nimble to play and reducing the crossfading glitches. But as far as I can tell, inexplicably they lack a basic IR bloom of a similar hall to set the instruments back in the stage to match the ensembles.

Also it would have been lovely to have an interface that combines all the material from I and II. Nevertheless it's pretty remarkable stuff for the price.

These are brilliant laptop libraries by the way - OE1 is only 8GB, OE2 is 10GB.

[bryla]

Been eyeing this update. Owning all the Symphobias to me it's still a question of "what do I gain from this?" I can see that a couple of the instruments are library exclusive and I get that the footprint is small. But are the multis maybe a place where the libraries shine?

[Guy Rowland]

Been eyeing this update. Owning all the Symphobias to me it's still a question of "what do I gain from this?" I can see that a couple of the instruments are library exclusive and I get that the footprint is small. But are the multis maybe a place where the libraries shine?

I still think if you own all the Symphobias the OE series is not worth having as well. Yes there are different multis, but it is variations on a theme inevitably.

[bryla]

Thanks, Guy! I'll pass on this offer then

[playz123]

Isn’t one able now to create one’s own multis in version two, or am I mistaken? That is something I might find useful if I go ahead with the free update.