The Sound Board

Guy Rowland wrote:X - I don't think this has changed in 2.0, but it's 1 nki per instrument and mike (4 mic options for most instruments). All the articulations are keyswitches, some momentary, some latched.

Larry - forgot to say I've never done a BBB demo as such, it's nearly always combined with other instruments. I often want more bite from the trumpets for example - it's a far more pleasing and realistic tone than CHH's, but the downside is that it's quite timid. The Swing trumpet ensembles really are the sound I've been waiting for there - real bite but without plasticity.

Thanks Guy, that clarifies it for me. Really looking forward to your video, even if it's like seeing the inside of Fort Knox, a place I could never get into personally. Perhaps there will be a 99 percent off sale someday.

Piet- I get what your saying. I suppose I should clarify. Under $80 I can (and have) taken chances on developers. Under $20 I may even get it just to see what it is and how the developer works (I did this with Embertone), but clearly I can handle the loss if I'm wrong, Even with these really cheap libraries I've gotten some kind of walkthrough video or good idea of what I'm buying before I consider it. Yet BBB is still something of a mystery to those who don't own it. That just strikes me as odd.

Above that $80 point I am normally not surprised, and that is usually because I stick with developers I feel I can trust. Reviews by objective third parties (Sounds and gear, VIcontrol, here, etc) have really helped me to find those developers without a $500 mistake, but I've had to wait more than once beyond the intro offer to find more of those independent reviews. All the years BBB has been out and I still can't find enough info to make an informed decision in that regard, to me that speaks volumes. At this point (but granted not when BBB was released) there are enough reliable companies to stay on firm ground when spending hundreds of dollars. Project Sam, Orchestral Tools, Cinesamples, Sample Modeling, Spitfire, Heavyocity, Ilya Efimov, Soniccouture, Soundiron, Chocolate Audio, Orange Tree, Indiginous, Embertone, Mod Wheel, Boulder Sounds, Frozen Plain, Realitone,... are all reliable and provide enough information (along with outside reviews) to make a decision. I don't believe one of them have missed a release by more than a day or two, and all of them are concerned with their customers satisfaction.

When speaking with Yuval (I've connected with him on facebook when he wrote me to chew me out about making a comment about his tardiness- and of course he deleted all of my comments) I can see he is passionate (to put it politely) but he is certainly not concerned with customers, no matter how much you spend. Otherwise his communications skills would have improved, especially when he runs into a snag (is there such a thing as a 5 year snag?).

All that said I'm glad you are happy with the library. Perhaps getting the right big band sound is just difficult, and especially when this was released it was surely a breakthrough in this area. After seeing Fable sound's booth at NAMM A few years in a row recently I would have thought they would have more products (or something more recently released), but no. I'm surprised this one product could support this company and all it's expenses for so long, but perhaps that is why he needs BBB's price to be so high. It's just not something I would want to support, to that extent (yes, at $17, I would buy him lunch for it). But that is a choice each person must make, and I realize the right sound can be more of a concern once the price is paid. Especially if well paying gigs will cover the cost.

Piet De Ridder wrote:...Add to that the fact that the dynamic response of many patches is still all wrong, that the instant playability is still as poor as it ever was...

Gawd I'd forgotten. Or it's got worse. It's positively shocking actually. Set to midi CC vel response, seems common to ride up the modwheel to 80% with little effect, then it shoots wildly to ff in about the next 5% of travel. Then when you ride back down, it behaves differently. And it phases between the two.

I've only had the quickest of tests so far with the orchestrator presets and they work sorta ok, but don't think they're quite as smart as LASS's ARC for example.

It's very early days for me and 2.0. But I'd say in today's market, you really really REALLY have to love the specific BBB sound and go in eyes wide open to be able to live with the cost. I'm not totally down on it - just as I was horrifed anew at some aspects of the library, I really do love the realism that some of the articulations give. And it does get used. It's just hard to live with the flaws at their prices in 2017, given how much more solid so much of the competition is.

Guy Rowland wrote:(...) But I'd say in today's market, you really really REALLY have to love the specific BBB sound and go in eyes wide open to be able to live with the cost. (...)

I totally agree, Guy. If one is not totally into that sound and the styles of music that benefit from it, this library at this price is an indefensible proposition.

_

Got the download code, it's the same as the registration number of the original boxed version.

I am very much into great sounding horns, but I don't pay Lamborghini prices because I'd frankly rather redistribute my wealth, socialist that I am.

That said, if I were to buy a Lamborghini, I'd expect it to be delivered on time and in perfect working order upon delivery. I have never read a single comment about BBB that suggested that was the case.

This library requires the total love due to its sound from a composer, as it seems. I cannot comprehend how anyone would buy it today ... sure, the three bucks for the update (which seems to be rather disappointing in many regards) I would spend for hopefully a few things to improve ... but to buy this today for a whopping 1750 ... one surely has to be desperate for that sound!
The worst thing is the inability of the developer to learn from his mistakes. I hope he will not sell many copies, as maybe then he could at some point realize what urgently needs to be done, do it and regain some trust. It is a shame, as he seems to have a great set of samples to start with, but completely fails to deliver them in a usable package. Instead, he seems to have mislead all off his resources to this polyphonic legato script ... well, there still is the option for him to start fresh, rethink and hopefully learn from his mistakes. I really whish him success in that and I would pay a premium price for a library like that, presented in a better form. But it would have to offer great patches for all Bigband situations. If it only worked for a certain style well, I couldn't spend that kind of money on it.