The Sound Board

Bought the 8dioboe for 18$ or something. I never use it. It's just a mess. You may find some use for it if you write some lyrical lines specifically for the samples. But if you write an oboe part and then hope to mock it up with this library, it won't work.

Linos wrote: ↑Dec 07, 2019 6:50 am Bought the 8dioboe for 18$ or something. I never use it. It's just a mess. You may find some use for it if you write some lyrical lines specifically for the samples. But if you write an oboe part and then hope to mock it up with this library, it won't work.

Thanks for the warning - I'm not that keen on throwing money away even if its only 8 bucks. I bought a $2 Digeridoo library from them that was possibly the worst library ever made. It was quite staggering... if I recall it sounded like a mic that had been kicked into the back of a shed when some friends came over for some beers and someone got a Digeridoo out for a drunken laugh. I could have spent that two bucks on chocolate for crying out loud.

Well, you get an Oboe library for 8$. And that's about what it is worth in my opinion. Definitely not something I would buy again, no matter the price.

Linos wrote: ↑Dec 07, 2019 12:59 pm Well, you get an Oboe library for 8$. And that's about what it is worth in my opinion. Definitely not something I would buy again, no matter the price.

I second that.
I've got both of the oboe(s).
...Somewhere.

/Anders

Interesting. I have the Claire Woodwinds, and while they are not perfect (few, if any, sample libraries are perfect) I do find them quite useful as solo winds. I would not, or have not, used them as exposed soloists, but in the setting of a smaller ensemble they play nicely.

Slight tangent - I've always enjoyed the demos for Century Brass. I also enjoyed the demos for Adagio strings, and purchased them, and then discovered that Troels knows a thing or two about composition, orchestration, and production, and I don't<G>!

Is anyone here using Century brass?

I really just wanted to highlight that 8dio have been thoughtful enough to allow us to buy Majestica for our own mothers. I know mine for one would be thrilled.

Majestica: Mothers Day Flash Sale $198 (Reg Price: $598)

Same price for Lacrimosa.

:::snark alert:::

I try not to buy anything from 8Dio that’s over $28, and I’m rarely if ever disappointed.

Indolidus choir for $98 this week. Have to say, lovely demos (as usual "do I need it" blah blah"



https://8dio.com/instrument/insolidus-c ... x-samples/

yeah, that demo is lovely... and $98 is a steal, but I have enough choirs for now. Of course in 4-6 weeks I'll be handed a project that would benefit from Indolidus - but what the heck, I'll buy it then and curse myself quietly...

Just watching the walkthrough video now, it looks like Insolidus is, essentially, a phrase library. There are separate instruments for 2, 3 and 4 syllable phrases, which are tempo-synced. I think that's actually a pretty smart way of doing it, so you can get the totally natural phrasing and swells. A bit of a PITA to switch instruments depending on how many syllables the composition requires at any moment, and you'll sometimes be hamstrung if you need to force a phrasing, but everything is a trade off (and there are non-swell patches with CC control when you need to force dynamics).

There's quite a funny demonstration of how little the actual syllables matter in this video, with fake lyrics put to Carmina Burana @13.17



Dammit, my hand is getting twitchy over that buy button.

Well, just finished a very long TV series and a first script draft within 24 hours of each other, felt lightheaded and bought Insolidus. First impressions favourable, but really it's the kind of library that needs to be worked with in anger to reveal its strengths and weakness.

Essentially, you have basic legato, shorts and sustains, arcs over the different numbers of syllables, versions that swell on each syllable, crescendo and modwheel (some 3/4 and 4/4 variations). The most obvious omission is a diminuendo patch - unless you can re-phrase it using a multi-syllable arc you'd have to use the modwheel (isn't nearly as good as baked-in). Sounds lovely, the poly legato seems to play well enough, though the modwheel control feels oddly spongy.

At £75, can't grumble at all.

This week it's Century Strings 2.0, $119 down from $598.

And one more 8dio sale - well, sort of ... I just put century brass in the shopping basket and added the update voucher that should have put it down to $28 update fee. It turned out, the update to 2.0 is free, now! Just in case anybody else is still on 1.0 ...

The choir-I didn’t hear any ff shorts, like shouting accented staccatos, so I assume the whole library is on the soft, emotional side?

Lawrence wrote: ↑Feb 02, 2022 12:12 pm The choir-I didn’t hear any ff shorts, like shouting accented staccatos, so I assume the whole library is on the soft, emotional side?

Yes, I think so. You can always watch their walkthrough. If I remember correctly it is not a multi sample library at all. It is rather a collection of beautiful phrases that they scripted in a way that you can play them with your own chord progression in whichever tempo you like (within the limits of what the original phrase fits). That of course makes it limited to the text and mood of those phrases, but it sounds way better than any word builder or chopped syllables!

I remember that I wanted to have it when they released, but couldn't justify buying it at that price for the rare occasion I use Choir ... but now, we seem to have missed the flash sale. Century Strings are 80% off now. Insolidus is back to its full price. Anybody who would recommend Century Strings? Judging from the equivalent Brass from that series I am inclined to give it a shot at $119. But I have SOOO many strings libraries! Hmmm ... these have recorded mutes ... hmmmm ....

Lawrence wrote: ↑Feb 02, 2022 12:12 pm The choir-I didn’t hear any ff shorts, like shouting accented staccatos, so I assume the whole library is on the soft, emotional side?

There is a short patch for each section, but they're more like marcatos than staccato. As FriFlo said, it's definitely skewed towards the lyrical, not the big yelling latin war cry thing (Requiem still works for me when I need that). There are tonal-to-yell patches - not sure I'll ever use them but they are screamingly loud for the yell part, and feel pretty out of place with the rest of the library.

Again as FriFlo said, that particular sale is done. It'll come around again at some point, no doubt.

I really like the Fluffy Audio woodwinds sound better for non-symphonic work, personally. I just wish the number of articulations of the flute, oboe, clarinet, and bassoon was consistent, and I wish they had an english horn, at least.

60% off everything at 8Dio. Code: 8DIOVER

I grabbed the Agitato Arpeggio.

No it doesn’t mean that. 8Dio will remain and is dedicated to Kontakt still. They are about to relaunch their website and likely to adopt the same “no sales” Soundpaint pricing model. According to Troels and Tawnia.

And absolutely no mention of any subscription service. Maybe you were thinking of Cinesamples / Musio?

Like many here, I am well-covered, many times over, for libraries by most of the prominent companies; but I've never purchased anything by 8dio, and this "last ever" sale has me considering whether I should change that.

How long will this sale last, and are there any 8dio titles that could be considered "best in class?"

Best,

Geoff

60% is not that aggressive for them, actually. They've done a quite long run of 80% deals.

Who knows what tomorrow will bring, but if they're staying on Kontakt then your guess doctoremmet about a new permanent pricing model a la Soundpaint sounds plausible to me.

Geoff - I have a few 8dio libraries, I don't think any would count as essential. That 80% off price point feels about right for their value for the better ones, like Insolidus and Liberis.

Thanks, Guy.

Best,

Geoff

Guy is absolutely right Geoff. I too own a few 8dio libraries, and I use none of them. Some are outright broken. The 8dioboe for instance. Others are better. The Century Series is decently consistent, and among their best libraries. Still, it's far from essential. It does nothing that other libraries couldn't do just as well.

Maybe the sordino strings might be useful if you don't have a full set of sordino strings already. Otherwise, I don't see you gaining much from buying 8dio libraries.

Thanks, Linos.

The impression I consistently come away with from reading forum posts is that some of their titles are a (very?) good value if purchased at a steep discount, but they don’t often seem to elicit the same level of passionate fandom that other developers can garner.

Best,

Geoff