The Sound Board

Well, it starts.

https://www.orchestraltools.com/promoti ... riday-2024

I’m looking forward to Guy’s annual BF thread!(if he has time this year.)

Lawrence wrote: ↑Nov 14, 2024 4:06 pm Well, it starts.

https://www.orchestraltools.com/promoti ... riday-2024

I’m looking forward to Guy’s annual BF thread!(if he has time this year.)

I don't think I will Larry, a bit full-on here - fancy it?

Me? I’m demonstrably a lazy sod piggybacking on your efforts!!

Seems like singles aren't in the sale which is a bit of a shame. I'm quite into them, just getting little bits and pieces I might be able to use rather than 28 twigabits of more variations of what I already have.

Much to be loved coming from OT, really, except the no-resale policy. I do not care much about quadzillion twigbits in times of SSD prices, it has to be factored into the total package, that was always the case.

In this day and age, the development status quo of the SINE player, and in particular if you do not offer a per year sub like EW for all products, especially as a company who made the right step at first, to divorce the NI-bitch, it is well... "very German" in deed I'd say.

To state the obvious, at 50% off, Orchestral Tools' libraries are about the same price as competing products without the discount.

The Kontakt version of Berlin Woodwinds is tempting to me. It's one of the few woodwind libraries with two flutes, two oboes, etc. What's holding me back is Berlin Strings. Given the list of articulations, the reputation and the price, it should be the be-all and end-all of string libraries. In reality I never use it. The programming is just not good enough for me. There's always something that doesn't work and needs to be fixed, or a note or a sample that stands out in every phrase. It's just too much work to get decent results. And at the end of the day, it's on a par with other string libraries, not heads and shoulders above them. So I use other strings libraries that need less work.

It would be wise for me not to get any more libraries from them. However, the woodwinds and brass call to me. For me, it's the concept of having individual samples for each instrument in the orchestra. That, and the reputation of having a 'classical' sound, is what tempts me, despite my less than stellar experience with the strings.

In deed I too find the regular prices outrageously high. I bought Drones from them back then at full price, and I was not aware of their re-sale policy, so I am stuck with it. I would not have bought it if I had informed myself before. So yeah, my fault. I had exactly the same thought like you, the 50% off now reflect what I consider a realistic price!

You can get the prototype Metropolis Ark 0 for 75 Euro plus VAT, which they give away for nothing to those who purchased all of Metropolis previously. The Big Bang Orchestra from VSL does pretty much the very same, for free.

Anyway, perhaps I should not moan about the prices, it's pointless really. Ultimately the market decides, and obviously they can charge the highest prices in the industry. All I can say is Congratulations Hendrik.

If they had a reasonable sub in the range of 150-200 Euro per annum, I would gladly try them for a year. Or multiple much smaller subs, each bundle for example, Metropolis, Berlin strings, BW strings, some of the more esoteric stuff etc.

If I buy the Kontakt version of Berlin Woodwinds today, do I still get Legacy or just Revive? And if you get Legacy, does it have different mic positions or just one mix? I found out again that Revive only has two dynamic layers, but Legacy does not have all the mics. That puts a damper on my enthusiasm for this deal. Why doesn't OT release a version of Berlin Woodwinds with all the content? They always cripple the library in one way or another. Bizarre decisions if you ask me.

I am going for the Vasks strings…and live with the sine way of doing things.

To all of you who own Berlin Woodwinds and/or Berlin Brass, how often do you actually use them? I am pretty well covered for woodwinds. I have VSL VI Woodwinds, Spitfire Symphonic Woodwinds, Spitfire BBCSO, Cinematic Studio Woodwinds, VWinds Double Reeds, some of the Berlin Soloists, Hollywood Winds. That's pretty much the order of how much I use the libraries. Berlin Woodwinds would have to compete with what I have and add something new. Buying it would be indulgent at this point I guess.

There is a place in my template for brass though. I have the same as above, plus Sample Modelling French Horn, minus VSL, VWinds and Orchestral Tools. I'm often unhappy with the ensemble sound I get when I mix all these solo instruments from different libraries. Berlin Brass might help here. Especially as I like the mellow, classical sound.

I'd definitely get these libraries in Kontakt. Sine and I don't go well together. Getting just Berlin Brass is an option if the library is good. Or I could complete the Berlin Series Bundle (I already have the strings) for about €700. That would give me brass, woodwinds and percussion. Not a bad deal I think.

OT brass I don’t own, but BWW ( the original) I still use whenever I need bread& butter woods. As a section they work well due to a fairly consistent overal volume and arts.
For more nuanced and close quarters woodwinds you’ll need more specialized libraries obviously. You have thos already in my view.
And I think, seeing your library list you may not need BWW. CSW will cover this fully, and better because it’s newer and very consistent as you know. Swapping tracks like CSW will not work that well with BWW.


This would be my suggestion, which would save you some hard earned bucks ;-)

Thank you Nobody. I have recently changed my approach to mixing. I now rely much more on the Decca Tree, using other mics as a supplement only where necessary. For this I like libraries with a natural ambience similar to a concert hall. Air Lyndhurst and Teldex are good for this. Trackdown (Cinematic Studio Series) is fantastic for strings. I like it less for brass and woodwinds. Berlin Woodwinds might expand my palette of tools for this.

But it's mostly the brass where I'm not happy with my choices. I know that a lot of people like Berlin Brass and especially its classical sound. But when I listen to walkthroughs and demos, I am not convinced. Here is an example:



The demo right at the beginning - it just does not sound very good to my ears. There's problems with the balance between the instruments, there's a buzzy/raspy sound even at lower dynamics, the transitions don't sound right to me... Is this just a demo that wasn't chosen very well? Or is this the sound I will get from Berlin Brass? If it's the latter, then this is not the library for me.

Holy, I just noticed something. Compare the mockup above with this one:



Same piece, same library. The one above is in Sine, this one is in Kontakt. What a difference! The Kontakt demo sounds so much better to me. It's actually a demo that sells the library...

Linos wrote: ↑Nov 21, 2024 2:32 pm Holy, I just noticed something. Compare the mockup above with this one:



Same piece, same library. The one above is in Sine, this one is in Kontakt. What a difference! The Kontakt demo sounds so much better to me. It's actually a demo that sells the library...

You can use Wayback Machine to go back and listen to all Kontakt-demos of the Berlin libraries.
All of them sound more natural, with much better depth, than the SINE ports.

It's sad when a company puts so much effort into creating something new, only to get worse results than what they had.

Unfortunately, you can't buy the Main Series bundle in Kontakt with OT. Complete the bundle is not available for Kontakt, only Sine. They do offer the individual parts of the main Series for Kontakt though. With that, the bundle is out of the question for me. I'm not buying the Sine versions. So it's either the brass, the woodwinds, or nothing.

Linos wrote: ↑Nov 21, 2024 2:32 pm Holy, I just noticed something. Compare the mockup above with this one:



Same piece, same library. The one above is in Sine, this one is in Kontakt. What a difference! The Kontakt demo sounds so much better to me. It's actually a demo that sells the library...

Indeed, quite a difference. Seems much more dry, and as Linos indicates the balance seems off between individual instruments. Odd, because I am overall fond of Sasha's demo's. They're very good, and mostly suit my taste, but the Sine ported version is not one to showcase......