KVR Audio

Anlon · Post by **Anlon** » Mon May 14, 2018 9:05 am

I’m looking for a rompler that would go well with my one and only proper synth VST.

A bit about my setup: I use the free Trackton DAW (first version 5, now version 6). Unfortunately, Tracktion comes without any VST plugins; I tried a few free synths and finally bought VPS Avenger when it was on offer. I was lured by their claim, that it’s the only synth you’ll ever need. And while it is a fantastic synth and I got the hang of it after about a year

, I would like something a bit more approachable and natural sounding. I find my wind instruments (especially woodwinds) sound a bit weird; I’m probably too stupid to get them right.

Anyway, I’m looking for a nice, “simple” rompler, where I just press a key and I’m ready to go. I was listening to samples of the ubiquitous Refx Nexus, but the ones I was listening to reminded me too much of the Avenger synth. I also tried Kontakt 5, but that’s seems a bit too much and too expensive. So I’m looking for an (easy to use) alternative.

Michael L · Post by **Michael L** » Mon May 14, 2018 12:36 pm

Try the Sample Science Player. It's free and huge:
https://www.samplescience.ca/2017/10/sa ... layer.html
All the sounds are very nice, and a nice reverb will help them sound even more natural.

generaldiomedes · Post by **generaldiomedes** » Mon May 14, 2018 1:12 pm

Are you looking for natural instrument sounds rather than synthesized sounds ? If so then you are more after an orchestral sample library

magicmusic · Post by **magicmusic** » Mon May 14, 2018 1:24 pm

you can load in avenger sfz sounds. you can test Virtual Playing Orchestra. its sfz. depend on what you want do.for the refx nexus there is good orchestral in the pack hollywood epic. there are several audio demos. i wish that avenger have the epic pack available too. I currently not own avenger, because i miss something as hollywood epic.

Anlon · Post by **Anlon** » Mon May 14, 2018 1:31 pm

generaldiomedes wrote:Are you looking for natural instrument sounds rather than synthesized sounds ? If so then you are more after an orchestral sample library

I'm looking for natural instrument sounds as a contrast to my synthesized sounds.

How I understand it, if you want to use orchestral sample libraries you need Kontakt 5.

Zexila · Post by **Zexila** » Mon May 14, 2018 5:31 pm

Get this, you just need free Kontakt Player to run it.

https://www.thomann.de/gb/best_service_ ... uments.htm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hmjr7vXXjw

RichieWitch · Post by **RichieWitch** » Mon May 14, 2018 5:39 pm

If you're looking for wide selection of instruments and libraries, it's hard to beat Kontakt. Yeah, it's expensive, but there are a ton of great libraries that are cheap or free. If you really need something inexpensive, try UVI Workstation, which is free. It's a great rompler for vintage synth sounds, but the selection of libraries is much more limited, especially third-party stuff and live or orchestral instruments. But it is very simple to use (especially compared to Kontakt) and you can't beat free.

starflakeprj · Post by **starflakeprj** » Mon May 14, 2018 6:11 pm

For the price you can get Air Music Tech's Xpand!2, I think it's superior. Have been on sale for $1 a couple of times, but can now been seen for $5 in the buy & sell forum here at KVR.

viewtopic.php?p=7076444&utm_source=my_l ... nt=7076444

nate.protoculture · Post by **nate.protoculture** » Mon May 14, 2018 7:14 pm

Anlon wrote:
generaldiomedes wrote:Are you looking for natural instrument sounds rather than synthesized sounds ? If so then you are more after an orchestral sample library
I'm looking for natural instrument sounds as a contrast to my synthesized sounds.

How I understand it, if you want to use orchestral sample libraries you need Kontakt 5.

There is a ton out there...

Kontakt is my go to usually as its kind of the standard for the high end libraries.
For an all rounder, I'd highly recommend Halion Sonic. Lots of patches from Yamaha's Motif series plus a bunch of usable synth modules too.
IK Multimedia Sample Tank, you can add the new synth libraries too now which are not bad.
Xpand is dirt cheap... just ok sound quality wise.
East West... composer cloud isn't a bad deal. A lot of the bundle stuff is old loops and useless but Goliath and the Orchestral libraries (great alternative to Kontakt IMO) are decent considering you can get around 200 gigs or something ridiculous at $25 or so a month. Great guitar libraries too.

alexpander · Post by **alexpander** » Mon May 14, 2018 7:31 pm

Another recommendation for Halion Sonic 3. Quite sueful natural sounds with a wide spectrum. You can get very far without having to buy additional libraries like with Kontakt.
https://www.steinberg.net/en/products/v ... sonic.html

SparkySpark · Post by **SparkySpark** » Tue May 15, 2018 10:59 pm

If you are actually looking for a rompler (as opposed to a synth or a sample library), then look at Sample Science's Orion, from last year. It's 3 GB in size, so it's not too big. Quite overlooked really.

Also, don't forget about E-MU's Proteus VX, still my favorite rompler as far as sound quality and features go, but I really wish they would have updated it (for one thing I think it's 32 bit only).

Both of these suggestions are free and for everyday sounds. Personally, I'd stay away from Kontakt, since you seem to be on a budget and also since it is so big. Don't miss the free version of SampleTank though. It has a GREAT piano sound (I don't use much of the rest, only the base guitar on a couple of tracks).

I have created a couple of threads myself on low-cost romplers here at KVR so you can search for them to get more suggestions. I'd be interested in hearing what you come up with!

Michael L · Post by **Michael L** » Tue May 15, 2018 11:16 pm

SparkySpark wrote:look at Sample Science's Orion, from last year.

It's been updated this year in many ways, and renamed Sample Science Player (see above).

Anlon · Post by **Anlon** » Wed May 16, 2018 1:45 pm

Thank you all. I've been looking at a few of the suggested vst.

Here’s what I’ve come up with so far:
I tried the free Kontakt player and the included instruments sound good. In addition, I was listening to the Best Service Complete Orchestral Collection, which you can buy for the Kontakt Player, but I find it sounds a bit dated.

Halion Sonic 3 is too expensive and not really what I'm looking for.

I downloaded the free VSCO2 Rompler and Sample Science Player. They're pretty good considering they're free. I just have to get the hang of how to use the sfz player properly.

I tried Sampletank 3 CS a while back and it kept crashing, but I downloaded it again and in Tracktion 6 it’s working fine. Somehow, I like the workflow better than the Kontakt workflow. So I could get Miroslav Philharmonik 2 CE to go with it.

There’re not that many affordable fee-based libraries.The GPO 5 sounds very nice and at £114 it's a lot cheaper than the big name libraries. At the moment it’s my favourite.

SparkySpark · Post by **SparkySpark** » Wed May 16, 2018 6:05 pm

Michael L wrote:
SparkySpark wrote:look at Sample Science's Orion, from last year.
It's been updated this year in many ways, and renamed Sample Science Player (see above).

Ah yes of course.

SparkySpark · Post by **SparkySpark** » Wed May 16, 2018 10:31 pm

I just noticed that there is a freeware compilation of orchestral sounds: https://bedroomproducersblog.com/2017/0 ... orchestra/

I looked at its website and it's interesting I think. Another plus is that it is orchestra and choir only so no wasted MB's on more piano samples for example.

Anlon: if you haven't looked at Proteus VX yet then I think you might want to. It is really great and a great gift from E-MU. ...and so much less hassle than huge GB libraries.

Rompler to complement VPS Avenger synth