Hi,

So for the past month, I have been searching my socks off on the interwebs, trying to get a better understanding on what the better sax plugins are.

I have narrowed my search down to three;
Chris Hein horns 1.5
http://www.chrishein.net/
MOJO Horn Section
http://www.vir2.com/instruments/mojo-horn-section
Warp IV, Hollywood Studio Contemporary Saxophone Collection.
http://www.warpivmusic.com/Bundles.html

I am not looking for group, or band sounds. I am looking for the most realistic, non synthy sounding, solo saxophone package. Mainly for warm, jazzier style songs, which I can jam with in my spare time.

If I am missing a really decent package from what I have listed, please let me know. I am not really bolted down to price, altho I dont really want to go spending over a grand (GBP, as I am from the uk).

Cheers, hope you can help.

I like the Saxophones from VSL the most. I have a cut-down version that's included with the Special Edition Extended library, so the full library should be worth looking into.

Thank you ever so much with your reply.

Just so I can be a little more clear, are you referring to the following;
http://www.vsl.co.at/en/211/442/412/414/268.htm
plus the key/dongle that I would need to get
http://www.vsl.co.at/en/211/442/395/561/562/251.htm

Cheers

You'll want a good reverb plugin since VSL records their stuff dry, but other than that, that's pretty much all you need. Any eLicenser key will do though, it doesn't have to be the official "Vienna Key" (I ended up using the key that came with Cubase). All their instruments come with the standard Vienna Instruments player for free (see this video to get a better idea of how it works)... but if you're on a Mac, there's a chance that you might want to upgrade to their Pro version... there's this annoying intermediary window you have to click to access the player's GUI (just in OS X, doesn't happen in Windows). No big deal to some I guess, but I couldn't stand it so I ended up upgrading.

Vienna libraries are typically split in two: Standard and Extended (see this for an idea of what you'd be getting). Both libraries are installed, but which ones you have access to depends on which license you purchased.
Last edited by mgpqa1 on Thu Feb 10, 2011 3:59 pm; edited 1 time in total

Great Thanks again, I will have a good look at the standard vs extended. What reverb package would you recommend for the saxaphone packages?

I haven't tried a whole lot of different reverbs, but I'm happy with LiquidSonics Reverberate and the Samplicity Bricasti M7 IRs so far.

i'd prefer wivi and samplemodeling to any of these.

So tempted to just change one letter in the thread title.

I literally read it that way on first glance. My, my, what is happening with my brain?

Tony is correct.
These two set the standard by which all others should be measured.

I would say Samplemodeling has the better solo saxes of the two, for straight, out-of-the-box tone.

You can customise your sax tone far better with WIVI, but you need to buy the the bigger, more expensive version for that.
WIVI also offers sections, which is redundant to you anyway.

I suggest you have a listen to some SM audio demos, and read a few reviews.

Warp IV sounds fantastic and is a FAT sax library. The approach to it is keyswitch-based, you have a lot of *gestures* known to jazz practice keyed by switches, which won't be to everyone's way of working.

I've been right where you are, I looked at the other two's demos and found them very wanting, and not at all convincing. Warp IV is utterly convincing. Hein and Mojo sound like synths even in the demos, Warp IV is very warm and gritty...

Per the VSL saxes, I have the downloads bass saxophone. The guy they recorded has a very classical embouchere.
In practice, next to Warp IV horns , it's a little light in the loafers IME. I'll use both together, but it tends to take me into another area; there is a big difference in approach. It doesn't have a lot of 'cut', the attack is at times a little 'bassoony' in fact. Guy Bacos has made a sort of film noir, 'smoky tenor sax' type of demo for VSL that really works, but it's still a kind of classical composer's idea of a jazz effect.

I was REALLY sold on samplemodeling via their demos, by the bye, and found that it's some work to get a sound together, if you've a lot of experience with the horn you're using, and are into using expression controllers a lot, it's quite the thing. But expect to more or less build your performance with controllers, a lot of sculpting. I'm keeping the Mr T Sax because of the capacity of that kind of control, but I think it's not for everybody.

http://www.linplug.com/Instruments/SaxLab_2/saxlab_2.htm

wivi is awesome also

There is a Kore2 package with se... hrm sax and brass sounds. Hey what happened with Soultrane btw? Did GSI even get around to release it?

Another vote added to what Tony and Ben have expressed above. For me, Samplemodeling and Wallander are the way to go for saxes (and just about any other wind instrument). I find that each has some little things that the other does not, so, budget allowing, it is nice to have both because sometimes one fits better than the other.