Hello everyone!

I'm considering buying CInematic Strings 2.0, which sounds like a very professional sound library. I'm a high school student who doesn't have the funds necessary to build the "perfect workstation and sound collection", so I have to make sure that each of my purchases are responsibly made.

I currently have Kontakt 5 (full version as a part of Komplete and Kirk Hunter Diamond Orchestra (which sounds "okay", but isn't well-suited to faster tempos and playing in my projects)

KH Diamond has more varied articulations and divisi sections than does Cinematic Strings 2.0, but of course, I'm wondering if the sound of CS2 is a good enough reason to use it as my "main" string section.

My doubts about purchasing CS2 lead me to consider Cinebrass CORE instead, as I do not have a definitive Brass library other than Kirk Hunter Brass which again, is good for certain purposes, but isn't for others.

Thus, I'd like to know what everyone thinks about the two aforementioned products, especially Cinematic Strings 2.0, since I am thoroughly convinced that Cinebrass is an outstanding product. It's a matter of budgeting that is preventing me from purchasing both of the sample libraries.

I'm looking forward to responses.

Thank you very much.
Last edited by synchronizer on Sun Aug 19, 2012 1:05 pm; edited 1 time in total

Bump.

CS2 sounds awesome. Totally professional and great value for money.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fF2eQKx8JtA

How would it work in a more upbeat context? (I go 150 BPM upwards. Currently, I'm working on a piece at 163 BPM)

I guess it's really a matter of what is more important at the moment. One can't compare two completely different sound libraries.

Here's a VERY outdated version of the piece-an excerpt- (I'm redoing it entirely), but it's still relevant.

http://db.tt/zhW7m25s

he problem is that my current violins have slow attack, even after adjusting all of the necessary settings. Thus, I must shift the violin MIDI parts left by about a 1/32 note, which makes quantizing very difficult.

CS2 is great yes, but it only has full ensembles. It's too bad that there are no solo instruments.

For violins, 8Dio's Adagio Violins sound pretty good, but the samples are not dry.

Do you want the definitive answer? If yes, then I'd suggest:


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Imo, the best sounding string section you can have is LASS, but CS2 ease of use is way better. Depends on what's important to you. I tried lass and found the gui/file organisation to be a real show stoper that do not fit my needs in terms of workflow, so i decided to go with CS2 and never regret it. Maybe not the best, but a realy good one.

Lass is EXTREMELY expensive and I wouldn't be able to spend on it at once. Unfortunately, the first chair and section products are watered-down 16-bit counterparts to the ones in LASS full.

If you want an example of fast-playing violins in the gaming industry, here is something very recent:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTKfRuSP3Zg&feature=related

I simply love it!

So yes, does Cinematic Strings 2.0 work in context of my musical style?

Possible things to try with the KH Library.

He has attack tied to velocity so if you use a lower velocity the attack will be slower.
I think this is a bad way to do it.
You could play at a high velocity, but then you get more vibrato because vibrato is tied to velocity as well.

There is a setting on the instrument interface that will allow you to turn off the connection between vibrato and velocity.

If you click on the wrench in the upper left you can open the sampler innards.

If you select Group Editor and then Edit All Groups (it's a red button) and then scroll down to the bottom.

There will be a few ADSR modulators.
Under one of them is a bar with velocity on the left, a slider in the middle and attack on the right.
The modulator above this bar has an attack knob set to about 6k ms.
Turn this to zero.

Now, even when you play at low velocity the attack should be fast.

Velocity will no longer affect attack.

If you want to alter the attack you could just assign a midi cc to the attack knob on the main instrument interface.

Alternately, you could just right-click on the bar that says velocity on the left and attack on the right and delete it and then resave the patch with a new name.

Unfortunately, this library has little to no manual explaining it's features and programming.

As for LASS, I just can't get past the tuning issues.
The musicians that played on each patch are far too out of tune with each other.
A little would be good as it gives texture to the sound, but this just sounds like a bunch of amateurs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jr2nWeTsGkY&feature=related

Skip ahead to about 3:00 and bypass the talking at the beginning.

The cellos are even worse than the violins.

Thank you P.T.! I didn't know that this was the source of the problem!

Even if I no longer have the playing speed issue, would you still recommend Cinematic Strings 2.0. Let me repeat and and say that I have Kirk Hunter Diamond and not Concert Strings 2. I actually prefer the sound of the former.

Thank you for mentioning the LASS detuning issue as well. I hadn't noticed it, but now I see tat it would certainly cause me many problems. The only other options are Vienna Instruments (I'm not confident that I would be able to make use of them) and Spitfire Albion, which lacks many articulations but will have more in the sequel. I think that if I were to purchase a new string library, it would be Cinematic Strings 2.0, but perhaps I should purchase a different type of library altogether.

Simply put, I'm tired of people saying that everything sounds fake. Maybe it's either my still-developing mixing skills as well as the sound of Diamond, or one of the two.

I'm having problems with choosing orchestral libraries as well.

I am generally not satisfied with the KH libraries.
I can get by OK except that I don't like the sound of the cellos and basses.

There is something that I just don't like about the sound of Cinematic Strings, which is just my subjective taste.
They also seem to lack a full range of articulations choosing instead to go the route of easy playability, even if it limits what can be done with the instruments.

VSL has the articulations, but I am not certain about the sound.
It is also very expensive if you want all of the articulations.

Albion sounds good at times, but there are very few demos and the official Spitfire demo videos are a very sad affair that do not instill confidence.

The Albion attacks also sound slow in the bits of demo that I have heard.

If you have no need to access each instrument section individually and can be satisfies with combines violin/viola and cello/bass patches then Project Sam Orchestral Essentials might be good.

There are quite a few demo videos that you can watch.
It sounds good and is inexpensive.
But, no access to the individual sections.

I really can't get excited about any of them.

I was even considering Hollywood Strings but there are no decent demos.
They all sound like demos for brass and percussion with a little strings thrown in as an afterthought.
They also don't sound very bright and I have no idea if they EQ well.

After listening to some real orchestra, HWS and Albion and Cinematic all sound somewhat lo-fi to me, as does the KH stuff.

I have taken to using a little bit of exciter in the KH libraries.

What do you think of 8Dio's Adagio violins then? You seem to be one of those people who have ears that are too good to be fooled by any libraries. The case is that KH basses and cellos do sound off-key to me for some reason and are therefore unusable.

I have not looked at the 8Dio Violins.

I don't find the KH Cellos and Basses off-key.
I just don't like the sound and no amount of EQ fixes it.
There is a broadbased grind in the 400 to around 1k area that can't be fixed without completely killing the sound.

I have been considering supplementing KH with VSL cellos and basses or possibly Orch Essentials.

There is absolutely NO reason for samples in such a library to be in higher resolution than 16bit.
If the samples are normalized it's impossible to ever hear the difference between 16bit/24bit Samples.
You had to apply mega-unnatural uber-heavy compression levels to somehow squeeze out an audible difference.

If your looking at solo strings, i've heard some good things about this one :
http://www.spitfireaudio.com/spitfire-solo-strings.html

i personnaly own and use albion and despite the ostinatum engine that do not works properly, this is a fantastic library with a unique sound.