KVR Audio

rpc9943 · Post by **rpc9943** » Sun Jun 04, 2006 6:27 am

hey guys...

I know i know, you've heard it all before.

What's the "best" low-cost solution for realistic strings, and whatever else is in a personal orchestra?

Is garritan personal orchestra the best low-cost solution? If not, what is?

I am talking low cost as in $200-ish

Where can i find information about the educational discount for GPO?

note im not here to make classical music, per say, but more like minimalist atmospheric rock music - akin to sigur ros.

edit: also, would you recommend kirk hunter's emerald over gpo? Would i need to convert the samples to sf2? (i dont own any other samplers than sfz+)

RonC

spacefox · Post by **spacefox** » Sun Jun 04, 2006 10:37 am

rpc9943 wrote:edit: also, would you recommend kirk hunter's emerald over gpo? Would i need to convert the samples to sf2? (i dont own any other samplers than sfz+)

RonC

There's a guy posting here that converted Emerald to soundfonts and he said it was quite a pain.

(edited for typos)

NotTheCommonDose · Post by **NotTheCommonDose** » Sun Jun 04, 2006 10:38 am

I recommend GPO

dougsyo · Post by **dougsyo** » Sun Jun 04, 2006 11:29 am

NotTheCommonDose wrote:I recommend GPO

I have GPO, Dimension Pro (it has Garritan Pocket Orchestra - portions of GPO), Kontakt2 (portions of VSL), and Miroslav. Kirk Hunter Sapphire is on my radar, because of the contrast with Miroslav.

For orchestra, out of that bunch, the choice with the most bang-for-the-buck is probably GPO. DimPro has its advantages overall but not in orchestra. Rumor has it that the full GPO will be released for DimPro as well, but I don't know the time frame. That could be a very attractive package.

Kirk Hunter Emerald and Sapphire requires Kontakt2 or Giga. If you already have K2 (I realize the original poster doesn't), either of these could fill it out nicely. Problem is that neither Giga nor K2 are cheap.

Doug

Nikolas · Post by **Nikolas** » Sun Jun 04, 2006 11:59 am

realistic strings heh?

I think that Garritan strings would be the best choice...

Then there is EW Silver (and Silver XP Pro) which are around that price... and they have kompakt so you don't need other sampler.

Then as you said there is kirk, gpo, halion orchestra also and many more...

safeaim · Post by **safeaim** » Sun Jun 04, 2006 12:55 pm

Kirk Hunter Emerald is now $325.00. And the Kirk Hunter Sapphire will be $149 when it comes out. I own Emerald and I recommended it without any kind of hesitation!

sghoughton · Post by **sghoughton** » Sun Jun 04, 2006 12:58 pm

Get Kontakt 2 - it has 7.5ish gigs of VSL - vastly superior to whats in GPO. If you play your cards right, you can buy a cheapy rompler that has the kompakt engine in it and buy Kompakt 2 upgrade for 180-200 bux if you look.

You might spend a bit more this way than GPO but you've just opened up a HUGE world of difference and have gotten superior sounds to start with. Also, you've now got the option to add KH (which is absolutely incredible) at some point in the future.

steve

uselessmind · Post by **uselessmind** » Sun Jun 04, 2006 1:07 pm

You can forget about realistic Strings for up to $200 imo.
But you might want to check out Ultimate Strings.
Its not realistic either, but i think it has a great tone and its still on sale for $20.
http://www.soundsonline.com/clearance.shtml

If you can convert the Roland format then its a steal.

rpc9943 · Post by **rpc9943** » Sun Jun 04, 2006 4:45 pm

i have ultimate strings already

damn it! I guess i'll just start with GPO - im kinda waiting on someone who wanted to sell it who didnt have it registered but pulled out, and maybe he'll change his mind?

Sigh.

I'm so torn- I heard KH and it sounds so cool. I'm pretty damn poor so I don't know what to do, but I'm really feeling the need for a nice orchestra

Does GPO use a dongle or anything? I freaking hope not.

Kontakt 2 is more than double what gpo has. I seriously would consider it, but the money thing...

RonC

rpc9943 · Post by **rpc9943** » Sun Jun 04, 2006 4:47 pm

WHOA... kontakt in the academic superstore is $179.95!!!! Holy crap! I'm a student- are there limitations? Dongles? please inform me- i may pick this thing up sooner than expected!

mtilli · Post by **mtilli** » Sun Jun 04, 2006 7:28 pm

Native Instruments doesn't use dongles so it's safe buy

rpc9943 · Post by **rpc9943** » Sun Jun 04, 2006 7:57 pm

well turns out my friend is going to sell me a very cheap price, academic ver of kontakt 1 and shes going to email NI to see if thats going to work as well as upgrade (GOD PLEASE)

if that works then ill upgrade to v2 and get my vsl stuff, and then save up for Kirk Hunter Emerald!!! *Shudder*

RonC

Ildon · Post by **Ildon** » Sun Jun 04, 2006 8:02 pm

Don't forget Peter Siedlaczek Complete Classical Collection! It's 270 USD (20 bucks more than GPO) and supposedly has all the Peter Siedlaczek Advanced Orchestra samples in it, plus more.

I'm thinking of buying it in the future. Not sure how good it is, though, but it seems to use the same engine as GPO, it's just bigger.

dougsyo · Post by **dougsyo** » Sun Jun 04, 2006 9:22 pm

rpc9943 wrote:WHOA... kontakt in the academic superstore is $179.95!!!! Holy crap! I'm a student- are there limitations? Dongles? please inform me- i may pick this thing up sooner than expected!

As long as you can send Academic Superstore a scan of your ID or etc, they'll take it. That's how I bought Kontakt2 at academic price.

Once you've got K2, if you don't find the bundled VSL to be sufficient, you can always add Emerald or Sapphire later, or other K2-compatible sound sets.

An aside: Had I known I'd be getting DimPro, K2 and Miroslav due to a financial windfall, I probably would not have upgraded from ST2LE to ST2XL. Right now I have content "out the wazoo", and have to resort to an external USB drive for my laptop.

Doug

orchestral packs... ;)