KVR Audio

Caine123 · Post by **Caine123** » Thu Sep 29, 2022 8:48 pm

i see it again on sale and since starting with VSTs many years ago i always had interest in their instruments. but i read also a lot of bad feedback, how buggy their vsts are etc.

so how are their libraries in 2022? are they now sounding kinda "OLD"?

and how are there vsts now performing?

still interested in some instruments like RA, Silk, Goliath etc. but with Best Service and many more i dunno if they are still good.

noiseboyuk · Post by **noiseboyuk** » Thu Sep 29, 2022 9:57 pm

I don’t have the new Opus player but it’s well liked.

The old stuff is a mixed bag. Goliath is 90% abysmal and always has been (buying that was my most crushing disappointment of any VI ever), though there are just a handful of good patches even in there. RA has some okay stuff though nothing special at all by modern standards, while Silk has some genuinely good patches.

The old Symphonic Orchestra is a gem really. No legato (and forget the simulated kind in the original player… not sure if Opus helps) but is some real magic there.

Hollywood Strings and Brass are both good, the Opus versions of those sound very good.

SLiC · Post by **SLiC** » Thu Sep 29, 2022 10:07 pm

I use it with opus now after getting SD3…it feels more modern and the core stuff they do is (dare I say) almost industry standard. I use the pianos, choirs, orchestra and voices stuff etc, it’s all good and all of it I picked up for good prices in sales

noiseboyuk · Post by **noiseboyuk** » Thu Sep 29, 2022 10:16 pm

Forgot to say a couple of things…

If your memory is from the 2005-2008 era, Play was utterly atrocious and could drive you to violence. Slowly it improved over the years, and it’s perfectly fine now. Except…

Their patch conventions are still pretty hellish. Usually thousands of very similar patches distinguished by often impenetrable naming conventions. You sorta get used to it in time. Sorta.

(Again I understand that Opus has helped here on the Hollywood Orchestra edition).

mixyguy2 · Post by **mixyguy2** » Fri Sep 30, 2022 4:30 pm

Yeah they sound great generally but their UI has near as I can tell always been an unholy mess and why I've yet to buy anything from them.

grey bird · Post by **grey bird** » Fri Sep 30, 2022 9:28 pm

The new player OPUS is industry standard now, but it will take years to bring back the people that had a bad experience with PLAY probably.

Stefken · Post by **Stefken** » Fri Sep 30, 2022 11:21 pm

I haven t been following up on this but i bought Hollywood strings at the time with the play engine.
Is there a free upgrade procedure so that you can play these banks with Opus?

Yes, they left a stain with me too but not because of the play engine but because of dishonest practices basically stealing my money.
So they are not getting another dime from me.

agharta · Post by **agharta** » Sat Oct 01, 2022 1:02 am

Stefken wrote: ↑Fri Sep 30, 2022 11:21 pm I haven t been following up on this but i bought Hollywood strings at the time with the play engine.
Is there a free upgrade procedure so that you can play these banks with Opus?

No, but maybe in the future, although I think I read that the old Hollywood libraries won't be compatible, so you would need to buy the newer versions.

When you buy a new product that is compatible with Opus you will get a license for it.
Then you can use it with your other libraries that came with Play and are now compatible with Opus, which is a lot of them.

noiseboyuk · Post by **noiseboyuk** » Sat Oct 01, 2022 3:50 pm

agharta wrote: ↑Sat Oct 01, 2022 1:02 amWhen you buy a new product that is compatible with Opus you will get a license for it.
Then you can use it with your other libraries that came with Play and are now compatible with Opus, which is a lot of them.

AFAIK Opus is compatible with any East West Play library. Only the super-old Kontakt stuff wouldn't be.

Currently you must purchase Hollywood Orchestra Opus Edition to get the OPUS software. People who purchase any other EastWest product post-release will also get OPUS. All ComposerCloud members will automatically get OPUS.

Caine123 · Post by **Caine123** » Sat Oct 01, 2022 4:12 pm

thx a lot guys!

1. which libraries can you recommend? for orchestra i got already project sam and some kontakt libraries + rompler stuff so i think EastWest wouldnt bring something new to the table? i am maybe interested in some more niche stuff, RA, Silk of Passion, maybe Dark Side.

2. so all libraries are OPUS compatible? or where can i see which use the OPUS engine? cause the play engine is crap afaik?

3. is the current sale a good price or were there better sales?

thx

noiseboyuk · Post by **noiseboyuk** » Sat Oct 01, 2022 4:24 pm

1 - for me I answered in my first reply. Oh, and Stormdrum 2 is pretty good. Gypsy is so-so.

2 - Play isn't crap at all. Play circa 2007 was, Play 2022 works just fine. It's pretty efficient and sounds good. It's not stacked with features, but it does the basics fine - the worst part is the patch categorisation is clunky and clumsy, but I think that applies to most libraries even through Opus.

3 - There's always a sale. The current sale is par for the course, but it's the first time Forbidden Planet has been discounted.

noiseboyuk · Post by **noiseboyuk** » Sat Oct 01, 2022 4:33 pm

PS - if I were you I'd subscribe to Composer Cloud for one month and try everything. See what you like.

Caine123 · Post by **Caine123** » Sat Oct 01, 2022 5:02 pm

noiseboyuk wrote: ↑Sat Oct 01, 2022 4:33 pm PS - if I were you I'd subscribe to Composer Cloud for one month and try everything. See what you like.

thx a lot, i try to stay away from cloud even it is just to try, but well maybe i will install it on my notebook where i dont convolute my main pc, good idea, thx mate!

SLiC · Post by **SLiC** » Sat Oct 01, 2022 5:21 pm

Caine123 wrote: ↑Sat Oct 01, 2022 4:12 pm thx a lot guys!

1. which libraries can you recommend? for orchestra i got already project sam and some kontakt libraries + rompler stuff so i think EastWest wouldnt bring something new to the table? i am maybe interested in some more niche stuff, RA, Silk of Passion, maybe Dark Side.

2. so all libraries are OPUS compatible? or where can i see which use the OPUS engine? cause the play engine is crap afaik?

3. is the current sale a good price or were there better sales?

thx

I bought SD 3 in the sale and its very good (also OPUS), The play engine is perfectly fine, but once you have one OPUS instrument, they all upgrade to OPUS anyway.

markuc · Post by **markuc** » Thu Dec 15, 2022 11:28 pm

Does anyone run Opus in template in Studio One or in Cubase under Windows 11 ? My experience is that the plugin is slow and very performance hungry. My template has about 30 instances of Opus ...
Thanks for your opinions.

EastWest Instruments - how are they in 2022? is the engine improved?