What’s the cheapest way to get a variety of high quality sample based instruments?

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I’m normally not really a huge sample instrument guy, but lately I’ve been recording a lot of my old tunes and I’ve been bumping up against the limits of the Komplete 14 Ultimate factory library. Unless I’m missing something, it doesn’t contain a string orchestra with legato. I want to put a few Bollywood style string runs in a track, and it’s been frustrating.

I don’t mind subscribing for this, as I would probably pay for a month and then cancel, until I need it again. I wouldn’t mind using some sort of A.I. tool that I could play a synth line into it and have it spit out a reasonably good string orchestra, or whatever.

The reason I don’t want to spend too much is, the parts aren’t the core instruments in the tracks, and I’ve been out of work for a while.
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Humble Bundle(s).
I'd give you mine if it wasn't such a hassle to send them off.

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I believe these two libraries are available with your K14 Ultimate collection -
https://www.native-instruments.com/en/p ... e-strings/
https://www.native-instruments.com/en/p ... n-strings/

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What about a month of EastWest Composer Cloud?

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I'll be honest having an entire yet limited orchestra is overkill but...
https://www.kvraudio.com/marketplace/th ... -sonuscore

I've got some expensive orchestral libraries and the one I always open up for solo or orchestration ideas is The Score (full version)

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Orchestral Tools has exactly what you're looking for but it's expensive. :(

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mcbpete wrote: Wed Mar 25, 2026 5:04 pm I believe these two libraries are available with your K14 Ultimate collection -
https://www.native-instruments.com/en/p ... e-strings/
https://www.native-instruments.com/en/p ... n-strings/
OK, thanks for that. Session Strings is what I'm currently using, but for some weird reason, the pitch bend does not work at all, unless I manually change it on the UI. I'm using a Kontrol S61 MK3.
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Uncle E wrote: Wed Mar 25, 2026 6:07 pm Orchestral Tools has exactly what you're looking for but it's expensive. :(
Which surely defeats the question? Said that but sometimes the expensive route can be the cheapest route. In that respect you make a good point.
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Pianobook and some Decent Sampler/Kontakt libraries hosted there. Quality is highly variable though and even the most popular libraries can have some quality issues.

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Runs are tricky. I ended up with the orchestral tools runs library because I wanted playable runs. Before that I mostly used the cinestrings runs library. Strings libraries with special note transition samples are , generally speaking, not cheap. I'd guess grabbing the full east west collection subscription would probably have it covered. I'm not a fan of their stuff so I couldn't actually say what library/ libraries of theirs could do a convincing run.
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Have you looked through Spitfire's free Labs stuff? You might find something that works. Heavyocity also have a free Staccato Strings that might be of some use. Beyond that, Ujam's Striiiiings will give you one finger orchestral arrangements and maybe the demo version will do what you need until it's back on sale for a more reasonable price? I use Heavyocity's Novo Essentials a bit but I'm not sure it's what you're looking for.

The perennial problem with sample-based instruments is that you either can't demo them or the demos are extremely limited, so good luck!
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I like BONES suggestions.

If you want to try the AI thing, VoiceAI from Sonarworks might fit the bill - https://store.sonarworks.com/products/soundid-voiceai

It's currently on sale with better prices from dealers/resellers.

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Second-hand info, but I've also heard good things about Musio. CineSymphony is one of their instruments you can use for free. - https://support.musio.com/hc/en-us/arti ... Essentials

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telecharge wrote: Thu Mar 26, 2026 4:10 am Second-hand info, but I've also heard good things about Musio. CineSymphony is one of their instruments you can use for free. - https://support.musio.com/hc/en-us/arti ... Essentials
Yes, good suggestion. Also, there's a Musio+ subscription for $20 per month, and the perpetual license sometimes goes on sale for $149.

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telecharge wrote: Wed Mar 25, 2026 11:57 pm I like BONES suggestions.

If you want to try the AI thing, VoiceAI from Sonarworks might fit the bill - https://store.sonarworks.com/products/soundid-voiceai

It's currently on sale with better prices from dealers/resellers.
I've been using Synthesizer V. I think it's pretty good, especially because a lot of what I write is out of my vocal range anyway.
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