KVR Audio

Alphacodex · Post by **Alphacodex** » Tue Mar 04, 2014 1:37 pm

Hi there,

what I'm looking for is a VSTi (or library) that covers a wide range of mainly natural sounds. I'm still in love with my old external Roland JV-1080. It hase such a braod range of standard sound and it's just insane that they packed everything in an 8MB (Megabyte!!) internal storage. I mainly need something VSTi based to replace it. Of course the quality of many instruments is a bit outdated by now, I'd like to have something that sounds a bit more realistic than the JV will not being overwhelming large.

I do a lot of mainstream music but the electronic department is already quite complete with Nexus, NI Komplete, Alchemy, Gladiator 2, ABL2 and Z3ta2 so I'm mainly looking for real instruments. I also got guitars covered by RealGuitar and RealLPC, and got Orchestral stuff covered with VSL Special Edition.

What I'm missing is trumpets, sax, brass, world instruments, bells, bagpipes, accordion, harmonica, fiddle, sitar, banjo so basically the general midi sounds list but in a decent quality.

I already tried several free GM/GS SoundFont or Kontakt libraries but was not very impressed. Also the factory content of Kontakt 5 does not convince me.

Can you suggest something to fit in there?

Cheers,
Codex

gamecat666 · Post by **gamecat666** » Tue Mar 04, 2014 1:43 pm

i suppose based on what you already have (and dont like Kontakt), try Halion Sonic 2?

Teksonik · Post by **Teksonik** » Tue Mar 04, 2014 1:54 pm

Sampletank 2 has a General Midi soundset called Omnisynth. You might want to wait for Sampletank 3 though to see what it offers but it could be months before it's released..........

muLperi · Post by **muLperi** » Tue Mar 04, 2014 1:56 pm

Try Halion Sonic 2 demo.
What about Korg M1?

JonSolo · Post by **JonSolo** » Tue Mar 04, 2014 2:32 pm

I have mentioned it in this forum before but Halion Sonic 2 is really awesome as some have commented. If you want it go with the Absolute VST pack...you get a WHOLE lot more for only $50 more.

Some good, but slightly dated would include Sampletank 2XL, and UVI Plugsound Pro. Both have their strengths and weaknesses.

Dimension Pro is another alternative, but I have never tried it personally.

Lastly is the future proof Kontakt 5 which comes with a nice library and is endlessly expandable.

If I were just getting started I would begin with Halion Sonic 2 (instant gratas) personally and expand to get Kontakt down the road if money were an issue.

Jon

Teksonik · Post by **Teksonik** » Tue Mar 04, 2014 2:40 pm

thejonsolo wrote:Lastly is the future proof Kontakt 5 which comes with a nice library and is endlessly expandable.

Alphacodex wrote: I already tried........ Kontakt libraries but was not very impressed. Also the factory content of Kontakt 5 does not convince me.

nineofkings · Post by **nineofkings** » Tue Mar 04, 2014 3:19 pm

Sfz Player and the SGM soundfont.

robotmonkey · Post by **robotmonkey** » Tue Mar 04, 2014 3:37 pm

I'd say Proteus VX with DSF E-MU and Ensoniq sound libraries.
Dimension Pro

BBFG# · Post by **BBFG#** » Tue Mar 04, 2014 3:52 pm

Third party sounds for Kontakt that cost money.
NI librbaries are not convincing, free sounds are mostly free for a reason.

STank is running the risk of being usable until it isn't.

I think Magix is still running a deal or two.

But bite the bullet, and search out the made for Kontakt developers.

The_Hidden_Goose · Post by **The_Hidden_Goose** » Tue Mar 04, 2014 4:04 pm

If you already have Kontakt 5, then I would agree with taking your time shopping around amongst the kontakt 3rd party developers.

I agree that the supplied instruments are greater in quantity than they are in quality with the Kontakt library.

I don't really use real-world instruments (except for vintage keyboards perhaps) so I coudn't point you to a does-it-all lib in that vein, but there are bound to be more than a few out there. And again, worth holding off on the trigger-finger and taking your time searching if you can, or even investing in a few good libraries rather than trying to fulfil all your needs in one, which may mean you end up paying for extra bloat you don't really need.

holdebolder · Post by **holdebolder** » Tue Mar 04, 2014 4:07 pm

if you have VSL as a reference for natural sounds, they also have a lot of the instruments you named.

If the price is too high there, you could go for a CCC2 deal at east/west Quantum Logic. High quality stuff here but less variations than VSL. Look for the RA soundbank or for the bagpipes and accordions and world instruments.
For world instruments, on a small budget: garritan has quite an excellent soundbank there called world instruments.
But since you have complete: what is wrong with the kontakt sounds? If VSL is your reference of what it should be, then imo their is very little competition in that segment of the market.
Maybe ProjectSAM.
So... now i named all the big brands i guess.

yessongs · Post by **yessongs** » Tue Mar 04, 2014 4:25 pm

AAS tassman

LoopyFruit · Post by **LoopyFruit** » Tue Mar 04, 2014 4:36 pm

For me Halion covers all bases and is great value for money.

djanthonyw · Post by **djanthonyw** » Tue Mar 04, 2014 4:58 pm

If there's one thing lacking in the plugin world, its definitely some good romplers.

Alphacodex · Post by **Alphacodex** » Tue Mar 04, 2014 6:16 pm

Wow thanks for all that answers! I'll go check some of the suggestions now. I like the Halion Sonic sounds but I do have a major problem with the steinberg product support philosophy. In the past they have abandoned several products only some years after release (Vitual guitarist, Virtual Bassist, Xphraze to name some), that kinda sucks. When I compare to Kontakt: I can still load my old Kontakt patches from maybe a decade ago. If i go for Halion Sonic 2, maybe in 5 years I might not be able to use the sound library anymore, because Sonic 2 might not run under Windows 13 128bit or only within a very unstable wrapper.
However I must admit I use (and love) Cubase (and even here I cannot open my old Cubase 2 projects anymore).
Also I try to avoid any products that use iLok as I already have an eLicenser in my systems and I just think one hardware dongle to keep safe and ready is enough

So that drops the EastWest stuff for me.
I should go check some 3rd party Kontakt Libs then. I also googled for the garritan stuff, not bad stuff.
I'll also have an eye on the announcement of sampletank 3.

@holdebolder about what's wrong with Kontakt Lib
Can't really say, If I play them on their own they sound ok but they often dont fit in the mix (and yes I know how to use an eq

Too raw, too unprocessed tom unfinished maybe. It takes a lot of time to tweak them, to
fit in the mix, wheras the instruments of other vendors do only need minimal eqing and just fit. Nexus is one of those, also RealGuitar and Addictive Drums...

Cheers,
Codex

Actual natural bread and butter VSTi