The Sonic Implants Complete Symphonic Orchestral Libarary

[akane]

Hello composers from around the world,

I have been using the Sam Horns and True Strike Library, GPO and Vienna
in my work.

I also use the Sonic Implants String Collection which really works for me.
I feel that this String Collection allows me to score a full string section with a great sense of accuracy and musicality not found anywhere else.

I feel that the same thinking and philosophy has gone into the Sonic Implants Brass, Woodwinds and Percusuion Libraries as well. However, you really can't tell how good it is until you actually work on it. And yes it's pricy but is it worth it? Before I do purchase this collection could anyone write about their impressions and work experiences using this library?

With thanks,
Allan Kane
Toronto, Canada

[dalek3]

I have the SI Strings and SI Brass, and I think the brass is as top-notch as the strings are, definately worth the price. I can't comment on the Woodwinds and Percussion but am looking at upgrading to the complete collection because I'm so happy with the Strings and Brass.

On my website:

http://mikeducharme.myknet.org/

At the bottom I have a short demo of the 4-horns bells up patch from the SI Brass playing the Star Trek fanfare unaccompanied, using a bit of Gigastudio DEF filtering and Altiverb reverb.. Threw it together in about 2 minutes.

[muziksculp]

I think the audio demos on the Sonivox MI website don't help. If anything, they made me skip this entire collection.

(i.e. I just recently purchased the Sam Brass collection instead of the Sonivox Symphonic Brass).

The only part of their Symphonic Collection that gets a lot of praise, and has lots of feedback from users is the "Symphonic Strings".

IMHO, "Sonivox MI" should replace the current audio demos with much better ones, that might tempt me to jump out of my seat, and order them ! For now that is not the case.

I also find the feedback on their symphonic collection (Brass, Woodwinds, and Percussion) very limited, and evaluating their Brass and Woodwinds is not that easy from the demos, or other user feedback.

[dalek3]

I think the audio demos on the Sonivox MI website don't help. If anything, they made me skip this entire collection.

I agree 100%. Their Strings and Brass both sound a LOT better than the demos let on. They should get new/better demos made at some point.

[akane]

I really think the SI demoes are world class. That's the problem; these writers can make anything sound good.

[muziksculp]

I really think the SI demoes are world class. That's the problem; these writers can make anything sound good.

"World Class" ?

Sorry, but I don't hear that in their demos...believe me, I'm all ears ! and I'm still waiting for some "World Class" demos to demonstrate the "World Class" samples of the Symphonic Orchestra by Sonnivox.

[AlexDavis]

can anyone comment on the SI woodwinds? Of all the SI demos, the woodwinds are definitely put in the worst light. Those demos don't sound good at all!

[esperlad]

I think that they are really good. I have gotten some great results from them.

[janila]

I think the audio demos on the Sonivox MI website don't help. If anything, they made me skip this entire collection.I feel just the same.

[Pzy-Clone]

ive worked a bit with the Si brass collection, and well...im not realy that impressed to be honest.:wow:

They sound ok , not great, but very similar to alot of other sound libs out there, kinda ...very generic in the sound , they dont relay stand out, either positively or negatively. Imo offcourse.

They main problem for me , was the editing of the samples, very inconsistent with regards to attack and release times.
Velocety curves were very midi-ish, and i found it difficult to work with it to a satisafactory manner.

Now it also must be said this was an earlier giga version, so things might have improved a bit since then.
But the funtionally of the lib was very 1998-ish to me, and not at all on the same level as VSL or EWQL.

I donnu how the K2 version is, but from a sound perspective..i think they are unspectacular and too expensive.
Im curious about the remaining titles of the collection though, as im in perticular always looking for good percussion, and woodwinds.

so you Si freaks ,dont kill me, that was just my impression of the brass.

[dalek3]

Now it also must be said this was an earlier giga version, so things might have improved a bit since then.
But the funtionally of the lib was very 1998-ish to me, and not at all on the same level as VSL or EWQL.

I have the Giga 3 version and find it totally different than you describe.. not sure whether it's becuase of a big difference in versions or b/c of personal taste.

[geronimo001]

I find it very strange that Sonic Implants is not more popular than it is because
it's the library that comes closest to the studio sound or sound stage that we hear so often. They nailed it as far as I'm concern. I'm not expert but it's really close.

I have to agree to a certain degree that many of the demos were not that impressive at first and i think a lot of that has to do with us comparing it with those big bombastic trillerish demos EW has. But it's a mistake and i would recommend Sonic Implants over EW any day of the week for tow reasons: playability(MUCH better than EW), and because it's been recorded in a much smaller hall, it is much more versatile than EW in that regard as you can add your own reverb and make it sound big or intimate. Which is something you cant do with EW even though they have close mic samples it was recorded in this huge hall and you're kind of stuck with it. The hall Sonic implants use is and ideal size as you get all the early reflexions but not so much
ambiance that you cant add you own reverb. The placement in the stereo feild IMO is perfect too. There's one more reason i would recommend SI over EW and it's because SI has more velocity layers(4 vel on average & up tp 5 for horns) so when you play piano or forte you really get what you're aiming for. That's no small detail to be able to play a real piano segment and SI is much better for that. Note that all this is hard to ear in a demo. Also SISS have up to 6 seconds long samples so you can hold that note as long as you want and it's still alive unlike EW which i found to have no life after 1 or 2 seconds. Again, it's hard to hear that in a demo but it becomes very clear once you used it.

Note that i compared SI with EW because they are the only library recorded with ambiance that i know. I don't mean to say EW is bad in fact i plan on getting EW pro xp at some point because when it come to sample recorded in a big hall they are the best.

In the end i would say that tone wise SI is the best, but i still prefer VSL because i like their system and they have recorded so much details, i love it!
And i still think, except for appassionata strings maybe, that the best string library is VSL layered with SISS. That way you benefit from the detailed/realistic articulation of VSL and the early reflexion of SI. Plus layering strings is aways a good thing IMO.

[geronimo001]

I have the Giga 3 version and find it totally different than you describe.. not sure whether it's becuase of a big difference in versions or b/c of personal taste.

I'm not sure but i think there is a difference. 24 bit is much better for samples recorded in a hall than 16 bit. Plus K2 and it's scripting ability can take care of legatos really well.

[muziksculp]

Sonic Implants Brass is almost double the price of the Project Sam Brass, the number of composers using Project Sam's Brass is clearly an indication as to which library seems to do the job, and cover lots of ground as far as both solo and section brass is concerned. Plus, the Project Sam Brass offers three mic position perspectives, for added flexibility, plus Professionally produced audio demos to evaluate it.

Hence, it was an easy decision to make, so... I recently purchased the Project Sam Brass library, and NOT the Sonivox (Sonic Implants) Brass.

Project Sam Brass audio demos are just the kind of thing that Sonivox lacks, and IMHO Project Sam Brass is a great model of what a professional audio demo should be like (NOT just two or three just OK, or sometimes, bad sounding demo songs) that mask out the instuments in question, and do nothing on a professional level in evaluating a sampled instruments quality. I have lots of praise for the Project Sam team, they are professional all the way !

IMHO, a professional sample library's audio demo should also be professionally produced.

The audio demos should include a comprehensive guided tour of every instrument, or as many as possible, of the included instrument/s, with a narrator explaining what you are listning to, and then some audio demos showing off how the instruments sound in a musical context, i.e. short musical passages that demonstrate the instruments and how they sound when orchestated with other instruments. This to me, makes lots of sense.

The Sam Brass audio demo format is what I wish to see other sample developers use for a demo format.

Yes, this is an extra effort that a developer has to put into their product marketing effort, but I feel it is very much a necessity, and not a luxury, or a minor detail that can be easily skipped. I think it is us, the customers, who also need to demand it from developers, this is a very important detail that has been ignored for a very long time.

Maybe this will change in the near future, but we the consumers of these libraries need to voice our concerns, and hopefully developers will listen to us, and eventually, produce Professional Audio demos, that allow us to better evalute their content BEFORE PURCHASING, NOT AFTER !

[Pzy-Clone]

its kinda crazy actually...if i developed a sound library, i would sit day and night to make the most comprehensive outstanding representative demos humanly possible, or hire someone to do it if i wasnt up for it myself.
But that is under the assumption that the library is great to begin with offcourse...

I wonder sometimes, when i hear bad demos, what they are thinking...perhaps some developers seem to think we will buy anything that has the word ORCHESTRAL and k2 in them....?

[dalek3]

SAM brass sound is good but the programming is ancient - I have had a heckuva time with the SAM horns trying to get them to have a strong attack and sustain - only way I was able to do it was mixing together staccato, marcato and sustain samples which just sounds really weird b/c for a split second there are 12 horns playing, then 8, then 4. I eventually gave up on the SAM horns. The SAM trumpets are fairly decent though, and the SAM solo sessions is great.

The SAM demos are so good that they show off the best the library can be. Unfortunately it's often very very difficult to get the SAM libraries sounding as good as the demos unless you have the sampler know-how to reprogram the library to adjust things like the attack (which I don't have), or you write pieces to the library's strengths and weaknesses so that the problems don't occur. The Sonic Implants brass in my view has the opposite problem. It's easy to get the brass sounding much better than it does in the demos.

Mike

[HenrikBJ]

I have the K2 version of the complete Sonic Implants SO, and although I haven't had much time to play with it yet, the first thing I noticed was the pristine sound quality and the degree of emotion, if one can say that, there was in the various instruments.

As I'm in the middle of switching computers, I can't upload any sound examples, which is a shame, because as you can probably tell, I feel the library is being dismissed too quickly in this thread. I do agree with everybody however that the demos on the Sonivox homepage ought to be better - those demos are no match for the ones ProjectSAM have of their brass.

[muziksculp]

Please excuse me if this is a bit off-topic, but, I feel that it is about time to expose this quite important issue.

The point I'm trying to make, is very straight forward.

I feel that developers have the responsibility of honestly, and professionally demonstrating the qualities, and capabilities of their product (Which is sampled instruments, basically they are selling us SOUNDS).

Why should I as a consumer, keep guessing if their product is good or not before purchasing it ?

Why should I be stuck with only relying on reviews, user comments, and lots of subjective opinions, where personal taste, or other factors seem to dictate a lot of the comments, and opinion regarding the quality of a sample library, when I can hear what I want to buy, and decide for myself. (remember we are buying sounds).

User comments, and opinions IMHO are a secondary resource for evaluating sample libraries, and NOT the primary way to evaluate them.

I would rather be able to spend some quality time, listening to a professionally produced audio demonstration of the product I'm about to consider buying, and evaluate it in the best possible manner (Using MY EARS), rather than reading lots of user comments that seems to just add more confusion, since conflicting opinions of the same product is quite a popular scenario. (Again this is the personal taste issue in action).

I feel that It is our responsibility as consumers, to find a way to evaluate these sample libraries in a professional manner, Before purchasing, rather than after purchasing a sample library.

I'm sure we will all be much happier with our current sample library collections, if sample developers had a standard professional demo format, that we the consumers, demanded from them before purchasing.

It is quite annoying to see developers just producing two, or three demos songs (even bad ones), and still being able to sell us a $1000 sample library. (guess why this is happening ?)

I think it is time this changed, and this will only happen if we, the consumers of these sample libraries, demand comprehensive and professional audio demos of their products.

[dalek3]

I think it is time this changed, and this will only happen if we, the consumers of these sample libraries, demand comprehensive and professional audio demos of their products.

I agree with your points, but I think you are preaching to the choir here. I'm not sure whether or not or how often Sonivox visits this forum to get this sort of feedback..

[geronimo001]

the first thing I noticed was the pristine sound quality and the degree of emotion,.

Yes, i totally agree with that. And i think emotion is the right word or expression maybe, but that's what i noticed too. And that one thing that the demos down show. Not that they are bad but it's something one will find out when they use it.

For those who say the demos are not very good i suggest you listen to the new demos like Battle cue by Craig Sharmat. Notice how big and powerful SI can sound without being drawn in reverb... Now that's something!

http://www.sonivoxmi.com/ProductDetail.asp?Item=CDSymphonicCollection

I really liked Small Impression by Craig as well.. Except for the fact that there's a little to much SIPS legato on the strings, which can sound a little weird, i think this demos demonstrate how good SI can be for the more quiet stuff. And again notice it's not drawn in reverb.

Excursion by Aron Sapp is a good demo too. Look for the fast cellos in the middle of the demos and the muted brass that reminds me of Star Wars a lot. That's what i mean when i say studio moviesh sound or sound stage. The strings staccato strings sound really good too.

I think a lot of confusion is due to people being overly impress by big bombastic demos like EW so when we go to SI, which was recorded in a smaller studio, can give the false impression of being weaker some how. But when you start listening carefully you realize that they are very close to that studio sound and really start appreciate the library for that.

I really hope SI goes back to record some more articulation at some point. But i dough they will.

In the end i would say one really has to play with the library to appreciate it.
Then you can tell this library was done with great care.

[muziksculp]

My comment is not focused on Sonivox alone, but rather applies to all sample library developers, and it does not matter if they visit this forum or not, it is us the consumer, who needs to demand detailed pro-demos from the developers in a more direct manner (by Phone, e-mails, support, ...etc.).

If we don't do something about this issue, i.e. let the developers know that we are not happy with the way they are demonstrating their sample libraries, then nothing will change, and we, the consumer will just have to pay the price, and not know what we are getting.

I'm hoping that we can change things to the better, and there is no reason why we can't.

[akane]

Great responses and happy to see such a vibrant community of composers
who are as obsessed with sound as I am!

[tradivoro]

I'm going to stick my neck out here and say something that may not be perceived as positive, but I think a large reason as to why this orchestra is not as popular as say, others, is basically, their price. They're still caught in a price model that was able to be sustained in the late 90s...

When people like Kirk Hunter are charging 1/5 of what Sonivox charges for libraries that are super high quality, I think that sonivox has got to do re-think on how much they charge for theirs. They're still charging the same price for their strings as they used to do back in the 90s. Remember when the Miroslav Vitous orchestra was $4000 dollars? Remember when the Peter Siedlazchek Orchestra was like $2,500 dollars. And as I remember correctly, back then, Kirk Hunter Orchestral Strings were like $1,000.

Everybody has adjusted their prices to the new reality in orchestra libraries. Once Sonivox catches up to this one single fact as to why their libraries are not selling or are not as popular as others, I'm sure that they will sell more. If they would lower the price of their entire library to about $800 dollars, that would be more in keeping with whta's happening today. Anyway, that's my 2 cents.

[janila]

They're still caught in a price model that was able to be sustained in the late 90s...
If they would lower the price of their entire library to about $800 dollars, that would be more in keeping with whta's happening today.That's true. They also don't have a true lite version, the mini strings are too crippled and that's only strings. EWQLSO Platinum vs. Gold is a good example of a lite version. Offer the essense of the library affordably and sell the professional features at a premium. Then again Platinum costs next to nothing these days and people have gotten used to big libraries at a moderate price so maybe Sonivox should just lower the price to the $800 region. Even half their current price feels high compared to the competition.

[belbin]

[QUOTE=janila]That's true. They also don't have a true lite version....QUOTE]

Isn't MUSE supposed to pick up some slack in that area, and then some?

Or does anyone actually know anything about MUSE other than what they read in an announcement thread in which it was gang bashed into submission?

I think Sonivox are doing themselves a dis-service by providing a shortage of info: I know user comment is better in a lot of ways, but how can forthcomingness about products that took a lot of work be a bad Idea, sales-wise? Why would any developer leave it entirely up to the user-base to put the info on the web?

Belbin

[geronimo001]

[QUOTE=janila]That's true. They also don't have a true lite version....QUOTE]

Isn't MUSE supposed to pick up some slack in that area, and then some?

Or does anyone actually know anything about MUSE other than what they read in an announcement thread in which it was gang bashed into submission?

I think Sonivox are doing themselves a dis-service by providing a shortage of info: I know user comment is better in a lot of ways, but how can forthcomingness about products that took a lot of work be a bad Idea, sales-wise? Why would any developer leave it entirely up to the user-base to put the info on the web?

Belbin

well said......

[jeffn1]

That's true. They also don't have a true lite version, the mini strings are too crippled and that's only strings. EWQLSO Platinum vs. Gold is a good example of a lite version. Offer the essense of the library affordably and sell the professional features at a premium. Then again Platinum costs next to nothing these days and people have gotten used to big libraries at a moderate price so maybe Sonivox should just lower the price to the $800 region. Even half their current price feels high compared to the competition.

I think this is true. The potential market for these products is greater than it once was. So, I think high end products can still be very profitable at a lower price point (because of the increased sales).

Although my perspective is the budget conscious purchaser, from a developers perspective the trick is to sell very close to the top end, with very usable professional quality to large numbers, but reserve certain features that are important enough for the very high end purchaser that they will be willing to spend the extra for it. It is a difficult tightrope to stay in both markets (of course, from my perspective, I would like them to just make the highest end available to everyone at budget pricing).

jeffn1

[esperlad]

I have the complete orchestral package, and I have experimented on recording a piece of music of music using just that set, and then I found that I needed to use some other libraries for certain spot of the composition.

The 16 and 24 bit versions are different. The programing has been improved and I think the sound was vastly improved.

If they would release solo strings, that would be a great addition.

I would told that they not add any additional articulations to any existing section. Personally, that is a shame...I would like more detail to work with.

[mixolydian]

If they would lower the price of their entire library to about $800 dollars, that would be more in keeping with whta's happening today.

$800 sounds affordable. $2,995 do not.

When someone said there are weak demos, which one do you mean as an example? I'm sold with "Lesser Evil" and "Prince William". Prince William has something special in the mix and it sounds damn good.

[dalek3]

Yeah Prince William is one of their better demos, and probably the reason why their strings collection seems to sell so much better than their brass etc. None of the Sonivox brass demos grabbed me, and I was astonished to find the brass library itself was so much better than the demos would indicate.

[HenrikBJ]

I just realized that the demos which I think are awful are the ones supposed to display the capability of the entire library. But if you click on each section, for example Strings, more demos will show up, and among these there are some which I think are actually very good. It was these demos that sold the library for me. I can't believe I forgot about that! :)

The demos I particularly like are:

From the String section (http://www.sonivoxmi.com/ProductDetail.asp?Item=CDStringCollection - click on Demos):

- Dante's Gates
- Pizz-Staccato-Sordino
- Middle Earth

From the Brass section (http://www.sonivoxmi.com/ProductDetail.asp?Item=CDBrassCollection - click on Demos):

- Raptors

The percussion section I haven't really looked at as I already have True Strike 1. As for winds, I think the demos sound bad. It's the same demos that are on the front page, i.e. those that are supposed to show off the entire library.

On a side note, I think the songs Middle Earth and Raptors show how the various sections of this library fit well with one another.

[tradivoro]

$800 sounds affordable. $2,995 do not.

When someone said there are weak demos, which one do you mean as an example? I'm sold with "Lesser Evil" and "Prince William". Prince William has something special in the mix and it sounds damn good.

Exactly... When nowadays you can pick up an established orchestral library like the EWQL Gold with XP Pro for $495, $3,000 makes no sense... I know that VSL costs about that much or more, but unless you're making a lot of money from your music, it's crazy to buy VSL...

Yes, and in regards to the demos, if you select each orchestral section, you will hear demos of that are slanted to brass, strings, etc... There are a lot of good demos in there.. Definitely this orchestra is a good sounding orchestra, it's just, in my opinion, it's way overpriced for what it is...

[Crossingsound]

I just got the strings from Sonivox to compliment my Gold XP library. Overall I think they are very beautiful sounding strings and quite useful, though I agree with the overpriced comment. what they are lacking is solo strings, with a good solo strings addition, then the price would be justified. However, I think these strings do sound quite good, and its a great compliment to the wetter sound of XP, and as much as I love EW XP, Sometimes I have a harder time getting the wetter samples to do just what i want. Not having that issue with Sonnivox strings. The price for the full orchestra is cheaper in some retailers, I have seen it for 2500, and honestly, That is not too bad, I would pay that. I also have kirk hunter strings as well, I like the strings in it, but not anything else very much, strings are good quality, brass is not. Good programming.

So mixing libs is a great idea. I would of gone with VSL's appasionata, but it does not work natively with my DAW.

So, I don't thikn the full orch is way overpriced, but it is pricey no doubt, without much solo work in it.

here is a sample of my latest peice using all strings with Sonivox (except a solo cello patch from EW in the end) , and brass and percussion from EW and Ew choirs, just in case you wanted to hear a real world example of someone using their strings.

http://www.energiestudios.com/Files/EP_Forsaken.mp3

[tradivoro]

Crossingsound, Sonivox definitely has great sounds in all their libraries, but it's an old library and it's definitely an overpriced library. Statements that $2,500 is not too bad for an orchestral library is exactly what keeps these prices up. It's the same thing as paying $1,000 for 16 megs of ram, which is exactly what I paid for ram in the early 90s. Nowadays, you can get a stick of 1 gig of ram for under $100. Sonivox has a great sounding product that is extremely overpriced.

I definitely agree with you 100% that mixing libraries is great, since no one library has all the necessary sounds for all the jobs that may come your way. And definitely the other libraries you mention have great sounds as well, that come in handy for particular kinds of jobs.

[geronimo001]

O.K. We get it! SI is over price.

Did you guys ever stop and think that maybe SI were just being loyal to their previous customers? I mean how do you feel when you buy a library and latter find out the price has dropper 1/2 price or even worse? I mean i could get Platinum xp for 2/3 of the price i paid for Gold, how cool is that huh? Also, dev like EW have a very aggressive marketing attitude which may falsely give the impression that others are pricey. I would add that price getting lower is a good thing but if it comes at the cost of lower quality then it's not a good thing.

Somebody compared SI and gold earlier and i honestly believe this comparison is not fair. SI is one notch above IMO. Because of the recording, the versatility(it can sound intimate & big), the programming(like release trails etc..) and the playability, all this is better with SI and puts it in a different league.

[Crossingsound]

Plus not to mention that East West is blowing out their old libs with the old players, cut them in half at least to get rid of it making way for their new player and libs. So we can't compare EW orch prices now to SI, because platinum was about the same as SI before they cut the price.

My only wish is solo instruments with SI strings.

[tradivoro]

O.K. We get it! SI is over price.

Did you guys ever stop and think that maybe SI were just being loyal to their previous customers? I mean how do you feel when you buy a library and latter find out the price has dropper 1/2 price or even worse? I mean i could get Platinum xp for 2/3 of the price i paid for Gold, how cool is that huh? Also, dev like EW have a very aggressive marketing attitude which may falsely give the impression that others are pricey. I would add that price getting lower is a good thing but if it comes at the cost of lower quality then it's not a good thing.

Geronimo, this sounds more like a customer expressing his own dissapointment were this library to drop to a low price after having spent $3,000 for it... To say that Sonivox is keeping their prices high to be loyal to their customers is a stretch.. Things always drop in price after a while, simply because companies are making way for new inventory, new products, or they have recouped the investment for an old product and in order to sell more units because interest has flagged on their original product and new products have come out which are preventing sales to Sonivox, they lower their price... I'm sorry that you paid more money for Gold and Platinum is cheaper now, but you also bought it when it was new...

Look at the people who bought the iphone... Less than 3 months later, the thing dropped in price... That's what happens in a real economic model... I predict in the future, Sonivox will eventually drop the price of their orchestra... I hope you don't feel bad when that happens...

[mixolydian]

Loyal? Let's see when it die off. ...Never ever? ~|

[geronimo001]

tradivoro, i may be stretching here i don't know? Maybe it has nothing to do with loyalty i never asked them, but It might be the reason. Or maybe they value their hard work?

And yes price drop can be insulting a bit. Imagine those who paid full price for Platinum when it came out at $3000, and got the expansion full price. How much those that make? 6000$ ? I don't know but now it's down to $1000 for both, that's got to be a bit insulting? So i agree price can drop after a while but that's too much.

But that's not so much what worries me about these huge price drops. What worries me is that it might drive smaller developers out of business by dropping their prices too low just to keep up, and that's not good for the users. It seems to me like EW is behaving like a big corporation that wants to grab every $ out of every customer on the market. And we know how that usually ends, the corporation is left alone standing at the end. I,m sure it works for them but i think there's a danger here, but maybe I'm way off and the market is expending fast i don't know? But it's a fact that when a major company drops it's prices then the others usually follow and some die because they don't sell as much... Even it their product was a good one.

Anyway, rant over.

[Crossingsound]

SI probally believes in their product, and are placing themselves in between EW and VSL in their pricing. SI sound quality is Really good, rich sound. It is lacking in other areas, but still quite lovely in its sound, which to me, is VERY important.

EW, which is what I consider one of the big 3, has lowered their pricing drastically, but with purpose, it won't stay like that once they start releasing new full orchestra stuff I believe.

[tradivoro]

Well listen, I don't mean to make you upset, but here something... Back in the day, I worked in a studio and we paid a princely sum for a Emulator II... By the end of the 80s, beginning of the 90s, we couldn't get much for it... Likewise, we had a Yamaha DX1, the top of the line model... When we got it, brand new, it was like $7,000 or something... It also wouldn't resell for much either... Things go down in price dramatically after a while... so, that's just the nature of the synth business...

As for small developers being hurt, these kind of pricing structures aren't hurting somebody like Kirk Hunter... He's selling orchestral libraries for a price that most can easily afford... And they're quality libraries... I'm sure that Sonivox has things that sound better than Kirk's and vice versa, every library has its strengths and weakness... Gary Garritan will eventually release GPO II which I"m sure will be a completely different animal than the original GPO and I'm sure it will be at a price that most can easily afford... He's not hurting for business either... So, I'm sorry that Platinum has dropped in price so much after your initial investment, but, it's not meant as an insult.... Anyway, here's hoping that in the future we can all get quailty libraries that we can all afford... :)


tradivoro, i may be stretching here i don't know? Maybe it has nothing to do with loyalty i never asked them, but It might be the reason. Or maybe they value their hard work?

And yes price drop can be insulting a bit. Imagine those who paid full price for Platinum when it came out at $3000, and got the expansion full price. How much those that make? 6000$ ? I don't know but now it's down to $1000 for both, that's got to be a bit insulting? So i agree price can drop after a while but that's too much.

But that's not so much what worries me about these huge price drops. What worries me is that it might drive smaller developers out of business by dropping their prices too low just to keep up, and that's not good for the users. It seems to me like EW is behaving like a big corporation that wants to grab every $ out of every customer on the market. And we know how that usually ends, the corporation is left alone standing at the end. I,m sure it works for them but i think there's a danger here, but maybe I'm way off and the market is expending fast i don't know? But it's a fact that when a major company drops it's prices then the others usually follow and some die because they don't sell as much... Even it their product was a good one.

Anyway, rant over.

[mixolydian]

True. I don't see reasons why software prizes are static as reinforced concrete.


It is lacking in other areas...


Could you be a little more specific?

[mixolydian]

LOL As we talk about prizes, I recieved a newsletter from Sonivox which direct me to the $2,995. )(~ Smells like fated. :p ...Tonight we'll have another bank robbery. :D

[tradivoro]

Myxolydian, that's probably a phrygian attempt to get you to change your mode of thinking and splurge... ;)


LOL As we talk about prizes, I recieved a newsletter from Sonivox which direct me to the $2,995. )(~ Smells like fated. :p ...Tonight we'll have another bank robbery. :D

[mixolydian]

Yeah, think about selling my car to get those tinkles. ~|

[akane]

Rather then sell your car, I suggest you work hard and get a great paying scoring job. The 3000.00 Library fee will seem like lunch money.

[Crossingsound]

Could you be a little more specific?


I just have the strings library. And I love the sound quality of them, really rich and robust sound, full and clear, sits really well in a mix. I also have EW Gold XP, and while I also love the hall and already placed sound of EW, often times the wettness of the articulations can get in the way of clarity with some passages, so I find Sonivox strings a little easier to get to do what I want.

Ok, lacking, it is seriously lacking good solo passages in the strings. you get 2 layer and 3 layer, with basic articulations, alot of them not much different in sound, one of them with a programmed legato that is ok, could use some more programming chops such as Kirk Hunter K2 library does very well (slide ups and such, love Kirk's programming for that). But there ins't really a great solo violin, or cello, or anything, I can't get that single instrument sound like I can with just a patch in EW, So, I mix and match. But I use sonivox for the majority of string sounds because it is working very well, and some nice efx, but there isn't a whole lot difference with most of the different articulations, just minor changes. That is what I am noticing. I still like it lots, great sound overall

[mixolydian]

Thank you. Very nice website and great music btw. ;)