# Aurora Choirs by Aria Sounds?



## Grizzlymv (Jul 26, 2017)

hey guys,
I've seen VST Buzz running a deal for this choir that I never heard about before. The demos sounds quite nice. However, I can't seem to find any info about that library anywhere. Is it because it's a brand new product (quite strange to go straight in such a sale if that's the case), or because it's an older product that didn't gain any tractions? If so, anyone know what would be the reasons? Anyone having it already? Thoughts/comments?

Cheers.


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## Grizzlymv (Jul 26, 2017)

Also, compared to Venus (from Soundiron), redundant or complement? The tone seems to be different and the agility better with this one (Aurora).


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## elpedro (Jul 26, 2017)

Grizzlymv said:


> hey guys,
> I've seen VST Buzz running a deal for this choir that I never heard about before. The demos sounds quite nice. However, I can't seem to find any info about that library anywhere. Is it because it's a brand new product (quite strange to go straight in such a sale if that's the case), or because it's an older product that didn't gain any tractions? If so, anyone know what would be the reasons? Anyone having it already? Thoughts/comments?
> 
> Cheers.


http://www.ariasounds.com/aurora-choir.html this is all i could find..


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## jamieboo (Jul 26, 2017)

I'm very curious about this too!
I just recently got Olympus Elements so I possibly don't need this, but part of me wishes I'd waited as this deal seems excellent!


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## Paul Owen (Jul 26, 2017)

Considering that other choir libraries have male and female sections with true legato and syllable sequencers, £400 is pretty damn steep a price to pay. No wonder they went with VST buzz to shift a few copies. But it does sound good so I'll give them that.


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## emasters (Jul 26, 2017)

Grizzlymv said:


> hey guys,
> ...I can't seem to find any info about that library anywhere. Is it because it's a brand new product (quite strange to go straight in such a sale if that's the case), or because it's an older product that didn't gain any tractions?



Similar here -- couldn't find anything about it (beyond Aria web site). Was hoping someone would have feedback about it, but not much to go on yet. Hmmm...


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## kitekrazy (Jul 26, 2017)

emasters said:


> Similar here -- couldn't find anything about it (beyond Aria web site). Was hoping someone would have feedback about it, but not much to go on yet. Hmmm...



Under these circumstances it goes into the Do Not Buy category for me.


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## Grizzlymv (Jul 26, 2017)

kitekrazy said:


> Under these circumstances it goes into the Do Not Buy category for me.



yeah. not reassuring. unless, as I said, it's a brand new product. but again, I went to Aria Sounds' facebook page, and there's post about pretty much all of their libraries up until 2014. but nothing about this choir....which is quite strange, as you would like to promote it if you're a dev. And on the demo side, there's only 2 songs (well, technically 3), but that's it. nothing else. Not much to get a clear idea of the strength and weakness of this lib.


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## gamma-ut (Jul 26, 2017)

I went into the Wayback Machine for the Aria site and could find no mention of a choir library as recently as 3rd July, so it looks as though it's new.


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## MillsMixx (Jul 26, 2017)

Last year VSTBuzz had a 75% off sale on Aria Sounds _LSS Solo Strings Bundle_.
Looking at their history since 2014 they've had a few very big discount sales, 50% off, etc...
I see there is a demo (4 patches) you can download on the VSTBuzz sale page for this Choir.
Other than that you're right, there's not a lot of info on the company...but they sell Strings, Brass, Pianos, Percussion, Ethnic, & Sound Design Instruments.


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## AdamKmusic (Jul 26, 2017)

I bought some aria percussion when I first started composing, unfortunately (I think) I never ended up using them..


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## robgb (Jul 26, 2017)

It's Aria Sounds, which I don't really recommend. I have one of their solo cellos. I never use it. And I've heard others complain about their instruments.


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## rrichard63 (Jul 26, 2017)

Slightly off topic, but since we're bringing up other Aria Sounds products, does anybody have any experience with and opinions about the three ethnic flutes?


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## sostenuto (Jul 26, 2017)

Sad that no 'capable' choir User can comment on strengths and weaknesses of this 'deal' .... 
Doubt these creators would have priced this in gbp 400. category if it is a total piece of garbage.
Could be a superb deal for many here ... who cannot cover the several high-priced alternatives. Ready to take a chance, if someone here __ I 'trust' can provide some experienced comment, defining pro and cons ......


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## MillsMixx (Jul 26, 2017)

Well the walkthoughs don't sound too bad as i can hear. I would definitely try to the free patches out to get any ideas.
While I wouldn't blindly drop over 400 pounds for a library nobody knows anything about, for the discounted price at least it looks solid. I don't need another choir library otherwise I might bite. Oh and I'm holding out for Spitfire's Choir which I'm sure is more of a want than a need cuz all there stuff is pretty cool :--)


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## Seycara (Jul 26, 2017)

Aria Sounds imo is not a high quality VST developer. Their solo french horn is scripted/crossfaded extremely poorly to the degree of unusability. See 0:19 for their solo horn walkthrough:


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## mikehamm123 (Jul 26, 2017)

rrichard63 said:


> does anybody have any experience with and opinions about the three ethnic flutes?



three ethnic flutes walk into a bar...


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## mikehamm123 (Jul 26, 2017)

I bought the Aria choir this morning. It was better than what I had!

This tutorial gives you an unvarnished hearing of its samples:


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## blougui (Jul 27, 2017)

Reuben behind the comment This man is ubiquitous ! - and quite competent


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## mikehamm123 (Jul 27, 2017)

I noodled around with Aurora last night, this is what I came up with:



Keep in mind I barely know how to use Kontakt, so this is what the choir sounds like 'out of the box' without finessing.

_(is there a reason my soundcloud links don't seem to load properly?)_


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## midiman (Jul 27, 2017)

Of course everything is subjective, but 400 pounds for sopranos and altos is more than many other libs on the market. At least I can say this is not a competitive price. Also, putting it on VSTbuzz for a fraction of the cost when it is a new library raises a few suspicions. But I could be wrong... With 400 pounds I'd probably rather go look at Strezov choirs, like Freyja.


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## hawpri (Jul 27, 2017)

mikehamm123 said:


> I noodled around with Aurora last night, this is what I came up with:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



For some reason I can't play that. Is it private? 

I'm interested in the library because I don't have soprano and alto section choir samples, but I'm still hesitant to purchase at this price. Given the quality of the developer's other products, I don't know if it'll be a waste of about $100. Does the content and quality of the scripting (from what little we tell) seem worth it for the price VSTBuzz is selling it? The free demo patch on VSTBuzz had almost no content.


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## kitekrazy (Jul 27, 2017)

hawpri said:


> For some reason I can't play that. Is it private?
> 
> I'm interested in the library because I don't have soprano and alto section choir samples, but I'm still hesitant to purchase at this price. Given the quality of the developer's other products, I don't know if it'll be a waste of about $100. Does the content and quality of the scripting (from what little we tell) seem worth it for the price VSTBuzz is selling it? The free demo patch on VSTBuzz had almost no content.



Check out Bela D instead. http://www.beladmedia.com/


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## kitekrazy (Jul 27, 2017)

If you went and search the site, this seemed like a promising developer when their 1st string library was released. There were a lot of positive responses. The constant with Aria Sounds is lack of communication. No matter the price the principle should be Do Not Buy. Either the developer will quit or learn for that experience.


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## mikehamm123 (Jul 27, 2017)

hawpri said:


> For some reason I can't play that. Is it private?



Yeah... I made it public just now:



Again this is how the samples sound out of the box, not at all polished.

I can't comment on the scripting or advanced features. But here you have the basics.


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## evilantal (Jul 27, 2017)

rrichard63 said:


> Slightly off topic, but since we're bringing up other Aria Sounds products, does anybody have any experience with and opinions about the three ethnic flutes?



I have these and quite like them. Nice selection of ornamentations particularly.

But get them at sale price as they're no match for Impact Soundworks' ethnic flute series.

Can't comment on dev responsiveness as I've never had to contact them.


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## hawpri (Jul 27, 2017)

kitekrazy said:


> If you went and search the site, this seemed like a promising developer when their 1st string library was released. There were a lot of positive responses. The constant with Aria Sounds is lack of communication. No matter the price the principle should be Do Not Buy. Either the developer will quit or learn for that experience.


For lack of a better frame of reference (less inflammatory), are we talking Olajide level lack of communication, Frederick level lack of communication, or something else?


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## markleake (Jul 28, 2017)

I have their Surdos and Snares (S&S) product and their Pipe Organ.

S&S sounds quite good actually, and is a fairly unique (but memory heavy) way of solving round robins - but I've never used them really because I subsequently bought other percussion libs and can't see much use for a lib with such high memory usage just for surdos and snares (0.84 GB all samples loaded with Kontakt's pre-load buffer left as default).

The Pipe organ is limited but is a steal for the price. While some stops sound quite good, the pedal stops are not good, and other stops have a lot of noise in the samples, so you (don't) get what you (don't) pay for. There is one very soft stop that is unusable due to the noise - the Vox Angelica. Very disappointing because that stop sounds wonderful otherwise. Oh, and the stops in the GUI are the wrong way around; you have to push them in to get them to sound, which for an organ player is disastrously wrong and does your head in. :(

My understanding is that LSS (London Symphonic Strings) are said to sound very nice, if a little thin sounding, but the scripting lets them down. On release a lot of people said this, but there didn't seem to be much attempt from Aria Sounds to address the issues properly. I don't have LSS though, so maybe those issues are solved now? And for their continuing sale price of 75 pounds, it's kind of hard to complain.


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## Quasar (Jul 28, 2017)

robgb said:


> It's Aria Sounds, which I don't really recommend. I have one of their solo cellos. I never use it. And I've heard others complain about their instruments.


Based on my own past experience, (which I've complained about before) when I see the name Aria Sounds I keep moving. Not interested.


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## Fleer (Jul 28, 2017)

Sa


Quasar said:


> Based on my own past experience, (which I've complained about before) when I see the name Aria Sounds I keep moving. Not interested.


Same here. Got their piano. Wrote to support. No reply.


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## 8noise (Jul 28, 2017)

Hi there:

After buying this, and having played a bit with Aurora here are my feelings and opinions.

I like this library´s tone (that´s why I bought), I think in this area offers something different. I really like the sustains/legato in the sopranos. Sopranos are beautiful, especially with strong vibrato layer.
Layer crossfading with mod wheel is consistent trough both patches. This library is really dynamic.
I like much more Soprano than Altos. In some way altos are less inspiring.

Altos, also, looks like a much less refined product, including problems like:

Inconsistent tone between sustains/legatos "ah" sustains sound much less bright than the other sustains.
some pitch/phase problem in legato transitions, a big one from B3 to C4 in "Ah" sustains. Probably easy to solve, don´t know.
Legato transitions not as convincing as in sopranos.
Sopranos have 2 complete octaves sampled. Why Altos have 4 less semitones (they can go a bit higher)?
The library is quite dry (it doesn´t look in the demo videos, but this is due to the added (included in the kontakt instrument) reverb, this is not a bad thing though. Even the far microphone doesn´t add too much (or nothing) ambiance (which is bad, IMHO, as some mic positions could be a bit redundant). It sounds in your face with any of the mic combinations. With mics you can change a bit (only a bit) the character, I think I´m going to use it mainly with only one mic + reverb .so t This really need reverb if you want some 3d dimension. Reverb included is ok (although I´ve deactivated to use my own reverb). That said, once you have your own reverb added it sounds wonderful.

I´ve used a bit the sequencer options and it looks nice, but I need to dive a bit more in this regard.

In conclusion:

There is no way for this library to be competitive at 400$. I suppose this is a marketing thing, give a very high price, then discount it a lot. At vstbuzz price (90$) is right. Not a bargain, but it's right.

Soprano´s tone is superb (IMHO). I´m going to use it almost for sure. Really nice to play with them.
Alto Section needs some important tweeks at this point.

Hope this helps.

Regards


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## James Marshall (Jul 28, 2017)

8noise said:


> There is no way for this library to be competitive at 400$. I suppose this is a marketing thing, give a very high price, then discount it a lot.
> Regards



This is what makes me apprehensive. It doesn't feel like a discount when it's never been on sale for the full price. 

I think they'll struggle to make sales with it at £400 after the VSTBuzz sale, but if they lower it after the sale it'd feel very underhanded.


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## markleake (Jul 28, 2017)

Thanks for the report @8noise. Much appreciated. From the material they have on their website, I liked the sopranos a lot more than the altos. The legato does sound quite good once the reverb is on. But it is very hard to tell with so little demo material / walkthrough.
(Congrats on first post, BTW. And welcome to the forum!)

@James Marshall. The library will inevitably be discounted to at least half price and probably more, as that is what they do with their other products. Maybe not immediately, but not too long after.


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## hawpri (Jul 28, 2017)

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this library! Is the alto pitch/phasing transition less of an issue with only a single mic position enabled? Not that it matters so much, it sounds like it just needs to be fixed by the developer. 

Do you think the vowel brightness difference of the altos could be improved by using another instance of the (equalized) patch on another midi channel, or is it too severe? For example, Orange Tree Samples' KSRouter script could be set to the same keys the choir patch uses for triggering different vowel sustains. It could enable a user to have custom EQ per vowel if needed. I did something similar with WavesFactory's Drum Circle lite to control the samples more than the interface allowed.


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## 8noise (Jul 28, 2017)

@markleake Thanks for your welcome.



hawpri said:


> hanks for sharing your thoughts on this library! Is the alto pitch/phasing transition less of an issue with only a single mic position enabled? Not that it matters so much, it sounds like it just needs to be fixed by the developer.
> 
> Do you think the vowel brightness difference of the altos could be improved by using another instance of the (equalized) patch on another midi channel, or is it too severe? For example, Orange Tree Samples' KSRouter script could be set to the same keys the choir patch uses for triggering different vowel sustains. It could enable a user to have custom EQ per vowel if needed. I did something similar with WavesFactory's Drum Circle lite to control the samples more than the interface allowed.



To your first question, the problem is not mic dependent. It´s there in every mic, but I think it would be easily solved by the developer. It´s not a big issue except where I mentioned in my earlier post (between B3 and C4) other transitions sound fine (altough not as smooth as in Soprano). 

Anyway, check it yourself.

Here is a raw recording (only close mic, no reverb at all (neither artistic aim ). first section are Alto "Ah" legatos from A3 to C4(white keys consecutive), so you can hear the problem mentioned when last note starts (again, it´s an isolated problem that can only be heard so clearly when form B3 to C4). After that there is a silence until the same sequence starts again but with "eh" "ih" and "oh" so you can the difference in "brillance" (your second question).

In fact, I´ve just realized that the tonal difference between "ah" and the other vowel sustains exist only when modwheel is up. That means that "ah" are not triggering the last layer (the one that is much forte and with more vibrato), and that the inconsistency is due to the fact that "ah" is not triggering the "forte" layer but only the soft and medium ones.so I understand that this is, also an easy problem to solve by the developer. (I don´t know if I´ve explained this enough clearly as I´m not English native).

Here is the track.


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## 8noise (Jul 28, 2017)

Here is.

[AUDIOPLUS=http://vi-control.net/community/attachments/aurora_alto_problems-mp3.9205/][/AUDIOPLUS]


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## hawpri (Jul 28, 2017)

8noise said:


> Here is.
> 
> [AUDIOPLUS=http://vi-control.net/community/attachments/aurora_alto_problems-mp3.9205/][/AUDIOPLUS]


Thanks for getting back to me. I'd think that this developer, or any developer wouldn't let products sit for months or years without updates, but the impression I have from what little I could read about online is that they don't make much time for interactions with prospective or paying customers. If that's the case, then it's their loss.

It's really strange that they'd release it without realizing that a dynamic layer wasn't being triggered, but it seems like a major error that they could easily fix. I'd mainly want this library for the Oohs and staccatos, but I'm hesitant. Maybe it's better to save for something else. Strevoz's choirs sound great, and they're affordable enough, but I don't want to spend that amount of money for so much more than I need (want) at the moment.


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## kwandjeen (Jul 28, 2017)

I have LSS first violins that I also erased so unplayable and ignoble/despicable. We had been several to report the rotten script (you can find it on the forum) and they said they would go for updates. Nothing was done. Avoid aria sounds. It is not a serious society.


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## thov72 (Jul 29, 2017)

I actually like my LSS first violins. I think Rob wrote a very nice piece with LSS.

http://www.robertosoggetti.com/Sketch.mp3


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## SillyMidOn (Jul 29, 2017)

kwandjeen said:


> I have LSS first violins that I also erased so unplayable and ignoble/despicable. We had been several to report the rotten script (you can find it on the forum) and they said they would go for updates. Nothing was done. Avoid aria sounds. It is not a serious society.


I have to agree that the strings are not great at all. The Surdos and Snares aren't bad, but lack punch - can't really compete with HZ percussion, for example.


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## Aria Sounds (Jul 29, 2017)

8noise said:


> @markleake Thanks for your welcome.
> 
> Hi 8noise, we have created some extra nki's which address all these points and a few more. The interval you have mentioned has been smoothed out, and we have tweaked these second nki sets to have a longer smoother legato which may be the sort of sound you are looking for. As far as I know, this is available (or will be very shortly) on VSTBuzz as extra download-ables, as well as included with the full library now of course. I'll post some audio samples playing the same little phrases mentioned in this thread for reference too shortly
> 
> ...


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## sostenuto (Jul 29, 2017)

Just watched Don Bodin Video and definitely considering this Library now. As he points out, I/F is so straightforward for someone not familiar with Choir library usage.


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## 8noise (Jul 30, 2017)

Aria Sounds said:


> _Hi 8noise, we have created some extra nki's which address all these points and a few more. The interval you have mentioned has been smoothed out, and we have tweaked these second nki sets to have a longer smoother legato which may be the sort of sound you are looking for. As far as I know, this is available (or will be very shortly) on VSTBuzz as extra download-ables, as well as included with the full library now of course. I'll post some audio samples playing the same little phrases mentioned in this thread for reference too shortly_


Thank you very much @Aria Sounds for your support.
With that update the library will be great and (even much) easy to play.

Hope VstBuzz upload the new files in a hurry as I would like to use it in a project that I must deliver in a few days.


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## rottoy (Jul 30, 2017)

Test run, with ValhallaRoom jacked to the max.


This library would REALLY benefit from having some normalization of the samples, as some bumps in volume are quite jarring (mostly the sopranos).
Aria Sounds, take notes for a future update.

Other than that, I love the library!


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## sostenuto (Jul 30, 2017)

rottoy said:


> Test run, with ValhallaRoom jacked to the max.
> Points to the one who can point out which film score this excerpt is from.
> 
> 
> ...




Very helpful as reactions have not been strong .... Are you able to suggest one or two libraries which this compares most closely with ?? So many Choral libraries out there and tough to sort only those which are quite similar in content.


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## rottoy (Jul 30, 2017)

This is my first dedicated choir library, so it's hard for me to say unfortunately.


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## Paul Owen (Jul 30, 2017)

"Points to the one who can point out which film score this excerpt is from."



Cmon....put me out of my misery....


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## rottoy (Jul 30, 2017)

Paul Owen said:


> "Points to the one who can point out which film score this excerpt is from."
> 
> 
> 
> Cmon....put me out of my misery....


It's not totally accurate as I had to transcribe it by ear, but it's the opening of a piece from Michael Kamen's 
"The Adventures of Baron Münchausen".


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## Aria Sounds (Aug 1, 2017)

8noise said:


> Thank you very much @Aria Sounds for your support.
> With that update the library will be great and (even much) easy to play.
> 
> Hope VstBuzz upload the new files in a hurry as I would like to use it in a project that I must deliver in a few days.


They have done it already, it's available in www.vstbuzz.com/my-account - Updated Legato Patch v2


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## kurtvanzo (Aug 9, 2017)

8noise said:


> Thank you very much @Aria Sounds for your support.
> With that update the library will be great and (even much) easy to play.
> 
> Hope VstBuzz upload the new files in a hurry as I would like to use it in a project that I must deliver in a few days.



Let us know how the new patches work for you. It's disappointing to hear that Aria hasn't fixed a number of their products, but hopefully as they grow they will realize how news of these things can travel fast and affect sales.

As far as choir libraries this seems limited (no men, limited arts) so it's hard to compare against others. But I still feel I get a better value out of better libraries like Voxos (Cinesamples), Olympus (Soundiron), or Symphonic Choirs (East West), probably because I can get more out of them and reach for them first for reliability. Some others people seem to like are Venus (Soundiron) and Sterzov Choirs. Even a solo like Realitone's Realivox blue is great to for adding more detail to the lines.


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## 8noise (Aug 17, 2017)

@kurtvanzo yes, they have uploaded the update that addresses that problems. Now it´s working better, it´much more usable now and I´m already using it in a project.

You are right, there are so many choir libraries that it´s difficult to decide where to invest (not to mention the upcoming eastwest choir).


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## mikehamm123 (Sep 14, 2017)

Hi, is there a link to the update/extra downloads for the Aurora library? I couldn't see it listed at the site.

Thank you!


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## 8noise (Sep 15, 2017)

Yes, there should be a new file called "updated legato v2" in your vstbuzz.com account (or at least it is in my account)


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## mikehamm123 (Sep 16, 2017)

8noise said:


> Yes, there should be a new file called "updated legato v2" in your vstbuzz.com account (or at least it is in my account)



Mmmmm not seeing it and not seeing a way to contact customer service.


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## 8noise (Sep 16, 2017)

Weird. I would try to contact with the seller (vstbuzz).


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## 8noise (Sep 16, 2017)

...by the way..
http://vstbuzz.com/contact/

hope it helps


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## mikehamm123 (Sep 16, 2017)

8noise said:


> ...by the way..
> http://vstbuzz.com/contact/
> 
> hope it helps



Ahhh that is what I needed! Thank you.


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## constaneum (Sep 16, 2017)

The choir indeed sounds very good but i'm a bit disappointed with the "seq" which only features shorts. Was expecting to have longs as well. hopefully Aria Sounds will consider that. other that thing, everything else sounds very good


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