# Sonivox Orchestral Companion Woodwinds



## jaketanner (Feb 26, 2019)

Hi all...So I have been looking for an ensemble woodwinds to be my background for the 8dio Claire series solo instruments. Someone had recommended I check out the Sonivox Woodwinds...a few days ago they were $60, then I found them for $30, today they're $5..LOL So I figured, for $5 I can download the demo, and to my surprise...they're not bad in combination with the Claire. Surely beats the NI Essentials Winds that comes with Kontakt Ultimate, and for $5, it's a no brainer, and also a great lite resource sketch library...I have also their String companion that I got for $1, so now I think I will load that up also and create a sketch template. 

Anyone else use these?


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## richardt4520 (Feb 26, 2019)

I actually like the sound of the woodwind ensemble but their libraries crash Cubase constantly for me. They crashed Cubase 8 and 10 as well so I uninstalled all of my sonivox libraries. Those are the only ones I have that crash it. Not sure if that's just me or if others have that issue.


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## jaketanner (Feb 26, 2019)

richardt4520 said:


> I actually like the sound of the woodwind ensemble but their libraries crash Cubase constantly for me. They crashed Cubase 8 and 10 as well so I uninstalled all of my sonivox libraries. Those are the only ones I have that crash it. Not sure if that's just me or if others have that issue.



Damn..I am on PT, so let's hope it doesn't. Good to know though, as I do plan on moving to Cubase at some point.


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## Rob (Feb 26, 2019)

I do, for sketching... they do sound good. My main complaint is the lack of a velocity/gain ratio. The way it is now pp layers sound too soft and it gets difficult to control the phrasing via cc11... but the recording quality is very good. 
I'm on Cubase 9.5 and never had a crash (Win7)


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## richardt4520 (Feb 26, 2019)

Rob said:


> I do, for sketching... they do sound good. My main complaint is the lack of a velocity/gain ratio. The way it is now pp layers sound too soft and it gets difficult to control the phrasing via cc11... but the recording quality is very good.
> I'm on Cubase 9.5 and never had a crash (Win7)


Weird. I'm on 7 as well. I had random crashes every now and then with various Sonivox libraries on Cubase 8 but it wasn't terribly bad. On 10 it crashes constantly. Just completely locks it up every single time. I thoroughly tested all my plugins when I first got 10 and have not had a single crash from any other plugin or vsti. so maybe it's a weird configuration issue with my pc if others are working fine with it.


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## jaketanner (Feb 26, 2019)

richardt4520 said:


> I actually like the sound of the woodwind ensemble but their libraries crash Cubase constantly for me. They crashed Cubase 8 and 10 as well so I uninstalled all of my sonivox libraries. Those are the only ones I have that crash it. Not sure if that's just me or if others have that issue.



Mac or PC?


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## jaketanner (Feb 26, 2019)

Rob said:


> I do, for sketching... they do sound good. My main complaint is the lack of a velocity/gain ratio. The way it is now pp layers sound too soft and it gets difficult to control the phrasing via cc11... but the recording quality is very good.
> I'm on Cubase 9.5 and never had a crash (Win7)



The lack of CC dynamic control is a bit of an issue, but as an under-layer to the solo library that has dynamics on CC1, it seems to not be that big of an issue...but I haven't really dug deep into it yet.


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## richardt4520 (Feb 26, 2019)

jaketanner said:


> Mac or PC?


PC. Windows 7 64bit. I'll be building a new system with 10 on it in a few months so I'll give it a try again then


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## jaketanner (Feb 26, 2019)

richardt4520 said:


> PC. Windows 7 64bit. I'll be building a new system with 10 on it in a few months so I'll give it a try again then



I’m on a Mac...hopefully won’t be an issue. Don’t plan on moving to Cubase just yet, but want to be prepared for when I do. Thank.


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## Wally Garten (Feb 26, 2019)

jaketanner said:


> Anyone else use these?



The Sonivox were my first orchestral libraries outside of Logic's factory libraries. I think the recordings are great, even if the scripting lacks some modern features. To my ear, they have a kind of vintage, old-Hollywood feel. (I actually did an album of fake vintage film music with them....)

I'd probably still use them, except the licensing software is cumbersome and doesn't readily transfer your licenses to a new machine (or at least, I couldn't get it to work). But sometimes when it gets down to $5 I do think about just buying a new license. (At this point it's just spite that keeps me from it.)


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## robgb (Feb 26, 2019)

I use these all the time. The problem with this series is that they don't have mod wheel dynamics controls, only CC11 expression. So there's no variation in timbre as you get louder. I use Reaper, so crashing has never been a problem, but what I've done is create a track template and, using Reaper's ReaLearn plugin, added mod wheel control that handles volume as well as a small bit of EQ high shelf to give it a kind of faux timbre change. The results are surprisingly good.


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## JEPA (Feb 26, 2019)

jaketanner said:


> Hi all...So I have been looking for an ensemble woodwinds to be my background for the 8dio Claire series solo instruments. Someone had recommended I check out the Sonivox Woodwinds...a few days ago they were $60, then I found them for $30, today they're $5..LOL So I figured, for $5 I can download the demo, and to my surprise...they're not bad in combination with the Claire. Surely beats the NI Essentials Winds that comes with Kontakt Ultimate, and for $5, it's a no brainer, and also a great lite resource sketch library...I have also their String companion that I got for $1, so now I think I will load that up also and create a sketch template.
> 
> Anyone else use these?


where did you find this offer? could you please provide a link to it? thank you very much!


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## dougj7 (Feb 26, 2019)

JEPA said:


> where did you find this offer? could you please provide a link to it? thank you very much!



https://www.jrrshop.com/sonivox?dir=desc&order=special_from_date


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## JEPA (Feb 26, 2019)

dougj7 said:


> https://www.jrrshop.com/sonivox?dir=desc&order=special_from_date


thank you!

could somebody please post an audio example? i haven't found any video that showcast the library... thx!


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## Reid Rosefelt (Feb 26, 2019)

JEPA said:


> thank you!
> 
> could somebody please post an audio example? i haven't found any video that showcast the library... thx!


https://sonivoxmi.com/products/details/orchestral-companion-woodwinds

Also, SONiVOX offers free fully functional demos *[EDIT: I just tried the Taylor Guitar demo and it made loud noises periodically] *of all their products. You need iLok software, but not a physical iLok. 

In fact the way you buy them is to download the trials and then activate them.


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## JEPA (Feb 26, 2019)

TigerTheFrog said:


> https://sonivoxmi.com/products/details/orchestral-companion-woodwinds
> 
> Also, SONiVOX offers free fully functional demos of all their products. You need iLok software, but not a physical iLok.
> 
> In fact the way you buy them is to download the trials and then activate them.


thankyou


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## robgb (Feb 26, 2019)

dougj7 said:


> https://www.jrrshop.com/sonivox?dir=desc&order=special_from_date


People should grab all three of these modules at that price. They are limited in scripting, yes, but they SOUND excellent. Saw a video recently where composer Guy Michelmore (various Marvel animated shows) was using the Orchestral Companion Strings library for a piece, and he's got just about every string library there is. He ultimately replaced the strings in the final recording, but they sounded great before the replacement.


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## MillsMixx (Feb 26, 2019)

Does anyone know how the brass sounds or have that one?


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## sostenuto (Feb 26, 2019)

robgb said:


> People should grab all three of these modules at that price. They are limited in scripting, yes, but they SOUND excellent. Saw a video recently where composer Guy Michelmore (various Marvel animated shows) was using the Orchestral Companion Strings library for a piece, and he's got just about every string library there is. He ultimately replaced the strings in the final recording, but they sounded great before the replacement.



THX !  Surprised … (3) Libs_ ~18GB Dnld / ~21.5GB installed. Had no idea until your advices.


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## Reid Rosefelt (Feb 26, 2019)

I was surprised to see that there are two glisses up and two glisses down for the flute ensemble and the solo oboe.

Also, if you are a really big spender, you can get 19 SONiVOX products for $49.99 at PluginBoutique if you already have one. (I really like the Atsia and Silk Road percussion, each of which are also often available for $5 or less.) 

TimewARP 2600
Twist
Wobble

Orchestral Companion - Brass
Orchestral Companion - Strings
Orchestral Companion Woodwinds
Big Bang Cinematic Percussion
Eighty Eight Ensemble
Big Bang Universal Drums
SONiVOX Singles

Atsia Percussion
Atsia Bass Drums
Atsia Bells
Blue Jay Drums
Bright Electric Guitar
Classic Bass
FM Piano
Harmonica
Harpsichord
Session Drums 1
Silk Road - Stick Drums
Silk Road Percussion
Silk Road - Stick Drums
Silk Road - Frame Drums
Taylor Acoustic Guitar


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## robgb (Feb 26, 2019)

MillsMixx said:


> Does anyone know how the brass sounds or have that one?


I have the brass. It sounds terrific. Here's list of articulations:





Seriously, for five bucks this is a complete no-brainer.


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## Sid Francis (Feb 26, 2019)

Midi learn the volume knob and the built in low pass filter to modwheel. It is not perfect but makes things very much livelier.


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## robgb (Feb 26, 2019)

Sid Francis said:


> Midi learn the volume knob and the built in low pass filter to modwheel. It is not perfect but makes things very much livelier.


This works well, but it's much better if you can control the low and high values of the volume and low pass for more control. This is why I suggest users of Reaper use ReaLearn.


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## JEPA (Feb 26, 2019)

im gonna buy this...


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## JPQ (Feb 26, 2019)

TigerTheFrog said:


> I was surprised to see that there are two glisses up and two glisses down for the flute ensemble and the solo oboe.
> 
> Also, if you are a really big spender, you can get 19 SONiVOX products for $49.99 at PluginBoutique if you already have one. (I really like the Atsia and Silk Road percussion, each of which are also often available for $5 or less.)
> 
> ...


makes me wonder if this set work more reccent macs.


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## kgdrum (Feb 26, 2019)

I have generally avoided Sonivox but the bargain hunter I am the $49 Premier bundle has piqued my curiosity. I bought Broadway Lites when it was a Sonivox product,I just asked Plugin Boutique tech support if this will qualify?


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## DivingInSpace (Feb 26, 2019)

Wally Garten said:


> To my ear, they have a kind of vintage, old-Hollywood feel. (I actually did an album of fake vintage film music with them....)



I'd love to hear that. Generally i am pretty interested in hearing what people has achieved with these, as i remember the strings as quite dreadful. I am considering getting the WW and Brass though, as it seems very complete.


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## kgdrum (Feb 26, 2019)

DivingInSpace said:


> I'd love to hear that. Generally i am pretty interested in hearing what people has achieved with these, as i remember the strings as quite dreadful. I am considering getting the WW and Brass though, as it seems very complete.




The more I'm thinking about it I might go the same route,WW & Brass for $10 is a good deal. This way I can avoid the bloat of other products I'll probably never use...........

Are there any other products in the Premier bundle users like?
The Silk Road Percussion and Atsia Percussion plugins caught my eye,does anyone here use them?

Thanks


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## JEPA (Feb 26, 2019)

kgdrum said:


> The Silk Road Percussion and Atsia Percussion plugins caught my eye,does anyone here use them?


Good ones with some EQ/transient/compressor treatment + Rev/Conv. you're good to go!


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## kgdrum (Feb 26, 2019)

JEPA said:


> Good ones with some EQ/transient/compressor treatment + Rev/Conv. you're good to go!




Food for thought,Thanks


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## Pixelpoet1985 (Feb 26, 2019)

I just bought the three libraries (strings, brass, woodwinds), they are also available at Best Service for the low price. The overall sound is quite good.

Pity that the dynamics are controlled via velocity. What do the swells mean which are mentioned on the website? Swells controlled by modwheel?

I'm also considering to make my own Kontakt instruments, because the wav files are accessible. But I can only play the brass files. When I try to open the strings or woodwinds files, e. g. with VLC, they won't play. Does anyone know if these are protected?


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## Rob (Feb 26, 2019)

We're talking ensembles but there are solo woods too in these, and they have a nice tone... here are little phrases by solo flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, sustain patches, and staccato ensemble. Of course there are also staccatos, non vib, fx, too many to try them all

[AUDIOPLUS=https://vi-control.net/community/attachments/svoxwinds-mp3.18665/][/AUDIOPLUS]


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## DivingInSpace (Feb 26, 2019)

Rob said:


> We're talking ensembles but there are solo woods too in these, and they have a nice tone... here are little phrases by solo flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, sustain patches, and staccato ensemble. Of course there are also staccatos, non vib, fx, too many to try them all
> 
> [AUDIOPLUS=https://vi-control.net/community/attachments/svoxwinds-mp3.18665/][/AUDIOPLUS]


Damn, that actually sounds really good! Seems like i'll most likely get me the woodwinds at least.


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## Calabraccio (Feb 26, 2019)

The Sonivox orchestral suite libraries are based on older (more extensive/multi-sampled?) libraries that they published as Sonic Implants. I can't really remember because it's been a long time, but the Soundcloud demos they use for their Companion series are possible the same demos they used for the discontinued Symphonic Collection, so I'm a little dubious about how well these VSTs reflect the demos...

I know it's a bit vengeful to dredge up a 15 year old forum thread, but besides this I've only read lukewarm/negative opinions on Sonivox's VST re-releases of their older samples:

https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=36303


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## Reid Rosefelt (Feb 26, 2019)

kgdrum said:


> I have generally avoided Sonivox but the bargain hunter I am the $49 Premier bundle has piqued my curiosity. I bought Broadway Lites when it was a Sonivox product,I just asked Plugin Boutique tech support if this will qualify?


You can buy any of the SONiVOX "Singles" products now for $2.49 at Reverb.com  Buy one, and you are eligible for the $49 upgrade. 

The Atsia Percussion and Silk Road Percussion libraries are a steal at those prices, so I wouldn't be surprised if there were some other goodies in there. But again, you can download fully functional demos of all SONiVOX products for free from the SONiVOX site and decide for yourself.


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## robgb (Feb 26, 2019)

Pixelpoet1985 said:


> Pity that the dynamics are controlled via velocity. What do the swells mean which are mentioned on the website? Swells controlled by modwheel?


It's bogus, unless your mod wheel is tied to Cc11, which controls expression. There are, however, the workarounds mentioned above.


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## kgdrum (Feb 26, 2019)

TigerTheFrog said:


> You can buy any of the SONiVOX "Singles" products now for $2.49 at Reverb.com  Buy one, and you are eligible for the $49 upgrade.
> The Atsia Percussion and Silk Road Percussion libraries are a steal at those prices, so I wouldn't be surprised if there were some other goodies in there. But again, you can download fully functional demos of all SONiVOX products for free from the SONiVOX site and decide for yourself.



Thanks! great prices at a nobrainer price.


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## szurcio (Feb 26, 2019)

robgb said:


> It's bogus, unless your mod wheel is tied to Cc11, which controls expression. There are, however, the workarounds mentioned above.


How can you assign CC11 to the mod wheel - do you do it from your DAW? (I have Reaper and Studio One but I have never tried it)


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## Thomas Kallweit (Feb 26, 2019)

TigerTheFrog said:


> You can buy any of the SONiVOX "Singles" products now for $2.49 at Reverb.com  Buy one, and you are eligible for the $49 upgrade.
> 
> The Atsia Percussion and Silk Road Percussion libraries are a steal at those prices, so I wouldn't be surprised if there were some other goodies in there. But again, you can download fully functional demos of all SONiVOX products for free from the SONiVOX site and decide for yourself.



OMG, more of that so cheapened goodies, had them on the radar for a while - so thanks a lot, Tiger!
Time will tell how much all of that will be used (here), and hopefully some of you (or myself) will do some extraordinairy stuff with that and let the world listen to it.

Just too much of it all - the falling prices make me frightened and brainless :|


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## Ledwick (Feb 26, 2019)

At Plugin Boutique, it's possible to download fully functional free trials of all Sonivox products.


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## JEPA (Feb 26, 2019)

am going to bed, but before, don't forget to buy Sonivox Blue Jay Drums at REVERB for 2,27€... they sound astounding good! Good night!


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## jaketanner (Feb 26, 2019)

JEPA said:


> where did you find this offer? could you please provide a link to it? thank you very much!



Sorry I am late to the party..jrr shops. Someone provided the link.


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## jaketanner (Feb 26, 2019)

robgb said:


> People should grab all three of these modules at that price. They are limited in scripting, yes, but they SOUND excellent. Saw a video recently where composer Guy Michelmore (various Marvel animated shows) was using the Orchestral Companion Strings library for a piece, and he's got just about every string library there is. He ultimately replaced the strings in the final recording, but they sounded great before the replacement.



They are okay...for a first library I think they would definitely be good, and also as a lite sketchpad version for a laptop to write on the road. I would not use these as my sole library for mockups for a director, I don't think anyway...I do have the strings as well, but never used them. I plan on using the winds as an ensemble patch under the Claire solos...I think they blend really well together.


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## sostenuto (Feb 26, 2019)

Not confident with Updates included with each email from JRR Shop. Strings, Woodwinds, Brass all have Update Links. 
Woodwinds Update seems to have only one small difference _ a single Sample wav file, but Update is 100+ MB.
Brass Update is downloading now @ 3.8GB ???
Will be doing Strings Update next.


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## Thomas Kallweit (Feb 26, 2019)

Don't try the most lower left bass registers of the woodwinds, despite of that all is better.


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## Reid Rosefelt (Feb 26, 2019)

sostenuto said:


> Not confident with Updates included with each email from JRR Shop. Strings, Woodwinds, Brass all have Update Links.
> Woodwinds Update seems to have only one small difference _ a single Sample wav file, but Update is 100+ MB.
> Brass Update is downloading now @ 3.8GB ???
> Will be doing Strings Update next.


I ignored the update because they both are labeled 1.4. I thought that the update was just for people who had an earlier version. They're really different?


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## sostenuto (Feb 26, 2019)

TigerTheFrog said:


> I ignored the update because they both are labeled 1.4. I thought that the update was just for people who had an earlier version. They're really different?



Believe you made a solid choice. Compared Update files carefully and see no differences. The 'single' Contrabass wav file was only thing and not worth lots of time and effort ….


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## rrichard63 (Feb 26, 2019)

To anyone who has downloaded the Plugin Boutique bundle: are any of these products still 32 bit only? Or have they all been converted to 64 bit by now? Thanks in advance.


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## Sid Francis (Feb 26, 2019)

Just be aware that there are no legatos in there. In Robs example you can hear it obviously in the clarinet. So you have to make shure that notes are not overlapping too much to avoid an ensemble effekt  Besides that I don´t need legato in each and every patch and prefer a good tone without legato over a mediocre tone with nice mediocre transitions


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## Wally Garten (Feb 27, 2019)

DivingInSpace said:


> I'd love to hear that. Generally i am pretty interested in hearing what people has achieved with these, as i remember the strings as quite dreadful. I am considering getting the WW and Brass though, as it seems very complete.



Oh, well, since you asked! It's here:

https://wally-garten.squarespace.com/robinarcher

Candidly, I can't remember now precisely which instruments were Sonivox. My general recollection is that most of the brass and woodwinds were. I used some Sonivox strings, some Logic strings, and midway through the project I also acquired Strezov's Cornucopia Strings. I'll see if I can't dig up the old project files tonight.


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## JEPA (Feb 27, 2019)

i'll give feedback tomorrow.. by downloading/installing/testing it appeared a new track..


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## Leslie Fuller (Feb 28, 2019)

robgb said:


> People should grab all three of these modules at that price. They are limited in scripting, yes, but they SOUND excellent. Saw a video recently where composer Guy Michelmore (various Marvel animated shows) was using the Orchestral Companion Strings library for a piece, and he's got just about every string library there is. He ultimately replaced the strings in the final recording, but they sounded great before the replacement.



I’m thinking of going for all three, as it seems such a bargain!

Can you post a link to Guy Michelmore’s video?

Thanks.


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## robgb (Feb 28, 2019)

Leslie Fuller said:


> Can you post a link to Guy Michelmore’s video?



Here's the point where he uses the Sonivox strings.


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## Leslie Fuller (Feb 28, 2019)

robgb said:


> Here's the point where he uses the Sonivox strings.




Fantastic! Thanks Rob!


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## bill5 (Mar 21, 2019)

Thx for all this info. The woodwinds doesn't have any sax, in fact I don't see that they have a sax anywhere (??) but their sales still ongoing and I'm considering some of their stuff, even though they have the dreaded ilok.


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## bill5 (Mar 21, 2019)

robgb said:


> Here's the point where he uses the Sonivox strings.


Nice, although what's up with that obnoxious thumping beat starting around the 12' mark?


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## jaketanner (Mar 22, 2019)

bill5 said:


> Thx for all this info. The woodwinds doesn't have any sax, in fact I don't see that they have a sax anywhere (??) but their sales still ongoing and I'm considering some of their stuff, even though they have the dreaded ilok.



It's $5 at Pluginboutique.com


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## DivingInSpace (Mar 22, 2019)

bill5 said:


> Thx for all this info. The woodwinds doesn't have any sax, in fact I don't see that they have a sax anywhere (??) but their sales still ongoing and I'm considering some of their stuff, even though they have the dreaded ilok.


Remember that pluginbutique has free trials for them, so try them out for yourself before you buys to make sure it doesn't crash and actually sounds descent. I am downloading it right now.


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## robgb (Mar 22, 2019)

bill5 said:


> even though they have the dreaded ilok.


The only dreaded ilok is the dongle version. Something I will never buy. This uses the software version, which is simple and works well.


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## robgb (Mar 22, 2019)

bill5 said:


> Nice, although what's up with that obnoxious thumping beat starting around the 12' mark?


A click track.


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## DivingInSpace (Mar 22, 2019)

So, i am trying out the demo's of the woodwinds and actually quite like them. No crossfade sucks, but that's life with cheap libraries. Anybody know wether you can change the keyswitches, increase release time and change to monophonic?


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## DivingInSpace (Mar 22, 2019)

Well, i did a quick demo of the two libraries with no processing, just using them as they are, and i am actually impressed:


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## robgb (Mar 22, 2019)

DivingInSpace said:


> So, i am trying out the demo's of the woodwinds and actually quite like them. No crossfade sucks, but that's life with cheap libraries. Anybody know wether you can change the keyswitches, increase release time and change to monophonic?


You can simulate dynamics by attaching a CC to Volume and EQ. Limit the EQ to a narrow mid-to-upper frequency range to simulate the change in timbre as the instrument grows louder.


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## bill5 (Mar 22, 2019)

jaketanner said:


> It's $5 at Pluginboutique.com


Have a link? I did a search there and didn't see a sax.


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## bill5 (Mar 22, 2019)

robgb said:


> A click track.


That's the loudest click track I've ever heard. Odd that he was not using it at first and then turned it on (I get that while working but not while demo-ing)


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## robgb (Mar 22, 2019)

bill5 said:


> That's the loudest click track I've ever heard.


Well, he's no spring chicken, and we older gents tend to lose our hearing...


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## bill5 (Mar 22, 2019)

You act like I'm not in that group. Thanks.

Yik new topic!


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