# 8Dio Century Ensemble Strings



## MillsMixx (Nov 9, 2017)

Just saw and heard this lovely little 8Dio piece posted on Soundcloud a short while ago.


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## muziksculp (Nov 9, 2017)

Nice find. Sounds Beautiful.

Looking forward to 8dio's Century Orchestra. Especially Century Strings. I haven't heard much about their Century Brass, Oh.. just checked their website, looks like Century Brass Ensemble is still a beta version. https://8dio.com/instrument/century-ensemble-brass-for-kontakt-vst-au-aax-samples-instruments/

Thanks for posting this.


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## InLight-Tone (Nov 10, 2017)

Troels can really write some beautiful tracks...


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## AllanH (Nov 10, 2017)

Troels is really a gifted composer. What a beautiful piece.


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## dhlkid (Nov 10, 2017)

Sounds good.....


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## NoamL (Nov 11, 2017)

Guys these are one shot samples for the first 0:20 or I’ll eat a whole bar of cello rosin...

Pay attention to 0:20-22... there’s where the one shots stop and you hear the library’s legato capabilities...


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## Camus (Nov 11, 2017)

what´s the taste of cello rosin? Is it better than violin´s? In combination with trumpet valve oil?
These seem to be the dynamic bowing patches with recorded swells,crescendos and decrescendos I´d say.


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## Lionel Schmitt (Nov 11, 2017)

Entire demo! All orchestral instruments appear to be Century Brass, strings and harp.


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## Sosimple88 (Nov 11, 2017)

Sounds really great. Now, let’s see if I can make it sound as good.


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## jamwerks (Nov 11, 2017)

Really a pity imo that all of Century is recorded centered. Everything in that demo is of course panned, but there's absolutely no coherent space. There's surely a reverb giving a common room to everyone, but there's also all kinds of early and late reflections from each of the individual instruments that contradict that common space. Very hard for my ears to listen to...


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## Lionel Schmitt (Nov 11, 2017)

The sordino strings (and the ARC examples they posted almost a year ago) sound great but somehow the normal violin legato later in the piece sounds... squeeky... Not like a rich, soaring Hollywood sound. That already bugged me about Adagio. It has the same sound to my ears but... if it plays marvellously I'll EQ the hell out of it to make it work for me. And if the legato violas sound like the ARC violas... I would get the library even if only for those! :D


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## Lionel Schmitt (Nov 12, 2017)

Also includes century strings.


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## Lionel Schmitt (Dec 1, 2017)




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## Lionel Schmitt (Dec 3, 2017)

jamwerks said:


> Really a pity imo that all of Century is recorded centered. Everything in that demo is of course panned, but there's absolutely no coherent space. There's surely a reverb giving a common room to everyone, but there's also all kinds of early and late reflections from each of the individual instruments that contradict that common space. Very hard for my ears to listen to...


One trick for that might be to activate the close and the room/hall/stage mic and only pan the close mic - and that relatively strongly. Works with some other libraries.


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## jamwerks (Dec 3, 2017)

DarkestShadow said:


> One trick for that might be to activate the close and the room/hall/stage mic and only pan the close mic - and that relatively strongly. Works with some other libraries.


I did that for a while with Adagio and SPAT.


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## robgb (Dec 3, 2017)

jamwerks said:


> Really a pity imo that all of Century is recorded centered. Everything in that demo is of course panned, but there's absolutely no coherent space. There's surely a reverb giving a common room to everyone, but there's also all kinds of early and late reflections from each of the individual instruments that contradict that common space. Very hard for my ears to listen to...


Panagement. Free.
https://www.auburnsounds.com/products/Panagement.html


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## Batrawi (Dec 3, 2017)

Anyone checked the FB stream by 8Dio yesterday for Century Strings? It seems a very promising library and apparently will be a leap forward in the industry IMO.


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## Zhao Shen (Dec 4, 2017)

Sounds pretty sweet. That articulation matrix looks really promising...


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## artomatic (Dec 4, 2017)

Hope I'm not going to regret preordering Synchron Strings 1. I'm really loving the sound of this and the Century Brass as well. Have never owned any 8Dio samples... More post BF/CB temptations. Dang it!


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## rottoy (Dec 4, 2017)

Sounds gorgeous, but I have to admit that the panning in the stereo image gets a bit much at times there.
But it's sure as hell is not gonna deter me from looking into these strings.


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## jamwerks (Dec 4, 2017)

Wow, 27 articulations! Don't care for the artificial panning, but might be worth the trouble of running close mic's only through MIR, if the library turns out to be that good. So they really did all 27 art's both with and without mutes?


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## Vik (Dec 4, 2017)

Zhao Shen said:


> Sounds pretty sweet. That articulation matrix looks really promising...


I'm sure it's going to be quiet good. As long a they also will post dry examples (driest possible) and details about controlling the so-often-exaggerated portamentos, I'm happy. I think the days are over where most users (at least on this forum) are happy with only wet demos.


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## quantum7 (Dec 4, 2017)

When is this supposed to be released? I'm pretty happy with my strings currently, but I thought that I was happy already with my choirs....then I bought Insolidus and....became even happier.


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## Vik (Dec 4, 2017)

quantum7 said:


> When is this supposed to be released?


In 8 days.
https://8dio.com/2017/11/13/century-countdown/


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## dhowarthmusic (Dec 4, 2017)

Just saw 8Dio uploaded this video about Century Strings


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## rottoy (Dec 4, 2017)

dhowarthmusic said:


> Just saw 8Dio uploaded this video about Century Strings



It was posted on the previous page, but a bump cannot hurt!


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## procreative (Dec 4, 2017)

That GUI is the same one used in Anthology pretty much. Cannot quite see what makes this such a leap from Adagio/Anthology (so far). And its all still centrally panned...


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## Vik (Dec 4, 2017)

I'm curios about why there's vibrato when the vib controller is all the way down?


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## givemenoughrope (Dec 4, 2017)

I wonder if there is a discount for full Adagio/Agitato owners. The redux of the line never worked for me and was kind of a big disappointment. This sounds nice though.


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## jamwerks (Dec 4, 2017)

Pretty reasonable price Imo. Looking forward to the walk-through!


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## ism (Dec 4, 2017)

Sounds great. Although a lot of it is arcs which already sound great it adagio/anthology. And in the places where anthology has been cleaned up properly, I'm not sure I can hear much difference at a first listen.


I had a notion though that century was about getting those dynamic arcs into he main legato articulations somehow, but perhaps I got that wrong. It also looks like the main concept of adagio/ agitato has been abandoned, which is a shame. Hopefully I'm wrong. Look forward to seeing the walkthrough.


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## Zhao Shen (Dec 6, 2017)

I think Troels' reasoning behind recording sections centered is valid. Plus he makes a point of showing viewers how he might replicate a traditional seating arrangement. Center panning doesn't give us the same peace of mind that traditional panning does, but I think the difference is negligible. Plus the rest of the library sounds stellar.


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## Batrawi (Dec 6, 2017)

Yeah the sound is incredible. One can easily be fooled that these are live strings playing. But that's only for slow/lyrical melodies so far as they haven't yet demoed fast playing.


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## aaronventure (Dec 7, 2017)

8Dio *Center*y Strings


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## Zhao Shen (Dec 7, 2017)

Batrawi said:


> Yeah the sound is incredible. One can easily be fooled that these are live strings playing. But that's only for slow/lyrical melodies so far as they haven't yet demoed fast playing.


Yeah that part at 7:15 was very cool. It's impossible for most libraries play that line without very obviously exposing themselves as virtual instruments. Even cooler that those are the close mics.


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## Batrawi (Dec 11, 2017)

Why Anthology is more expensive (around $100 more) than the Century Strings bundle ? just curious...


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## camelot (Dec 11, 2017)

Interesting characteristic sound. The legato sounds quite good and seems playable. I do not find the close mics sounding that close actually. They might not have the tail but the reverb sound is clearly there. Sounds as wet as CSS out-of-the-box with its mix mic. Might be even my go-to mics. Don't know how good this works with MIR tough. But the build-in panning options seem to work well.


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## LamaRose (Dec 11, 2017)

Tons of rosin... shades of LASS... incredible tone and detail.


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## Vik (Dec 11, 2017)

Batrawi said:


> Why Anthology is more expensive (around $100 more) than the Century Strings bundle ? just curious...


Adagio is also more expensive than Century Strings.


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## ism (Dec 11, 2017)

Vik said:


> Adagio is also more expensive than Century Strings.


Even at 70% off.


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## quantum7 (Dec 11, 2017)

Where are you guys seeing a price for Century Strings? I didn't see anything on 8dio's website.


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## rottoy (Dec 11, 2017)

quantum7 said:


> Where are you guys seeing a price for Century Strings? I didn't see anything on 8dio's website.


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## quantum7 (Dec 11, 2017)

Thanks!


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## Vik (Dec 11, 2017)

Are there two century strings products in the coming? In that picture, we see "Ensemble" strings, which in several ways sound similar to Adagio.
But in an earlier thread, this link was posted, to Century Orchestral Strings:

Are there any demos out there showing the Ensemble strings sounding similar to what we hear in that demo from a year ago?
ETA - found this...



...and this:


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## novaburst (Dec 11, 2017)

8dio are really doing something special, that sound and tone sweet.

Glad to see Developers pushing for excellence really hope this does well and hope people notice what these Developers are doing of late it is truly some thing special, they really going for it.


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## Batrawi (Dec 11, 2017)

Aside from portamento, I'm only hearing a bow change legato most of the time (anyone hears the same?). Not that it's something bad, in fact, that what makes the transitions sound beautiful in this library, yet this will not work in all situations as slured legato will also be needed IMHO.
Strange they haven't give the same attention to this library as they did with century brass.. I mean they haven't been uploading tons of videos as they did with CB to demomstrate all articulations, playabilty etc.. and the library is about to be released in few days


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## Lionel Schmitt (Dec 12, 2017)

Those are simple the most amazing short notes I have ever heard!
I am absolutely speechless!


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## muk (Dec 12, 2017)

It's a very nice sound indeed. Does anyone know whether the long articulations have the arc baked in that is typical for 8dio? Are swelling and ebbing recorded into the samples?


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## Consona (Dec 12, 2017)

DarkestShadow said:


> Those are simple the most amazing short notes I have ever heard!
> I am absolutely speechless!



Hm, they sound quite screechy like the Adagio shorts, which I really dislike (to put it mildly). Hoped they'll be able to get more lush sound with Century.


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## vicontrolu (Dec 12, 2017)

The sound is so similar to Adagio that makes me think they are using some of the existing samples. Personally, i love the tone. Its easy to make them sound like spitfire, etc., wiht reverb.

Hope they have recorded a decent short and sharp spiccato sound though. That was missing in Adagio.


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## LamaRose (Dec 12, 2017)

muk said:


> It's a very nice sound indeed. Does anyone know whether the long articulations have the arc baked in that is typical for 8dio? Are swelling and ebbing recorded into the samples?



If you review the videos, you can see an extensive list of arcs which includes baked swells, vibratos, non-vib... like they did in Adagio... only more so.


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## jamwerks (Dec 12, 2017)

Would love to hear an example using only the close mic's, run through MIR Syncron.

Doing Century Brass full center was a huge mistake imo. You totally loose the 3d. Century Strings panned also looses the 3d, but I'm starting to prefer switching out the V2's & Celli. I'm hearing this seating more and more, and it makes the whole orchestra more balanced imo. So if the MIR close thing works, I'm in!


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## muk (Dec 12, 2017)

LamaRose said:


> If you review the videos, you can see an extensive list of arcs which includes baked swells, vibratos, non-vib... like they did in Adagio... only more so.



Yep, I've seen those. Sorry for not being clear. What I meant is: are swells present in the sustain and legato articulations too, or only in the 'arc' articulations? If you choose sustain, press a key on the keyboard, and don't move any cc fader, will the volume be constant or will it swell and fade?


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## LamaRose (Dec 12, 2017)

muk said:


> Yep, I've seen those. Sorry for not being clear. What I meant is: are swells present in the sustain and legato articulations too, or only in the 'arc' articulations? If you choose sustain, press a key on the keyboard, and don't move any cc fader, will the volume be constant or will it swell and fade?


 
Sounded flat on the legato patches when he wasn't using CC 1 & 11 for dynamics/volume.


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## robgb (Dec 12, 2017)

jamwerks said:


> Don't care for the artificial panning


I, on the other hand, prefer it. The more control, the better.


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## muk (Dec 12, 2017)

LamaRose said:


> Sounded flat on the legato patches when he wasn't using CC 1 & 11 for dynamics/volume.



That sounds encouraging. I guess we'll have to wait for the walkthrough to be sure.


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## Mike Marino (Dec 12, 2017)

vicontrolu said:


> The sound is so similar to Adagio that makes me think they are using some of the existing samples.


They are not using any existing samples from previous libraries.


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## Zhao Shen (Dec 12, 2017)

What's with the people who always bring up the idea of devs re-using old samples and branding it as a new product? The sampling community's very own conspiracy theorists 

But yeah, regarding panning - if they include pre-panned traditional sections, I don't see what anyone has to complain about. Would be a good move to assuage the fears of anyone that feels uncomfortable about trying to replicate orchestral seating with their own spacial positioning skills.

As for comparisons to Adagio... I think they've learned from that. At the very least that awful transition stereo field jitter is gone from their legato, which now sounds buttery smooth...


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## CT (Dec 12, 2017)

jamwerks said:


> Would love to hear an example using only the close mic's, run through MIR Syncron.
> 
> Doing Century Brass full center was a huge mistake imo. You totally loose the 3d. Century Strings panned also looses the 3d, but I'm starting to prefer switching out the V2's & Celli. I'm hearing this seating more and more, and it makes the whole orchestra more balanced imo. So if the MIR close thing works, I'm in!



You mean putting the 2nds on the right and the cellos mid-left? I agree that this is a much more balanced and transparent sound. Lately I've been swapping the cellos and violas too though, putting the cellos mid-right instead and the violas mid-left, so that the former have more space to operate independent of the 1st violins, but this probably depends on how you write for strings more than anything else. Basses always centered, preferably. 

While I agree that it obviously sounds better to have things recorded in position, I understand and appreciate the centered method for maximum flexibility.


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## Mike Marino (Dec 12, 2017)

Via the 8dio FB feed:

Century Orchestral Strings is only days away - and here is a couple of details about it:

1. Century is a completely new project - recorded in a new location - using a variety of new techniques developed over the last couple of years.

2. Century has dynamically layered legato AND vibrato, so you can control both at the same time.

3. Century comes in three volumes. Traditional Ensemble Strings. Sordino Ensemble Strings and a bundle (save 30%) containing both.

4. All the arcs are velocity and time based. So they trigger different dynamics depending on how hard you play - and a speed knob that triggers different lengths of arcs. Full control.

5. Century is recorded center, which is the way to go. Imagine a X/Y coordinate system. The depth ( X ) is adjusted with the microphones and the pan width ( Y ) is controlled with the wealth of panning options. You can 100% recreate traditional seating of the orchestra, but why limit yourself with forced panning.

6. Century/Anthology are two completely separate products and samples - recorded 4 years apart - different room - different players.

7. The short notes are recorded at incredible depth and comes with speed control, so you can adjust the pointiness of attacks.

8. We got a really nice surprise for anyone purchasing the Century Strings Bundle. Stay tuned!

All coming December 16th.


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## vicontrolu (Dec 12, 2017)

It doesnt look like theres much of a difference between this and Anthology then. 
Too bad you cant chsnge the chords in the middle of the arc, like with their new choir lib


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## quantum7 (Dec 12, 2017)

Mike Marino said:


> Via the 8dio FB feed:
> 
> Century Orchestral Strings is only days away - and here is a couple of details about it:
> 
> ...



Thanks for that information. Adagio, still after 4 years, is still one of my favorite go-to string libraries. Century Strings looks mighty tempting! I'm looking very forward to some more videos.... hopefully any day now.


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## Mike Marino (Dec 12, 2017)

vicontrolu said:


> Too bad you cant chsnge the chords in the middle of the arc, like with their new choir lib


I remember them really wanting that feature to work when they originally set out on the project. I think they spoke about that during their live Q&A feed back at the beginning. Hopefully they (or any of the developers) figure that one out. It's something I'm sure we'd all love to have.


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## vicontrolu (Dec 13, 2017)

Mike Marino said:


> I remember them really wanting that feature to work when they originally set out on the project. I think they spoke about that during their live Q&A feed back at the beginning. Hopefully they (or any of the developers) figure that one out. It's something I'm sure we'd all love to have.



If they figured it out for the choirs, why wouldnt the same system work on strings? After all, arent them samples anyway?


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## Eric G (Dec 13, 2017)

From a FB interaction with Troels he implied that Century Strings has mid-arc transitions. He didn't elaborate so we will have to wait.


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## vicontrolu (Dec 13, 2017)

Dont you think that they should have announced that already, along with the other highlights of the library? I´d say its very probable this feature is not included.


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## Mike Marino (Dec 13, 2017)

vicontrolu said:


> If they figured it out for the choirs, why wouldnt the same system work on strings? After all, arent them samples anyway?


I thought the same thing...but I guess it's not that easy. But as Eric G pointed out perhaps (for whatever reason) this is info they've held onto for the product launch. I'm not sure....but we'll know what's up with it all soon.


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## quantum7 (Dec 13, 2017)

Holy crap! I want this!


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## erica-grace (Dec 13, 2017)

Don't like the sound.

I also don't like the ambience panned left with the violins, like at 1:39


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## quantum7 (Dec 13, 2017)

For the type of music I typically write, the sound is right up my alley!


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## erica-grace (Dec 13, 2017)

Yeah, too harsh for my tastes, and the imaging isn't very good.


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## jamwerks (Dec 13, 2017)

Yeah the imaging is skewed. When panning the 1st violins to the left, you get the stage right wall suddenly sitting smack in the middle. And ect with all the other groups. They could probably sound a little better with savy use of select reverb, keeping this difficulty in mind.

Listening in isolation, to some it may sound acceptable. But if a real a/b listen were possible between this and the exact same groups recorded in place, I think people would be floored by the difference.


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## quantum7 (Dec 13, 2017)

Lucky for me I typically do not write mock-ups for traditional orchestra panning placement, but I can appreciate that others may have issues with this. I'm generally more concerned with the sound expression, rather than placement imaging, and since Adagio, 8dio has always impressed me with the expressiveness in their string libraries. I have thousands of dollars invested in string libraries and I always seem to come back to either 8dio's or Spitfire's libraries.


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## Eric G (Dec 13, 2017)

I was a little more direct this time.

8dio Response from Facebook:
Two things. You have 100% control over room imaging in Century. X (depth) is microphones and Y (width) is pan. We have a freebie with arcs, so people can test it out themselves. You literally have 100% control over placement and to degree that's never been achieved before. We will never do forced panning again. It is a relic of the past. Now regarding arcs. Century contains a much more complicated set of arcs compared to anything we've ever done. The arcs are both velocity based and time-based - meaning a single articulation holds many sample sets at different velocities and speed levels. This make arc transitions much more advanced at both editing and programming stage, since we are looking at 10.000s of samples that all need to be coordinated accordingly. In other words Q2/18 for this specific feature. Our Ostinato Strings (March 2018) will be the first to utilize this concept, but EVERY single sample has to be aligned perfectly on the grid - and that gets very complicated, when you deal with velocity layers, different speed recordings, 2-bow strokes and all within a singular patch.


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## prodigalson (Dec 13, 2017)

Eric G said:


> In other words Q2/18 for this specific feature.



In other words, you're never seeing this feature.


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## Zhao Shen (Dec 13, 2017)

I guarantee you guys that if this exact same library had the Spitfire Audio brand slapped onto it, this thread would be 20+ pages of exuberant praise. Jesus.


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## artomatic (Dec 13, 2017)

I have owned string libraries solely from VSL, then I ventured outside of the Vienna brand and purchased SSS, SCS, LCO, BH-OT, then on to United Strings of Europe, CSS, CSSS, etc. I was not familiar with 8Dio that much. And it is very obvious that there are tons of Spitfire and OT fanboys here, including me. 

It was only two weeks ago that I clicked on a demo by Troels - “Affaire D’Amour” featuring 8Dio’s Century Brass/Strings. I was just about blown away! Yes, I actually canceled my preorder for VSL’s Synchron Strings l. I will, in its place, purchase the Century Strings Bundle instead. So glad I accidentally bumped into these guys here! Can’t wait to include this on my template. BTW, I am loving the Century Brass Bundle. Couldn’t resist it either! So bravo to 8Dio’s Century Series!


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## Emmanuel Rousseau (Dec 13, 2017)

"Depth is with microphones, width is with pan, forced panning is a relic of the past"... 

Wow.


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## jamwerks (Dec 13, 2017)

Zhao Shen said:


> I guarantee you guys that if this exact same library had the Spitfire Audio brand slapped onto it, this thread would be 20+ pages of exuberant praise. Jesus.


You're right about the difference in appreciation, but there are reasons behind that. Great that 8dio is continually trying to push the bar with new features. But the lack of love stems undoubtedly from the whole Adagio experience, that seeming many (including me) feel burned about.


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## Saxer (Dec 14, 2017)

jamwerks said:


> But the lack of love stems undoubtedly from the whole Adagio experience, that seeming many (including me) feel burned about.


Same here!


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## ghandizilla (Dec 14, 2017)

whitewasteland said:


> "Depth is with microphones, width is with pan, forced panning is a relic of the past"...
> 
> Wow.



We should ask how do we deal with early reflections with this Century series? It seems to be the biggest issue here (that, and the numerous keyswitches, which generate a lack of playability). What I do like here is that it's recorded in-performance so when you switch between several articulations it remains very fluid. Too bad I can't figure out how to set it up in the mix in a satisfying way.

Would Troels reply that ER don't matter, or is there a workaround?


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## Emmanuel Rousseau (Dec 14, 2017)

ghandizilla said:


> We should ask how do we deal with early reflections with this Century series? It seems to be the biggest issue here (that, and the numerous keyswitches, which generate a lack of playability). What I do like here is that it's recorded in-performance so when you switch between several articulations it remains very fluid. Too bad I can't figure out how to set it up in the mix in a satisfying way.
> 
> Would Troels reply that ER don't matter, or is there a workaround?


I'm far from being an expert in room acoustics, but 8Dio's statement looks like complete nonsense to me. 

If you want to record everything centered, fine, this setup can probably have its strenghts in more modern styles. But don't say you can do everything with microphones and pan, and recording with natural seating positions is a thing of the past. That just feels wrong and arrogant.


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## ysnyvz (Dec 14, 2017)

Zhao Shen said:


> I guarantee you guys that if this exact same library had the Spitfire Audio brand slapped onto it, this thread would be 20+ pages of exuberant praise. Jesus.


You're comparing most beloved developer of this forum to another developer who left this forum because of criticism. 8dio made Adagio, Adagietto, Agitato, Anthology strings. After all that a completely new library Century. Meanwhile Sable and Mural were growing with new content and upgrades. From business standpoint, it looks like Spitfire knows how to do things in the long run, when 8dio keeps experimenting and charges money because they tried new things. They both claim their products are best. But whom people would trust more, honestly?


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## Tatu (Dec 14, 2017)

Why won't they just place one decca in an angle, as if positioned correctly, and ad that to their list of mic positions? I'm sure 99% of users wouldn't notice the difference. Why won't developers do that? Is there a particular/obvious acoustical angle to it that would reveal it "fake"?


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## Vik (Dec 14, 2017)

With multiple included mic positions now being a standard for almost all libraries, I wonder why they all don't offer two options: both traditional, in situ recordings and another pair or decca tree which is placed in such a way that each of the sections are in the center. This way, they can leave the decision making up to each of the users.


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## ysnyvz (Dec 14, 2017)

Tatu said:


> Why won't they just place one decca in an angle, as if positioned correctly, and ad that to their list of mic positions? I'm sure 99% of users wouldn't notice the difference. Why won't developers do that? Is there a particular/obvious acoustical angle to it that would reveal it "fake"?


It's not about angle. When you record an ensemble in a large room with distant mics, room becomes the sound of instruments. Panning it completely to a side doesn't pan instruments but moves whole room. Actually there are kontakt scripts you can position instruments in a room like X-Y pad. But you need to use at least 2 mic positions like close and far to do that realistically.


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## vicontrolu (Dec 14, 2017)

Panning issues are secondary with Century Strings, cause close mics sound pretty good and once you setup the reverb, EQ, etc its not gonna be that noticeable. Its a trade off for the lushness of the sound, imo. Too bad i cant say the same about Century Brass, which sounds awfully wet using close mics.

Short arts are not to die for.


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## Tatu (Dec 14, 2017)

ysnyvz said:


> It's not about angle. When you record an ensemble in a large room with distant mics, room becomes the sound of instruments. Panning it completely to a side doesn't pan instruments but moves whole room. Actually there are kontakt scripts you can position instruments in a room like X-Y pad. But you need to use at least 2 mic positions like close and far to do that realistically.


I don't know if I misunderstood, since I'm not a professional with recording/engineering/rooms. But I'm not talking about panning. I'm talking about physically placing a set of microphones to an angle as if the player were properly seated, as they are in traditional orchestra.

Like this: (that pie shaped thingy is a section of musicians, 1st Violins for example)




I know room (corners etc) would reveal it fake under closer analyzis of early reflections and such, but I wonder if anyone's ever tried something like this. And of course the room would set restrictions as you'd go further, since rooms tend to have walls that limit things.


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## Emmanuel Rousseau (Dec 14, 2017)

@Tatu : Your idea makes sense, even if it has its limits (which you recognized as well). But the main issue for a sample library developper would be having to move each stereo pair (Tree, room, etc) to its correct position for each section. Or to have dozens of them


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## Tatu (Dec 14, 2017)

whitewasteland said:


> Or to have dozens of them


But don't they already? 

I think regular - centered perspective in this case - close mics would work pretty well with faked perspective "conductor position".
Wider room / surround mics would propably be an issue, since rooms have physical limits.


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## Lionel Schmitt (Dec 14, 2017)

8dio is live!


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## jamwerks (Dec 14, 2017)

Lot's of interesting mic ideas here. I may be wrong, but I get the impression that Troels doesn't really understand these concepts, or just has his own kind of wild ideas. I remember a demo of his where the violins and violas were both sounding full left to right.

To most people, orchestras don't sound like real orchestras without a real 3d space, and you just can't achieve that the way Century was recorded.

Would have been even easier to provide both for Century Brass. 

Seems they could easily provide both, and would probably have literally millions more dollars in the bank.


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## NoamL (Dec 14, 2017)

Zhao Shen said:


> I guarantee you guys that if this exact same library had the Spitfire Audio brand slapped onto it, this thread would be 20+ pages of exuberant praise. Jesus.



Not from me. "Forced panning is a relic of the past"? No, recording in position captures the real acoustic properties of the space. Which is valuable to capture if you are recording in a beautiful space.

It would be different if they had captured detailed IRs throughout the space and were using _that_ to morph the sound in an XY pad; or if they licensed the algorithm that Altiverb uses for stage positioning, etc.

However they have not done that. But luckily they gave you *"100% control over placement to a degree that's never been achieved before."*

What does that mean? It means the mics have individual pan and level controls (and, I hope!, are separately routable)._ "Never achieved before"_?

As for calling it "forced panning" and "locked" - we should be smart enough to recognize *pure* marketing lingo. The 8dio approach is locked too; locked to the center. There is no such thing as an acoustically "unlocked" sample. You are as free to repan 8dio as any other library; you are as free to build up your mix only from the close mics as you are with any other library.


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## ysnyvz (Dec 14, 2017)

NoamL said:


> Not from me. "Forced panning is a relic of the past"? No, recording in position captures the real acoustic properties of the space. Which is valuable to capture if you are recording in a beautiful space.


I think the problem is 8dio doesn't care much about realism. In reality the musicians have to sit somewhere to build an orchestra facing the conductor. 8dio could say we don't like that popular seating positions, we want basses and cellos in center and violins on either sides or maybe something totally different. But take a look at Adagietto and Majestica libraries. All sections recorded in center and mapped together without any panning. What kind of room is that? 100 piece strings orchestra and everyone was sitting in the middle of room? Maybe ordinary people don't care but composers/musicians are obsessive people about details.


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## Fry777 (Dec 14, 2017)

Here is another (unofficial) quick walkthrough / demo, made by an early tester I guess :


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## procreative (Dec 14, 2017)

While its frustrating that 8dio have this philosophy, its a similar debate with recorded ambience.

In a real orchestral session with the traditional seating and mic placements, the ambient and decca Mics are going to pick up bleed from other sections (if you have Vivace see the example).

Sampled ambience is a conundrum, if you stack instruments you are getting individually recorded ambience stacked and the added noise and air that creates. In a real session the ambience will be a mix of all the sections (unless they have chosen to record them separately or overdub sections).

Seating position obviously differs less, but again you are stacking Mics.

Even developers like Spitfire seem to be trying dry, while VSL or now trying ambient!

Seated and Ambient do sound great out of the box, question is in the end if they are any more realistic or correct once you have stacked the same space again and again?


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## quantum7 (Dec 14, 2017)

Zhao Shen said:


> I guarantee you guys that if this exact same library had the Spitfire Audio brand slapped onto it, this thread would be 20+ pages of exuberant praise. Jesus.


 Exactly!


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## AlexanderSchiborr (Dec 14, 2017)

Zhao Shen said:


> I guarantee you guys that if this exact same library had the Spitfire Audio brand slapped onto it, this thread would be 20+ pages of exuberant praise. Jesus.



Actually that is a fair point. I think 8dio has not the best reputation on this forum as to the history of people telling what they experienced with their update philosophy and how they seem to handle feedback. I honestly never had bad experience with them. So I mean I don´t bought that much stuff from them, but I had..some fair amount of libraries getting in the past, and I think they are not that bad as some people let them look like. I mean..my opinion is: To get free updates is a cool thing but it is not a matter of course. I remember I read that some libraries did had some major bugs and probably because they didn´t fixed it, some people got dissapointed about it. 

Back to Topic. Actually referring to their last walkthrough for centruy strings. I think the library is not bad at all sounding, it has a lot of detail showing. I think their approach is to offer more flexibility in mixing tailored to your own taste which is good. For my very personal taste I miss a bit the grit in the sound which I like, you know a bit the warm bottom end. And sometimes the intention in the articulations. But man..I think you can do great music with that library as well. Because craft in music is not bound to specific sounds and libraries imo.


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## Steve Lum (Dec 15, 2017)

I guess we will get more detail tomorrow but in the meantime I am wondering why there isn't more buzz around the release. I am considering a purchase while already having Novo, Cinestrings, all Kirk Hunter, Adagietto, CS2, CSS, CSSS...
I realize I am asking for speculation, but is there any existing library that has a similar depth to what it appears Century Strings will have?
Let's put it this way, if you had no strings and 600 bucks to spend tomorrow, what would you buy?


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## aaronventure (Dec 15, 2017)

procreative said:


> Sampled ambience is a conundrum, if you stack instruments you are getting individually recorded ambience stacked and the added noise and air that creates. In a real session the ambience will be a mix of all the sections (unless they have chosen to record them separately or overdub sections).





procreative said:


> Seated and Ambient do sound great out of the box, question is in the end if they are any more realistic or correct once you have stacked the same space again and again?



You're talking as if audio signals in a DAW can only stack, and not cancel each other out.


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## markleake (Dec 15, 2017)

From the little I have heard (just watching that posted video), it does sound nice and detailed. But the very first thing I heard with the 1st violins was it sounded like it was simply a hard pan to the left -- I looked at my right speaker wondering why I wasn't hearing anything out of it. Then I looked at the panning for the 1st violins in the GUI and was like "ahh... yes, well... that's because it is." 

Listening to it more, I find it really hard to get past this. The room sound goes out to the center of the stereo field, and that's it. You can fix it with your own reverb, and mixing in the close mics and adding reverb. And I'm sure it suits some people for it to be this way, depending on the type of music they create. But I think overall, why wouldn't I just go for a much easier arrangement where people are already recorded in their seating positions (well, if I was looking for another string library)?

The way 8dio responded to @Eric G seems like they are just trying to obfuscate that all you can do is pan the instruments yourself, and that their library really isn't designed to sound like (or be used as) an actual _seated_ orchestra.

When the 1st violins play with other instruments that are less panned, it is far less obvious. But I'd suggest this is a bit of a step too far for many people who know what they want from their libraries. It is for me at least. I just don't understand the recording philosophy, but maybe this doesn't matter to the market they are aiming this at? People who are either willing to put more effort in to overcome this, or who want them centered anyway?


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## markleake (Dec 15, 2017)

Another thing... a lot of library developers have been moving towards making their patches easier to play and program. This library seems to depend a lot on key switches, which is fine I guess, but do they have a solution to the 'playability' issue? If they are hard to program because of this, won't that cause less people to use them?

This is one of the major things I look for in any library purchase.


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## artomatic (Dec 15, 2017)

I really do love the sound of this bundle. The panning issue is questionable and it’s obviously a deal breaker to a lot of composers here. But then again, for me, the sound of this library overrides this issue.


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## quantum7 (Dec 15, 2017)

After watching the video posted a few hour ago I’m even more convinced that I will purchase this tomorrow. I have a lot of string libraries already, but Century Strings shows me more expressiveness than anything I currently have. I have no issues whatsoever with the panning, but even if I did, the sound is much more important to me than perceived sound perspective. It’s a pricey library though, so I’m guessing some people will be exceptionally critical of it, which is to be expected. All I know is that Century Strings, along with the strings from Spitfire’s Tundra, will be all over my next album for sure.


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## Piotrek K. (Dec 16, 2017)




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## Chris Hurst (Dec 16, 2017)

Couldn’t you use Mike Verta’s sample delay/early reflection technique with the close mics to move the instruments around the stereo field..?

Personally I like the sound and am not that concerned about the centre panning methodology.

(However I completely understand what it may be an issue for some)


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## procreative (Dec 16, 2017)

Lets hope it has consistent tone/panning this time? 

The panning is not as big a deal as my loss in confidence that it will be a massive improvement on Adagio/Anthology.

So far I cannot see what is next-gen about it over these, it seems like more of the same to me.


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## Britpack50 (Dec 16, 2017)

Have to say the sardino arc patches sound gorgeous. I'm a novice but I can see the pros and cons of the spatial approach 8dio have taken. Feels like they do need to some additional reverb to put the sections together if you try to hard pan them. Also I think what I'm hearing with the panned sections was described above, almost an echo on the other side from the section where the sounds comes off the wall? A little weird in isolation but again does offer different options. I think its a cool variation to have. They are a little scratchy but in a mix that can help them stand out, so again pros and cons. I'm getting more tempted.


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## John57 (Dec 16, 2017)

From the demo the samples are hard panned to the left and then once in a while I hear a burst of sound in the right channel like the sound being bounced off a wall. So far the blend of the various strings sections together is a bit off to me. There seems to be a technical issue in the playback. I will try again later.


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## InLight-Tone (Dec 16, 2017)

whitewasteland said:


> "Depth is with microphones, width is with pan, forced panning is a relic of the past"...
> 
> Wow.


I completely agree with this statement unless you are trying to emulate an orchestra which many/most of us are not. It always bothered me having the cellos and bass off to the right, bass needs to be in the center, at least in my orchestra it would and with these strings, now it can be...


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## storyteller (Dec 16, 2017)

I think you'll get much more mileage from a stereo panner with width control from within the DAW. Just make sure to output every mic to a separate track output. Stereo-pan/adjust width to taste. Then add a reverb to blend all orchestral sections together with maybe less predelay on the ERs for basses than the violins/violas/cellos.


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## erica-grace (Dec 16, 2017)

Sorry, cant see myself buying this. Parts of the demos sound good, other parts do not. And with the ability of Troels to make just about anything sound good, well....


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## quantum7 (Dec 16, 2017)

If you’ve told us 3 times now how you don’t like the sound of Century Strings and that you will not be buying it, maybe it’s time to move on and leave this thread. Just saying...


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## procreative (Dec 16, 2017)

quantum7 said:


> If you’ve told us 3 times now how you don’t like the sound of Century Strings and that you will not be buying it, maybe it’s time to move on and leave this thread. Just saying...



Except this is not a Commercial thread so all opinions are okay even if you dont agree with them. Each to their own.

If you love them, great! Me I dont see the huge leap from Adagio/Anthology/Majestica, but thats me. So no more to say...


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## Emmanuel Rousseau (Dec 16, 2017)

InLight-Tone said:


> I completely agree with this statement unless you are trying to emulate an orchestra which many/most of us are not. It always bothered me having the cellos and bass off to the right, bass needs to be in the center, at least in my orchestra it would and with these strings, now it can be...



As I said, I partially agree with this statement as well ! For me, it is absolutely fine to record everything centered, I know some people prefer this way.

However, saying that :
1) Recording section at their natural seating positions is a "relic of the past"
2) Pan & Level control over a few microphones is the ultimate control over placement to a degree that's never been achieved before

Well... No. That's just hyperbolic and exaggerated.


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## jamwerks (Dec 16, 2017)

erica-grace said:


> Sorry, cant see myself buying this. Parts of the demos sound good, other parts do not. And with the ability of Troels to make just about anything sound good, well....


Well, I too have decided to not take the plunge. Must say though the recordings sound great as always with 8dio. This is apparently a different hall than Adagio, that for me is probably the best I'd heard. The Adagio hall sounded like a slightly smaller room than Air Studios, but just as alive with probably a bit of marble on some walls. And the engineering is always top notch.


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## quantum7 (Dec 16, 2017)

procreative said:


> Except this is not a Commercial thread so all opinions are okay even if you dont agree with them. Each to their own.
> 
> If you love them, great! Me I dont see the huge leap from Adagio/Anthology/Majestica, but thats me. So no more to say...


 
Yes, you are correct. I just never understood why people would waste their time constantly commenting in a thread when they obviously do not like the product the thread is talking about. It’s almost like they are mad when most others actually like the product, so they fell compelled to mention that they do not....over and over and over. LOL. I certainly wouldn’t want to silence someone though, so I apologize if my “friendly suggestion” sounded as such.


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## quantum7 (Dec 16, 2017)

jamwerks said:


> Well, I too have decided to not take the plunge. Must say though the recordings sound great as always with 8dio. This is apparently a different hall than Adagio, that for me is probably the best I'd heard. The Adagio hall sounded like a slightly smaller room than Air Studios, but just as alive with probably a bit of marble on some walls. And the engineering is always top notch.



With all the good thing you have to say, I’m curious why you will be passing? Is it solely the panning thing?


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## quantum7 (Dec 16, 2017)

procreative said:


> Me I dont see the huge leap from Adagio/Anthology/Majestica, but thats me. So no more to say...



For me, as an Adagio owner, the biggest reason to buy Century is that the solo, divi, ensemble, and matching Sordinos all have been captured with matching techniques, such as the arcs and bowing, for example. I have no other string library like this. I am _hoping_ with Century that I will not have to do as many mixing and matching of diffent string libs in a composition.....at least that is my hope....I guess we’ll see.


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## erica-grace (Dec 16, 2017)

quantum7 said:


> If you’ve told us 3 times now how you don’t like the sound of Century Strings and that you will not be buying it, maybe it’s time to move on and leave this thread. Just saying...



And you've told us three times how much you want this, in three different posts.

1.


quantum7 said:


> Holy crap! I want this!



2.


quantum7 said:


> For the type of music I typically write, the sound is right up my alley!



3.


quantum7 said:


> After watching the video posted a few hour ago I’m even more convinced that I will purchase this tomorrow.




AND praised 8Dio in two OTHER posts. In THIS thread alone. Of course you are free to express your opinion as many times as you want, but so am I.

BTW - are you good friends with Troels? Just saying...


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## rottoy (Dec 16, 2017)

erica-grace said:


> BTW - are you good friends with Troels? Just saying...


Yes, because praise towards the dreaded 8Dio comes only from those who has personal connections with the developers.


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## jamwerks (Dec 16, 2017)

quantum7 said:


> With all the good thing you have to say, I’m curious why you will be passing? Is it solely the panning thing?


Yeah the 3d is very important to me and I'm just missing that here. Won't exclude picking it up later and run the close mic's through MIR. It'll be interesting to hear also their "Ostinato" strings next March.


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## artomatic (Dec 16, 2017)

60% off next purchase voucher if purchasing the Bundle. Not bad!


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## CT (Dec 16, 2017)

quantum7 said:


> For me, as an Adagio owner, the biggest reason to buy Century is that the solo, divi, ensemble, and matching Sordinos all have been captured with matching techniques, such as the arcs and bowing, for example. I have no other string library like this. I am _hoping_ with Century that I will not have to do as many mixing and matching of diffent string libs in a composition.....at least that is my hope....I guess we’ll see.



Are you saying that this library has the same solo/divisi/tutti functionality of Adagio? Because I don't think it does....


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## John57 (Dec 16, 2017)

artomatic said:


> 60% off next purchase voucher if purchasing the Bundle. Not bad!


Nope you get two gifts the 60% off voucher and the free gift for that particular day.

I agree with jamwerks about 3d and wonder how this would sound with the EastWest Spaces reverb.
I did listen to the Microphones and Pan demo


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## bbunker (Dec 16, 2017)

Sigh.

This kind of sums up 8dio for me: I hear things that are fantastic. And I hear things that utterly confuse me and put me off instantly. It seems like some technical decisions were just made out of sheer hubris. For me, they've completely screwed up what would have been an instant buy of the whole century series with this panning thing, because I know the struggling with other libraries to sit things together, and obsessing over details, and I just would forecast a whole heck of a lot of that in my future if I sprang for any of this.

I 100% do not see the point of recording any kind of room or perspective mic with things not where you want them positioned. What value does that actually add? If everything's recorded dead center, why call the 2nd violins 2nds? Might as well call it a 2nd set of 1sts. Why record a wide set of outriggers if you're going to need to skew and twist the stereo image on them? Why record tree mics in a way that people don't actually record the instruments? If you're trying to make samples that you can make not sound like how an orchestra sits or sounds together, why call it "Century Orchestral Strings?" What's the Orchestral mean there? The size of the string body, presumably? Why not call it "Century 52-player Strings" so that it doesn't imply that it sounds in any way like the strings sound in that whole Orchestra thing? Is it possible that all my concerns on this are unfounded, and it would sound fantastic if I got it? Of course. But WHY make those concerns to begin with?

If I were Troels, I'd make a new Try Pack that isn't just legatos - those are obviously great. I'd Put out a set of staccatos for the whole ensemble, so you can see if that forced center decca is going to be the deal-breaker that it seems to be or not.

I get that some people are pretty excited, because there's a lot to be excited about. There's also giant elephants in that room that some people won't touch with however long of a pole is handy. That those foundational issues exist because of choice, because of what seems to be nothing but unadulterated hubris, is fantastically frustrating.


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## jamwerks (Dec 16, 2017)

bbunker said:


> This kind of sums up 8dio for me...


Great post!


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## quantum7 (Dec 16, 2017)

erica-grace said:


> BTW - are you good friends with Troels? Just saying...





erica-grace said:


> And you've told us three times how much you want this, in three different posts.
> 
> 1.
> 
> ...



If you read the thread and you will see that I apologized for bringing it up. Please see my post below on my Troels experience though. Also, are you an 8dio/Troels hater? Just saying! LOL Just having fun now. Peace!


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## clonewar (Dec 16, 2017)

There's obviously a reason why VSL chose to record their Synchron series in correct position, even after politely mocking libraries recorded in position in the past. I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to record everything center panned and found that in correct position worked better.

That said, I'm wondering if panning the Century close mics into position and then leaving the ambient mics center or slightly panned and at a lower level will work.


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## quantum7 (Dec 16, 2017)

rottoy said:


> Yes, because praise towards the dreaded 8Dio comes only from those who has personal connections with the developers.



I know! LOL If past posts are still available Troels actually got mad at me many moons ago because I couldn't get a hold of anyone at 8dio for several days and dared to mention it here. He sent me a pretty nasty e-mail actually. So, I have no particular love for the guy except that his products have served me well in my career.


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## AlexanderSchiborr (Dec 16, 2017)

While I have no bias with 8dio in particular I feel pretty neutral towards them, I think that their two new orchestral flagships will have hard times with sales because the market is very saturated with top existing top notch brass and string libraries.

And I actual I think BBunkers comment is in that regards spot on which will make it not easier for them to convince the more classic soundtrack party of composers to jump in with that centered room panning thing. But who is the common 8dio kind of customer? Not the hardcore orchestral John Williams freak, so I think they will find some customers.


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## quantum7 (Dec 16, 2017)

jamwerks said:


> Great post!


 I wish there was a way that Kontakt would allow a user to try and library for let's say 30 full days (or whatever each developer wanted) then we would all be certain if a library was truly right for the particular user. I can't even begin to list the amount of money I have spent in the past 10 years with libraries I later regretted buying. I'll be buying Century today though and will try my best to see, or hear rather, what the chief panning complaint seems to be, and if it truly would be a detriment in composing for traditional orchestra seating (which I've never particularly been a fan of anyway).


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## quantum7 (Dec 16, 2017)

AlexanderSchiborr said:


> While I have no bias with 8dio in particular I feel pretty neutral towards them, I think that their two new orchestral flagships will have hard times with sales because the market is very saturated with top existing top notch brass and string libraries.
> 
> And I actual I think BBunkers comment is in that regards spot on which will make it not easier for them to convince the more classic soundtrack party of composers to jump in with that centered room panning thing. But who is the common 8dio kind of customer? Not the hardcore orchestral John Williams freak, so I think they will find some customers.



We are definitely way over saturated with just about every type of sample library. I still don't understand how developers seem to keep making a profit with these large production libs. I guess, "poor musician" is a thing of the past? LOL


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## quantum7 (Dec 16, 2017)

miket said:


> Are you saying that this library has the same solo/divisi/tutti functionality of Adagio? Because I don't think it does....



No, I meant that within the Century library itself the solo, divis, ensemble, and sordinos seem to be all matching. In theory I wouldn't then have to go to another library, for example, if I wanted a matching sordino arc/bowing style, etc., for a particular style I just did with, let's say the ensemble. I guess I'll soon find out.


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## vicontrolu (Dec 16, 2017)

I did this test some time ago (SSS vs Agitato):

https://vi-control.net/community/threads/violins-hall-match-what-do-you-think.53942/#post-3965747

Took me about 15m to set this up so i probably could have gotten a bit better results with more time.

To the hardcore panning fans: Do you guys think the difference is really that much? Do you think it would make a difference once you add the rest of the orchestral instruments?


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## jamwerks (Dec 16, 2017)

Man, I wish we were over saturated with good brass libraries!


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## quantum7 (Dec 16, 2017)

Downloading the nearly 200 gigabytes now.......see you guys next week. LOL


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## quantum7 (Dec 16, 2017)

jamwerks said:


> Man, I wish we were over saturated with good brass libraries!



I'm not really a huge brass composer, but I would think that brass would be easier to sample than strings, wouldn't it? I own the Cinebrass Core and Pro and find them to sound quite nice, but then again, I'm certainly not a brass expert.


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## AlexanderSchiborr (Dec 16, 2017)

jamwerks said:


> Man, I wish we were over saturated with good brass libraries!


I don´t know which brass libraries you have but actually they are quite a bunch of excellent brass libraries available


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## jamwerks (Dec 16, 2017)

In general, solo instruments are more difficult to do than ensembles, just because of the phasing issues.

I have about all the brass libraries and use predominantly Berlin brass. I passed on Century brass again because of the center prospective recordings. No excuse for not having done in-place, plus some centered stage mic's for that 1% who want to move the brass around.


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## Zhao Shen (Dec 16, 2017)

For those of you on the fence for panning reasons, I made these two comparisons between Century Sordino and CSS Sordino. CSS sordino is emulated, yes, but these examples were made to compare panning, not sound character.

Each of these examples is a half note from CSS followed by a half note from Century sordino, for each section. I tried to pan Century to emulate CSS's traditional panning.

The first example uses only Century's Decca and Close 1 mics.

[AUDIOPLUS=https://vi-control.net/community/attachments/century-pan-mp3.10840/][/AUDIOPLUS]

The second example uses only Century's Mix mics.

[AUDIOPLUS=https://vi-control.net/community/attachments/century-pan-mix-only-mp3.10839/][/AUDIOPLUS]

I didn't adjust any mic levels, just the pan. I also didn't use Close 2, Close 3, or Wide, so you might be able to get more accurate results than me.


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## NoamL (Dec 16, 2017)

I’m listening into $25 headphones on my iPhone and I can clearly hear something off. Especially @vicontrolu ’s example the first is clearly better.

A repanned library will sound repanned. There’s no magic property of center recording that means it WON’T sound repanned when you repan it. If you take CSS seconds and 8dio seconds and put them on the far right, they will BOTH sound odd because they will BOTH imply a stereo field at odds with the other strings. I’ll point out as well that CSS’s close mics seem to me to be closer.

I don’t understand if 8dio are so keen on alternate seating why not seat the strings that way and record?

Instead it’s a library where you MUST repan ALL the instruments except maybe the bass... that’s not a feature. Especially when there is no attempted stage or space emulating in the library at all. They just gave you the same pan knobs and levels as every Kontakt library.


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## erica-grace (Dec 16, 2017)

rottoy said:


> Yes, because praise towards the dreaded 8Dio comes only from those who has personal connections with the developers.



You said it, not me.


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## aaronventure (Dec 16, 2017)

Zhao Shen said:


> For those of you on the fence for panning reasons, I made these two comparisons between Century Sordino and CSS Sordino. CSS sordino is emulated, yes, but these examples were made to compare panning, not sound character.
> 
> Each of these examples is a half note from CSS followed by a half note from Century sordino, for each section. I tried to pan Century to emulate CSS's traditional panning.
> 
> ...



I dunno dude. It sounds pretty close to me. Listening on my main studio speakers. The only thing jumping out is that the second bass note is a bit more towards the center.

I put SPAT on my CSS mixed mic, so here's your mixed mic with SPAT.

[AUDIOPLUS=https://vi-control.net/community/attachments/cs-css-mp3.10844/][/AUDIOPLUS]

Berwaldhallen 5m Altiverb:

[AUDIOPLUS=https://vi-control.net/community/attachments/cs-css-berwaldhallen-mp3.10845/][/AUDIOPLUS]


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## LamaRose (Dec 16, 2017)

Where's the free demo patch mentioned by Troels... didn't see it on their site.


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## bbunker (Dec 16, 2017)

Zhao Shen said:


> For those of you on the fence for panning reasons, I made these two comparisons between Century Sordino and CSS Sordino. CSS sordino is emulated, yes, but these examples were made to compare panning, not sound character.
> 
> Each of these examples is a half note from CSS followed by a half note from Century sordino, for each section. I tried to pan Century to emulate CSS's traditional panning.
> 
> ...



Hey, Zhao - thanks for taking the time to put that together!! I have to say - the Century Strings are kind of doing exactly what I thought they would, and it bugs me, and it isn't good. I don't really know how to adequately describe it, but in the CSS recordings you have directionality to the position of the instrument, but the 'body' of the string sound is pretty much dead on the center, because of the reflections in the hall. You put the strings all together, and you get a warm sound with spread and definition, but the bulk is all right in the middle. With Century, the center drops out, because the focus of the tone itself sounds off-center. So, put the sections together, and there's got to be a nugget right in the middle carved out where the hall's center of mass would have been, and that's what's been bugging me on the demos, and here.

Anybody tried MiR on it? Or the old panning close mic mono signals and running through Spaces? Or close mics to VSS Pro 2? I really, really don't want to have to go down the mono close mic positioning rabbit holes, but...


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## dhowarthmusic (Dec 16, 2017)

LamaRose said:


> Where's the free demo patch mentioned by Troels... didn't see it on their site.


Their website says it’s available January, 2018 if you click on century plan and scroll down.


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## quantum7 (Dec 16, 2017)

FINALLY got this sucker downloaded! I shall take her for a spin after dinner!


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## LamaRose (Dec 16, 2017)

dhowarthmusic said:


> Their website says it’s available January, 2018 if you click on century plan and scroll down.



Thanks... they did something like this on the Agitato series which helped in my decision-making. Wish more developers would offer similar demos.


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## dhowarthmusic (Dec 16, 2017)

quantum7 said:


> FINALLY got this sucker downloaded! I shall take her for a spin after dinner!


Let me know what the molto vibrato patch and Sul Tasto sound like as none of their videos mention them. I always felt Adagio and Anthology don’t have a strong enough vibrato option so I’m interested to know how the molto vibrato sounds and vibrato control in Century Strings.


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## artinro (Dec 16, 2017)

quantum7 said:


> FINALLY got this sucker downloaded! I shall take her for a spin after dinner!



Sean, I hope you'll report back soon thereafter. I'll be anxious to hear some user feedback.


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## Craig Sharmat (Dec 16, 2017)

I like the way they sound on the videos and i like the implementation too. I also liked the approach in Adagio and now Anthology so I'm a good target audience for 8dio.


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## quantum7 (Dec 16, 2017)

artinro said:


> Sean, I hope you'll report back soon thereafter. I'll be anxious to hear some user feedback.





dhowarthmusic said:


> Let me know what the molto vibrato patch and Sul Tasto sound like as none of their videos mention them. I always felt Adagio and Anthology don’t have a strong enough vibrato option so I’m interested to know how the molto vibrato sounds and vibrato control in Century Strings.



I promise I'll try my best to give some feedback on it by tomorrow late afternoon. I'm doing a batch re-save right now....which is taking forever, so I'm not sure I'll even get to play with it much tonight.


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## zolhof (Dec 16, 2017)

I really enjoy the Adagio/Agitato tone and was pleasantly surprised to hear the similarities between the new and old sets. When Troels played some single sordino Arc longs, I fired up my sordino patches, inserted Valhalla Room (same settings as his) and not only they sounded similar, they even looked similar through the RX magnifying glass, down to sample noises and artifacts. I had to double check if this was some sort of repacking, but it’s all new according to 8Dio. Still deciding if the streamlined interface, matching patches and new articulations, as lovely as they sound, are worth the upgrade. Looking forward to read your impressions, @quantum7


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## dhowarthmusic (Dec 16, 2017)

zolhof said:


> I really enjoy the Adagio/Agitato tone and was pleasantly surprised to hear the similarities between the new and old sets. When Troels played some single sordino Arc longs, I fired up my sordino patches, inserted Valhalla Room (same settings as his) and not only they sounded similar, they even looked similar through the RX magnifying glass, down to sample noises and artifacts. I had to double check if this was some sort of repacking, but it’s all new according to 8Dio. Still deciding if the streamlined interface, matching patches and new articulations, as lovely as they sound, are worth the upgrade. Looking forward to read your impressions, @quantum7


I agree. They sound very similar to Adagio, Agitato and Anthology. It must be the microphones they use that create their unique string sound. I’m also still thinking if it is worth the upgrade as it sounds very similar to all their other strings. Still need a little more convincing yet!


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## quantum7 (Dec 16, 2017)

zolhof said:


> Looking forward to read your impressions, @quantum7



I'm also looking forward to reading my impressions. LOL


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## rottoy (Dec 17, 2017)

erica-grace said:


> You said it, not me.


I merely spelled out your inference.


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## muk (Dec 17, 2017)

Here is a simple test of concept: the claim is that recording a section in the center of the room, and then panning it to the left sounds the same or at least very similar to recording the section seated on the left. I don't have any centrally recorded libraries, so I can not test that. But by the same token it follows that recording a section on the left and panning that signal to the center should sound the same like recording it centrally. So lets take a library that has been recorded in situ and pan a section to the center.

Here are the CSS Vls 1, out of the box, the standard mix miced position:

https://app.box.com/s/zwsnzdrix3v19f49vu7jfc1g59jmralo

Here I tried to pan that to the center, using Cubase's integrated panner. Everything else is exactly the same as above:

https://app.box.com/s/b46goymzil15113p3c897qmesa77mv5a

Now, does that sound like the section has been recorded in the center of the hall to you? To me it doesn't. It sounds like the section was still seated on the left of the hall, but the microphone was placed on the left side of the hall too instead of the center. I can hear that there is space to the right of the sound, but not to the left, even though the signal is coming straight at me rather than from an angle. I assume that reflections from the right wall are heard sooner than those from the left, making that difference. And that stays the case even if you pan the signal around. If you record centrally, however - even if you pan the signal to the right - reflections from both sides will be heard at the same time, making the impression that the side walls on each side were the same distance away (which, indeed, they were).

How well that difference can be heard and how much it bothers you everyone has to decide for themselves. I think that it can work well in busy mixes, but for exposed parts it could be audible.

Here are some more tests with the same audio.

Different panner instead of Cubase's integrated panner:
https://app.box.com/s/2lsy796cp3508494u1tbzfmgt8jyl2w6

Panned centrally (with Cubase panner), and added reverb trying to hide the natural reverb and make it sound as if it were recorded centrally:
https://app.box.com/s/353ohsjm38kp7pz6zrrfj5twgnswqfao

Finally, no effects (same as the first track), but with left and right channels swapped:
https://app.box.com/s/7bzwcfo4ke5yemoujrexr54vunkwvf0p


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## markleake (Dec 17, 2017)

Thanks muk, a very useful example of how important the mic positions are. Despite some responses here making light of this, I think the panning issue is a significant reason why many people may pass on this library. I guess the central mic position/staging suits who they are marketing to better. I don't know how costly the library will be, but maybe that's a good thing for me at least.


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## quantum7 (Dec 17, 2017)

With the little time I messed with Century last night I liked the panning results (for mimicking traditional orchestra seating) when I used both a close mic and the deca mic together. With the violins I panned the close mic full left and left the deca center and the adjusted the volume to taste- to me it sounded pretty much like a typical deca recording with the violins in their proper left-ish position. Personally I am sooooo happy they went center with everything because more times than not I am frustrated at the typical orchestra panning


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## cola2410 (Dec 17, 2017)

To be honest, 8dio never pretended being full-fledged orchestral library supplier. Almost all their demos sound hybrid regardless of how they name them and what they use. Troels' stuff is very recognizable as well and as you know it's not about chamber pieces or string quartets but reverb everywhere. From my experience OT collection sounds more traditional orchestra than others because they have many articulations available and their demos are very well orchestrated showing real power of these orchestral colors. Verta once mentioned that these days almost nobody is interested in orchestration in a traditional way and everything is about using dynamics along with lush sounds. People using 8dio libraries simply don't need to emulate traditional orchestra sound with a proper seating.

By the way beautiful sound is only one side of the story and as long as it's easy to start with it's already developed very well by most developers. I have a couple of friends and they always start from mp string ensemble patches. Atonal and cluster stuff doesn't get much attention as long as divisis, epic percs more popular than traditional orchestral percussion, both tonal and atonal, pianos are "emotional", cinematic, etc. You can continue.


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## Rob Elliott (Dec 17, 2017)

How does one get the 'free trial patch'? Didn't see it on the site.


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## procreative (Dec 17, 2017)

Despite Tonehammer splitting into two and becoming 8Dio and Soundiron, they still share very similar philosophies on the rcording of orchestral libraries. Both Symphony Series titles Soundiron did were centred and I think used the same church space as Adagio.

Nothing necessarily wrong with that, its a matter of preference/adherance to realism with regard to mimicing an real orchestral session.

Of more concern to me is the constant re-treads by many developers over pretty much the same ground/set of articulations while trying to deal with the so far missing things such as fast playing, or Legato into lots of different arts and vice versa eg Legato to Portato, starting with a slide into the first note, grace notes etc.

I do think more devs could develop add-on packs for their main libraries that actually fit tone wise and offer more playing options.

Do we need yet another string library that offers minor improvements to the same old Sustain, Marcato, Staccato, Legato routine?


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## Steve Lum (Dec 17, 2017)

quantum7 said:


> With the little time I messed with Century last night ...


Thanks for the feedback. How do you feel about the tone? Like one or two others, I was a little bit concerned about the bow noise (someone called it "scratchy"). Did you hear any of that in your initial play time? (Thanks in advance).


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## cola2410 (Dec 17, 2017)

procreative said:


> Despite Tonehammer splitting into two and becoming 8Dio and Soundiron, they still share very similar philosophies on the rcording of orchestral libraries. Both Symphony Series titles Soundiron did were centred and I think used the same church space as Adagio.
> 
> Nothing necessarily wrong with that, its a matter of preference/adherance to realism with regard to mimicing an real orchestral session.
> 
> ...



Completely agree. OT have expansions and commercially it's not the most profitable thing to do but it keeps customers loyal and Arks is wonderful concept. I would rather have not additional mics from SF but more colors and arts, they did LCO and BH libs and they are great, enough playing with EVOs, lets have some transitions, proper runs, rebuild UIST content for better playability and (eventually) include Spectrotone based multis named after orchestral colors!

I would buy that in a second.


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## benmrx (Dec 17, 2017)

This is why I've really gravitated to OT. The 'Capsule' engine is a leap forward IMO. Being able to add the legato transitions any articulation, and the 'poly keyswitch' function with XY control is amazing.

I also love the Spitfire SCS performance legato patch. It's incredibly playable. I just wish they had similar patches for all the instruments in the Symphony Brass library.

I think we're reaching a point where the scripting engines are just as important as the tone. I like the tone of Century Strings, I don't mind the panning..., but the UI and playability doesn't seem to offer much new over 'Anthology'.


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## erica-grace (Dec 17, 2017)

quantum7 said:


> With the little time I messed with Century last night I liked the panning results (for mimicking traditional orchestra seating) when I used both a close mic and the deca mic together. With the violins I panned the close mic full left and left the deca center and the adjusted the volume to taste- to me it sounded pretty much like a typical deca recording with the violins in their proper left-ish position. Personally I am sooooo happy they went center with everything because more times than not I am frustrated at the typical orchestra panning



Cool. Care to post an audio example?


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## Jack Weaver (Dec 17, 2017)

benmrx said:


> I think we're reaching a point where the scripting engines are just as important as the tone.



Yup.

.


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## LamaRose (Dec 17, 2017)

Rob Elliott said:


> How does one get the 'free trial patch'? Didn't see it on the site.


 
It won't be available until Jan 2018.


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## Rob Elliott (Dec 17, 2017)

ok thanks.


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## quantum7 (Dec 17, 2017)

erica-grace said:


> Cool. Care to post an audio example?



I planned on showing a demo piece I put together, but I am in computer hell tonight and cannot even get my DAW to run correctly. I think my C drive is on the fritz. :( I'll try and figure things out tomorrow hopefully.


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## amorphosynthesis (Dec 18, 2017)

Anthology and century strings sound a lot alike...I guess after 1 hour of podcasting 8dio decided to revisit the arc.... Something you could achieve with a good rebow legato scripting .
And btw I am an 8dio funboy. I luv the sound.dont care about panning.great string lover,have most of them,but now with pain in my heart I think I'll pass


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## Batrawi (Dec 18, 2017)

It's a beautiful sounding library.. but so far I can only tell that it's "another" strings library rather than a "century" strings library..
At the least:
-does it have RR legatos? (nothing mentioned about it and apparently no)
-does it allow rebow trigger as desired (nothing mentioned about it and apparently no)
I say apparently based on what they have shown in the demos where they should have bragged about these functionalities(if they ever exist)


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## robgb (Dec 18, 2017)

I'm honestly trying to figure out how this library is all that different from Adagio or Agitato. Hell, I have Adagietto and that seems like enough. I honestly feel bad for developers. There's nothing new under the sun.


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## quantum7 (Dec 18, 2017)

Hopefully I’ll get my C drive problem solved later so I can get back to testing Century, but like I previously said, the violins sounded much better than my Adagio violins....more detailed and open, big improvement to my ears. The bass, not as much of an improvement over Adagio though...still quite nice though. I’ll hopefully get to comparing the violas and cellos to Adagio later today. The violins though, are easily my new favorite violins out of the half a dozen string libraries that I already own.


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## jamwerks (Dec 18, 2017)

Batrawi said:


> It's a beautiful sounding library.. but so far I can only tell that it's "another" strings library rather than a "century" strings library..
> At the least:
> -does it have RR legatos? (nothing mentioned about it and apparently no)
> -does it allow rebow trigger as desired (nothing mentioned about it and apparently no)
> I say apparently based on what they have shown in the demos where they should have bragged about these functionalities(if they ever exist)


I wouldn't be surprised if those features came in the upcoming "Ostinato".


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## Craig Sharmat (Dec 18, 2017)

all of the arcs implemented are a pretty big deal.


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## Batrawi (Dec 18, 2017)

jamwerks said:


> I wouldn't be surprised if those features came in the upcoming "Ostinato".


That's where one wouldn't care anymore since he'll have to buy a new library + deal with multiple patches... there's nothing century about that


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## novaburst (Dec 18, 2017)

robgb said:


> I honestly feel bad for developers. There's nothing new under the sun.



Every day that arrives is a new day, with new opportunities.


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## prodigalson (Dec 18, 2017)

Interesting that noone seems to be commenting on the surprisingly small section sizes for Century Strings. Unless I'm mistaken it's 6-4-6-4-4?? I happen to love small sections and this library definitely doesn't sound thin but I'm pretty surprised they went for these numbers.


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## jamwerks (Dec 18, 2017)

Sure about those numbers? I remember Adagio had 11 first violins.


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## maestro2be (Dec 18, 2017)

Numbers look right to me based on their description here:

https://8dio.com/instrument/century-strings-bundle/


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## quantum7 (Dec 18, 2017)

I've always wanted an excuse to do a mock-up of Marco Beltrami's fantastic ending score for Terminator 3- Rise of the Machines. I figured that a new string library was the perfect excuse. The piece is titled "Radio" and appears at the end of the movie when John Connor realizes that he cannot stop Judgement Day. The song is played to the frightening somber sight of nuclear missiles destroying the world. This mock-up has a few other instruments in it, but all the ensemble strings came from Century Strings.


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## Chris Porter (Dec 18, 2017)

quantum7 said:


> I've always wanted an excuse to do a mock-up of Marco Beltrami's fantastic ending score for Terminator 3- Rise of the Machines. I figured that a new string library was the perfect excuse. The piece is titled "Radio" and appears at the end of the movie when John Connor realizes that he cannot stop Judgement Day. The song is played to the frightening somber sight of nuclear missiles destroying the world. This mock-up has a few other instruments in it, but all the ensemble strings came from Century Strings.




Great work here! It showcases the beauty of these strings quite well. I'm not in the market for a new string library, as much as I want these, but hearing them in a piece like this outside of an official demo is very telling.


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## Rob Elliott (Dec 18, 2017)

quantum7 said:


> I've always wanted an excuse to do a mock-up of Marco Beltrami's fantastic ending score for Terminator 3- Rise of the Machines. I figured that a new string library was the perfect excuse. The piece is titled "Radio" and appears at the end of the movie when John Connor realizes that he cannot stop Judgement Day. The song is played to the frightening somber sight of nuclear missiles destroying the world. This mock-up has a few other instruments in it, but all the ensemble strings came from Century Strings.



Good example - can you tell us what arts from 8dio you used. Thanks. (the only thing that takes me out of it is the high sustains at the end - the space between the chords seems a bit abrupt / releases truncated - can they be smoother?)


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## quantum7 (Dec 18, 2017)

prodigalson said:


> Interesting that noone seems to be commenting on the surprisingly small section sizes for Century Strings. Unless I'm mistaken it's 6-4-6-4-4?? I happen to love small sections and this library definitely doesn't sound thin but I'm pretty surprised they went for these numbers.



After creating the Terminator 3 mock-up above, I really, really like the small ensemble size. The clarity and details of Century Strings wouldn't have been as easy to achieve with a larger ensemble.


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## quantum7 (Dec 18, 2017)

Rob Elliott said:


> Good example - can you tell us what arts from 8dio you used. Thanks. (the only thing that takes me out of it is the high sustains at the end - the space between the chords seems a bit abrupt / releases truncated - can they be smoother?)



Nothing fancy since I only got the library less than 48 hours ago and have been dealing with computer issues.

Violins 1 Sordino - Sus Molto Vib
Violins 2 Sordino - Sus Molto Vib

Violins 1 - Legato
Violas - Legato
Cellos - Legato
Bass - Legato

Violins 1 - Sus Molto Vib
Cellos - Sus Molto Vib


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## quantum7 (Dec 18, 2017)

Chris Porter said:


> Great work here! It showcases the beauty of these strings quite well. I'm not in the market for a new string library, as much as I want these, but hearing them in a piece like this outside of an official demo is very telling.



Thanks!


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## quantum7 (Dec 18, 2017)

I am having suuuuper loooong load times with Century....even after a Batch re-save. Anyone else that took the Century String plunge experiencing this? 1 minute and 40 seconds to load a non-sordino preset and about 1 minute for a sordino preset. I'm guessing the sordinos are quicker because there are only half the articulations available. It is a bit frustrating with these long load times, not used to that. Hopefully 8dio will have some ideas what may be going on. It could be my DAW, but I'm not having super slow load times with anything else that has been batch re-saved. Hmmm....


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## jamwerks (Dec 19, 2017)

quantum7 said:


> I am having suuuuper loooong load times with Century...


I was having the same problem with Anthology. Inside VEP W10.


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## Britpack50 (Dec 19, 2017)

Yes, is it windows 10, there is an issue with the latest update affecting load times.


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## Batrawi (Dec 19, 2017)

I read somewhere that disabeling windows' security/defender may solve the prob.


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## Batrawi (Dec 19, 2017)

Here you go


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## paulmatthew (Dec 19, 2017)

Has anyone with century Strings done a side by side comparison with Anthology yet ? That would be nice to see and hear , at least with articulations that are in both sets


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## quantum7 (Dec 19, 2017)

Batrawi said:


> Here you go



Thank The Maker!!! Problem solved!!! Thanks for that!!!!


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## quantum7 (Dec 19, 2017)

paulmatthew said:


> Has anyone with century Strings done a side by side comparison with Anthology yet ? That would be nice to see and hear , at least with articulations that are in both sets



I compared the violins and the basses so far. I really like Century's violins much better. The basses are different, but so far I do not have a favorite. I'll compare the cellos and violas later today. Remember though, Century is a smaller ensemble than Adagio....which is what I am liking about it.


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## Batrawi (Dec 19, 2017)

quantum7 said:


> Thank The Maker!!! Problem solved!!! Thanks for that!!!!


And here he is @Cory Pelizzari 
Thanks Cory


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## Sid Francis (Dec 19, 2017)

Fantastic work, Sean....I like the arrangement/playing and the sound. And I don´t even see big similarities with Adagio from the demos and walkthroughs I watched when they came out years ago. I like this sound here much much more...


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## quantum7 (Dec 19, 2017)

Sid Francis said:


> Fantastic work, Sean....I like the arrangement/playing and the sound. And I don´t even see big similarities with Adagio from the demos and walkthroughs I watched when they came out years ago. I like this sound here much much more...



Thanks Sid!


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## zeng (Dec 19, 2017)

quantum7 said:


> I compared the violins and the basses so far. I really like Century's violins much better. The basses are different, but so far I do not have a favorite. I'll compare the cellos and violas later today. Remember though, Century is a smaller ensemble than Adagio....which is what I am liking about it.


Hi Sean,

If you compare Century's and Anthology's Arcs (not for sound but playability), can you see much difference?


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## Pontus Rufelt (Dec 20, 2017)

This isn’t 100% Century Strings and Brass, but features both prominently, so I thought I’d share it since there are few user demos. I’m using a lot of century arcs for strings in this, and also horns from century brass. I’m not a huge fan of the legato in Century Strings overall, but it is a great complement to CSS - nice for faster lines actually.

I for one am actually seeing benefits in the centered mic approach. Very easy to preserve clarity. The close mics on the strings have a fantastic clarity to them that I haven’t seen much in other in situ libraries.

Anyway here’s a short lil’ piece I just wrote. Lots of Century Strings Arcs and a few of the legatos for supporting and faster lines, 2 & 6 horn arc, 12 horn legato and some lacrimosa legato. Using CSS and CSSS for the main violin line but I add the Century Strings legato to it for clarity and emphasis. The quiet part towards the end uses CSSS and then crescendos with Century Arcs again. A dash Albion V in here as well and metropolis for the little brass crescendo.


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## artinro (Dec 20, 2017)

Pontus Rufelt said:


> This isn’t 100% Century Strings and Brass, but features both prominently, so I thought I’d share it since there are few user demos. I’m using a lot of century arcs for strings in this, and also horns from century brass. I’m not a huge fan of the legato in Century Strings overall, but it is a great complement to CSS - nice for faster lines actually.
> 
> I for one am actually seeing benefits in the centered mic approach. Very easy to preserve clarity. The close mics on the strings have a fantastic clarity to them that I haven’t seen much in other in situ libraries.
> 
> Anyway here’s a short lil’ piece I just wrote. Lots of Century Strings Arcs and a few of the legatos for supporting and faster lines, 2 & 6 horn arc, 12 horn legato and some lacrimosa legato. Using CSS and CSSS for the main violin line but I add the Century Strings legato to it for clarity and emphasis. The quiet part towards the end uses CSSS and then crescendos with Century Arcs again. A dash Albion V in here as well and metropolis for the little brass crescendo.





This is lovely, Pontus! Very well done.

Could you expand on what you're not loving about the legato in century strings? I'd love to hear more about how users are finding the legato, in general.


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## quantum7 (Dec 20, 2017)

Pontus, VERY beautiful piece!


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## fiestared (Dec 20, 2017)

Rob Elliott said:


> How does one get the 'free trial patch'? Didn't see it on the site.


Same question for me ? Anybody ? Thanks


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## fiestared (Dec 20, 2017)

prodigalson said:


> Interesting that noone seems to be commenting on the surprisingly small section sizes for Century Strings. Unless I'm mistaken it's 6-4-6-4-4?? I happen to love small sections and this library definitely doesn't sound thin but I'm pretty surprised they went for these numbers.


Are you talking about Music or football ?


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## Grook25 (Dec 20, 2017)

jamwerks said:


> Sure about those numbers? I remember Adagio had 11 first violins.


Yes, Century Strings is based on The Traditional Ensemble Strings seating, which has fewer players but it balances out the sound very nice across the ranges of Strings. 

It has a beautifully light sound! 

Side note has anyone here herd MIRA? using Century Strings and Brass?


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## Grook25 (Dec 20, 2017)

robgb said:


> I'm honestly trying to figure out how this library is all that different from Adagio or Agitato. Hell, I have Adagietto and that seems like enough. I honestly feel bad for developers. There's nothing new under the sun.



Century Strings is a much smaller library (size wise) For me it is fantastic on how close and personal this library sounds, and the sordinos sound fantastic, Not a lot of companies truly sample the sordinos (at least what I have found) They are always emulated with low pass filters (which in my mind is a rip off as I can do this myself...) 

So far I am loving Century Stings but I will post more about it when I start using them more heavily in pieces.


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## Pontus Rufelt (Dec 20, 2017)

artinro said:


> This is lovely, Pontus! Very well done.
> 
> Could you expand on what you're not loving about the legato in century strings? I'd love to hear more about how users are finding the legato, in general.



It’s a pretty good legato, it’s just that it, for me at least, is so tough to beat what Alex did in Cinematic Studio Strings. His legato is smoother, I notice some bumpiness in Century Strings at certain intervals/dynamics. That being said, I feel like most libraries outside of CSS and CSSS have that, so Century Strings holds up fairly well.

I would’ve liked to hear a tad more emphasized transition. As it is they are pretty instant. But that has its upside too, with it working very well for slightly faster lines, like the descending ones around 48 seconds in my piece.

The highlight in Century Strings has, for me, been the sustains and Arcs. Some really useful stuff there! And the close mics are fantastic, maybe some of the best close mics I’ve ever used for strings.

I’ve always had an affinity for really wet sample libraries, but I’m finding myself really enjoying these close mics. Incredibly useful for clarity in a mock-up. I’ll definitely still combine with other libraries though.


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## Pontus Rufelt (Dec 20, 2017)

quantum7 said:


> Pontus, VERY beautiful piece!


Thank you!


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## robgb (Dec 20, 2017)

Grook25 said:


> Century Strings is a much smaller library (size wise) For me it is fantastic on how close and personal this library sounds, and the sordinos sound fantastic, Not a lot of companies truly sample the sordinos (at least what I have found) They are always emulated with low pass filters (which in my mind is a rip off as I can do this myself...)
> 
> So far I am loving Century Stings but I will post more about it when I start using them more heavily in pieces.


Well, I have Adagietto, which has beautiful sordinos, and overall sounds pretty close and small. And only $119 at that. So I'm not sure if Century is better enough to warrant pulling out the wallet. I'm not trying to be a jerk about this. Just making an honest observation.


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## Erik (Dec 21, 2017)

Is it possible to do fast runs convincingly in Century Strings? Could someone post an example here maybe?


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## Gensaii (Dec 21, 2017)

Erik said:


> Is it possible to do fast runs convincingly in Century Strings? Could someone post an example here maybe?



According them it should be possible. They said the library has 3 legato types: slurred legato, normal legato and fast runs. It's based on velocity (soft to hard in that order). You'd think they'd show off a feature like that in a demo, but it isn't even metioned on the product's page, which is odd. I hope someone can elaborate on this.


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## Lionel Schmitt (Dec 25, 2017)

The free try pack is released!
https://8dio.com/instrument/century-strings-trypack/
It features violins and violas dynamic bowings.
Here is some jamming I just did with it. On Rainy Days I gave a little hi-end boost, the other is the samples out of the box. Both got a bit external reverb for glue. (sorry for the cuts in the beginning - not in the library) 

Rainy Days 

Pictures of You (_inspired by googling for pictures of Gemma Ward  )_

I friggin love it! So emotional and expressive! And the dynamic arcs (actually not meant to play melodies) are actually more playable than I thought - great for getting ideas and later replaying the melodic lines with legatos.


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## muziksculp (Dec 25, 2017)

Hi,

I have 8dio Anthology Strings, do you think the new Century Strings are a huge step up from their Anthology Strings ? basically, is it worth buying if I already have Anthology Strings ?

Thanks,
Muziksculp


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## Lee Blaske (Dec 25, 2017)

Grook25 said:


> Yes, Century Strings is based on The Traditional Ensemble Strings seating, which has fewer players but it balances out the sound very nice across the ranges of Strings.
> 
> It has a beautifully light sound!
> 
> Side note has anyone here herd MIRA? using Century Strings and Brass?





Just listened to that. Nice piece and arrangement. But, does it sound horribly distorted to anyone else? I wonder if it's the way SoundCloud is handling it, or perhaps the .mp3 is at a low data rate. I thought there was something wrong with my computer and interface, but went and checked it on a different system, and it sounds the same.


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## quantum7 (Dec 25, 2017)

Lee Blaske said:


> Just listened to that. Nice piece and arrangement. But, does it sound horribly distorted to anyone else? I wonder if it's the way SoundCloud is handling it, or perhaps the .mp3 is at a low data rate. I thought there was something wrong with my computer and interface, but went and checked it on a different system, and it sounds the same.



The distortion is definitely not coming from Century Strings because they are some of the cleanest string samples I’ve ever owned.


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## IdealSequenceG (Dec 25, 2017)

* 
Vn1 Sordino Test w/ Altiverb 7 (Saint Quen Preset)*


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## amorphosynthesis (Dec 26, 2017)

muziksculp said:


> Hi,
> 
> I have 8dio Anthology Strings, do you think the new Century Strings are a huge step up from their Anthology Strings ? basically, is it worth buying if I already have Anthology Strings ?
> 
> ...


Have the exactly same question...so far from what I can hear,no differences here from anthology a.k.a adagio/agitato divisi sections.Not even a legato try-out(only two arc pathces...which in my ears:nothing special)!


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## fiestared (Dec 26, 2017)

amorphosynthesis said:


> Have the exactly same question...so far from what I can hear,no differences here from anthology a.k.a adagio/agitato divisi sections.Not even a legato try-out(only two arc pathces...which in my ears:nothing special)!


Me too, exactly same question... now we're at least 3, should be interesting to know how many we are ?


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## muziksculp (Dec 26, 2017)

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one curious to know about this


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## paulmatthew (Dec 26, 2017)

fiestared said:


> Me too, exactly same question... now we're at least 3, should be interesting to know how many we are ?


I am number 4 !


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## artomatic (Dec 26, 2017)

The Century series was my first purchase so I can't compare. But I really do love the texture/tone of this library even without layering.


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## Craig Sharmat (Dec 26, 2017)

robgb said:


> Well, I have Adagietto, which has beautiful sordinos, and overall sounds pretty close and small. And only $119 at that. So I'm not sure if Century is better enough to warrant pulling out the wallet. I'm not trying to be a jerk about this. Just making an honest observation.



these sound a lot better than Adagio, Anthology to my ears. The only thing that comes close to the arcs of what I know of is the Berlin multi arcs, those are quite good. These are woodiest sounding samples to my ears (For lack of a better term).


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## jamwerks (Dec 26, 2017)

Craig Sharmat said:


> These are woodiest sounding samples to my ears (For lack of a better term).


Yes 8dio knows how to record strings. Kudos to their engineer!


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## muziksculp (Dec 26, 2017)

I listened to all of the Century Strings demos posted by 8dio, including the videos, so far I feel they put more attention, and emphasis on the longs, legatos, and arcs., for both the normal, and sordino versions. I think the weakest link of this library is the shorts. Most of the demos showcase the longs, and very little of them expose the shorts, I personally feel the shorts are very important in a strings library, and more variety of shorts a library offers, the better.

Maybe hearing more demos showing the shorts in action would be helpful to better evaluate them, but since I have other Strings Libraries, including some of the other 8dio Strings libraries, that offer a variety of flavors in their short articulations, this might not be a deal breaker detail.

On the other hand, I really like the rosiny, woody character the long articulations of Century Strings offer, and the silky sound of their Sordino Strings, and combining the two offers a lot of character, especially nice for those lush sounding romantic and emotional strings applications.

The bundle cost is $598 , where as the Ensemble cost $448, and the Sordino Ensembles cost $348, which if purchased seperately, so that's almost a $200. saving for the bundle price.

I also like the GUI of this library, clean, easy on the eyes, and fast to customize to ones needs. 

They are also offering a 60% off voucher to apply to future purchases, but this excludes Century Brass, this offer expires on Dec. 31st, 2017. So, I have a few more days to make up my mind about buying 8dio Century Strings Bundle.

Meanwhile, any additional feedback on this library, or the bundle would be helpful.

Thanks,
Muziksculp


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## artinro (Dec 26, 2017)

quantum7 said:


> The distortion is definitely not coming from Century Strings because they are some of the cleanest string samples I’ve ever owned.



@quantum7 Sean, how are you finding the legatos? Do you feel they are adequately sampled in terms of dynamics? Do they handle well in varying speeds? Would love to hear more users' thoughts on the legatos for the main library and sordinos.


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## fiestared (Dec 27, 2017)

muziksculp said:


> I listened to all of the Century Strings demos posted by 8dio, including the videos, so far I feel they put more attention, and emphasis on the longs, legatos, and arcs., for both the normal, and sordino versions. I think the weakest link of this library is the shorts. Most of the demos showcase the longs, and very little of them expose the shorts, I personally feel the shorts are very important in a strings library, and more variety of shorts a library offers, the better.
> 
> Maybe hearing more demos showing the shorts in action would be helpful to better evaluate them, but since I have other Strings Libraries, including some of the other 8dio Strings libraries, that offer a variety of flavors in their short articulations, this might not be a deal breaker detail.
> 
> ...


As you, I own almost of their "strings", what would have pushed the trigger for me is a kind of V8P incitative discount, I think they're missing a lot of sales because of that ! $598 is a bit too much for me, and I've read somewhere they'll launch an other "strings lib" for "ostinato", so maybe this is the answer to your questioning about the "shorts". I don't care about the 60% off voucher because the only things I need from them are their "century" libs...


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## Eptesicus (Dec 27, 2017)

What is the performance and ram footprint like?


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## muziksculp (Dec 27, 2017)

fiestared said:


> As you, I own almost of their "strings", what would have pushed the trigger for me is a kind of V8P incitative discount, I think they're missing a lot of sales because of that ! $598 is a bit too much for me, and I've read somewhere they'll launch an other "strings lib" for "ostinato", so maybe this is the answer to your questioning about the "shorts". I don't care about the 60% off voucher because the only things I need from them are their "century" libs...



Yes, I agree, they could have made it more attractive price wise for owners of other 8dio strings libraries. Some type of loyalty discount could have been very helpful.

Oh.. I had no idea they are planning to release an Ostinato Strings Library, which will feature more short articulations, this would be super cool, something I always wished for.


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## fiestared (Dec 27, 2017)

muziksculp said:


> Yes, I agree, they could have made it more attractive price wise for owners of other 8dio strings libraries. Some type of loyalty discount could have been very helpful.
> 
> Oh.. I had no idea they are planning to release an Ostinato Strings Library, which will feature more short articulations, this would be super cool, something I always wished for.


Maybe we should communicate with 8Dio and let them know our "thinkings". What I'm sure is this lib, at least in their demos "SOUNDS" fantastic, we're talking about the "new generation of sampling", where, well programed, it'll be difficult to differentiate the live from the Midi ; I won't pull the trigger at this price now : too six hundreds ish for me, I'm closer to four hundreds, and if the gossips are true, we'll have to again $$$ for the "ostinato", (in fact the same way they did for Adagio, Agitato etc.)... so wait and see...


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## Halfstar (Dec 27, 2017)

Guys, I'm new here, hi! I really need some advice, I'm a bit of a noob when it comes to these libraries, I only discovered them a few days ago and they sound pretty damn remarkable to me. What with all the sales that are on now, I'm really torn between the three libraries that are all at a VERY similar price range atm. What's the best way to go as a start? In my view, the Adagio full strings bundle is really damn cheap right now - like 500 bucks with almost countless articulation options, but Anthology is more user friendly with a better interface but less articulation options. Century is just out but it appears as if the players are smaller in number for more apparent clarity - and I prefer the bigger sound. You guys are a lot more experienced and I need some opinions on which one is the better choice for me to buy before the sale is over lol! Would anyone out there like to help me out? Cheers fellas


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## fiestared (Dec 27, 2017)

Halfstar said:


> Guys, I'm new here, hi! I really need some advice, I'm a bit of a noob when it comes to these libraries, I only discovered them a few days ago and they sound pretty damn remarkable to me. What with all the sales that are on now, I'm really torn between the three libraries that are all at a VERY similar price range atm. What's the best way to go as a start? In my view, the Adagio full strings bundle is really damn cheap right now - like 500 bucks with almost countless articulation options, but Anthology is more user friendly with a better interface but less articulation options. Century is just out but it appears as if the players are smaller in number for more apparent clarity - and I prefer the bigger sound. You guys are a lot more experienced and I need some opinions on which one is the better choice for me to buy before the sale is over lol! Would anyone out there like to help me out? Cheers fellas


Welcome Halfstar ! It's a very difficult decision, it depends on so many variables, I own all of the Adagios, and because of that, I received Anthology for free... Adagio sounds very good, BUT, is difficult to manage to say the least, Anthology(same sound) is easier BUT, has less Arcs, in photography we say, the best camera is the camera you have with you when you need it, so in fact the most convenient ! and the most convenient is... Anthology, I like it and use it a lot, kind of easy and fast tool. As you can read, you're not alone to hesitate, "If I were a rich man, la la la la la la la" !


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## Halfstar (Dec 27, 2017)

fiestared said:


> Welcome Halfstar ! It's a very difficult decision, it depends on so many variables, I own all of the Adagios, and because of that, I received Anthology for free... Adagio sounds very good, BUT, is difficult to manage to say the least, Anthology(same sound) is easier BUT, has less Arcs, in photography we say, the best camera is the camera you have with you when you need it, so in fact the most convenient ! and the most convenient is... Anthology, I like it and use it a lot, kind of easy and fast tool. As you can read, you're not alone to hesitate, "If I were a rich man, la la la la la la la" !



Brilliant! Cheers for that, I was kind of leaning that way. It's the options that send you crazy. Damn decision fatigue!


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## fiestared (Dec 27, 2017)

Halfstar said:


> Brilliant! Cheers for that, I was kind of leaning that way. It's the options that send you crazy. Damn decision fatigue!


I would say, wait for the opinions of others in case I forgot something and If you need after that I'm completely ok to help you, Knowing What I now know (English...) maybe Century is the best choice because it's newer and sounds awfuly good. Is it that much more expensive ?


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## Halfstar (Dec 27, 2017)

fiestared said:


> I would say, wait for the opinions of others in case I forgot something and If you need after that I'm completely ok to help you, Knowing What I now know (English...) maybe Century is the best choice because it's newer and sounds awfuly good. Is it that much more expensive ?



For sure, I think I may have been a bit confused. I was looking at the amount of listed players (ie 6 1st violins, 4 2nd violins) and got my wires crossed - that must only be for divisi yes? I kind of like the idea of Century because I'm sure there's been a lot of fixes since it's the latest product from 8dio. I just want to double check that the new panning options aren't slightly detrimental compared to past versions. I'm pretty sure it's not going to be a huge issue at all, possibly a better feature for some. But, yes, as a noob, I'd love some more opinions on what to go for first


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## synthetic (Dec 27, 2017)

I think some of the previous string libraries had loyalty discounts because they were based on the same samples (Adagio to Anthology, etc) 

Can someone with Century Strings post some fast legato? I’d like to hear what it sounds like fast. Even runs if they can do it. Demos always play footballs and shorts but those are easy for any library. 

From the demos I like the tone of this better than Adagio and Agitato (which I have owned and used since they were released.) Changing the timing of arcs will make them much more useful. And it looks like they have harmonics now, Adagio did not. 

I’ll probably pull the trigger this week.


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## Batrawi (Dec 28, 2017)

synthetic said:


> Can someone with Century Strings post some fast legato? I’d like to hear what it sounds like fast. Even runs if they can do it.



Anyone...please?


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## muziksculp (Dec 28, 2017)

Hi,

OK, I went forward and purchased *8dio Century Strings Bundle*.

I will post some feedback about them once I have some time to download and test the library.

Cheers,
Muziksculp


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## muziksculp (Dec 29, 2017)

Hi,

Oh, and with the 60% Off Coupon, I purchased 8dio's *Solo Taiko* Library at $39.60 (Reg. Price $99). I think it will be a great library to add to my Perc. Collection. 

Cheers,
Muziksculp


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## artinro (Dec 29, 2017)

muziksculp said:


> Hi,
> 
> OK, I went forward and purchased *8dio Century Strings Bundle*.
> 
> ...



Anxiously awaiting your (and any other new users') thoughts on this library! I'm especially curious about how the legato handles and if it has been recorded with adequate dynamics and smooth x-fades. I wasn't pleased with these particular aspects of Century brass (solo or ensemble, but especially solo).


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## analogholic (Dec 31, 2017)

hmmm...trying to decide between this and Spitfire Chamber Strings...
Is Century more "dry"?


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## Casiquire (Jan 2, 2018)

Do enough people own this to get a good consensus yet?


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## fish_hoof (Jan 2, 2018)

Ill try to post a demo, but for me, these strings are incredible. I own all the adagio, hollywood strings, symphobia, Albion ONE, played cinematic strings, use to own some VSL stuff. To me, they are the best sounding strings and perfect for what i do. Incredibly easy to play. Even found myself using just the arc patches for nice melodies lines... giving it sone beautiful emotion. 

I was debating between these and Spitfire Symphonic Strings... do not regret my decision.


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## paulmatthew (Jan 2, 2018)

I downloaded the try pack and did not like them at first . Found out it was the mix mic and default legato speed( basically the default setting . Activated all 3 close mics and the Decca only , increased the legato speed and what a difference in sound and playability . Now I'm really torn on getting these but think I will wait until I get a new system first .


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## Casiquire (Jan 2, 2018)

Awesome please let us know your thoughts! I'd love to hear that 8Dio learned from all their experience and put out a really fantastic library. Sounds great to my ears.


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## axb312 (Jan 3, 2018)

How does this compare to cinematic studio strings...?


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## Batrawi (Jan 3, 2018)

People who bought this, could you please answer (with examples if possible) the following:
-how does the library handle fast legato?
-do you get a rebow if you fast repeat the same note?
-can you play non-vib legato?(i could still hear some vib even though the knob was all the way down in some demos!)


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## vicontrolu (Jan 3, 2018)

- well
- no
- no

There goes quick line for you (excuse my playing). This is modwheel up, no edits..just to get you a rough idea on how it sounds: Century - Agitato - Anthology - Anthology divisi

[AUDIOPLUS=https://vi-control.net/community/attachments/8dio_vlns-mp3.11081/][/AUDIOPLUS]


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## Batrawi (Jan 3, 2018)

@vicontrolu thanks! 
It sounds good... but Agitato/Anthology sounds good as well!
btw, is the vibrato up as well?


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## Niah2 (Jan 3, 2018)

I have recently watched the arcs video and tried the freebie and I was really impressed with the sound, the arcs are also a clever way to make the performance more alive and the patches more playable.


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## enyawg (Jan 3, 2018)

quantum7 said:


> FINALLY got this sucker downloaded! I shall take her for a spin after dinner!


You have time for dinner... I thought you posted 24/7 lol


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## muziksculp (Jan 17, 2018)

Hi,

I managed to install_ 8dio Century Strings Bundle_ a couple of weeks ago, but I have not been able to test/play this library due to water damage that required some major floor and wall work in my studio, so I had to wrap up, and move my gear until everything is fixed. 

Oh.. Well, I find it a bit odd that not much is being discussed about this library, I was also unable to find any independent reviews on Youtube. So.. Maybe some of our Sample Library reviewer friends can work on a review of this library soon. 

Thanks,
Muziksculp


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## maestro2be (Jan 17, 2018)

vicontrolu said:


> - well
> - no
> - no
> 
> ...


Those sound a bit like LASS strings to my ears.


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## Casiquire (Jan 17, 2018)

muziksculp said:


> Hi,
> 
> I managed to install_ 8dio Century Strings Bundle_ a couple of weeks ago, but I have not been able to test/play this library due to water damage that required some major floor and wall work in my studio, so I had to wrap up, and move my gear until everything is fixed.
> 
> ...


Yes! I agree


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## Steve Martin (Jan 18, 2018)

sorry, this is a little bit off topic but still related to their string libraries. I saw this a while back for their runs building feature and I really loved this.
https://8dio.com/2015/12/08/century-strings/ 

this demo part: *May 20th 2016:*
Century Orchestral Strings is currently in early alpha. In this example we test an initial version of our run building feature on different tempos and with two different microphone positions (Close and Decca).


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## fiestared (Feb 14, 2018)

Hi, because of the "8days of love 10/40 % off from 8Dio", I started this thread, if you wish to participate, you'll be VERY welcome, thanks
https://vi-control.net/community/threads/to-the-users-of-century-strings-insolidus.69011/


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## fish_hoof (Feb 17, 2018)

Here is a song i did with century strings. No other strings used... there are other music elements of course but just Century Strings. I do love this library.


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## muziksculp (Feb 17, 2018)

fish_hoof said:


> Here is a song i did with century strings. No other strings used... there are other music elements of course but just Century Strings. I do love this library.




Hi fish_hoof,

Very nice track, and _Century Strings_ sound wonderful, very warm, and lush. Did you use any of the sords ? 

Thanks,
Muziksculp


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## fish_hoof (Feb 17, 2018)

Thank you for the kind words! I did not, i own them and love them too. Will do another track just using them. Maybe something with more articulations too.


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## muziksculp (Feb 17, 2018)

fish_hoof said:


> Thank you for the kind words! I did not, i own them and love them too. Will do another track just using them. Maybe something with more articulations too.



Thanks for the feedback. Another track with some Sords mixed in would be very interesting, and more articulations, including shorts would be super cool. 

I should have my studio up and running by tomorrow, after having to disconnect, and enclose it in plastic due to water damage, I haven't been able use my studio for a month and a half, it was a tough time dealing with the mess, and repairs to floor and wall. 

I installed 8dio Century Strings Bundle just before the water damage, so it should be fun to test it out tomorrow. I will report back here on my opinion about it, and maybe post some demos too. 

Cheers,
Muziksculp


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## Saxer (Feb 17, 2018)

muziksculp said:


> I should have my studio up and running by tomorrow, after having to disconnect, and enclose it in plastic due to water damage, I haven't been able use my studio for a month and a half, it was a tough time dealing with the mess, and repairs to floor and wall.


Oh shit. Hope you get everything running again!


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## muziksculp (Feb 17, 2018)

Saxer said:


> Oh shit. Hope you get everything running again!



Thanks Saxer, Yeah .. as they say, Shit Happens ! But we got to deal with it when it does happen. 

I hope to have my studio up and running by tomorrow. 

Cheers,
Muziksculp


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## evilantal (Feb 19, 2018)

Is there an upgrade/crossgrade path from Adagio/Agitato/Anthology?


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## muziksculp (Feb 19, 2018)

evilantal said:


> Is there an upgrade/crossgrade path from Adagio/Agitato/Anthology?



No. But they do have special Valentine's bundle sale. 

https://8dio.com/2018/02/12/bundle-maker-valentine/


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## fiestared (Feb 19, 2018)

muziksculp said:


> Thanks for the feedback. Another track with some Sords mixed in would be very interesting, and more articulations, including shorts would be super cool.
> 
> I should have my studio up and running by tomorrow, after having to disconnect, and enclose it in plastic due to water damage, I haven't been able use my studio for a month and a half, it was a tough time dealing with the mess, and repairs to floor and wall.
> 
> ...


What a bad news, I'm with you on this... Cross fingers


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## Lee Blaske (Feb 19, 2018)

muziksculp said:


> No. But they do have special Valentine's bundle sale.
> 
> https://8dio.com/2018/02/12/bundle-maker-valentine/



I believe this is the first time the Century series has been on sale.


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## Batrawi (Feb 19, 2018)

fish_hoof said:


> Here is a song i did with century strings. No other strings used... there are other music elements of course but just Century Strings. I do love this library.



Very good compostion (reminded me of "time" by zimmer) but honestly I didn't like the legato sound at all @1:00...dunno if this is how the library can handle such lines (which is a deal breaker for me) or is it you having not massaged the midi data enough in that part


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## fish_hoof (Feb 19, 2018)

Let me see if i can work on the midi a bit more. Didn’t have a ton of time to work on it, i thought it came out solid BUT i’m always open to those extra ears to help me hear something i may not of. 

Thanks friend


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## s_bettinzana (Feb 25, 2018)

Hello!
Now I am a proud owner of the Century Strings Bundle and I have a question:

in the "Short note demonstration" video by Troels in the Century Strings product web-page, at 1:30, he plays a layer of Spiccato and Marcato articulations which sounds beautiful to me; how is he doing this? I find no way to layer multiple articulations in a single kontakt instrument instance. Is this the result of keyswitching + multi-instruments, MIDI programming, ..., or is there some trick that I don't know of this library?

Thanks in advance!


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## muziksculp (Feb 25, 2018)

s_bettinzana said:


> Hello!
> Now I am a proud owner of the Century Strings Bundle and I have a question:
> 
> in the "Short note demonstration" video by Troels in the Century Strings product web-page, at 1:30, he plays a layer of Spiccato and Marcato articulations which sounds beautiful to me; how is he doing this? I find no way to layer multiple articulations in a single kontakt instrument instance. Is this the result of keyswitching + multi-instruments, MIDI programming, ..., or is there some trick that I don't know of this library?
> ...



Good Question.

I'm guessing he has two instances of Kontakt, one instance for the Spiccato, and another instance has the Marcato, but he is only showing one of them in the video. Both use the same Key-switch to trigger the articulation, and both instances are set to the same midi channel.

Or maybe setting the same key-switch for two articulations, would play them together in the same Kontakt Instance ? (I'm not sure about this).

Sometimes CTRL/CMD-CLicking on articulations, can enable multiple articulations in some Kontakt Libraries, i.e. Spitfire Libraries.


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## s_bettinzana (Feb 26, 2018)

muziksculp said:


> Good Question.
> 
> I'm guessing he has two instances of Kontakt, one instance for the Spiccato, and another instance has the Marcato, but he is only showing one of them in the video. Both use the same Key-switch to trigger the articulation, and both instances are set to the same midi channel.
> 
> ...



I don't know!
From what I know, you cannot enable multiple articulations in the same instance (I tried it to no avail).
And I am puzzled by what I see in the video: the played notes shown in virtual keyboard of Kontakt, the output meters of Kontakt (no sound while the notes are played!), no apparent changes in the keyswitches ... Troels magics and mystery.
I just wonder if I can have a good playable setup.


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## storyteller (Feb 27, 2018)

s_bettinzana said:


> Hello!
> Now I am a proud owner of the Century Strings Bundle and I have a question:
> 
> in the "Short note demonstration" video by Troels in the Century Strings product web-page, at 1:30, he plays a layer of Spiccato and Marcato articulations which sounds beautiful to me; how is he doing this? I find no way to layer multiple articulations in a single kontakt instrument instance. Is this the result of keyswitching + multi-instruments, MIDI programming, ..., or is there some trick that I don't know of this library?
> ...


Troels says at one point in the video that he keeps spiccato and marcato in separate instances for "sequencing reasons." So you are only seeing a part of what is going on in his screen grab.

On another note... I just posted a new thread with a walkthrough video that demonstrates how to increase performance and reduce load times in Century Strings by 600% for all users, regardless of OS. I'm sure it will also apply to Anthology users as well. That thread is here.


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## Erik (Mar 1, 2018)

to inform you here, a contribution with these strings in a Cancion from Mompou. Originaly for piano, this time in an arrangement for strings.


More tracks based on this theme can be found here.
Enjoy!


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## Batrawi (Mar 4, 2018)

After playing around with the try pack, I think am gonna change my mind and will eventually get this library.. The sound is literally a "bliss" that tickles your ears and mind. Just insanely beautiful.

Having said that I'm not by any means getting this because of the arcs patches (which is the only articulation in the try pack)..absolutely not - I actually never use these almost! However I think they at least indicate the dynamic range in the long articulations (specifically the legato)...so can anyone please who owns it advise if the soft dynamics in the legato are of the same quality and delicacy as of those in the arcs articulation?


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## Johnny (Mar 4, 2018)

Batrawi said:


> After playing around with the try pack, I think am gonna change my mind and will eventually get this library.. The sound is literally a "bliss" that tickles your ears and mind. Just insanely beautiful.
> 
> Having said that I'm not by any means getting this because of the arcs patches (which is the only articulation in the try pack)..absolutely not - I actually never use these almost! However I think they at least indicate the dynamic range in the long articulations (specifically the legato)...so can anyone please who owns it advise if the soft dynamics in the legato are of the same quality and delicacy as of those in the arcs articulation?


A delicate breath of air and emotion! Century handles softer dynamics like none other! I picked up the solo brass and strings a few weeks ago and I can honestly disclose that no other library that I've come across handles emotional detail in the soft dynamics like the Century series. In the brass you hear the breathy beginning of each and every instrument as the player sinks into the actual timbre of the note; in the strings you hear that silky bow rosin contact point as each performer gently glides across their instrument- just like the arcs!


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## Batrawi (Mar 4, 2018)

Dear Wallet,

I have some bad news for you...



Johnny said:


> A delicate breath of air and emotion! Century handles softer dynamics like none other! I picked up the solo brass and strings a few weeks ago and I can honestly disclose that no other library that I've come across handles emotional detail in the soft dynamics like the Century series. In the brass you hear the breathy beginning of each and every instrument as the player sinks into the actual timbre of the note; in the strings you hear that silky bow rosin contact point as each performer gently glides across their instrument- just like the arcs!


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## Lionel Schmitt (Mar 15, 2018)

Dirk Ehlert live with century strings (started some time ago)

Video will propably be saved later on his YouTube channel.
https://www.youtube.com/user/detunede/videos


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## jamwerks (Mar 15, 2018)

There should be some Ostinato strings comin' also!


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## Batrawi (Mar 15, 2018)

DarkestShadow said:


> Dirk Ehlert live with century strings (started some time ago)
> 
> Video will propably be saved later on his YouTube channel.
> https://www.youtube.com/user/detunede/videos



At last!!! thanks man!


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## muziksculp (Mar 15, 2018)

@DarkestShadow ,

Thanks for the head up on Dirk Ehler's Century Strings Video. I will watch it on Youtube later this evening, and Thanks for Dirk Ehler for making the video. Finally a comprehensive, and detailed review of Century Strings.

Cheers,
Muziksculp


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## Lionel Schmitt (Mar 16, 2018)

jamwerks said:


> There should be some Ostinato strings comin' also!


I'm excited to hear how the solo's (first chairs) will sound like. Troels spoke greatly about how cool they sound already 1-2 years ago.


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## blougui (Mar 16, 2018)

But Troels wouldn’t say they’re not great, would he?


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## Lionel Schmitt (Mar 16, 2018)

blougui said:


> But Troels wouldn’t say they’re not great, would he?


He propably wouldn't release/produce something he thinks isn't great.


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## muziksculp (Mar 16, 2018)

jamwerks said:


> There should be some Ostinato strings comin' also!



That would be awesome, did they mention this in a video, or officially announce that it will be coming soon ?


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## artomatic (Mar 16, 2018)

muziksculp said:


> That would be awesome, did they mention this in a video, or officially announce that it will be coming soon ?



When I purchased the Century Strings bundle (last December), their site did mention that Ostinato Strings was the next Century release.


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## muziksculp (Mar 16, 2018)

artomatic said:


> When I purchased the Century Strings bundle (last December), their site did mention that Ostinato Strings was the next Century release.



Thanks for the feedback. I'm looking forward to their release.


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## constaneum (Mar 16, 2018)

by the way, the demos and walkthroughs mostly showcase average speed music. How good does it handle faster melody lines? Do we get smooth legato transition or choking notes? Can it do runs ? To me it seems like an initial version of Adagio (not referring to the expansion) which can't really handle fast lines.


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## muziksculp (Mar 16, 2018)

Hi,

By the way, Dirk's Century Strings video is on Youtube now :


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## Niah2 (Mar 16, 2018)

Century first chairs? That's interesting!


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## JoelS (Mar 16, 2018)

constaneum said:


> How good does it handle faster melody lines?


It handles them pretty well, with a bit of work.


The first passage is set up like so:
V1 SUS molto vibrato + V1 spiccato feathered
V2 SUS vibrato + V2 spiccato feathered
Vla SUS vibrato + Vla spiccato feathered
C SUS vibrato + C spiccato feathered

at :16 there's a brief use of the V1 + V2 legatos, too.

I stack the spiccato and SUS patches on the same MIDI channel to get something like the sound Adventure Strings has by default, a marcato-ish attack with the note sustaining. I wish there was a pre-baked articulation with that sound, but this serves well enough. CS is cleaner and less forceful than Adventure Strings (my favorite for fast string movements), but the timbre is different in both. I actually like layering the Adventure Strings shorts under the CS shorts for a bit of extra bite.

Second passage is the stacked Violins SUS+spic in unison, and finally just the V2 legato. The legato is agile.

I didn't tweak this example all that much, so it's not polished to perfection... it took about 20min worth of improv and a little adjusting here and there.


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## constaneum (Mar 16, 2018)

not bad. i like the string sounds and it seems so much cleaner than adagio.


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## Batrawi (Mar 18, 2018)

Pulling the trigger this Thursday, so checking in with you guys if wiser to wait for any sale that is anticipated soon (I suck @ monitoring sales trends/plans so if anyone can enlight me)


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## Batrawi (Mar 27, 2018)

Downloading the 200Gb bundle now and 8dio's download manager is KILLING me!
Download failed 2 times till now (stopped for no reason and when I tried to resume I got an error saying tha instrument already exist!) so it forces me to start the whole download again from the beginning!!! that's insane (not sure how this can be called a download "manager" if it can't resume progress in case of occasional interruption!!)

-Anyone here faced such issue and knows a workaround for it? (downloading manual links would be suicidal alternative- we're talkin about more than 200 rar files here maybe)

- Do you know if they'd charge me extra fees if I wasn't able to download the library within specific timeframe?

ps:I contacted 8dio support few days ago but no answer so far.

Update - 8Dio support reply:

_*the following as this will help the downloading process.

Download the library to your desktop. 
Download the libraries one at a time. 
Turn your computers sleep function off as having your computer go to sleep can bottle neck to download. 
Make sure that there is no internet connection interruptions through the downloading process. 
If you are still experiencing downloading problems I would hard wire your computer using an ethernet cable.*_


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## Mike Marino (Mar 27, 2018)

Batrawi said:


> Downloading the 200Gb bundle now and 8dio's download manager is KILLING me!
> Download failed 2 times till now (stopped for no reason and when I tried to resume I got an error saying tha instrument already exist!) so it forces me to start the whole download again from the beginning!!! that's insane (not sure how this can be called a download "manager" if it can't resume progress in case of occasional interruption!!)
> 
> -Anyone here faced such issue and knows a workaround for it? (downloading manual links would be suicidal alternative- we're talkin about more than 200 rar files here maybe)
> ...


Happened to me once in the past. I scrapped the old 8dio download manager and reinstalled it. Fixed the issue for me.


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## dhlkid (Apr 22, 2018)

Is Century Strings still worth it?


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## Casiquire (Apr 22, 2018)

I loved the sound of it, I wish it made a bit more of a buzz so we could hear from users who like it


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## AllanH (Apr 22, 2018)

Casiquire said:


> I loved the sound of it, I wish it made a bit more of a buzz so we could hear from users who like it


I've never really been able to make sense out of 8dio's collections of strings, but Century strings does sound good.


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## Batrawi (Apr 23, 2018)

I got the bundle recently and TBH I couldn't sense any added value or use that I can make out of this library in addition to what I can achieve with the strings libraries I already have (CSS, CSSS and SCS).

Not to say that the library is bad by any means but rather to alert anyone trying to make a decision as to be wise and think what this library would get you in addition to what you already have.

If you have no solid strings library(ies) already then I think getting Century Strings bundle is a perfect deal. But if you're already set with what you have, you may consider just getting the Sordino whereas it's the most accomplished library in the market in this regard I believe.

Overall, tonewise, the library sounds beautiful and unique if you need just to expand on your strings palette.

Another thing that is extremely well done in this library is the balance across all articulations which is seamless and almost perfectly accurate when you switch between the various articulations.


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## Erik (Apr 23, 2018)

An example of what these strings can do: _Sketch for strings_. Regular mixed with the sordino strings here. It offers quite some expression out of the box.

[AUDIOPLUS=https://vi-control.net/community/attachments/sketch_8dio-mp3.13044/][/AUDIOPLUS]


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## vicontrolu (Apr 23, 2018)

i am missing the strong marcatos on Adagio. Cant do this stuff with Century Strings. Some slow attacks on legato patches as well.


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## Ultraxenon (Apr 23, 2018)

I thinking about buying Century Strings bundle, but it would be great to hear from somebody who already own Anthology and Century Strings I know the main difference of the articulations and the Sordino, but is it worth to get it when i already own Anthology? I also have Cinestrings, but it is so buggy after the last update that i need something else.


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## fiestared (Apr 23, 2018)

Ultraxenon said:


> I thinking about buying Century Strings bundle, but it would be great to hear from somebody who already own Anthology and Century Strings I know the main difference of the articulations and the Sordino, but is it worth to get it when i already own Anthology? I also have Cinestrings, but it is so buggy after the last update that i need something else.


+1


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## jamwerks (Apr 23, 2018)

Some things about Century Strings sound pretty good. I'll be interested to hear the 2.0 update!


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## Craig Sharmat (Apr 23, 2018)

To me the biggest difference is the sound, they are different sized sections from each other and there is clarity and expression I like in Century. Since they are both are 8dio products it's easy to think they are similar because of the interface but my ears tell me Century is considerably more detailed, less washy for lack of a better word.


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## Colin O'Malley (Apr 23, 2018)

For Century Strings the sections are smaller than our last generation of strings (Adagio, Agitato). The section sizes in Century are 6 Violins 1, 4 Violins 2, 6 Violas, 4 Cellos, 4 Basses. It's a much more detailed sound. The recording environment for Century is a sound stage with a very tall ceiling. Think Todd-A-O (R.I.P). Adagio/Agitato was recorded in a large church. 

We also went a lot deeper on Sordino than we did in Adagio/Agitato. Approx. 80% of the art list was re-recorded in sordino (not convolution simulations). We didn't do things like col legno or pizz sordino, but most of the other arts are there. 

Arcs (aka Dynamic Bowings) are also recorded very rigidly with consistent lengths and dynamics across all sections. They all have speed control as well, but don't use Kontakt Time Machine for arcs (that destroys the vibrato speed). 

Our legato approach is very similar to Agitato, so very expressive sampling. NOT static. 

We're working on a large 2.0 update for both Brass and Strings. Many of the requests I've read on this forum are being implemented. I'm always monitoring things here to figure out what needs to be done better. 

Colin


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## fiestared (Apr 23, 2018)

Colin O'Malley said:


> For Century Strings the sections are smaller than our last generation of strings (Adagio, Agitato). The section sizes in Century are 6 Violins 1, 4 Violins 2, 6 Violas, 4 Cellos, 4 Basses. It's a much more detailed sound. The recording environment for Century is a sound stage with a very tall ceiling. Think Todd-A-O (R.I.P). Adagio/Agitato was recorded in a large church.
> 
> We also went a lot deeper on Sordino than we did in Adagio/Agitato. Approx. 80% of the art list was re-recorded in sordino (not convolution simulations). We didn't do things like col legno or pizz sordino, but most of the other arts are there.
> 
> ...


Hi Colin, 
About the 2.0 update, do you know if it will be a "FREE" one, and when do you expect it will be ready ? Thanks


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## Batrawi (Apr 23, 2018)

Colin O'Malley said:


> For Century Strings the sections are smaller than our last generation of strings (Adagio, Agitato). The section sizes in Century are 6 Violins 1, 4 Violins 2, 6 Violas, 4 Cellos, 4 Basses. It's a much more detailed sound. The recording environment for Century is a sound stage with a very tall ceiling. Think Todd-A-O (R.I.P). Adagio/Agitato was recorded in a large church.
> 
> We also went a lot deeper on Sordino than we did in Adagio/Agitato. Approx. 80% of the art list was re-recorded in sordino (not convolution simulations). We didn't do things like col legno or pizz sordino, but most of the other arts are there.
> 
> ...


Hi Colin
Is fingered legato considered in this update? Noticed that all legato's in century strings are bowed which sounds great already, but becomes very noticeable/overused in a long lyrical phrase.
I wish if the legato speed can even go slower/more pronounced


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## benmrx (Apr 23, 2018)

Colin O'Malley said:


> For Century Strings the sections are smaller than our last generation of strings (Adagio, Agitato). The section sizes in Century are 6 Violins 1, 4 Violins 2, 6 Violas, 4 Cellos, 4 Basses. It's a much more detailed sound. The recording environment for Century is a sound stage with a very tall ceiling. Think Todd-A-O (R.I.P). Adagio/Agitato was recorded in a large church.
> 
> We also went a lot deeper on Sordino than we did in Adagio/Agitato. Approx. 80% of the art list was re-recorded in sordino (not convolution simulations). We didn't do things like col legno or pizz sordino, but most of the other arts are there.
> 
> ...



Just wanted to say that I LOVE it when developers come in and give us clear answers like this without any hyperbole or fancy buzz words. Just nice, clear, factual information.


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## Colin O'Malley (Apr 23, 2018)

I don't have a date or full details on the update. It will be a free update. There may be additional content expansions in the future which will not be free, but that's not what I'm working on now. 

The legatos in Century are not all bowed in 1.0. I do have the legatos programmed so the attacks are more pronounced. I find legatos in general can start to have some "suction" in the context of an arrangement, so I program with that in mind. I'll definitely look at slower legatos, or wider control on the speed knob. That's a good suggestion. 

Here's the general list for the update that was posted a month or so back. I'm always monitoring VI for feedback, but don't always post to avoid hi-jacking threads.

Best, 

Colin 

Century 2.0 Brass and Strings will include:
1)A Second Mix option which is more ambient and warm (closer to some of the other major commercial libraries). All Instruments will be "pre placed" into traditional orchestral seating positions within this mix. 

2)Presets, and "performance" patches, designed for quick template building. Ensemble patches for Strings. 

3)EQ presets from Colin and Troels templates (using Fabfilter and others) to MIX Century effectively with other major orchestral libraries.


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## Ultraxenon (Apr 23, 2018)

Colin O'Malley said:


> I don't have a date or full details on the update. It will be a free update. There may be additional content expansions in the future which will not be free, but that's not what I'm working on now.
> 
> The legatos in Century are not all bowed in 1.0. I do have the legatos programmed so the attacks are more pronounced. I find legatos in general can start to have some "suction" in the context of an arrangement, so I program with that in mind. I'll definitely look at slower legatos, or wider control on the speed knob. That's a good suggestion.
> 
> ...


Thanks Colin for all information about Century Strings and the update plans. It helps a lot when decide what to buy. I love the sound of Anthology so when Century has smaller sections and more detailed sound this might be just the library i need.


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## Niah2 (Apr 23, 2018)

For me the appeal of century strings is indeed the sound and the arcs, I believe it's what sets them apart from the rest but I don't see them as a replacement of any library but rather a supplement or addition. I find century strings ideal for that soft, warm but also lush romantic sound. The walkthrough video is very telling of what you get IMO.

PS: I also love the fact that it features smaller sections so you can compose more intricate string writing and not get a cluttered or artificial pad type of sound.


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## jamwerks (Apr 23, 2018)

Colin O'Malley said:


> ...All Instruments will be "pre placed" into traditional orchestral seating positions within this mix...


Hey Colin, the main attactration (Strings) for me would be the ability to place the 2nd violins far right, so we would have (starting from left) V1, Celli, DB (center) Vla, V2.

I record live strings several times a year, and we've been opting for this more "modern" seating. Most of the sound tracks that I hear recently also use this seating. Library wise Albion V (Tundra) and the OT Arc's have V2's on the right 

For live performances seating is a bit less important imo, but for recorded playback (samples, soundtracks) the more modern seating makes for a wider, but also a more balanced Soundstage.

As you know, Tuba & Contrebasson are already on the right. Placing Celli & String basses also on the right gives a weaker balance.

Anyway, consider including this seating option if possible!


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## Saxer (Apr 24, 2018)

Probably mentioned earlier but I'm looking forward to marcatos that are not one shots but stop with releasing the key. I know there's the speed dial and that's a good idea per se. But it doesn't match everyones workflow, especially when playing real time. And the dial thing doesn't work when copying notes from one track to the next Vl1 to Vl2 (as you have to copy the CCs too) or when doubling tracks with other string libraries or copy phrases from one instrument to another (like flutes etc). 
What about having marcatos of different length listed in separate patches? Mostly I need same length marcatos in one music track (speed dependent), so I'd welcome a possibility to directly select the one I need.

Sorry for one more "want to have" post! It's a great library and I love the tone and the recorded sordinos! Great support too!


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## fiestared (Apr 24, 2018)

Colin O'Malley said:


> I don't have a date or full details on the update. It will be a free update. There may be additional content expansions in the future which will not be free, but that's not what I'm working on now.
> 
> The legatos in Century are not all bowed in 1.0. I do have the legatos programmed so the attacks are more pronounced. I find legatos in general can start to have some "suction" in the context of an arrangement, so I program with that in mind. I'll definitely look at slower legatos, or wider control on the speed knob. That's a good suggestion.
> 
> ...



Hi Colin,
Why not giving to the users some tutorial sessions with the Midi datas included for : the leg, the shorts, the Arcs etc... to help one to better manage this lib. Would definitely gives a huge plus to THIS and ANY library. I'm certain if you ask users, they'll all agree with me. I'm not a dev, but if I were one I'd always give some sessions and Midi datas with my libs, would be even better than a user manual !
F.


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## Ultraxenon (Apr 24, 2018)

I just started downloading Century Strings, really excited


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## fiestared (Apr 26, 2018)

Ultraxenon said:


> I just started downloading Century Strings, really excited


Hi,
So ? What is your first impression ? Thanks


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## Ultraxenon (Apr 26, 2018)

fiestared said:


> Hi,
> So ? What is your first impression ? Thanks


Downloading prosess went fine, no errors, but it took some hours I just had one hour playing with it, but sound is fantastic. Really expressive and beautiful. The arc's are great


fiestared said:


> Hi,
> So ? What is your first impression ? Thanks


I just spent one hour with it so it is a bit early, but what i can say is that the tone of the library is gorgeous, the arcs is just amazing and it is very user friendly like Anthology. Im looking forward to use this with Insolidus. I think this library suits my style very well. I really don't think there is a a more detailed, lush sounding library than this one on the market. Maybe the Cinematic Strings 2 legatos can give nearly the same result, but Century has way more articulations. So far very positive , I'm certain that this library will be used in a lot of my tracks in the future.


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## Ultraxenon (Apr 26, 2018)

Ultraxenon said:


> Downloading prosess went fine, no errors, but it took some hours I just had one hour playing with it, but sound is fantastic. Really expressive and beautiful. The arc's are great
> 
> I just spent one hour with it so it is a bit early, but what i can say is that the tone of the library is gorgeous, the arcs is just amazing and it is very user friendly like Anthology. Im looking forward to use this with Insolidus. I think this library suits my style very well. I really don't think there is a a more detailed, lush sounding library than this one on the market. Maybe the Cinematic Strings 2 legatos can give nearly the same result, but Century has way more articulations. So far very positive , I'm certain that this library will be used in a lot of my tracks in the future.


Oh my god thoose arc 2 bows patches are worth the price alone.


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## Casiquire (Apr 28, 2018)

The more that I listen to these and watch the videos, the more I feel like this is the library 8Dio has been working toward all along. It includes many of the concepts they have been innovating around for a long time, such as their arcs, but this time the focus seemed to be on making all of those things work in a package that's also well rounded and can handle a lot of demands. Plus I just love the sound of it


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## Ultraxenon (Apr 28, 2018)

Casiquire said:


> The more that I listen to these and watch the videos, the more I feel line this is the library 8Dio has been working toward all along. It includes many of the concepts they have been innovating around for a long time, such as their arcs, but this time the focus seemed to be on making all of those things work in a package that's also well rounded and can handle a lot of demands. Plus I just love the sound of it


It is a beautiful sounding library


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## Shad0wLandsUK (Apr 28, 2018)

Ultraxenon said:


> It is a beautiful sounding library


I am playing with the Sordino patches right now and they are lovely :D

Comparing them to Anthology, I notice they go much louder!
Downloading the Century Strings normal ones and they will take almost two more days...so yeah
Won't get to dig into them for a while :/

Certainly no regrets buying this library though 
Especially with the deal they have going 

Even tempted to get Insolidus to join the show...


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## axb312 (Apr 29, 2018)

Shad0wLandsUK said:


> I am playing with the Sordino patches right now and they are lovely :D
> 
> Comparing them to Anthology, I notice they go much louder!
> Downloading the Century Strings normal ones and they will take almost two more days...so yeah
> ...


What deal??


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## MillsMixx (Apr 29, 2018)

If you already have Anthology do you really feel the price of Century is worth it? When it is not on sale it's around 600.00 That's a lot of extra cash for something that seems so similar to Anthology which also has Arcs and many of the same articulations. Sure maybe not as detailed but similar. That's where I'm at right now.


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## axb312 (Apr 30, 2018)

Any idea what happened to the runs builder feature?



@Colin O'Malley ....


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## Shad0wLandsUK (Apr 30, 2018)

MillsMixx said:


> If you already have Anthology do you really feel the price of Century is worth it? When it is not on sale it's around 600.00 That's a lot of extra cash for something that seems so similar to Anthology which also has Arcs and many of the same articulations. Sure maybe not as detailed but similar. That's where I'm at right now.


From the short amount of time I have played with it, I find the shorts on Century Strings are more defined and tighter. I also find that Century Strings has a greater dynamic range (goes a fair amount louder than Anthology).

And I have heard from a few people that because of this, Century is great for adding detail to Anthology/Adagio strings, by using the smaller sections.

I purchased Century Strings BUNDLE last Thursday with the voucher I got from 8Dio
I know for those who can, they have extended this till the 4th of May as well


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## Shad0wLandsUK (Apr 30, 2018)

One thing I am not sure about the is the choice of Close Mics:

I noticed that Violins 2 have two Close mics and Cellos the same.
Yet the Basses have 3, along with Violas and Violins 1

I would have much preferred more control over the Cellos than the Basses, so go with my Violins 1

If someone here has any idea why they would have made this choice, I am all ears?

Sending this over to support as well


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## Colin O'Malley (Apr 30, 2018)

Regarding the runbuildling, it is something that we’re working on for the future of Century. 

Regarding the spot mics, the engineer considers both section size and sizes of the instruments themselves when placing spots. Basses emit sound a lot differently vs. violins. The configuration our engineer chose is very common. In some cases string libraries mix down the spots to a single stereo close stem, so you’re not as aware that spot mics vary across sections.

Colin


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## Shad0wLandsUK (Apr 30, 2018)

Colin O'Malley said:


> Regarding the runbuildling, it is something that we’re working on for the future of Century.
> 
> Regarding the spot mics, the engineer considers both section size and sizes of the instruments themselves when placing spots. Basses emit sound a lot differently vs. violins. The configuration our engineer chose is very common. In some cases string libraries mix down the spots to a single stereo close stem, so you’re not as aware that spot mics vary across sections.
> 
> Colin


I did wonder if you were going to drop by and chip in @Colin O'Malley so thanks for that

Really clears things up, nice to know about the Runs builder as well...looking forward to it


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## Ultraxenon (Apr 30, 2018)

Shad0wLandsUK said:


> I am playing with the Sordino patches right now and they are lovely :D
> 
> Comparing them to Anthology, I notice they go much louder!
> Downloading the Century Strings normal ones and they will take almost two more days...so yeah
> ...


I know mate, Insolidus is really beautiful and it works amazing with Anthology. I bet you know, but it is only for emotional slow music, but i don't think there is another library that does it better. It is also very inspiring and easy to use It just works as Troels says


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## MillsMixx (Apr 30, 2018)

Shad0wLandsUK said:


> From the short amount of time I have played with it, I find the shorts on Century Strings are more defined and tighter. I also find that Century Strings has a greater dynamic range (goes a fair amount louder than Anthology).



Are the Arcs really that much different in Century? I'm curious to know


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## Lionel Schmitt (Apr 30, 2018)

I kinda wonder where the playable arcs have gone lost...? Or did I miss them/haven't been shown in the walkthroughs? 
Was a very useful concept IMO and apparently already scripted.


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## Craig Sharmat (Apr 30, 2018)

DarkestShadow said:


> I kinda wonder where the playable arcs have gone lost...? Or did I miss them/haven't been shown in the walkthroughs?
> Was a very useful concept IMO and apparently already scripted.




I believe all the arcs are playable and are included.


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## Lionel Schmitt (Apr 30, 2018)

Craig Sharmat said:


> I believe all the arcs are playable and are included.


Could be... I don't have Century strings.  
At least the arcs in the demo (the try pack) arent (or did I miss the function?) and they havent been shown to be playable in the walkthroughs if I remember. That just made me wonder...


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## Ultraxenon (Apr 30, 2018)

MillsMixx said:


> Are the Arcs really that much different in Century? I'm curious to know


It is more detailed sound, you hear the strings and bow change more. i Belive It has a lot to do that it is a smaller sections. I use Anthology a lot and i still gonna use it, but for more smaller chamber sound i will use Century. I think it will fit perfect with olafur's felt piano or 8dio new 1985 piano. (or any other emotional piano)


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## amorphosynthesis (May 1, 2018)

@Colin O'Malley
One simple request since I for sure don't know how to script in kontakt
The marcatos are one shot and there is no way to fit any length in any song(which is actually a pity since they are magnificent)-it is ideal at least for me to have the chance to release the marcato when I release the key from the keyboard(speed knob won't do).
Btw...any way to implement the legatos to the rest of the longs(I mean transition from a long to legato and vice versa?)
would you be kind enough to address that matter?


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## Ultraxenon (May 1, 2018)

amorphosynthesis said:


> @Colin O'Malley
> One simple request since I for sure don't know how to script in kontakt
> The marcatos are one shot and there is no way to fit any length in any song(which is actually a pity since they are magnificent)-it is ideal at least for me to have the chance to release the marcato when I release the key from the keyboard(speed knob won't do).
> Btw...any way to implement the legatos to the rest of the longs(I mean transition from a long to legato and vice versa?)
> would you be kind enough to address that matter?


Totally agree, hopefully this would come in the next update.


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## axb312 (May 1, 2018)

Shad0wLandsUK said:


> I did wonder if you were going to drop by and chip in @Colin O'Malley so thanks for that
> 
> Really clears things up, nice to know about the Runs builder as well...looking forward to it


Will the runs builder be part of a free update you think?


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## Craig Sharmat (May 1, 2018)

amorphosynthesis said:


> @Colin O'Malley
> One simple request since I for sure don't know how to script in kontakt
> The marcatos are one shot and there is no way to fit any length in any song(which is actually a pity since they are magnificent)-it is ideal at least for me to have the chance to release the marcato when I release the key from the keyboard(speed knob won't do).
> Btw...any way to implement the legatos to the rest of the longs(I mean transition from a long to legato and vice versa?)
> would you be kind enough to address that matter?



I believe this is being dealt with.


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## muziksculp (May 1, 2018)

So.. What would going from a Long to Legato or vice-versa be good for musically, that using just a Legato couldn't deliver ? 

curious to know.


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## Colin O'Malley (May 1, 2018)

A HUGE part of the 2.0 updates for both Century Brass and Strings are legatos integrated with other articulations (not just sustains). For example "chorale" legatos for brass/strings feature multiple lengths and dynamics of "arcs" with legato. Legato marcato is another example we'll be including in 2.0. This is essentially the concept we started with waaaay back in the Adagio project. It's now a lot more flexible and sounds more realistic than traditional sustain crossfades. 

Colin


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## amorphosynthesis (May 1, 2018)

muziksculp said:


> So.. What would going from a Long to Legato or vice-versa be good for musically, that using just a Legato couldn't deliver ?
> 
> curious to know.


first of all i consider arcs as longs(arcs are separate articulations)-in the old adagio lib there was an option for the legatos to go to double bows(loure) and not just sustains.in agitato lib we also have been given a choice of different attacks(eg marcato or some kind of sforzando).
Some of the longs in century strings have different(some more aggresive than others) attacks,so there could be a larger variety of choices...not to mention that marcatos are long notes in that specific library


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## muziksculp (May 1, 2018)

amorphosynthesis said:


> first of all i consider arcs as longs(arcs are separate articulations)-in the old adagio lib there was an option for the legatos to go to double bows(loure) and not just sustains.in agitato lib we also have been given a choice of different attacks(eg marcato or some kind of sforzando).
> Some of the longs in century strings have different(some more aggresive than others) attacks,so there could be a larger variety of choices...not to mention that marcatos are long notes in that specific library



I see, so more variety and choices will be possible. That's very useful indeed. 

I wonder when we can expect _Century Strings ver. 2_ to be released ?


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## amorphosynthesis (May 1, 2018)

muziksculp said:


> I see, so more variety and choices will be possible. That's very useful indeed.
> 
> I wonder when we can expect _Century Strings ver. 2_ to be released ?


If my memory serves me right the first(and maybe only) major update from adagio to adagio 1.6 (Celli and violins) took almost 14 months(pls correct me if i am wrong)....but maybe this time things will move faster!who knows


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## Batrawi (Aug 27, 2018)

Not rushing things up nor asking for precise info, but any hint from @Colin O'Malley on where we are now roughly or how close we are to the century strings v2.0 update?

I also wanted to ask if we'll be able to do same note re-bow in this update? I remember Troels mentioning years ago in one of the walkthroughs on YT that a flowbow feature/technology (ie same note repetition) will be considered in all strings releases going forward. Sadly, Century strings came up later but without this feature


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