# Was Opus worth it? Hollywood Orchestra poll



## Toecutter (Jun 3, 2021)

I was reading the big HOOPUS thread and ned3000 comment made me wonder how many of you think Opus brought enough changes to justify the upgrade?






Hollywood orchestra opus edition and hollywood orchestrator


For anyone who is a hobbyist like me I think Gold is definitely the sweet spot for Opus. I can easily live with 2 mics and 16bit samples. Not just hobbyists, many pro’s use Gold as well (I did for years). The average listener doesn’t know the difference anyways.




vi-control.net





My CC monthly test subscription expired and I'm not sure if I will miss Opus? The coolest thing for me was not having the player freeze while loading samples and the option to purge all Opus instances. But can I live without these things? Guess so. What do you guys think, I'm solely talking about Hollywood Orchestra, not Orchestrator or other libraries.

Is Play enough for you? Can't go back to Play? What Opus brought to the table that you can't live without?


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## JyTy (Jun 3, 2021)

I'm a sucker for nice interfaces! But if nothing else the Orchestrator seems very powerful... still too early as I haven't given it a proper time yet but already have some interesting ideas for my workflows based on what I know it can do ...

For me their cloud subscription is still an amazing value for the money, Opus or no Opus ...


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## emilio_n (Jun 3, 2021)

I bought Hollywood Orchestra in a sale and never use it because of the player. With OPUS, the patches are more clear, the GUI is much better and I think the Orchestrator brings new possibilities to explore.
Maybe just the purge option is not a reason to upgrade but with machines with limited RAM (Like mine) is a very welcome feature.


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## RyanRhea (Jun 3, 2021)

I'm really loving it. On my 2019 MBP with 16gb RAM I can load in a full orchestra and play all patches at the same time without any hiccups (something like 5-6 patches for strings, 5 or more for woods and a similar amount for brass... plus mens and women's choir patches and a couple of perc tracks). That template is the ultimate sketching ensemble! Pretty cool. I'd say they improved the experience and performance by a _large_ margin over Play.

Plus, HWO simply sounds amazing. The woods have super smooth legato now, etc. And, as a subscriber (I'm new to all this, so no legacy products) I get access to a zillion other libs that are already proving useful. What's not to love? 🤟🏻

RR


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## Toecutter (Jun 3, 2021)

Thanks guy but as I said in the first post, *let's keep the Orchestrator out*. I'm wondering *what features specific to Opus *you think are game-changer compared to Play? Trying to learn if I missed something important, I had a few issues and HO isn't my daily driver so I must admit I didn't use HOOPUS that much to really know if I'm missing something big.


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## Toecutter (Jun 3, 2021)

RyanRhea said:


> . The woods have super smooth legato now, etc


Yea the woodwind improvements were very nice, I miss them already.


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## Evans (Jun 3, 2021)

I see Opus like SINE. SINE was _completely _unusable for me for a good while. Froze up Cubase every time I inserted a track. Now, it's probably #2 for me behind Kontakt.

Opus's CPU spikes are ridiculous on my hoss processor, but I get where they're going with it and I'm really looking forward to smooth operation in the future.


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## ned3000 (Jun 3, 2021)

Based on what I've seen so far, it's possible that it would be worth the upgrade price if it weren't for the bug/missing feature that's a blocker for me (shared sample memory between patches).

The lack of useful keyswitches in Play makes it pretty cumbersome to deal with. I have Cubase set up with channel switching articulation maps for the Play versions, and that works ok, but took forever to set up, and introduces its own problems with modwheel and other CCs.

The Opus implementation of keyswitches is kind of clunky but it appears to work well enough. I guess I haven't used it enough yet to know if there are other bugs lurking that would also be disqualifying (the fact that the memory model is broken does not install great confidence.) I'm hearing a lot of rumblings about performance problems, so not sure about that; Play was never great in that regard from my experience either.


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## AndyP (Jun 27, 2021)

I voted for definitely value. I can work much faster, even if there are a few problems here and there.
Am working on a slightly larger track right now and this cut was done very quickly. 2 orchestrator ostinatos in the background, all in all only 7 tracks.

The timing is sometimes a bit strange, I still have to edit notes in the keyroll.


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## Markrs (Jun 27, 2021)

I prefer using Opus that I get with CCX than using HOD that I owed using Play. To be point I tend to only use the CCX version of HO, even though I lose the mics and divisi (I still have HOD installed if I need it).

However I wouldn't pay for the upgrade price as it was just too much. $300 was the limit I have set myself to upgrade.


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## szczaw (Jun 27, 2021)

The upgrade is worth the price, if HO is what you mainly use. Otherwise, no.


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## babylonwaves (Jun 27, 2021)

if you're one of those who work with articulation switching, OPUS is a massive step forward. 



ned3000 said:


> The Opus implementation of keyswitches is kind of clunky but it appears to work well enough.


in which way?


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## antames (Jun 27, 2021)

Better recorded and programmed samples, keyswitches for articulations, purge sampling, and being able to download single patches now instead of an entire library is super helpful. Also I really like being able to preview the sound of patches; I think more players should implement this feature.


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## Alfeus Aditya (Jun 27, 2021)

RyanRhea said:


> I'm really loving it. On my 2019 MBP with 16gb RAM I can load in a full orchestra and play all patches at the same time without any hiccups (something like 5-6 patches for strings, 5 or more for woods and a similar amount for brass... plus mens and women's choir patches and a couple of perc tracks). That template is the ultimate sketching ensemble! Pretty cool. I'd say they improved the experience and performance by a _large_ margin over Play.
> 
> Plus, HWO simply sounds amazing. The woods have super smooth legato now, etc. And, as a subscriber (I'm new to all this, so no legacy products) I get access to a zillion other libs that are already proving useful. What's not to love? 🤟🏻
> 
> RR




Hi, I using macbook 2017 with 16gb. Previously I used PLAY with full orchestra and it was fine, but after upgrading to OPUS, I often experience freezes in my daw, reaper. Did the last update improve OPUS performance? I left OPUS after the first try


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## ned3000 (Jun 27, 2021)

babylonwaves said:


> in which way?


I probably shouldn't complain. it *is* an immense improvement over the old Play system. Just not a big fan of the UI. Not sure why there's the "Articulations" view from the button at the bottom, and then the "Articulations" view from the tab at the top. I seem to remember editing the keyswitches being slightly tedious if doing a lot of them.

I'd be fine with that if they issued an update that shares sample data between copies of instruments though (like in Play).


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## José Herring (Jun 27, 2021)

Opus is so much easier to work with. It still has it's little problems. For me if I leave it sitting for a bit when I come back to it I get little latency pops like it's auto purged and it needs to reload the samples. They go away as you play the patch though. 

But, overall the Opus version is a big improvement. Though I do see they used a bit of the onboard EQ to smooth out the strings sound which I've had to turn off.


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## Fleer (Aug 5, 2021)

Just got Opus. Man, this is so good. 
HOOPUS and BBCSO are the best sounding and most effective orchestral canvases I harness, the former for Hollywood style writing, the latter for more classical work. Anyway, upgrading to Opus gave my Hollywood Orchestra a new stretch of life and that’s pretty, pretty good.


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## ALittleNightMusic (Aug 5, 2021)

I’m really curious if everybody who voted no in this poll actually own Opus…

It’s a massive step forward from Play as an engine platform, plus cleaned up samples, plus new recordings. Still that great sound. It’s what I wanted from HOD for a long time.

Also, don’t forget who is on the Opus development team - the Wolfgangs. Probably the most qualified music software and sampler developers around. Things will only continue to get better.


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## Fleer (Aug 6, 2021)

Indeed, I believe bringing them in turned Play into an amazing piece of software: Opus even working better than Kontakt.


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## Toecutter (Aug 6, 2021)

ALittleNightMusic said:


> I’m really curious if everybody who voted no in this poll actually own Opus…


I don't think so, it's the internet XD Personally, it seems that all the issues I was having are now fixed... I will wait for the price to drop and upgrade. It might take a while.


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## Dewdman42 (Aug 6, 2021)

I have no doubt that the OPUS gui is better, but the upgrade price from PLAY is still ridiculous and I refuse to do it. They want more for that upgrade then I paid for EWHO diamond to begin with, which I never used much because the GUI wasn't great, but mainly the lack of keyswitching. I will not be upgrading I have moved on to other libraries and I'm very disappointed that EW put out such a problematic product for so long and when they finally released simple fixes for the GUI and the ability to keyswitch, the demand we pay a huge price to get more samples and lots of stuff like orchestrator that I don't care about. Sorry EW, no sale.

I'm sure OPUS is way better though, if I were a real EWHO user, using it all the time, I probably would get it. but I moved on a long time ago due to the aforementioned problems that they let languish on the vine for too many years.


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## Toecutter (Aug 6, 2021)

Dewdman42 said:


> I have no doubt that the OPUS gui is better, but the upgrade price from PLAY is still ridiculous and I refuse to do it. They want more for that upgrade then I paid for EWHO diamond to begin with, which I never used much because the GUI wasn't great, but mainly the lack of keyswitching. I will not be upgrading I have moved on to other libraries and I'm very disappointed that EW put out such a problematic product for so long and when they finally released simple fixes for the GUI and the ability to keyswitch, the demand we pay a huge price to get more samples and lots of stuff like orchestrator that I don't care about. Sorry EW, no sale.
> 
> I'm sure OPUS is way better though, if I were a real EWHO user, using it all the time, I probably would get it. but I moved on a long time ago due to the aforementioned problems that they let languish on the vine for too many years.


I'm not that angry at EW anymore because I got to accept how they treat loyal customers, I'm done shouting in forums or sending emails humiliating myself and being treated like I don't matter (yep). But trust me, I agree with you. I still like and use HO. Just wait for the price to drop, that's what I'm going to do, it always drops.


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## ALittleNightMusic (Aug 6, 2021)

I look at it slightly differently - I was able to grab HOD for a cheap price ~8 months before Opus came out. In total, I spent about the same as the current new user price for Opus. So, all in all, if I want the samples, I paid what I would've paid right now - except I got an extra 8 months of using a lot of them - granted in a not as good player, but far from unusable. So, I've not had any issues with the upgrade price for me personally - there's no way I would expect to pay _less_ than new Opus users while having the library content for _longer_.


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## Dewdman42 (Aug 6, 2021)

glad you had that option I would have felt the same way, but you are the small minority here.


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## szczaw (Aug 6, 2021)

It's the best player on the market. #worthit


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## ALittleNightMusic (Aug 6, 2021)

Dewdman42 said:


> glad you had that option I would have felt the same way, but you are the small minority here.


I'm actually in the same boat as you "They want more for that upgrade then I paid for EWHO diamond to begin with, which I never used much because the GUI wasn't great, but mainly the lack of keyswitching."

But in total, I paid what I would've as a new Opus user. And while Play was annoying because of the lack of key switching, it was not unusable - the Synthestration.com projects for example showed how amazing it could sound.


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## Dewdman42 (Aug 6, 2021)

Alright fair enough one for the team. EW doesn’t get my sale this time


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## shponglefan (Aug 6, 2021)

I went back and forth on whether to upgrade and finally pulled the trigger a couple days ago.

The new GUI definitely makes things a lot nicer to use, especially on a 4k monitor. Is that alone worth the $500 upgrade price? Definitely not.

I haven't really played much with the new content yet, so I'm still undecided on whether the it was worth the cash.


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## Casiquire (Aug 6, 2021)

szczaw said:


> It's the best player on the market. #worthit


That's quite a claim, what makes you say that? I think Synchron is the gold standard personally


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## MauroPantin (Aug 6, 2021)

I love the new player, and I am delighted (and have always been) with the sound of HO. The purge function is also very useful. I am happy to have it. But it has some CPU usage quirks they really need to iron out.

Having said that, lately I've just been writing in StaffPad using the add-ons and mixing that in my DAW. Stepping back from the DAW a bit has been fantastic for me in terms of getting some results, a couple of weeks after I went into pure notation things really started to come together. 

All this is to say that while I love HO and OPUS, for me personally and at this time, it really hasn't had much use.


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## ALittleNightMusic (Aug 6, 2021)

Casiquire said:


> That's quite a claim, what makes you say that? I think Synchron is the gold standard personally


Yeah I agree that Synchron is the best, but they've done a great job with Opus for v1.

Unless they meant _"I'm"_ the best player on the market. In which case, PROPS.


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## szczaw (Aug 6, 2021)

Casiquire said:


> That's quite a claim, what makes you say that? I think Synchron is the gold standard personally


It's very stable, very efficient with memory, ergonomic and has extras like effects and orchestrator. Synchron is however a better fit for VSL libraries.


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## Dewdman42 (Aug 6, 2021)

VSL makes the best orchestra sample player by a very long shot, regardless of whether we're talking about VSL or EW samples. The question of the thread though is not how OPUS compares to other products its about whether its enough of an upgrade from PLAY or if PLAY is enough.


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## szczaw (Aug 6, 2021)

Opus is also hooked up to EW composer cloud and make it very quick and simple to download exactly what you need.


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## Petrucci (Aug 6, 2021)

I wanted Opus so much during last autumn but with all the delays I jumped on VSL BBO Bundle train and I'm glad I did. Though I actually payed much more with later buying SSP, SY'd Woodwinds, Elite Strings, SY'd SE1, SB - I have mostly all I need now for my orchestral stuff. While Hollywood Orchestra has very nice specific sound, no arguments there, I still don't want to pay 495$ to upgrade, I would rather invest it in Synchron Percussion or Synchron Woodwinds)). I would upgrade for around 300$ though - for the reworked woodwinds and new samples - not Orchestrator.


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## szczaw (Aug 6, 2021)

Dewdman42 said:


> The question of the thread though is not how OPUS compares to other products its about whether its enough of an upgrade from PLAY or if PLAY is enough.


The question is whether the upgrade price is justified. Play does just fine when it comes to sample playback. Opus does it using minimal amount of ram and has big usability improvements.


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## YaniDee (Aug 8, 2021)

I bought EW Symphonic Orch from timespace.com, a couple of days ago..EW says products in their current sale include Opus for free. It showed up in my installation center so I DL it and installed..but when I go to open it it asks for a license..Any experiences with this? (I'm hoping there's still a license coming from timespace)


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## AllanH (Aug 8, 2021)

I am really interested in seeing how this poll evolves. I've yet to upgrade from HOD, but now that Opus shows up in my EW downloads it would seem that older products are being added. Broader support of Opus would make me more interested in upgrading


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## YaniDee (Aug 8, 2021)

AllanH said:


> but now that Opus shows up in my EW downloads it would seem that older products are being added


Have you installed it, and did it require a license?


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## AllanH (Aug 8, 2021)

YaniDee said:


> Have you installed it, and did it require a license?


Yes, I installed it, and it made mess out of all my existing projects as Cubase would find the new vst and the licensing dialog would pop up. I uninstalled Opus.

I have not taken the time to ask EW.


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## Soundbed (Aug 8, 2021)

I’m in the ‘I’ll take Opus for $300’ club.

Cue the Jeopardy! theme song.


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## YaniDee (Aug 8, 2021)

AllanH said:


> Yes, I installed it, and it made mess out of all my existing projects as Cubase would find the new vst and the licensing dialog would pop up. I uninstalled Opus.
> 
> I have not taken the time to ask EW.


That's not good..If I get it going, I'll let you know.


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## AceAudioHQ (Aug 8, 2021)

YaniDee said:


> I bought EW Symphonic Orch from timespace.com, a couple of days ago..EW says products in their current sale include Opus for free. It showed up in my installation center so I DL it and installed..but when I go to open it it asks for a license..Any experiences with this? (I'm hoping there's still a license coming from timespace)


When I bought Hollywood Backup Singers in the previous sale and was promised the new Opus Engine for all old librares (except HO), I had the same issue, I never got the Opus license, and only after I contacted EastWest facebook support they added it to my iLok account


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## YaniDee (Aug 8, 2021)

AceAudioHQ said:


> I never got the Opus license, and only after I contacted EastWest facebook support they added it to my iLok account


And it's announced (Free Opus) in a big banner right on top of their front page! Thanks for the info..I'll do what it takes, but they shouldn't make people go out of their way to get the "free" product after purchasing an expensive library.


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## Toecutter (Aug 8, 2021)

YaniDee said:


> And it's announced (Free Opus) in a big banner right on top of their front page! Thanks for the info..I'll do what it takes, but they shouldn't make people go out of their way to get the "free" product after purchasing an expensive library.


I know the feeling of wasted time but they *are *honoring the deal so yea, a facebook message doesn't sound like a bad thing. Support over there has always been very fast, you should be sorted soon


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## YaniDee (Aug 8, 2021)

Toecutter said:


> I know the feeling of wasted time but they *are *honoring the deal so yea, a facebook message doesn't sound like a bad thing. Support over there has always been very fast, you should be sorted soon


Frankly, the deal isn't honored until I'm using the product..Anyone can download Opus from the site, getting to work is another matter..
It's just that during the NI sale, I bought Komplete 13 U CE, and it took a week (and 4 unanswered emails) to get the serial! Then before buying EW SymphOrch, a guy on chat (timespace.com) told me, when asked, that it would take 1-2 hours for the serial, and I got it 2 days later..Now I have to look for the Opus serial. If you pay for a meal at a restaurant, you don't expect to get it 2 days later! Anyhow, I've learned one thing, don't buy stuff that requires a license on a Friday..they leave for the weekend right after you paid..


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## Fleer (Aug 10, 2021)

Got to admit that Hollywood Opus is quite something. Loading like quicksilver. Sweet GUI. Sounds are perfectly detailed. Even the woodwinds are top quality, as indeed are the solo instruments. This is how orchestral libraries should function. And the Orchestrator works wonders, allowing for prompt creativity. Got the Hollywood Backup Singers as well, blending in smoothly: sheer Pink Floyd, those backing ladies.


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## gohrev (Aug 10, 2021)

I really like Opus, way more than the sluggish, outdated Play. 

But, I never use any of the Hollywood Orchestra sections, as I prefer having all patches available in one and the same instrument - using simple key switching to jump from one articulation to the next.

As much as I love the Hollywood sound, I stick to CSS for my workhorse because it's just so easy to work with.


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## ALittleNightMusic (Aug 10, 2021)

gohrev said:


> I really like Opus, way more than the sluggish, outdated Play.
> 
> But, I never use any of the Hollywood Orchestra sections, as I prefer having all patches available in one and the same instrument - using simple key switching to jump from one articulation to the next.
> 
> As much as I love the Hollywood sound, I stick to CSS for my workhorse because it's just so easy to work with.


Conversely, I find Opus and Hollywood strings easier to work with than CSS. No variable delays to deal with. Tons of articulations available to key switch between. 3 very different “pre-made” mic mixes (moods).


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## gohrev (Aug 10, 2021)

ALittleNightMusic said:


> Conversely, I find Opus and Hollywood strings easier to work with than CSS. No variable delays to deal with. Tons of articulations available to key switch between. 3 very different “pre-made” mic mixes (moods).


Do you load all articulations in a single track?


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## Casiquire (Aug 10, 2021)

ALittleNightMusic said:


> Conversely, I find Opus and Hollywood strings easier to work with than CSS. No variable delays to deal with. Tons of articulations available to key switch between. 3 very different “pre-made” mic mixes (moods).


I don't agree a hundred percent about "no variable delay" with HS, some intervals are buggy lmao but point taken. I largely do agree with you that CSS is extremely cumbersome to work with and the delay critics are NOT blowing it out of proportion like i was lead to believe beforehand. Gorgeous expression out of that library but i find it nearly unusable


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## Getsumen (Aug 10, 2021)

Casiquire said:


> I don't agree a hundred percent about "no variable delay" with HS, some intervals are buggy lmao but point taken. I largely do agree with you that CSS is extremely cumbersome to work with and the delay critics are NOT blowing it out of proportion like i was lead to believe beforehand. Gorgeous expression out of that library but i find it nearly unusable


The delay in CSS isn't too bad, or at least shouldn't be for most users. I think I recall you had trouble getting the CSS control panel script to work though, in which case yeah I can see how that would be hell. 

IMO it really should be a feature pre-built into the library though. So many other devs have systems to have a consistent delay, and those don't even have the vastly different delay times like CSS does. Considering that the low latency mode is a thing and that the runs update is coming out, it does give me hope that maybe in the future another scripting update could be applied to add it.


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## Casiquire (Aug 10, 2021)

Getsumen said:


> The delay in CSS isn't too bad, or at least shouldn't be for most users. I think I recall you had trouble getting the CSS control panel script to work though, in which case yeah I can see how that would be hell.
> 
> IMO it really should be a feature pre-built into the library though. So many other devs have systems to have a consistent delay, and those don't even have the vastly different delay times like CSS does. Considering that the low latency mode is a thing and that the runs update is coming out, it does give me hope that maybe in the future another scripting update could be applied to add it.


Yeah i can't get the script to work. It thinks everything is at 100ms delay no matter what transition speed is being used. I don't understand how people CAN use CSS without the script tbh. Even with the delay script you still have to nudge the first note of each phrase. It's absolutely ridiculous. But if i could get the script working, i might find the library usable in a lot more situations because I find it very beautiful.

Meanwhile there's MSS. Snap everything to the grid, enable negative track delay. Done.


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## ALittleNightMusic (Aug 10, 2021)

gohrev said:


> Do you load all articulations in a single track?


Yes


Casiquire said:


> Yeah i can't get the script to work. It thinks everything is at 100ms delay no matter what transition speed is being used. I don't understand how people CAN use CSS without the script tbh. Even with the delay script you still have to nudge the first note of each phrase. It's absolutely ridiculous. But if i could get the script working, i might find the library usable in a lot more situations because I find it very beautiful.
> 
> Meanwhile there's MSS. Snap everything to the grid, enable negative track delay. Done.


I use the script (you have to use it with an expression map I’ve found). It’s still pretty annoying - especially because KSP scripts do not remain active. So if you close the project and open it later, you have to go re-enable the script on all instances of Kontakt you need it for.


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## Casiquire (Aug 10, 2021)

ALittleNightMusic said:


> Yes
> 
> I use the script (you have to use it with an expression map I’ve found). It’s still pretty annoying - especially because KSP scripts do not remain active. So if you close the project and open it later, you have to go re-enable the script on all instances of Kontakt you need it for.


Thank you! I'd be fine with re-enabling it if it would work after that point, but i can't get it to work in the first place. We're so far from having a conversation about getting it to work *after* closing and reopening the project. Also I genuinely don't know what an expression map even is. I'm in reaper and I'm not positive it uses them, so i hope they're not a requirement for using the script.


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## ALittleNightMusic (Aug 10, 2021)

Casiquire said:


> Thank you! I'd be fine with re-enabling it if it would work after that point, but i can't get it to work in the first place. We're so far from having a conversation about getting it to work *after* closing and reopening the project. Also I genuinely don't know what an expression map even is. I'm in reaper and I'm not positive it uses them, so i hope they're not a requirement for using the script.


Essentially the script relies on you telling it which articulation is being used at any given time - including for the first note. If it doesn’t get that, it stays at one delay time for everything. So you need to use key switches or an articulation map to indicate that. Reaper supports this through Re-articulate I think (don’t know - hate Reaper 😉).


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## Casiquire (Aug 10, 2021)

ALittleNightMusic said:


> Essentially the script relies on you telling it which articulation is being used at any given time - including for the first note. If it doesn’t get that, it stays at one delay time for everything. So you need to use key switches or an articulation map to indicate that. Reaper supports this through Re-articulate I think (don’t know - hate Reaper 😉).


I tried hitting all the keyswitches with no success 😔 frustrating that the two things it's most highly praised for--ease of use and long expressive legatos--are entirely broken, together


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## ALittleNightMusic (Aug 10, 2021)

Casiquire said:


> I tried hitting all the keyswitches with no success 😔 frustrating that the two things it's most highly praised for--ease of use and long expressive legatos--are entirely broken, together


That’s why I prefer MSS’s genius approach now (or a library that doesn’t require delays like Opus or Synchron Strings Pro).


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## Casiquire (Aug 10, 2021)

ALittleNightMusic said:


> That’s why I prefer MSS’s genius approach now (or a library that doesn’t require delays like Opus or Synchron Strings Pro).


I'm so glad things are going in that direction and if they implement that in CSS, it actually may well become a favorite. I want to love it.


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## gohrev (Aug 11, 2021)

@ALittleNightMusic how is the consistency between the various patches these days? I remember some articulations would sound much louder than others


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## ALittleNightMusic (Aug 11, 2021)

gohrev said:


> @ALittleNightMusic how is the consistency between the various patches these days? I remember some articulations would sound much louder than others


Seems to be improved. You can also adjust the volume of each articulation within Opus.


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## Fleer (Aug 12, 2021)

ALittleNightMusic said:


> Seems to be improved. You can also adjust the volume of each articulation within Opus.


Quite effective indeed.


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## Oxytoxine (Aug 12, 2021)

Short question for those who have both Opus and BBC pro: How do they compare resource-hungry wise? 

I have BBC pro and consider getting EW SO / Opus. A slimmed-down BBC template is workable on my computer (iMac 2018 i7 with 48gb RAM - will upgrade to 64GB), but it’s no joy to use, slow and brings the computer to it’s limits. 

Would you say that EW SO needs more, similar, or rather less resources (CPU, RAM) than BBC? I have read several times that Opus seems to be very resource intensive - the comparison with BBC would indicate the ballpark which one can expect (I am aware that Gold will obviously need much less RAM than Diamond, but I assume that the CPU requirement is identical?)

Thank you very much!


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## AllanH (Aug 12, 2021)

AllanH said:


> Yes, I installed it, and it made mess out of all my existing projects as Cubase would find the new vst and the licensing dialog would pop up. I uninstalled Opus.
> 
> I have not taken the time to ask EW.


I contacted EW to ask for a license, as Opus appeared in my account. I got a quick and courteous reply essentially stating that I had to purchase a product supported by Opus to get an Opus license.

At present, I have everything from EW that I'm interested in, so Opus is a no-go for me, at least for the time being.


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## robgb (Aug 12, 2021)

I'll buy Opus when it goes on sale for $200.


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## szczaw (Aug 12, 2021)

Oxytoxine said:


> Short question for those who have both Opus and BBC pro: How do they compare resource-hungry wise?
> 
> I have BBC pro and consider getting EW SO / Opus. A slimmed-down BBC template is workable on my computer (iMac 2018 i7 with 48gb RAM - will upgrade to 64GB), but it’s no joy to use, slow and brings the computer to it’s limits.
> 
> ...


In general, Opus loads very fast and will work with much less ram, since it can be set up to only load samples that are triggered by notes. Very little of sample preloading is required. 250 EW instruments (Opus, Ra, VOO, VOP, Gypsy, HC, platinum pianos, solo instruments) take up less ram and load much faster than BBC core, and also load faster than AR1. It's ridiculous.


----------



## J-M (Aug 12, 2021)

szczaw said:


> Opus will work with much less ram, since it can be set up to load only samples that are triggered by notes. In general, is loads very fast. 250 EW instruments (Opus, Ra, VOO, VOP, Gypsy, HC, platinum pianos, solo instruments) take up and load faster than BBC core. Also loads faster than AR1. It's ridiculous.


What about CPU usage? I remember someone on this forum writing that it uses noticeably more than the old one...


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## szczaw (Aug 12, 2021)

J-M said:


> What about CPU usage? I remember someone on this forum writing that it uses noticeably more than the old one...


I think there is more CPU utilized, but I haven't done any comparisons. As far as I remember, HO provides more of lite patches. So if you're concerned about CPU, HO may be the way to go.


----------



## José Herring (Aug 12, 2021)

Oxytoxine said:


> Short question for those who have both Opus and BBC pro: How do they compare resource-hungry wise?
> 
> I have BBC pro and consider getting EW SO / Opus. A slimmed-down BBC template is workable on my computer (iMac 2018 i7 with 48gb RAM - will upgrade to 64GB), but it’s no joy to use, slow and brings the computer to it’s limits.
> 
> ...


Do you mean EWHO or EWQLSO? If you mean EWQLSO don't worry about the resources. It's an old library with little if any scripting and no legato patches. It's the old school style of sampling and very resources friendly. 

If you mean EWHO it's a very modern orchestra in spite of its age. The Play version was like a decade ahead of its time and even to this day in the OPUS version I'd say it's fairly resources hungry. The mic positions are limited to 4 at a time so you can run all mic positions fairly easily. I don't think the same can be said of BBCSO Pro. I get around the gagillion mic options in Pro by just using Core for the moment. I think when I get Pro I'll probably just use mix one with a little bit of close mic for definition. My other Spitfire Player libraries start to choke of you use more than 2 mic positions, more than one if the orchestration is heavy.


----------



## Oxytoxine (Aug 12, 2021)

szczaw said:


> In general, Opus loads very fast and will work with much less ram, since it can be set up to load only samples that are triggered by notes. Very little of sample preloading is required. 250 EW instruments (Opus, Ra, VOO, VOP, Gypsy, HC, platinum pianos, solo instruments) take up less ram and load faster than BBC core, and also load faster than AR1. It's ridiculous.


Thanks a lot - very helpful and encouraging! Wow, 250 Tracks faster loading and using less RAM than even BBC core?! Very impressive - you probably sold Opus to me


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## Oxytoxine (Aug 12, 2021)

José Herring said:


> Do you mean EWHO or EWQLSO? If you mean EWQLSO don't worry about the resources. It's an old library with little if any scripting and no legato patches. It's the old school style of sampling and very resources friendly.
> 
> If you mean EWHO it's a very modern orchestra in spite of its age. The Play version was like a decade ahead of its time and even to this day in the OPUS version I'd say it's fairly resources hungry. The mic positions are limited to 4 at a time so you can run all mic positions fairly easily. I don't think the same can be said of BBCSO Pro. I get around the gagillion mic options in Pro by just using Core for the moment. I think when I get Pro I'll probably just use mix one with a little bit of close mic for definition. My other Spitfire Player libraries start to choke of you use more than 2 mic positions, more than one if the orchestration is heavy.


Thank you very much for the helpful answer! 

Sorry, I worded it wrongly - I meant indeed EWHO. Also considering EWQLSO, but it seems to have no legatos and, if I understood correctly, will not run in Opus (might be wrong on that but could not find a definitive answer to this). 

I have the same experience with choking if using more than a few (meaning 1 - 2) mic positions in BBC pro :/ Therefore I almost always only use Mix 2, which I like a lot. I probably would not have bought pro, but if I remember correctly, in the beginning there was only the full package. 

OK, besides the gazillion mic positions you also get some more instruments with pro, but if you have them covered otherwise I would not spend that much (upgrade price) if you’ll then only use Mix 1 - but that’s just me.


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## Fleer (Aug 12, 2021)

EWQLSO runs in Opus.


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## Rtomproductions (Aug 12, 2021)

The two trombones patch is pure joy to work with; I would pay $$ just for that patch, as I've NEVER found a trombone patch I actually liked (rather than begrudgingly tolerated) until now. CC was a great deal to begin with. It just got better.

Funny enough, I never thought I'd care about the onboard mix suite in Opus until I was using one of drum kits and wanted to EQ the kick. It's just a dream to work with.


----------



## ALittleNightMusic (Aug 12, 2021)

Rtomproductions said:


> The two trombones patch is pure joy to work with; I would pay $$ just for that patch, as I've NEVER found a trombone patch I actually liked (rather than begrudgingly tolerated) until now. CC was a great deal to begin with. It just got better.
> 
> Funny enough, I never thought I'd care about the onboard mix suite in Opus until I was using one of drum kits and wanted to EQ the kick. It's just a dream to work with.


Any plans to create and sell an Opus template?


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## szczaw (Aug 12, 2021)

ALittleNightMusic said:


> Any plans to create and sell an Opus template?


EW template pls.


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## Rtomproductions (Aug 12, 2021)

ALittleNightMusic said:


> Any plans to create and sell an Opus template?


Yes. Yes there are. I'm actually working on it right now lol. It's way overdue. Just been swamped with other projects.

I should note that it will be same demo as before (Hollywood Choirs demo), but will be revised with the Opus player + articulation sets. I actually just use the sets that East West put out a few weeks ago because...why not? If it ain't broke and all that...

And they work incredibly well of course. I still have some individual tracks broken out for processing reasons (and a couple workflow reasons) but all the keyswitch patches will be there with their articulation sets and everything.

The Opus engine/new content continues to impress me.


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## ALittleNightMusic (Aug 12, 2021)

Rtomproductions said:


> Yes. Yes there are. I'm actually working on it right now lol. It's way overdue. Just been swamped with other projects.


Fantastic news! I hope there'll be a version with articulation maps - improved keyswitch patches are one of the best parts of Opus IMO.


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## Gil (Aug 13, 2021)

Rtomproductions said:


> I should note that it will be same demo as before (Hollywood Choirs demo), but will be revised with the Opus player + articulation sets. I actually just use the sets that East West put out a few weeks ago because...why not? If it ain't broke and all that...


Hello,
Did you have the chance to run Hollywood Choirs inside the OPUS player, and if yes, does it work correctly?
Thanks!


----------



## szczaw (Aug 13, 2021)

Gil said:


> Hello,
> Did you have the chance to run Hollywood Choirs inside the OPUS player, and if yes, does it work correctly?
> Thanks!


It doesn't work correctly here. There's always been some problems with restarting the WordBuilder during playback, but in Opus this is a serious issue. I find it unusable and use Play instead.


----------



## Fleer (Aug 15, 2021)

Works perfectly fine in Hollywood Backup Singers.


----------



## szczaw (Aug 15, 2021)

Hmm, I worked on a tune about a month and a half ago, and I had to switch to old Play. In the meantime, there's been an upgrade, which seems to do reasonably well in a quick test. The problem is still there though. Hitting 'play' from time to time doesn't reset the WB, doesn't play from the beginning. I think they should add a reset note, so I can force it to reset. Better yet add notes for 'navigating' in the text editor: [c0] a stra in kli nant [c#0] sed nan ob [d0] lE gan.


----------



## MelodicAdagio (Aug 26, 2021)

gohrev said:


> I really like Opus, way more than the sluggish, outdated Play.
> 
> But, I never use any of the Hollywood Orchestra sections, as I prefer having all patches available in one and the same instrument - using simple key switching to jump from one articulation to the next.
> 
> As much as I love the Hollywood sound, I stick to CSS for my workhorse because it's just so easy to work with.


I wonder if I'm missing something. I've seen similar comments about Opus and Hollywood Orchestra keyswitching and I'm always kind of puzzled by it. I have HO Diamond and did the Opus upgrade a while back, and if I want keyswitches I just load up the keyswitch version of the instrument.

For instance, in Hollywood Strings, I might select 1st Violins, choose Keyswitch (instead of Long, Short, etc.), and then select 1st Violins KS Master. In the Play tab, if I then click on the Articulations view at the bottom, I see all the articulations that are loaded or available, along with their keyswitch assignments. I can select, load or unload any articulation that's listed there.

If an articulation doesn't currently have a keyswitch defined, and I want one, I can click on the Articulations tab at the top and define whatever key I want for it. I can also reassign existing keys if desired. (They only predefined keys for the articulations that are loaded up by default.) But there are a total of 27 articulations available on this one instrument. The same basic thing holds true for the other Hollywood libraries, as far as I know, so that instruments have a KS Master available for those like me who prefer switching articulations on the same track rather than jumping around on different tracks.






My apologies if I've misinterpreted what you mean about having all the patches available in one instrument, or if you're talking about something else altogether.

Regarding the general question on the thread, I also find Opus to be an improvement over Play. I think they've done a nice job on it. There will be kinks here and there to work out, for sure, but I'm glad I upgraded.


----------



## José Herring (Aug 26, 2021)

MelodicAdagio said:


> I wonder if I'm missing something. I've seen similar comments about Opus and Hollywood Orchestra and I'm always kind of puzzled by it. I have HO Diamond and did the Opus upgrade a while back, and if I want keyswitches I just load up the keyswitch version of the instrument.
> 
> For instance, in Hollywood Strings, I might select 1st Violins, choose Keyswitch (instead of Long, Short, etc.), and then select 1st Violins KS Master. In the Play tab, if I then click on Articulations view at the bottom, I see all the articulations that are loaded, along with their keyswitch assignments. I can select and activate or deactivate any articulation that's listed there.
> 
> ...


I agree. HOOPUS is probably the easiest library to work with now.


----------



## gohrev (Aug 26, 2021)

MelodicAdagio said:


> (respectfully snipped)


You just opened my eyes, @MelodicAdagio - Now I _must_ give HOS a try again. Will attempt to align the patches with my existing keyswitches (the ones I use for Cinematic Studios)


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## MelodicAdagio (Aug 26, 2021)

gohrev said:


> You just opened my eyes, @MelodicAdagio - Now I _must_ give HOS a try again. Will attempt to align the patches with my existing keyswitches (the ones I use for Cinematic Studios)


Cool. Glad to hear that.


----------



## babylonwaves (Aug 26, 2021)

MelodicAdagio said:


> In the Play tab, if I then click on Articulations view at the bottom, I see all the articulations that are loaded, along with their keyswitch assignments. I can select and activate or deactivate any articulation that's listed there.


I'm not sure why EW did it this way. We've setup custom instruments which have all articulations assigned to key switches and purged from the start. It was a lot of work but at least this way, our users can get the best out of the library.


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## gohrev (Aug 27, 2021)

Does anyone else have the problem of Close Mics not loading in your template instruments? I find that I have to reload the entire instrument (e.g. Harp, Xylophone) for the Close Mic to load.


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## MelodicAdagio (Aug 27, 2021)

I tried a quick test just now and I'm not experiencing that problem. Just in case it was instrument specific, I loaded up the same instruments you mentioned and the Close mic loaded fine for me each time, after initially coming up with only the Main mics loaded. So I tried a few other instruments and, for me at least, they were also fine.


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## Soundbed (Sep 16, 2021)

Toecutter said:


> I will wait for the price to drop and upgrade. It might take a while.


You didn’t need to wait long. Upgrade is now $300. You in?


----------



## dani (Sep 16, 2021)

but does this library (Orchestra opus)have dry environments? can it be suitable for pop music, edm?


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## odod (Sep 16, 2021)

Soundbed said:


> You didn’t need to wait long. Upgrade is now $300. You in?


i took the bite, it's worthy .. and i had to redownload all the Diamond again because actually OPUS is just an upgrade for the Diamond (accidentally deleted)


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## chlady (Sep 16, 2021)

Considering it now since I have HO Diamond but I wonder if the upgrade will go down any lower by Black Friday ?


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## Trash Panda (Sep 16, 2021)

dani said:


> but does this library (Orchestra opus)have dry environments? can it be suitable for pop music, edm?


It's very dry. In fact, on some articulations, you have to extend the release tails to get the full sound of the tail as I think they were intended to be replaced by external or built in reverb tails.


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## Markrs (Sep 16, 2021)

chlady said:


> Considering it now since I have HO Diamond but I wonder if the upgrade will go down any lower by Black Friday ?


I think they will probably just repeat the offer for Black Friday. I think it is unlikely the upgrade will be cheaper as it is already 50% off. 

I'm sure at some point in the future a new license of Opus we'll be 60% off plus extra discount via resellers but I still think that is some time away (I could be wrong and they reduce to that on BF, but that is the risk your take)


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## muziksculp (Sep 16, 2021)

Does Opus Orchestra need to be installed on a single large drive ? or can the sections be split on multiple drives ? 

Is there an advantage to just subscribing to their Composer Cloud rather than purchasing the upgrade to Opus ?


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## Vlzmusic (Sep 16, 2021)

It's not 50% currently, it's 200$ off..
Aside from that - I mainly wanted to be able to download only the instruments I need, and its a blessing indeed! I own almost everything they put out, and this is revolutionary feature if you want to conserve hard space. Surprised that EW came up with this ahead of the competition.


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## muziksculp (Sep 16, 2021)

Vlzmusic said:


> I mainly wanted to be able to download only the instruments I need, and its a blessing indeed! I own almost everything they put out, and this is revolutionary feature if you want to conserve hard space. Surprised that EW came up with this ahead of the competition.


Is this download only what you need feature only valid for their Cloud Subscribers , or also applies to owners of Opus Orch. library ?


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## Vlzmusic (Sep 16, 2021)

It's an inherent Opus software feature, no connection to CC. Of course once you're in there, you only see a database of titles you own (which in my case strangely resembles a CC spreadsheet )


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## odod (Sep 16, 2021)

muziksculp said:


> Does Opus Orchestra need to be installed on a single large drive ? or can the sections be split on multiple drives ?
> 
> Is there an advantage to just subscribing to their Composer Cloud rather than purchasing the upgrade to Opus ?


no 1. Yes it is a EWHO Diamond + OPUS wich is around 130gb additional 
no 2. If you want to have a large sound libraries and you would really want to take the advantage of all EW libs ocassionally it will be yes, but if you only need libraries that you would use often, then just buy the things that you need.


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## gohrev (Sep 16, 2021)

MelodicAdagio said:


> I tried a quick test just now and I'm not experiencing that problem. Just in case it was instrument specific, I loaded up the same instruments you mentioned and the Close mic loaded fine for me each time, after initially coming up with only the Main mics loaded. So I tried a few other instruments and, for me at least, they were also fine.


Thanks for checking and sorry for my late response.

EastWest told me yesterday this was a known bug and that it should be fixed with today's update. Here's hoping..


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## woafmann (Sep 17, 2021)

muziksculp said:


> Does Opus Orchestra need to be installed on a single large drive ? or can the sections be split on multiple drives ?
> 
> Is there an advantage to just subscribing to their Composer Cloud rather than purchasing the upgrade to Opus ?


I can choose a different location for each section, or so that would seem to be the case. I have it all on one drive, but I can set the directory location for each section (brass, strings, woods, percussion) independently. I don't see any reason why I couldn't move the "brass" folder to another drive and simply use the "locate" feature in "EW installation center" to change its location.


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## muziksculp (Sep 17, 2021)

woafmann said:


> I can choose a different location for each section, or so that would seem to be the case. I have it all on one drive, but I can set the directory location for each section (brass, strings, woods, percussion) independently. I don't see any reason why I couldn't move the "brass" folder to another drive and simply use the "locate" feature in "EW installation center" to change its location.


THANKS


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## woafmann (Sep 17, 2021)

Vlzmusic said:


> It's not 50% currently, it's 200$ off..
> Aside from that - I mainly wanted to be able to download only the instruments I need, and its a blessing indeed! I own almost everything they put out, and this is revolutionary feature if you want to conserve hard space. Surprised that EW came up with this ahead of the competition.


Unless I'm not following your statement, the normal upgrade price from HO Diamond to HOOPUS Diamond shows $595. I got the upgrade for $295, so it was 50% off in my case.


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## Vlzmusic (Sep 18, 2021)

woafmann said:


> Unless I'm not following your statement, the normal upgrade price from HO Diamond to HOOPUS Diamond shows $595. I got the upgrade for $295, so it was 50% off in my case.


I guess I missed the point at which it came up from the initial 495$, that was the price I remember considering for some time... maybe someone remembers how it went?


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## Braveheart (Sep 18, 2021)

Zoot_Rollo said:


> So, is the Opus Player available for free for existing Hollywood Diamond users?
> 
> I would be fine with just the Opus Player.


No. Not working with it, you have to upgrade to use it, that’s the catch.


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## Zoot_Rollo (Sep 18, 2021)

Braveheart said:


> No. Not working with it, you have to upgrade to use it, that’s the catch.


the $295 deal is hard to ignore.

especially with the Woodwinds update.

nice review:









Review: EastWest Hollywood Orchestra Opus Edition


Streamlined, versatile, and incredibly playable, EastWest Hollywood Orchestra Opus Edition brings improvements on every front.




www.musictech.net


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## zeng (Sep 18, 2021)

Zoot_Rollo said:


> the $295 deal is hard to ignore.
> 
> especially with the Woodwinds update.
> 
> ...


Is this "woodwinds update" also included in Opus Composer Cloud X?


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## muziksculp (Sep 18, 2021)

Zoot_Rollo said:


> the $295 deal is hard to ignore.
> 
> especially with the Woodwinds update.


Hi,

Yes, the $295 upgrade to OPUS deal from HO-Diamond is very tempting.

I have not been using HO-Diamond, and have even deleted the whole library from my PC to make room for other libraries, I haven't used PLAY for ages. Now that OPUS is available, and users are posting that it is more efficient than PLAY, also OPUS is much better organized as a library, and offers the additional OPUS content, plus Solo Strings, and a Harp, I'm thinking about buying the upgrade to OPUS.

One possible scenario for me, is to just use parts of OPUS, due to the limited SSD space for the time being, i.e. just installing the Strings, and Brass, or Strings and Perc. ,...etc. (I guess that's possible to do via their Installer). Correct ?

I can add the rest of OPUS sections when I have enough SSD resources to accommodate them.

One more question :

How does OPUS Orchestra compare to the BBCSO Pro ? 

I have the BBCSO Pro library, and like it a lot, this is one of the reasons I'm not sure I need OPUS Orchestra, I would be interested in hearing about your thoughts about this. The BBCSO Pro library is my orchestral template's main library. I then complement it on an as needed basis with other libraries.

Another good thing about OPUS Orchestra is since I use Studio One Pro 5, the OPUS articulations are automatically available in S1 Pro 5's Sound Variations feature, and are automatically updated if I edit them. Similar to the Sound Variation feature with VSL Synchron Player. Which is another very useful feature to have when using OPUS.

Cheers,
Muziksculp


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## muziksculp (Sep 18, 2021)

Q. What's the scenario with the OPUS Orchestrator if I decide to just install i.e. OPUS Strings, and OPUS Brass, and not the other parts of the library ? Does the Orchestrator get installed automatically with each section of OPUS ? or does it require that the entire library be installed ? and can I choose not to install Orchestrator ?


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## Kabuki (Sep 18, 2021)

muziksculp said:


> How does OPUS Orchestra compare to the BBCSO Pro ?


Wrote a reply, then crashed. :/
Basically you get ff+ on strings (that harsh, bright tone) and brass, measured trems on strings, and 4 lengths of shorts vs 2 on BBC. The rest (tone, cohesion etc) is subjective.
No OPUS here, I'm referring to vintage HO.
Oh and there's no tenor trombone ensemble legato in HO. Vintage HO bones has legato but its a 2 tenor+1 bass ensemble. And the new OPUS a2 tenor ensemble doesn't have legato.


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## muziksculp (Sep 18, 2021)

Kabuki said:


> No OPUS here, I'm referring to vintage HO.


OK. Thanks. 

I'm interested to know how BBCSO Pro compares to OPUS Orchestra. Since OPUS offers more content than the older HOD, and has a nicer, and more efficient engine, and organization.


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## cqd (Sep 18, 2021)

Install the orchestrator..
Probably doesn't take too much space..


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## Zoot_Rollo (Sep 18, 2021)

muziksculp said:


> Another good thing about OPUS Orchestra is since I use Studio One Pro 5, the OPUS articulations are automatically available in S1 Pro 5's Sound Variations feature, and are automatically updated if I edit them. Similar to the Sound Variation feature with VSL Synchron Player. Which is another very useful feature to have when using OPUS.
> 
> Cheers,
> Muziksculp


S1Pro user here - the hits keep coming with reasons to grab the upgrade.


Kabuki said:


> And the new OPUS a2 tenor ensemble doesn't have legato.


damnit!


----------



## Zoot_Rollo (Sep 18, 2021)




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## muziksculp (Sep 18, 2021)

Hi,

OK.. I finally decided to go for the Upgrade from HO-Diamond to OPUS. for $295.

I also decided to try to allocate enough SSD space to install the entire OPUS library on my PC. I think it is worth the extra investment to get OPUS, and doing a bit of local SSD content management will give me a new full OPUS orchestra to enjoy.

Cheers,
Muziksculp


----------



## Trensharo (Sep 18, 2021)

Yea, you can import articulations from Opus to Expression Map in Cubase, as well. I think from a workflow standpoint it's very nice. However, the cost does bear consideration. 

I don't use it much, though, as I only use the older EWSO as a library for notation software. 

I really like the Opus interface and workflow within the plugin, though. It's a lot better than Kontakt, so I'm contemplating getting more EW libraries. The only thing that puts me off is the 1 activation and high cost for additional licenses. 

The additional activations are rarely on sale so if you need more than one license, this policy can easily become a cash sink. This is kind of why I like the Kontakt Ecosystem. Not an issue, there. 

They do give you 10 activations for Opus software, though!


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## zeng (Sep 19, 2021)

zeng said:


> Is this "woodwinds update" also included in Opus Composer Cloud X?


Any info?


----------



## Tremendouz (Sep 19, 2021)

zeng said:


> Any info?


The update is part of Hollywood Orchestra OPUS edition, which is a part of composer cloud so I'm pretty sure the answer is yes


----------



## Toecutter (Sep 19, 2021)

Soundbed said:


> You didn’t need to wait long. Upgrade is now $300. You in?


Of course! Upgraded the second I saw it was 300 bucks  Something tells me they lost a lot of easy money by not pricing the upgrade right during launch  Greedy bastards XD But yea I'm a man of my word, $300 = hard in!


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## cqd (Sep 19, 2021)

Toecutter said:


> Of course! Upgraded the second I saw it was 300 bucks  Something tells me they lost a lot of easy money by not pricing the upgrade right during launch  Greedy bastards XD But yea I'm a man of my word, 300 bucks = hard in!


I kind of feel like that dude in your thumbnail there..


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## Soundbed (Sep 19, 2021)

Toecutter said:


> Of course! Upgraded the second I saw it was 300 bucks  Something tells me they lost a lot of easy money by not pricing the upgrade right during launch  Greedy bastards XD But yea I'm a man of my word, $300 = hard in!


Awesome, let us know how you feel about it when you’ve formed an opinion.


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## Symfoniq (Sep 19, 2021)

As far as upgrade pricing goes, is someone like me who owns Hollywood Strings Diamond and Hollywood Brass Diamond (but not the entire Hollywood Diamond orchestra) out of luck?


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## muziksculp (Sep 19, 2021)




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## Zoot_Rollo (Sep 19, 2021)




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## Casiquire (Sep 19, 2021)

Symfoniq said:


> As far as upgrade pricing goes, is someone like me who owns Hollywood Strings Diamond and Hollywood Brass Diamond (but not the entire Hollywood Diamond orchestra) out of luck?


Yes. That's my exact situation. They're one of very few companies that's lost nearly all good will in my eyes, far beyond that one decision


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## davidm (Sep 19, 2021)

Symfoniq said:


> As far as upgrade pricing goes, is someone like me who owns Hollywood Strings Diamond and Hollywood Brass Diamond (but not the entire Hollywood Diamond orchestra) out of luck?


They seem to have recently changed their policy on this, and it was confirmed by several people in the other thread. Here's the snippet from the FAQ:



> Can I upgrade my Orchestra or any section of the Orchestra to the Opus Edition?
> 
> 
> Anyone owning portions of the Hollywood Orchestra are welcome to upgrade to the full Hollywood Orchestra Opus Edition.


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## Zanshin (Sep 19, 2021)

Watching the Mikael Baggström video muziksculp posted above... Man I need another entire orchestra like I need another hole in my head. The Opus player looks good though, like better than the Spitfire player for example. I've always thought Hollywood sounded excellent but I was like no way would I even consider that old player lol.

$500 + ~1TB of space eh.

I'll probably hold out for the moment and see how others get on (I have some major purchases already planned haha), but it looks enticing from 5000 feet.


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## muziksculp (Sep 19, 2021)

I will post some feedback on this thread, about my first impressions of OPUS Orchestra, once I get it installed, and spend some quality time testing, and discovering it. 

I have quite some heavy weight downloading to do.


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## muziksculp (Sep 19, 2021)

Actually watching some OPUS videos, I like the many cool features it offers, I also think it looks better than both SINE, and the Spitfire Player. I'm quite surprised by how much of an improved version OPUS is compared to PLAY 6. 

EW did a very good job with OPUS, I wonder if they have plans to develop more specialized libraries, and Instruments for OPUS. The OPUS platform surely allows them to grow, and flourish once again as they did years ago, and be a very competitive developer.


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## Zoot_Rollo (Sep 19, 2021)

muziksculp said:


> Actually watching some OPUS videos, I like the many cool features it offers, I also think it looks better than both SINE, and the Spitfire Player. I'm quite surprised by how much of an improved version OPUS is compared to PLAY 6.
> 
> EW did a very good job with OPUS, I wonder if they have plans to develop more specialized libraries, and Instruments for OPUS. The OPUS platform surely allows them to grow, and flourish once again as they did years ago, and be a very competitive developer.


I agree - Opus is a tour de force for East West.

I won't be using Sine, and I have very few Spitfire Player instruments (i don't mind it, though).

Multi-Timbral functionality is a big deal for me.

Opus, Kontakt, and Synchron/VEP are the big guns as far as I know.

After watching all the Opus review vids, Play 6 certainly is painful.


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## muziksculp (Sep 19, 2021)

By the way, Groove3 has Hollywood Orchestra OPUS tutorials around 2.5 hrs.

If you subscribe to Groove 3 Tutorials, you can learn quite a bit from these videos, I think it is a good way to get to know it in-depth. I'm surely going to watch the videos while Opus Orch. is downloading 

Here is the link to the tutorials : https://www.groove3.com/tutorials/Hollywood-Orchestra-Opus-Edition-Explained


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## Markrs (Sep 19, 2021)

Symfoniq said:


> As far as upgrade pricing goes, is someone like me who owns Hollywood Strings Diamond and Hollywood Brass Diamond (but not the entire Hollywood Diamond orchestra) out of luck?





Casiquire said:


> Yes. That's my exact situation. They're one of very few companies that's lost nearly all good will in my eyes, far beyond that one decision


It had been confirmed on the other thread that that you can upgrade for $295 even if you only have one silver, gold or diamond section section. Just login and then add the upgrade to your cart. You should then be able to purchase it.

Some users have been charged a bit extra when upgrading so worth a chat to support as they are very responsive and get back quickly


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## Zoot_Rollo (Sep 19, 2021)

I had a couple of email conversations with East West support today!

Excellent customer service! Always has been.


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## Markrs (Sep 19, 2021)

Some have been charged at bit extra for upgrading so worth checking with support



DarinD said:


> I have Gold HWO and they charged me an extra $49, listed as "Hollywood Strings Diamond - Upgrade from Gold" on the receipt. So $295+$49. Great deal as far as I'm concerned - it's easy to spend a lot more money than that for an entire orchestra or even a few sections.


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## Casiquire (Sep 20, 2021)

Markrs said:


> It had been confirmed on the other thread that that you can upgrade for $295 even if you only have one silver, gold or diamond section section. Just login and then add the upgrade to your cart. You should then be able to purchase it.
> 
> Some users have been charged a bit extra when upgrading so worth a chat to support as they are very responsive and get back quickly


That's a great move on their part. The site could stand to use some more clarity around the upgrade


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## from_theashes (Sep 20, 2021)

I just jumped on Composer Cloud X for HO Opus (had percussion and brass before). Opus is great and the strings and winds are sounding awesome!


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## Petrucci (Sep 20, 2021)

I think that upgrading from individual sections to Opus Diamond for 295$ is really a bargain!)


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## Pantonal (Sep 20, 2021)

Petrucci said:


> I think that upgrading from individual sections to Opus Diamond for 295$ is really a bargain!)


As an owner of the Woodwinds I agree and just pulled the trigger. But now I can't figure out how to access the download. The licenses are activated in iLok, but I can't find a download link...


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## muziksculp (Sep 20, 2021)

Pantonal said:


> As an owner of the Woodwinds I agree and just pulled the trigger. But now I can't figure out how to access the download. The licenses are activated in iLok, but I can't find a download link...


Did you install the EW Installation Center App. ?


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## Zoot_Rollo (Sep 20, 2021)

bought

downloading


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## Soundbed (Sep 20, 2021)

I am also encouraged that EW added the solo violin, cello and harp to Opus (now). I feel a bit silly for buying a dedicated harp a couple months ago; that money could have gone toward this upgrade instead.


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## Zoot_Rollo (Sep 21, 2021)

muziksculp said:


> By the way, Groove3 has Hollywood Orchestra OPUS tutorials around 2.5 hrs.
> 
> If you subscribe to Groove 3 Tutorials, you can learn quite a bit from these videos, I think it is a good way to get to know it in-depth. I'm surely going to watch the videos while Opus Orch. is downloading
> 
> Here is the link to the tutorials : https://www.groove3.com/tutorials/Hollywood-Orchestra-Opus-Edition-Explained


The Groove 3 Opus course is very good!

Thanks for the link.

$30 very good? I think so, their work is excellent across the board.

-

Playing with Opus for a few hours after final installation, I am impressed.

There will always be things to nit about with any of this stuff.

Overall, I couldn't be more excited to dive in.

Beyond just working with Opus, this has given me a fresh breath with all my other tools for next steps with my music.

priceless.


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## muziksculp (Sep 21, 2021)

Zoot_Rollo said:


> The Groove 3 Opus course is very good!
> 
> Thanks for the link.
> 
> ...


Congrats !

I haven't installed OPUS Orch. yet, but I'm sure I will have the same feeling when I begin using it. 

Super happy with my decision to upgrade to Hollywood Orch. OPUS Edition. Especially given that I never used the PLAY version. Finally.... After over a decade I will get to enjoy my investment.


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## Pantonal (Sep 25, 2021)

muziksculp said:


> Did you install the EW Installation Center App. ?


I had challenges getting the EW Installation Center app, but after I communicated with EW support they sent me a link to the current version (1.4.3) which once installed allowed me to download everything. All I can say is phew! I'm still downloading the cello and next violin then the orchestrator and finally the current version of Play.


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## Zoot_Rollo (Sep 25, 2021)

I love how you can route Orchestrator to drive other VIs.


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## Dewdman42 (Sep 25, 2021)

kind of. I have found in my testing that the midi input to OPUS is always passed thru IN ADDITION TO the generated output of orchestrator. That makes it unusable in my view for this purpose or for exporting the results either.

Maybe someone knows a way to block that from happening?

Otherwise, I like the orchestrator concept actually...is a simple arpeggiator concept that could be used for a lot of other cool musical purposes besides driving HollyWood Orchestrator...but not unless there is a way to block the MIDI THRU from happening.


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## cqd (Sep 25, 2021)

Dewdman42 said:


> kind of. I have found in my testing that the midi input to OPUS is always passed thru IN ADDITION TO the generated output of orchestrator. That makes it unusable in my view for this purpose or for exporting the results either.
> 
> Maybe someone knows a way to block that from happening?
> 
> Otherwise, I like the orchestrator concept actually...is a simple arpeggiator concept that could be used for a lot of other cool musical purposes besides driving HollyWood Orchestrator...but not unless there is a way to block the MIDI THRU from happening.


Just mute jt?..


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## Dewdman42 (Sep 25, 2021)

how do you mute the midi thru and not the midi generated by orchestrator?


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## Zoot_Rollo (Sep 25, 2021)

I use Studio One Pro v5.4

Easy enough to drive other VIs and mute Opus/Orchestrator: for each track, Input is Orchestrator, Output would be Kontakt or other VI.

You can also select a pattern in Orchestrator and record on other instrument tracks to capture the MIDI data.

In each case, the block chords would be on the Opus Orchestrator track driving the patterns.


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## Dewdman42 (Sep 25, 2021)

check the midi... the midi output from OPUS will be including both the generated midi and the midi you played on your keyboard intermixed. This has nothing to do with which DAW is being used. Its a problem in OPUS as far as I can tell.


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## Zoot_Rollo (Sep 25, 2021)

Dewdman42 said:


> check the midi... the midi output from OPUS will be including both the generated midi and the midi you played on your keyboard intermixed. This has nothing to do with which DAW is being used. Its a problem in OPUS as far as I can tell.


i was simply showing a description of how I do it with my DAW.

I never said it was DAW specific.

Works for me, not sure what you are doing.


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## Dewdman42 (Sep 25, 2021)

are you 100% confident that the input midi is not being passed thru? I don't believe you sorry.


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## cqd (Sep 25, 2021)

Dewdman42 said:


> check the midi... the midi output from OPUS will be including both the generated midi and the midi you played on your keyboard intermixed. This has nothing to do with which DAW is being used. Its a problem in OPUS as far as I can tell.


The midi from each of the arpeggiators should be coming on each of the 16 midi outs..


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## Zoot_Rollo (Sep 25, 2021)

Dewdman42 said:


> are you 100% confident that the input midi is not being passed thru? I don't believe you sorry.


believe what you want.


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## Dewdman42 (Sep 25, 2021)

cqd said:


> The midi from each of the arpeggiators should be coming on each of the 16 midi outs..


yep...and as of now, the held chord you are playing on your keyboard (or had playing from a track) also echos thru, as midi !!!!

I don't think you are understanding the problem yet....


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## Zoot_Rollo (Sep 25, 2021)

Dewdman42 said:


> yep...and as of now, the held chord you are playing on your keyboard (or had playing from a track) also echos thru, as midi !!!!
> 
> I don't think you are understanding the problem yet....


Mute the Opus sections inside Opus.

It works great real-time and pre-recorded.

I create 16 midi tracks linked to Opus and drag different VIs to each active track.


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## Dewdman42 (Sep 25, 2021)

I'm not talking about the OPUS audio, I'm talking about the input midi. By the way, muting all 16 parts doesn't fix the problem.


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## Zoot_Rollo (Sep 25, 2021)

Dewdman42 said:


> I'm not talking about the OPUS audio, I'm talking about the input midi. By the way, muting all 16 parts doesn't fix the problem.


I don't mute the parts, I mute the sections in the mixer.

ok, obviously this isn't the best way to resolve this.

sorry for not grasping your issue.

I'm having a blast with Opus, it has completely changed my workflow for the better and got me writing more.


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## muziksculp (Sep 25, 2021)

Zoot_Rollo said:


> I love how you can route Orchestrator to drive other VIs.


I didn't know that's possible. 

Thanks for the tip.


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## Dewdman42 (Sep 25, 2021)

muting the mixer won't solve the issue either you're just muting the audio of OPUS...but still....the midi output from OPUS to other tracks or instruments will include a mixture of both the original midi you played on your keyboard, probably as a series of sustained chords...will be sent out to the other instruments or tracks....along with the generated orchestrator parts...


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## Zoot_Rollo (Sep 25, 2021)

Dewdman42 said:


> muting the mixer won't solve the issue either you're just muting the audio of OPUS...but still....the midi output from OPUS to other tracks or instruments will include a mixture of both the original midi you played on your keyboard, probably as a series of sustained chords...will be sent out to the other instruments or tracks....along with the generated orchestrator parts...


no, the sustained chords do NOT show up on the added instrument tracks, ONLY the patterns generated from Orchestrator.


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## Dewdman42 (Sep 25, 2021)

they do for me, so again I ask, what are you doing to prevent it from happening? And are you 100% sure its not happening? Capture the output on a midi track to verify.


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## Zoot_Rollo (Sep 25, 2021)




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## Dewdman42 (Sep 25, 2021)

did you try to capture the midi to a track to make sure its not happening?

I have tried all of the things you are showing here, MUTING absolutely everything I can find that is mutable. The midi echos through from the input regardless.


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## Zoot_Rollo (Sep 25, 2021)




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## Dewdman42 (Sep 25, 2021)

please explain your pictures. Looks to me kind of like the input midi is being recorded to the second track?


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## Dewdman42 (Sep 25, 2021)

Perhaps the secret to using OPUS orchestrator for other instruments is to ignore midi channel 1 from the midi output (since it will contain both the input and output midi combined). Don't use part 1 of orchestrator...skip it...the others maybe work fine... one sec I'll test to verify that...


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## Craig Sharmat (Sep 25, 2021)

Watching as a mod in this thread, I want to thank you guys for continuing this conversation, I am sure it gets frustrating but this is great seeing you both working through this.


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## Zoot_Rollo (Sep 25, 2021)

Dewdman42 said:


> Perhaps the secret to using OPUS orchestrator for other instruments is to ignore midi channel 1 from the midi output (since it will contain both the input and output midi combined). Don't use part 1 of orchestrator...skip it...the others maybe work fine... one sec I'll test to verify that...


I find that many of the Orchestrator score patterns do not have data on MIDI channel 1.

but the Ostinatos do.

so the MIDI export thing on channel 1 may be a slight snag. 

not sure if that is by design, or just some funkiness.


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## Dewdman42 (Sep 25, 2021)

Is there some reason for needing a mod? Strange...

I just tested it and basically if you ignore part 1, then it can work. The reason is thus...

The midi is passed thru, as I explained earlier...but presuming the midi controller is playin on midi channel 1, we can just ignore midi channel 1 on the output. Because we are going to ignore midi channel 1 on output, we can't use OPUS orchestrator for the first part (the first part on the woodwinds page). Because if we do try to use that and listen to midi channel 1 on the midi out...then we'll also pickup the input midi being echoed thru, as I explained above.

If you don't want to ignore the first woodwind part because you are trying to layer some OPUS flutes with an external instrument, then you'd have to pick a different midi channel, make sure your
DAW is channelizing the midi from your controller to that channel prior to hitting OPUS...and ignore that midi channel on the output...and also don't use that Orchestrator part....there are 16 parts. Theoretically, I need to test that theory too.


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## Dewdman42 (Sep 25, 2021)

So basically we can use OPUS, with care about watching out for two the midi echos through...and I already sent a request to EW about this, if others also do maybe they'll fix it. hint hint.


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## Dewdman42 (Sep 25, 2021)

as a further note..if anyone is wanting to use this midi out trick in order to capture the output from orchestrator...perhaps for getting notation of it...or whatever the reason...the same problem exists...one of the 16 parts has to be ignored and used as the input midi channel, while ignored on the output because that particular channel will have a mix of input and generated midi.


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## Zoot_Rollo (Sep 25, 2021)

Dewdman42 said:


> Is there some reason for needing a mod? Strange...


I thought it was nice of Craig to stop by and say "good work.".


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## Craig Sharmat (Sep 25, 2021)

I'll add my 2 cents, not sure it is needed...I found this on line...



but when I asked EW if it works in Logic they said this...

Hello Craig,



Currently no, but our next update of the orchestrator will have a record/export midi to the tracks. 



Let me know if you have any other questions...

It may be DAW specific?


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## Dewdman42 (Sep 25, 2021)

And just for clarity on it, it looks like the orchestrator is not enabled for any one of the parts UNLESS it has an actual instrument assigned. It can't be "No Instrument". So as Zoot showed in his earlier photos, you gotta load an instrument and mute it (_unless you also want to hear OPUS instruments layered with external sounds_). 

So just to elaborate a bit more...if I wanted to use OPUS orchestrator strictly for the arp function to control some external instruments...no OPUS sounds at all...let's say 4 tracks... I could do the following (In DP for this example)






That channelizes my midi controller to channel 16 and sends the midi into Orchestrator as being channel 16. Orchestrator will take that input regardless of the midi channel....and orchestrate it. On the output we will just ignore channel 16 (which is normally the part handling String basses from OPUS).

This appears to work. As long as you don't need to use all 16 parts...then should be no problem, but just kind of pay attention to what you're doing...


Then inside Orchestrator I can load up a couple instruments in woodwinds with whatever instrument, doesn't matter because I'm also going to mute them.






That seems to work, since the input midi is going to channel 16 and I'm only paying attention to midi channels 1-4 on the output....


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## Dewdman42 (Sep 25, 2021)

Craig Sharmat said:


> I'll add my 2 cents, not sure it is needed...I found this on line...
> 
> 
> 
> ...




LogicPro is a seperate problem.

There are other plugins such as RapidComposer, Jamstix and others that all suffer from this same problem because of extreme limitations in LogicPro.

The reason it doesn't work in LogicPro is because LogicPro doesn't allow MIDI plugins to run as instruments. The AU spec doesn't support that. In order to have midi output...you'd need to actually compiled OPUS as an *AUmfx* plugin, which I happen to know is only a 10 minute job that they could do if they want to...but a lot of people out there don't know how easy it is to compile an AU instrument plugin as an AUmfx that simply ignores the audio. Or alternatively they could provide virtual midi output ports directly in OPUS which would send the midi over IAC directly that way. But in any case, that is what would have to happen to make it work in LogicPro as it does now in a ll the other DAW's when using the VST version of the plugin, VST does support midi out from the plugin.

Not sure what they are going to change for "export" of midi, but that sounds more like a button that will export a midi file or something, as opposed to actually routing the midi through the DAW to other instruments...which basically is just not very easy or impossible in LogicPro.

Right now today its possible to do the above video steps in LogicPro by using BlueCatAudio Patchworks. it comes in an AUmfx flavor. You can host the AUmfx into LogicPro...and inside Patchworks host the VST version of OPUS. In that case then that particular OPUS will not be outputting any audio, just midi.. Then it would work just like we are doing now in other DAW's using midi routing to do it...

except that even then, LogicPro doesn't provide a way to route that midi output to more than one instrument. You can route it to just one instrument. That one instrument could be another instance of Patchwork hosting multiple instruments inside listening on different midi channels. Or alternatively you can use the external instrument plugin and send the midi over IAC back around to the input of logicPro and then route to multiple instruments that way.

So... what I'm saying is...it can be done in LogicPro right now today also...but its a bit of a hair brain setup you would have to do in order to do it...and I haven't yet mentioned also how hard it is in Logic Pro to record multiple midi channels at the same time...so that would be a whole other complication that might require you to record each part one at a time...which would be a PITA in an case.

None of that has anything to do with limitations in OPUS and mostly to do with limitations in LogicPro, though EW could compile the AUmfx version of OPUS and that would eliminate the need for a third party product to get it done.


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## Dewdman42 (Sep 25, 2021)

and as I said...with all the DAW's, you will need to take care to avoid the midi thru problem unless EW fixes that also..

The midi "export" feature they say they are making is probably a good idea, we'll have to wait and see, but I hope they will also make the midi routing completely usable, and turn off the midi thru, so that all 16 parts can be "orchestrated", over midi because obviously when you're writing you want to be able to route the midi all around and play around with the patterns until you have it right.


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## Zoot_Rollo (Sep 25, 2021)

Craig Sharmat said:


> I'll add my 2 cents, not sure it is needed...I found this on line...
> 
> 
> 
> ...



yes! Sophisticated Ape's video got me started with all this.

fortunately, for me, he used Studio One.

so, apparently, it DOES matter which DAW after all.

hmmm.


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## Dewdman42 (Sep 25, 2021)

It only matters for LogicPro users and had nothing to do with what I was asking. The LogicPro problem is a completely seperate problem. The problem I am mentioning here applies to all DAW's including LogicPro, studio One, DP, Cubase and everyone else...its a problem in OPUS.


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## Zoot_Rollo (Sep 25, 2021)

Craig Sharmat said:


> Currently no, but our next update of the orchestrator will have a record/export midi to the tracks..



That sounds great!

Should be an interesting BF this year.


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## BassClef (Sep 25, 2021)

Was it worth it? For $295... HELL YES!


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## Zoot_Rollo (Sep 25, 2021)

Dewdman42 said:


> and as I said...with all the DAW's, you will need to take care to avoid the midi thru problem unless EW fixes that also..
> 
> The midi "export" feature they say they are making is probably a good idea, we'll have to wait and see, but I hope they will also make the midi routing completely usable, and turn off the midi thru, so that all 16 parts can be "orchestrated", over midi because obviously when you're writing you want to be able to route the midi all around and play around with the patterns until you have it right.


with this ostinato, a few channels were open.

I changed my Opus MIDI input channel to 8 (unused for this ostinato) and the parts exported nicely.

so, yes, at this point, it's a workaround if a pattern uses all 16 channels - whichever channel has the overlap, a simple edit would clean it up.

good stuff!

i wouldn't have thought this through on my end without this discussion.

i'll write up a note to East West support in solidarity!


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## Zoot_Rollo (Sep 25, 2021)




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## Soundbed (Sep 26, 2021)

Okay I bought the Opus Upgrade. This is a great price and I'm glad to hear most everyone is having relatively positive feedback and relatively "minor" (imho) issues, all things considered. Downloading now.


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## Casiquire (Sep 26, 2021)

Soundbed said:


> Okay I bought the Opus Upgrade. This is a great price and I'm glad to hear most everyone is having relatively positive feedback and relatively "minor" (imho) issues, all things considered. Downloading now.


Let us know your thoughts! I think they're valued and respected here


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## Soundbed (Sep 26, 2021)

Casiquire said:


> Let us know your thoughts! I think they're valued and respected here


Much appreciated! I have some specific things I'd like to focus on as I get comfortable with Opus:

usability incl. the reduced no. of arts versus Play version (I always felt there were too many)
stability
speed including patch preview and load times
"balance" out of the box with itself
overall sound compared / contrasted with something like ARO1
the mod wheel, expression — dynamics vs vibrato etc
this orchestrator "export" thing discussed above
woodwinds compared with / contrasted with CSW
the new 3 solo libs (violin / cello — are they really as "bad" as some claim?) and harp
purge? (still need to understand capabilities) and RAM footprint
This is a short list off the top of my head, I'm sure I can come up with more. It will take some time!


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## BassClef (Sep 26, 2021)

I think they have done a good job with the effects on all of the patches. (including orchestrator) placing them all in the S. Call hall. Very cohesive sound out of the box. Of course you can turn all effects off in preferences so that the instruments load with all effects off. But since I have EW Spaces 2, I can bring other libraries into a project and pretty easily place those in that that same space.


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## flatcat (Sep 30, 2021)

This is a fantastic deal for $295. I had EWHO Gold and was able to upgrade to the whole Opus Diamond version for that. I took a quick spin through last night, just playing around with it, and I think it's pretty great. OPUS feels more intuitive than Play to me. I am sure between this and BBCSO, I am very well covered for the foreseeable future.


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## Toecutter (Oct 1, 2021)

flatcat said:


> This is a fantastic deal for $295. I had EWHO Gold and was able to upgrade to the whole Opus Diamond version for that. I took a quick spin through last night, just playing around with it, and I think it's pretty great. OPUS feels more intuitive than Play to me. I am sure between this and BBCSO, I am very well covered for the foreseeable future.


Yep the more I dig in the less I feel compelled to buy additional libraries... maybe, BIG MAYBE, Abbey modular and TSS. For the bread and butter stuff I feel I have everything I will ever need in HOOPUS, Synchron, Berlin, Symphobia, Century.


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## handz (Oct 2, 2021)

flatcat said:


> This is a fantastic deal for $295. I had EWHO Gold and was able to upgrade to the whole Opus Diamond version for that. I took a quick spin through last night, just playing around with it, and I think it's pretty great. OPUS feels more intuitive than Play to me. I am sure between this and BBCSO, I am very well covered for the foreseeable future.


What is crazy is, that you only need to have ONE HO gold library to qualify for OPUS DIAMOND for 295 price! This is a really awesome offer...


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## Dewdman42 (Oct 2, 2021)

It’s so typical of ew to reward new users with a fantastic offer and loyal already-paid-in users with a mediocre offer at best. some of you are getting opus for the same upgrade price as me after I had previously purchased not only the full diamond but also harp and solo instruments as seperate add ons, etc it is a truly awesome deal for some of you. It is a patently Mediocre deal if you had already paid for these various things that they are giving away to you for free now.

This is a common pattern from EW though. Still rubs me the wrong way and always will and will always give me pause before sending them any money.

That being said I do think OPUS is a great improvement over play. I might actually use it now.


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## Henrik B. Jensen (Oct 2, 2021)

Dewdman42 said:


> It’s so typical of ew to reward new users with a fantastic offer and loyal already-paid-in users with a mediocre offer at best. some of you are getting opus for the same upgrade price as me after I had previously purchased not only the full diamond but also harp and solo instruments as seperate add ons, etc it is a truly awesome deal for some of you. It is a patently Mediocre deal if you had already paid for these various things that they are giving away to you for free now.
> 
> This is a common pattern from EW though. Still rubs me the wrong way and always will and will always give me pause before sending them any money.
> 
> That being said I do think OPUS is a great improvement over play. I might actually use it now.


Then be glad you didn’t pay the intro price when EWHO was first introduced 🙂


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## tmhuud (Oct 2, 2021)

Do I get a discount if I have Bob’s Mountain Drums 2? 









KVR Forum: Bob Clearmountain Drums 2 - Samplers, Sampling & Sample Libraries Forum


KVR Audio Forum - Bob Clearmountain Drums 2 - Samplers, Sampling & Sample Libraries Forum




www.kvraudio.com


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## ControlCentral (Oct 25, 2021)

Nothing for us EWSOG users. TOTAL BS, MAN!


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## jneebz (Oct 25, 2021)

Soundbed said:


> Okay I bought the Opus Upgrade. This is a great price and I'm glad to hear most everyone is having relatively positive feedback and relatively "minor" (imho) issues, all things considered. Downloading now.


@Soundbed 
Any thoughts so far?


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## musicalweather (Oct 26, 2021)

handz said:


> What is crazy is, that you only need to have ONE HO gold library to qualify for OPUS DIAMOND for 295 price! This is a really awesome offer...


I have the EastWest Hollywood Brass Gold that I bought in 2016. Am I correct in that this qualifies me for the Opus Diamond upgrade for $295? Would be astounding...


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## Markrs (Oct 26, 2021)

musicalweather said:


> I have the EastWest Hollywood Brass Gold that I bought in 2016. Am I correct in that this qualifies me for the Opus Diamond upgrade for $295? Would be astounding...


Yes that would qualify for an upgrade to the full diamond version of HO Opus. If you login it knows the libraries you have and it will then give you your upgrade price. This should be $295.

If you have any concerns there online support is very helpful


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## handz (Oct 27, 2021)

musicalweather said:


> I have the EastWest Hollywood Brass Gold that I bought in 2016. Am I correct in that this qualifies me for the Opus Diamond upgrade for $295? Would be astounding...


Yes, you are 100% Qualified.


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## BassClef (Oct 27, 2021)

musicalweather said:


> I have the EastWest Hollywood Brass Gold that I bought in 2016. Am I correct in that this qualifies me for the Opus Diamond upgrade for $295? Would be astounding...


Yes. I only had EW Hollywood Percussion lobreary and got the $295 deal for the full Opus edition!


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## doctoremmet (Oct 27, 2021)

I have skipped all other BF plans and decided the upgrade from one mic in EWHO Gold to the new player AND all of the extra Diamond mics and HOPUS instruments is definitely worth $295. So count me in as well.


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## RogiervG (Oct 27, 2021)

doctoremmet said:


> I have skipped all other BF plans and decided the upgrade from one mic in EWHO Gold to the new player AND all of the extra Diamond mics and HOPUS instruments is definitely worth $295. So count me in as well.


what? i didn't know you used HO enough for the upgrade to be worth it. 
I thought you where more into speciality libraries (sax, special strings, that kind)


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## doctoremmet (Oct 27, 2021)

RogiervG said:


> what? i didn't know you used HO enough for the upgrade to be worth it.
> I thought you where more into speciality libraries (sax, special strings, that kind)


Funny thing: I was actually working on something and thought: MAYBE EWHO Gold would sound better on this. And it did. Hence the entire mental and moral backflip


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## Petrucci (Oct 27, 2021)

I did the upgrade from EWHO Diamond and think that it was worth it cause the player is nicer than Play, but also because I feel the patches got updated and also some good New content as well as solo instruments which I didn't have and they are quite good too. People who upgraded from One section have to consider themselfs Lucky!)))


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## AB3 (Oct 27, 2021)

What Petrucci said! (I agree.)


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