# TOP 10 Sample Libraries



## MilenApostolov (Sep 10, 2022)

Hey guys! I was wondering what is your top 10 sample libraries no matter the price and brand. I am curious and looking forward for the Black Friday deals in November and also it will be great to get in pace with the view of other colleagues composers. I am a professional composer myself so I have decent enough sound banks (of course it could be better) but sometimes you have to ask yourself do I really need 10 string libraries . I will be more then curious to see your responses.


PS. I am a huge admirer of OT libraries, I think they have some layer of musicality that is rarely matched.


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## Marcus Millfield (Sep 10, 2022)

MilenApostolov said:


> do I really need 10 string libraries .


Reported.


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## Spid (Sep 10, 2022)

Hmmm... not sure that's what you're looking for, but here's my favorites:

1- NI Komplete Ultimate Collector Edition
2- IKMultimedia Studio Max 3.5
3- Orchestral Tools Berlin Series
4- Spitfire Audio Appassionata Strings
5- VSL Synchron Package
6- CineSamples CineSymphony
7- Orchestral Tools Metropolis Ark Series
8- Spitfire Audio Abbey Road One Collection
9- Cinematic Studio Strings
10- Toontrack Superior Drummer

Extra bonus:
1- Arturia Sound Explorer Collection
2- Audio Sampling All in Bundle
3- Sample Modeling Strings Bundle
4- u-He Everything Bundle
5- Korg Collection 3
6- AAS The Integral
7- Moddart Pianoteq 7 Pro
8- Rob Papen eXplorer 7
9- AmpleSound Full Bundle
10- XLN Audio XO

Subscription:
1- UVI SonicPass
2- Roland Cloud
3- Eastwest Opus
4- Slate Digital All Access Pass
5- Plugin Alliance Mega Plan


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## doctoremmet (Sep 10, 2022)

Samples that never fail to inspire me:

- Bunker Samples Harmonium
- Xsample Woodwinds
- 8Dio Acoustic Grand Ensembles
- Waverunner Audio 2 Horns
- Spitfire Audio Bernard Herrmann
- sound-dust Plankton
- Orchestral Tools Modus
- Chris Hein Solo Strings
- Karoryfer Samples Snowkiss Guitar
- Aaron Venture Infinite Brass
- everything by Ben Osterhouse


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## MilenApostolov (Sep 10, 2022)

Spid said:


> Hmmm... not sure that's what you're looking for, but here's my favorites:
> 
> 1- NI Komplete Ultimate Collector Edition
> 2- IKMultimedia Studio Max 3.5
> ...


Thank you! That’s amazing! I never thought about some of these!


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## ZTYAAA (Sep 10, 2022)

VSL VI / IZED Dimension Strings
VSL VI / IZED Dimension Brass
VSL VI / IZED Woodwinds
VSL VI / IZED Solo Strings or Sample Modeling solo string
VSL Imperial Grandeur
Fluffy Audio Rinascimento
ORCHESTRAL TOOLS Metropolis Ark 1
Strezov Sampling Storm Choir Ultimate
_Peter Siedlaczek_´s Complete Orchestral Collection
Spitfire Albion Solstice


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## AMBi (Sep 10, 2022)

Forever in love with
-Noire
-Cinematic Studio Solo Strings
-Cinematic Studio Woodwinds
-Emperium Destiny Choir or Requiem Pro
-NADA
-Balkan Ethnic Orchestra
-Cinematic Strings 2
-Ilyia Efimov Nylon Guitar
-Albion Neo/Tundra
-Ethera EVI

Though my list would probably look different each day


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## zimm83 (Sep 10, 2022)

METROPOLIS ARKS
SYMPHONIC DESTRUCTION
DAMAGE2
ELEMENTS
GROTH
INSOLIDUS
ANTHOLOGY STRINGS
BALKAN ORCHESTRA
SYMPHOBIA
ETHERA


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## Lord Daknight (Sep 10, 2022)

MilenApostolov said:


> Hey guys! I was wondering what is your top 10 sample libraries no matter the price and brand. I am curious and looking forward for the Black Friday deals in November and also it will be great to get in pace with the view of other colleagues composers. I am a professional composer myself so I have decent enough sound banks (of course it could be better) but sometimes you have to ask yourself do I really need 10 string libraries . I will be more then curious to see your responses.
> 
> 
> PS. I am a huge admirer of OT libraries, I think they have some layer of musicality that is rarely matched.


1. Infinite Brass+Woods (Tied)
2. Metropolis Ark Series
3. Tokyo Scoring Strings
4. Storm Choir Ultimate
5. Soundfxwizard Octobass
6. Celtic Era
7. Era II Medieval
8. Audio Imperia Solo
9. Heavier7strings
10. QL Ra
Until Pacific comes out that is


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## Trash Panda (Sep 10, 2022)

1) OT Berlin Series - My new workhorse. I wish the WW were more consistent in the articulations as the rest given the price, but the tone and flexibility of all the series is great and applicable for many styles. Since the mics are raw recordings, you have a lot of freedom to sculpt the sound to your desired style, be it classical or cinematic.
2) OT JXL Brass - A huge breadth of brass that's incredibly consistent across all instruments and has a similarly impeccable sound out of the box. I prefer the raw mics on this as the AMXL ones are a bit bright, even for me.
3) ISW Tokyo Scoring Strings - The sound and performance of Japanese string players captured and processed by Japanese recording and audio engineers. If you want that classic anime or JRPG tone out of the box, this delivers and is by far the easiest strings library to use I've ever worked with thanks to ISW's TACT and Lookahead systems.
4) AV Infinite Brass/Woodwinds - The tone keeps getting better with every release and the flexibility for crafting your performance is only rivaled by other modeled/sample modeled instruments. I prefer this over Sample Modeling for classical music, especially due to the ease of getting it to sit nicely with just about any other library thanks to the selection of IRs that simulate the room microphones.
5) ISW Shreddage Series - Great sounding, deep set of articulations and customization. Has replaced my entire line of Ample Sound electric guitars and basses.
6) IKM MODO Drum/Bass - My first call drum and bass options due to their flexibility in tone and performance capabilities. May not sound the most realistic out of the box compared to real samples, but good luck picking them out of a mix after processing.
7) AI Chorus - the best workhorse choir library I have found. Other specialty libraries might, _might_ sound a tiny bit better in their area of specialization, but I don't often feel the need to switch this out for them.
8) HCY Damage 2 - The king of epic organic and hybrid percussion, but amazingly capable of many other types of sounds and performances. More indispensable than its predecessor in my eyes.
9) HCY NOVO/FORZO/VENTO - Didn't originally get along with this lineup outside of the designers, but has been growing on me for more modern orchestral and sci-fi types of tracks. Incredibly inspiring to use, but leads to rarely appearing in any finished works as it tends to spark original ideas instead of being useful for making covers of existing material.
10) Omnisphere - if I can't find a sound amongst the libraries above that fits what I'm working on, I can generally find something passable if not perfect in Omnisphere's gargantuan library of sounds and presets.


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## Denkii (Sep 10, 2022)

That's hard...I'll do a list with the first ten things that come to mind.

1) Infinite brass
2) Infinite woodwinds
3) Caspian
4) Vista (+ fluid shorts... It's so tiny it doesn't count)
5) Tokyo scoring strings
6) Damage 2
7) Superior drummer 3
8) Omnisphere
9) Sample modeling strings (I suck at them but I like the idea of getting better and I will never stop trying to use them until I like something that I have done with them)
10) Bohemian violin (and cello)

Honorable mentions:
11) Audio Imperia Chorus
12) Genesis
13) everything by Eduardo Tarilonte 

There's more i like but these three would have made the list if i would have more use cases for them. If i need them, these would be the first I'd tend towards. I just don't often neeeeeed them.
And everything else would be needed even less.


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## Jackal_King (Sep 10, 2022)

My current favorites starting with the best:
1. Spitfire Appassionata
2. Spitfire Originals Intimate Grand Piano
3. Metropolis Ark 5 Mixed Choir
4. Cinematic Studio Strings
5. 8Dio Century Brass
6. Spitfire Contemporary Drama Toolkit
7. 8Dio Anthology
8. Audio Imperia Areia
9. ProjectSAM True Strike
10. Zero-G Ethera Gold Atlantis

A few that I recently bought or will get later on that could replace some in my top 10:

Noire (just got it yesterday)
Spitfire Originals Epic Choir (recently bought)
VSL Synchron Strings Pro
Audio Imperia Chorus
Dark Intervals Guitars In Space: Vol 2


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## RogiervG (Sep 10, 2022)

For now (what i use in my current tremplate and in staffpad):

Spitfire Symphonic Strings (pro: outriggers!)
Spitfire Chamber Strings (pro: outriggers!)
Spitfire Appassionata
Spitfire JB percussion
Berlin Strings Staffpad edition
Berlin Brass Staffpad edition
Berlin Woodwinds Staffpad edition
Eastwest Symphonic choir (i find it better sounding than hollywood choir and has boys choir/solo)
Cinematic studio strings (just recently because of the low latency, it's workable for me! )
Eastwest Hollywood Orchestra Brass (opus) mostly for the higher dynamics

It might change though.. i have some libraries i like the demos/walkthoughs of, so i might pick them up and replace some libs with them..

10 is quite limited though.. so i had to pick..
e.g. i do also like and have noire, and signature grand for pianos among other libraries.


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## aileero (Sep 10, 2022)

My top are:
1. Cinematic studio strings
2. Berlin brass
3. Cinematic studio woodwinds
4. Metropolis ark 4
5. Albion tundra
6. Sample modeling brass
7. Metropolis ark 1
8. Vista
9. CinePerc
10. Cycles

Honorable mentions:
1. The rest of the berlin series 
2. Albion solstice
3. Infinite brass
4. Infinite woodwinds


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## Lassi Tani (Sep 10, 2022)

My top 10:
1.Berlin Series
2. Metropolis Arks
3. Tom Holkenborg Brass
4. Symphobia 1+2
5. Damage 1+2
6. Medieval ERA 2
7. Forest Kingdom 3
8. Genesis
9. Chris Hein Solo Strings
10. Sample Modelling Brass


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## jbuhler (Sep 10, 2022)

Most used sample libraries
1. SF SSO/SCS
2. SF Solo Strings
3. SF Appassionata
4. OT THB solo trombone/a6 horns
5. OT Berlin Special Bows
6. OT Metropolis Arks 1&2
7. PS Oceania 
8. SF EWC
9. OT Tallinn 
10. SF Percussion 

As I made this list I realized that I have a bunch of other sample libraries that I use regularly and could easily list off 25 libraries that get very regular use. (Not to mention that several of those listed like SSO contain multiple libraries.)


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## NoamL (Sep 10, 2022)

1. Cinematic Studio Strings
2. Cinematic Studio Brass
3. Spitfire Abbey Road 1 Foundations + Selections
4. Spitfire Appassionata
5. CineSamples CineBrass
6. Cinematic Studio Woodwinds
7. Cinematic Strings 2.1
8. Spitfire Symphonic Strings
9. Musical Sampling Adventure Brass + Adventure Strings
10. CineSamples Tina Guo Cello

Honorable mentions

Fracture Sounds Woodchester Piano
Spitfire Symphonic Woodwinds
Spitfire S.K. Harp
Spitfire J.B. Percussion
Cinesamples CinePerc
AudioOllie LA Modern Percussion
Performance Samples Angry Brass, AB Pro, and Caspian
Botdog Piano
Indignus Renegade Acoustic


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## muk (Sep 10, 2022)

The type of music I write mostly is probably sort of neo-classical, and media music. My list at this point in time:

1. Cinematic Studio Strings
2. Light & Sound Chamber Strings
3. Spitfire Audio BBCSO
4. VSL VI Woodwinds
5. Cinematic Studio Brass
6. Project Sam True Strike 1
7. Garritan CFX
8. Spitfire Appassionata Strings
9. Cinematic Studio Woodwinds
10. Hollywood Brass


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## Marcus Millfield (Sep 10, 2022)

It's an ever changing list, but current most used/faves:

1. VSL Chamber Strings
2. VSL Dimension Brass
3. VSL VI Woodwinds
4. VSL Solo Strings
5. VSL VI Brass
6. Sound Dust Plankton
7. Very Loud Indeed Co. Mobilis Bundle
8. Karoryfer Samples Orcophony
9. UVI Quadra Metal & Wood
10. Spitfire BBCSO Pro

I mostly write chamber music and dabble in electronic music.


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## Akarin (Sep 10, 2022)

Interesting exercise to do... maybe not my favorites but my most used by a long shot:

1. Spitfire Appassionata
2. Spitfire Symphonic Strings Pro
3. Spitfire Symphonic Woodwinds Pro
4. Spitfire Albion Iceni
5. Damage 2
6. OT Berlin Symphonic Strings
7. OT Berlin Strings
8. OT Holkenbrass
9. Spitfire BBCSO (percussion + tuned percussion)
10. OT Metropolis Ark 1+2 choirs

On top of that, there's The Grandeur piano and ZebraHZ for synth.


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## doctoremmet (Sep 10, 2022)

Marcus Millfield said:


> VSL Dimension Brass


Off-topic, I just bought Sy’d Special Edition 6 (already had 5 but hadn’t really explored it). So the basic versions of Dimension Brass + Strings. First impression: whoa!


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## Markrs (Sep 10, 2022)

It is often fascinating when you see these types of list. It would be amazing if we had one for all the years VI-C had been going and seeing the changes each year as libraries change in popularity.


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## Coffee-Milk (Sep 10, 2022)

My most used libraries for film scoring are the ff(in no particular order)

Omnisphere
BBCSO Pro
Output Rev
Output Signal
Output Substance
London Contemporary Orchestra Strings
Cinematic Studio Piano
Damage 2
Metropolis Ark 2
Spitfire Solo Strings


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## gtrwll (Sep 10, 2022)

Hmm. It totally depends on the nature of the project what I’m working on, but if we’re looking for the absolute workhorses that sneak their way into most of them, the list would look like this:

1. Omnisphere 2. Probably used in 95% of all my projects.
2. Ezdrummer 2. There are better sounding and more versatile drum libraries out there, but this is just so…easy I guess?
3. NI The Grandeur. I tend to use this almost every time I need a piano in my tracks. And that’s quite often.
4. Orange Tree Samples CoreBass Pear. The track needs an upright bass? Well, here it is, without any hassle.
5. Damage 2. It just works.
6. Berlin Woodwinds Soloists 1&2. Simply gorgeous solo woodwinds for lyrical lines.
7. Acousticsamples Sunbird. There’s probably better ones out there, but this works for me.
8. Rhapsody Orchestral Percussion. I tend to use the cymbals from this on every orchestral track I create.
9. Soundiron Olympus Elements. Just a basic choir I usually try first when a track needs choirs. It’s surprisingly often the last one as well.
10. EW Hollywood Brass. The old one, in Play. Same as others, just gets a lot of use.

Looking back, these are all quite old libraries, with countless hours of use. And most of them on the cheaper side. Know your tools, right?


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## Marcus Millfield (Sep 10, 2022)

doctoremmet said:


> Off-topic, I just bought Sy’d Special Edition 6 (already had 5 but hadn’t really explored it). So the basic versions of Dimension Brass + Strings. First impression: whoa!


We had a little discussion about that earlier as I recall. So you now we t through with it, good for you! The Dimension libraries are fantastic. The strength really lies in humanizing the individual players and playing then using them together in divisi, as individual players or as desks. Enjoy!


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## daviddln (Sep 10, 2022)

1. VSL Synchron Package
2. NI Komplete 14 Ultimate Collector Edition
3. OT Metropolis Ark Series
4. Spitfire Albion Solstice
5. Spitfire BBCSO Pro
6. Cinematique Instruments Everything Bundle
7. ERA II Medieval Legends
8. OT Berlin Series
9. VSL VI Super Package
10. VSL BBO Bundle


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## Ned Bouhalassa (Sep 10, 2022)

1. Piano in Blue
2. Omnisphere
3. Symphobia 1+2
4. Albion Tundra
5. LASS
6. Spitfire Studio Strings
7. 8Dio Adagio
8. Spitfire Percs
9. Cinematic Studio Woodwinds
10. TiME

Mentions: Pathfinder Cello, Albion 3, Suspended Cymbals, Cinebrass, Viola Untamed, Logic‘s built-in drums/drum machine samples!


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## Loerpert (Sep 10, 2022)

Markrs said:


> It is often fascinating when you see these types of list. It would be amazing if we had one for all the years VI-C had been going and seeing the changes each year as libraries change in popularity.


Yeah we should have a yearly survey with things like: Most used, most loved, most dreaded etc.


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## José Herring (Sep 10, 2022)

1. HOOPUS
2. Storm Choir Ultimate
3. Synchron Str Pro
4. CS 2.0
5. EWQLSO Percussion (especially the metals)
6. Century Brass
7. Spitfire Sym Str
8. Hammers
9. Caspian
10. AB One+Low Strings exp

But I'm weird. I like synths and synth platforms more than I like sample libraries so invest relatively little in samples.

edit: In the top ten list I would also include CineBrass and Adventure Brass as well but I was only allowed 10 choices.


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## Ricgus3 (Sep 10, 2022)

Seeing a lot of OT arks and Appassionata SF. The bubbler seem also to be Solstice. Really fun to read!


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## ZeeCount (Sep 10, 2022)

I can't really rank them, so here are my currently most used libraries in alphabetical order:

Audiobro Genesis
Audio Imperia Chorus, Fluid Winds + Brass
Cinematic Studio Series
Embertone Joshua Bell Violin
Orchestral Tools Berlin Series, Woodwind Soloists, Metropolis Ark 5
Performance Samples Vista, Fluid Shorts I & II, Angry Brass Pro + Soloists
Redroom Palette ARPs


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## Living Fossil (Sep 10, 2022)

In no specific order:

MSS (although it's always a fight against the room where this library was recorded...)
MSB (I don't do Starwars mockups which probably wouldn't be the strongest side of this library)
CSS
VSL Cube (Woodwinds, Perc, Solo Strings)
Cinebrass (& CB Pro) (nicer sound than MSB, better suited for some material, but much more restricted)
BBC SO (unfortunately no possiblity to use Pitch Bend data for fine tuning)
Century Brass (Soli and Ensembles)
Berlin Winds
Damage 2 (lots of great natural drums. It's important to turn the EQ [with its 50 Hz boost] off...)

These are 9.

for position 10:
ex aequo: Vista, Lacrimosa, HZ Perc Pro (why only 4 velocity layers???), HZ Strings (great shorts & Mic options; legato isn't a serious option), Heavyocity Master Sessions
and many more...


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## liquidlino (Sep 10, 2022)

Beginner status for me, so take this view with pinch of salt, no particular order:

1. Synchron Strings Pro - just bought this last month, really love it, everything except the legato is absolutely top notch. Legato isn't bad, just isn't the high romantic legato that number 2 below has. So I have both, so best of both worlds. But the really quick legatos mean no latency and easy to compose and play.
2. CSS. A library I both love and hate. Even with 1.7 update, the variable legato speeds are a pain. Room sound isn't my preference. But everything is incredibly well edited, just like VSL SynStrPro above. So these two make up 90% of my efforts at the moment, as I'm focussing on music theory and composition self-learning.
3. UVI Soul Drums. If nothing else I like it because it's not what everyone else has. Could have bought EZDrummer (and probably one day will). But this came out at just the time I was looking for a drum kit library. Con is slow load times when changing kits. Pro is lots of pre-made kits, and really easy to create your own kits. Really like the built in layering of acoustic and digital drum samples.
4. OT Flutes&Clarinet. I only have the one patch from Berlin Inspire, but it's beautiful. 1000% nicer than any other woodwinds I have (SStW, BHCT). I'm looking to buy OT Woodwinds bundle in the future...
5. HaPi from Sonuscore. Got this in their Ukraine sale. Really beautiful harp based sounds.
6. StormDrum3 from EW. Just fantastically well recorded ethnic perc library, with useful mic options. I'd probably prefer if it was a bit smaller, 100Gb is a LOT of disk space. But no other complaints. Reverbs built into OPUS are amazing - I believe these are all Spaces II, which puts Spaces II on my future purchase list.

Other than that... jury is out on everything else I have bought. And I'm excluding non-sample libraries here (Falcon, Pigments, Reverbs etc).

My path going forward is to focus mostly on libraries that can be resold later if needs be. So VSL, ProjectSAM, UVI, NI, ToonTrack etc, sprinkled with a few especially wanted un-resellable libraries such as OT Berlin Woodwinds/Soloists / Ark3. Also going to buy more physical real life instruments. Re-buy an electric guitar (I sold my real Fender Strat, from 2001, 5 years ago - hadn't played it in 10 years, totally regretting that now I'm back into music), and perhaps a Ronroco (if I can find a good one for sale in Australia), and maybe even take up something completely new like a woodwind or cello - would have to get lessons for those, might be too much commitment what with kids etc.


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## Reznov981 (Sep 10, 2022)

muk said:


> The type of music I write mostly is probably sort of neo-classical, and media music. My list at this point in time:
> 
> 1. Cinematic Studio Strings
> 2. Light & Sound Chamber Strings
> ...


Wait, you like L+S Chamber Strings? Why don't you ever mention them!?


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## Reznov981 (Sep 10, 2022)

Okay imma start by saying y'all have library collections I'd kill for, hot damn. I can't imagine having so many top libraries!

My top 10:
- BBCSO. My only professional orchestra library. I love it, it's in everything I do. If I want symphony, I have no other choice 😅
- Spitfire Solo Strings. I want Sacconi ngl, but these are my bread and butter solo strings.
- Damage 2 hell yeah doof doof bang pow
- Appasionata. I do not use these enough but they're great! I think I don't write a lot of chamber-sized music because I don't have any other chamber libraries 
- Spitfire LABS. The soft piano especially was my first non factory Logic piano. Saved my life 😅
- Abbey Road 2. I've used them in mostly unusual ways because the violin kiiiiind of sounds like squeaky hell (imo). But I do love the detail of the sound.
- Spitfire's Drama Toolkits are rad.

Other than these, I've made a few recent acquisitions that I hope to get to know and add to my faves: Olafur Arnalds Chamber Evolutions, Blank Forms, The Stack, OT's Time Micro.

For people suspecting me of being a SF fanboy, I guess I am a bit 😅 but I drool over Tokyo Scoring Strings, all the Berlin stuff, Heavyocity's stuff... I just keep prioritising Spitfire because a lot of it's cheaper I guess? On average, I mean.


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## Futchibon (Sep 10, 2022)

Aaron Venture Infinite Brass
Aaron Venture Infinite Woodwinds
Afflatus
Albion Neo
Albion Solstice
Albion Tundra
Audict Master Solo Woodwinds
Audiobros Genesis
Audiobros Modern Scoring Strings
Audio Imperia Chorus

Crap, I’m out of room and I’m still only on ‘A’s!!!!!


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## muk (Sep 11, 2022)

Reznov981 said:


> Wait, you like L+S Chamber Strings? Why don't you ever mention them!?


I know, I know. Sorry! How could I know that anybody actually reads my posts?


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## TomislavEP (Sep 11, 2022)

My all-time favorites and most frequent go-to's:

1) Noire
2) Una Corda
3) The Gentleman
4) Dulcitone 1900
5) Loegria
6) Tundra
7) OACE
8) BDT
9) BBCSO Core
10) Enigma

+ Komplete as the firm foundation (I'm still on K12 for now) and plenty of curated freebies.


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## Orpheus Glory (Sep 11, 2022)

gtrwll said:


> 9. Soundiron Olympus Elements. Just a basic choir I usually try first when a track needs choirs. It’s surprisingly often the last one as well.


I thought I was the only soul in this universe who liked that sound. I see Olympus getting a lot of bad rep here, but I think it's a great starting point. Although as an AI fanboy I will probably look to Chorus in the future.


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## gtrwll (Sep 11, 2022)

Orpheus Glory said:


> I thought I was the only soul in this universe who liked that sound. I see Olympus getting a lot of bad rep here, but I think it's a great starting point. Although as an AI fanboy I will probably look to Chorus in the future.


Oh. Didn’t even know that, it was from a recommendation here that I ended up getting it way back when.

I think the sound is spot on for a dense arrangement.


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## Gerbil (Sep 11, 2022)

Spitfire Abbey Road Foundations + Expansions
Spitfire BBCSO
Spitifire Symphonic Woodwinds
Spitfire Chamber Strings
Spitfire Bernard Herrmann Complete Toolkit
Spitfire Tundra (with Frozen Strings)
Cinematic Studio Strings
Garritan CFX (I have most commercial piano libraries and _still_ like this the best)
8dio Century Brass
Performance Samples Vista


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## ymouhoun (Sep 11, 2022)

Spitfire Chamber Strings
Spitfire Solo Strings
Slate+Ash Landforms
Slate+Ash Cycles
Albion Tundra
Albion Neo
Landfill Totems
Spitfire Symphonic Evolutions
Olafur Arnalds Evolutions
Olafur Arnalds Toolkit


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## NekujaK (Sep 11, 2022)

It's all so very much dependent on the project at hand. For example, libraries I use for horror trailers are completely different from indie film score libraries, which are completely different from epic action music libraries, and so on....

To extrude a list of 10 definitive libraries, I'm going to have to pull from many different projects, so the list will be quite schizophrenic. But here goes...

Spectrasonics - Omnisphere (always and forever )
Audio Imperia - Jaeger
Spitfire - Intimate Strings
Silence & Other Sounds - Stringache & Pain Piano
Keepforest - Ferrum
Toontrack - EZbass
Heavyocity - Forzo & Ascend
Embertone - Mountain Dulcimer
Sample Logic - Arpology & MAP
Indiginus - Delta Blues Acoustic Slide & The Steel


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## Christopher Rocky (Sep 11, 2022)

Spitfire Chamber Strings
Time Macro
Time Micro
Orchestral Swarm
Spitfire Symphonic Woodwinds
NI Noire
Heavyocity Nova + expansions (for more Hybrid String sound)
Heavyocity Gravity
Ethera Series (cheating here, love them all)
Spitfire Solo Strings (I layer these as first chairs for most other string libraries, so far its worked the best out of any solo string library I've tried, cant live without it because of this)

Super special mention:
ERA series by Eduardo Talironte
BBCSO
Abbey Road One
Spitfire Symphonic Strings
Sonokinetic Indie
Symphobia Lumina
Berlin Strings
CSS
CinePerc
Omnisphere
The Main brass Libraries I own are SSB, Cinebrass Pro, which I'd like to expand upon, Hence why I don't have brass in the top ten.


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## Justin L. Franks (Sep 11, 2022)

In alphabetical order.

Arturia Pigments
EastWest Hollywood Orchestra Opus
Orchestral Tools Tom Holkenborg Brass
PluginAlliance / Knif Audio Knifonium
Spitfire BBCSO Pro
Spitfire Albion Tundra
Spitfire Appassionata Strings
Spitfire Chamber Strings / SSO Chamber Edition (and their Pro versions)
Spitfire Eric Whitacre Choir
Spitfire Olafur Arnalds Chamber Evolutions

I put SCS / SCS Pro / SSO Chamber Edition / SSO Chamber Edition Pro all as a single entry. SSO Chamber Edition Pro is my main orchestral library, but SCS Pro is my favorite product in that bundle. And having SCS and SSO Chamber Edition as separate entries is like adding SCS to the list twice.

BBCSO and EW Hollywood Orchestra Opus are "alternative" orchestral libraries. It's good to have at least one extra "main" orchestral library in case something just isn't fitting right into what you're working on. HOOPUS is such a crazy value when it's on sale that it's a no-brainer IMO.

Spitfire Appassionata Strings is Spitfire's best string legatos. It is stunningly beautiful and very "quick" to use (not much tweaking is needed most of the time). The perfect complement to SCS or SSS.

OT Tom Holkenborg Brass is there as the epic / FFF adjunct to SSO, as Spitfire's Symphonic Brass struggles with that. You have to layer the long + cuivre articulations (and sometimes the marcatos too) in order to even approach what TH Brass can do.

Albion Tundra and Olafur Arnalds Chamber Evolutions are simply pure inspiration.

Eric Whitacre Choir does exactly what the name suggests. Some think it to be pretty niche, but I find it's useful in a lot of styles. Just not the epic side of things of course.

And for synths I chose Pigments and Knifonium. Pigments is a great "all-around" synth. It covers a lot of ground and has the best UI of any synth in my opinion. Knifonium is a lot of fun and has a very unique sound. It's pretty complex, but the stock presets are solid and have a wide variety of sounds. Even if you're like me and not very good with programming synths, you can find a stock preset that gets close and tweak it from there to get great results.


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## cedricm (Sep 11, 2022)

Justin L. Franks said:


> In alphabetical order.
> 
> Arturia Pigments
> EastWest Hollywood Orchestra Opus
> ...


My number one synth is UVI Falcon, but, in my opinion, the best synth UI belongs to Kilohearts PhasePlant.


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## MilenApostolov (Sep 11, 2022)

Markrs said:


> It is often fascinating when you see these types of list. It would be amazing if we had one for all the years VI-C had been going and seeing the changes each year as libraries change in popularity.


That’s why this thread should be brought up every 2 or 3 years haha


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## jooba (Sep 11, 2022)

Noire
SSS, CSS
Albion NEO , Solstice, Tundra
Cineperc
Cinestrings solo
Cinebrass
Horns of hell
Heavocity Sumphonic destruction
Infinite brass
BDT
Damage 2
Projectsam Symphobia 2
Bioscape
CYCLES


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## Markus Kohlprath (Sep 11, 2022)

SSO Chamber Edition
BBCSO Pro
SF Appassionata
VSL Woodwinds VI
Xperimenta Double Bass
Pianotec (for composing and guide tracks)
CSS
Albions(parts of): Loegria, Iceni,Tundra
Dune 3
VSL Synchron Harp

-already 10 hmm?-

Honorable mentions:
SM Brass
Hollywood Brass
SF Hammers
HZ Perc
Xperimenta Kantele
AR Legendary Low Strings
Westgate Oboe


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## portego (Sep 11, 2022)

8Dio - Century Brass (Bundle: Prefer Ensemble)
8Dio - Century Strings (Bundle: Prefer Sordino, but mixed is awesome anyway)
Acousticsamples - VHorns (Hybrid: Sampling and Modeling)
CinematicStudioSeries - Cinematic Studio Woodwinds
Embertone - Joshua Bell Violin
GetGood Drums - P IV Matt Halpern Signature Pack
ImpactSoundworks - Shreddage 3 Hydra 
Light and Sound - Chamber Strings
Native Instruments - Native Instrument Komplete 13 (Best sample library is Noire)
Spitfire Audio - Albion Tundra


Waiting in general and for Black Friday: 
- Acousticsamples should do a VWoodwinds library. Really love VHorns. A Tuba would also be a nice addition in VHorns.
- A good Deal on GGD "DRY AND FUNKY". Missed the intro price.
- Thinking about Cinematic Studio Brass if a great deal arises. But it really has to be a great deal. I like the 8Dio Brass, but I also really like the workflow in Cinematic Studio Woodwinds -> Question of price.
- A good deal on U-He Synths (probably Diva). Missed the 25% survey discount last year. Synths were just not on my list but got hooked ^^.
- Maybe Super Audio Cart Complete but only with a really great deal.
- If Ample Sound has a nice deal on black friday, probably something from them.
- Alphorn from Sonokinetic with a deal. Wanted to buy for 50% but my Credit Card was blocked at that time (Credit Card fraud detection 2 days before my intented buy) and therefore missed the 50% sale.
- Great deals on already cheap weird stuff. Really like weird stuff. At the moment I would actualy prefer a bunch of small weird libraries.
- Not music but video: A deal on Davinci Resolve Studio ("Timeline" performance sucks in the free Version)


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## RogiervG (Sep 11, 2022)

i find it odd, that many of you post a set of libraries (bundle) as one library.
E.g. "Spitfire SSO" which is three separate libraries, so it should be counted as three or
"VSL synchron" even "VSL cube" both of which consists of many seperate libraries that can be purchased and should be counted as such
by doing those in a list, you are basically cheating (having way more than 10 libs) 
Just saying


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## Raphioli (Sep 11, 2022)

Very hard to choose just 10 when it isn't focused on a certain section/instruments...
My top 10 could be full with CSS, Spitfires Appassionata and the various strings libraries released by Performance Samples xD


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## Marcus Millfield (Sep 11, 2022)

RogiervG said:


> i find it odd, that many of you post a set of libraries (bundle) as one library.
> E.g. "Spitfire SSO" which is three separate libraries, so it should be counted as three or
> "VSL synchron" even "VSL cube" both of which consists of many seperate libraries that can be purchased and should be counted as such
> by doing those in a list, you are basically cheating (having way more than 10 libs)
> Just saying


Also lots of synths and physical moddeled libraries mentioned which dont strictly fall under sample libraries 🤷🏻‍♂️


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## RogiervG (Sep 11, 2022)

Marcus Millfield said:


> Also lots of synths and physical moddeled libraries mentioned which dont strictly fall under sample libraries 🤷🏻‍♂️


that too


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## Crowe (Sep 11, 2022)

Markrs said:


> It is often fascinating when you see these types of list. It would be amazing if we had one for all the years VI-C had been going and seeing the changes each year as libraries change in popularity.


I know right, I was thinking about this yesterday. There should be a rule that requires a year after the titles of these kinds of topics to make searching that much easier. It would also end the 'what-another-one?' syndrome the Sample Talk board endures.

Anyway. I really can't do this without cheating. My first real purchase was Komplete CE and it's really kind of just one thing to me. Otherwise, my whole top 10 would be dominated by it. Considering I paid about as much for it as I did for Spitfire Studio Orchestra Core I think it should count.

1. NI Komplete 12 CE (Actually a bazillion libs, Damage, Pianos, Asia, Retro Machines, Scarbees)
2. Karoryfer Vengeful Strings (actually 4 libs)
3. Embertone Intimate Strings (actually 4 libs
4. Metropolis Ark 2
5. 8Dio Century Strings
6. 8Dio Century Brass (+Artisan... which would've been 7 if I hadn't cheated here, too.)
7. 8Dio Claire Woodwinds (actually 8 libs)
9. Sonokinetic Woodwinds Ensembles (I deeply despise Sonokinetic these days, but this library remains fantastic.)
10. Bioscape


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## Cdnalsi (Sep 11, 2022)

1. NI Noire
2. Premier Sound Factory MK1-Stage
3. Premier Sound Factory Acoustic Bass
4. Scarbee MM-Bass
5. NI Abbey Road 70s Drummer
6. Slate+Ash Bundle (Cycles, Auras, Landforms)
7. Spitfire BBCSO
8. Spitfire Abbey Road 2
9. Spitfire Albion Solstice
10. Orchestral Tools Time Series (Micro, Macro)


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## GeorgeThatMusicGuy (Sep 11, 2022)

Hmm this was a tricky one to narrow down. My list:

1) Spitfire Chamber Strings - I use it on pretty much everything, and tone and character is just marvellous.
2) Ethera - More of a range I know but they all fit together as one complete amazing unit, and it's by far one of the most inspirational set of sample libraries out there.
3) East West RA - Some fantastic gems in here.
4) Insolidus - A marvellous choir library that never fails to impress me. 
5) OMEN - Another vocal library, but this one is very unique. I don't use it too often but when I do there's nothing more that I enjoy.
6) Damage - Just perfect.
7) Action Hits - I don't ever use the main function of this library, but I love the tone of some of its drums, so I often load up the individual instruments nki and use that.
8) Ancient Greek Strings - A fantastic library which I just find really inspiring. Great for the sort of music I compose.
9) Noire - There's just something so magical about it.
10) Rinascimento - Another one that is great for my sort of music.


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## Trash Panda (Sep 11, 2022)

RogiervG said:


> i find it odd, that many of you post a set of libraries (bundle) as one library.
> E.g. "Spitfire SSO" which is three separate libraries, so it should be counted as three or
> "VSL synchron" even "VSL cube" both of which consists of many seperate libraries that can be purchased and should be counted as such
> by doing those in a list, you are basically cheating (having way more than 10 libs)
> Just saying





Marcus Millfield said:


> Also lots of synths and physical moddeled libraries mentioned which dont strictly fall under sample libraries 🤷🏻‍♂️


Oh yeah? Whatcha gonna do about it?


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## RogiervG (Sep 11, 2022)

Trash Panda said:


> Oh yeah? Whatcha gonna do about it?


well since you've asked... 🚓

nuttin'


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## Marcus Millfield (Sep 11, 2022)

Trash Panda said:


> Oh yeah? Whatcha gonna do about it?


Send @Bee_Abney assassin brotherhood after yo' ass! 😘


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## lettucehat (Sep 11, 2022)

Spitfire Everything Bundle


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## Bee_Abney (Sep 11, 2022)

Marcus Millfield said:


> Send @Bee_Abney assassin brotherhood after yo' ass! 😘


This looks like a job for Armstrong and Miller:


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## Justin L. Franks (Sep 11, 2022)

portego said:


> - Great deals on already cheap weird stuff. Really like weird stuff. At the moment I would actualy prefer a bunch of small weird libraries.



Keep an eye on Rigid Audio. Their libraries can be pretty interesting, and are insanely inexpensive (like $5-7 each) on sales. Bundles for $4-5 a library also pop up pretty regularly.


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## Zanshin (Sep 11, 2022)

I'll try to follow the rules, no bundles etc.

1) Glory Days - recent-ish acquisition for me. LOVE IT.
2) Syz Dimension Brass
3) Syz Woodwinds
4) Syz Single Woodwinds Package
5) Tom Holkenborg Brass
6) Berlin Con Sordino Strings 
7) Berlin Strings
8) Berlin Symphonic Strings
9) AI Chorus
10) Synchron CFX

Honorable mentions: All VSL strings (I have all of them VI and Synchron), VI Brass I + II and Special Brass, VI Saxophones, Synchron Percussion I-III, Synchron Power Drums, Berlin Brass especially the Trumpets (and really the whole rest of Berlin), Novo, Forzo, Vento, Damage 2, Ascend, Hammers, HZ Strings, Sonica KOTO The Three Sisters, TSS, Shreddage 3 Precision, Hydra, and Archtop (the rest of Shreddage Bundle is good too), Infinite Winds, everything from Performance Samples + Muletone + Polkasound. I am sure I am forgetting a few


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## mikrokosmiko (Sep 11, 2022)

The ones I use the most: 
1. Noire: I love it
2. Una Corda: I superlove it. Very versatile
3. JB Percussion: the Timpani, the drums... it's great
4. Spitfire Orchestral Swarm: very niche but I use it very often for enriching texture
5. Albion 1: mainly for layering and sketching
6. Tina Guo Vol.2: a lot of articulations. Legato not so gorgeous as vol.1 but very useful
7. SStO Strings Pro: my main strings
8. SStO Woodwinds Pro: my main woodwinds. Going for the pro version is a must with this one
9. Albion V: incredibly gorgeous strings
10. Symphonic Motions: also very niche, but I use a lot of repeated notes in my compositions

I also use almost always something by Soniccouture, but which library depends on the project


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## Banquet (Sep 12, 2022)

We’ll if I could only keep 10 libraries, I think it would be these (in no particular order)…

Spitfire Chamber Strings
Spitfire Solo Strings
Spitfire Apassionata 
Cinematic Studio Brass
Berlin Woodwinds
NI Noire 
Omnisphere 
Slate & Ash Cycles
Slate & Ash Landforms

The above would be fairly easy choices I think, but last spot is really hard between Spitfire’s BBCSO, Olafur Arnold’s Evos, Tundra and Eric Whitacre Choir. I think Eric Whitacre Choir would clinch the last spot as I would want a choir and it’s beautiful (they all are!)

I like doing lists like this because on the one hand, it makes me realise how much I could do with just a small selection of libraries, and then also makes me feel so lucky to have ALL my libraries to use!


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## Bluemount Score (Sep 12, 2022)

1. Metropolis Arks (sorry no particular order, using all 5 regularly and one wouldn't be enough)
2. CSS
3. CSW
4. CSB
5. NI Noire (my go-to grand piano)
6. Strezov Sampling Rhodope II (the tone and playability - unique and outstanding choir)
7. BBCSO Pro (imo best sounding hall of basically all my orchestral libraries)
8. Performance Samples Vista
9. Strezov Sampling Freyja (the slow legato patches are out of this (sample) world)
10. N


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## Remnant (Sep 12, 2022)

Noire
Piano colors
8dio century brass
Sonokinetic orchestral strings
Tina Guo cello vol. 1
British drama toolkit
Albion Neo
Albion Solstice
Dominus Choir
OACE

Honorable mention:
Mallet flux, box factory, Ethera Atlantis


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## tmhuud (Sep 12, 2022)

Trash Panda said:


> Oh yeah? Whatcha gonna do about it?


He’s not going to do anything but maybe you should stick to SAMPLE LIBRARIES.


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## Trash Panda (Sep 12, 2022)

tmhuud said:


> He’s not going to do anything but maybe you should stick to SAMPLE LIBRARIES.


Firstly, make me. 

Secondly, everything in my list was from sample libraries.


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## lettucehat (Sep 12, 2022)

I'm in the mood to procrastinate on a Monday morning, so here are some favorites, some of which I'm drawing attention to because I think they're totally undervalued in this thread:

*Hollywoodwinds* - am I the only person that hasn't used the hell out of this for 10+ years? Incredible Swiss Army Knife that gets the job done in so many contexts, great blend in tutti/octave patches. The runs and rips have been essential to my mockups. And I love obsessing over detailed writing with the more complete heavy hitters, but come on!
*Cineharp(s)* - This is more of a personal favorite, I wouldn't argue they're in the literal top 10. Can't begin to estimate how many quick mockups and pitches this has helped put the finishing touches on. I use other harps all the time for a different sound or workflow but I have a fondness for this given my history.
*CinePerc* - I promise this won't be all Cinesamples, but this was such a comprehensive undertaking and very well done. It's not my only perc library but it's the backbone of pretty much every orchestral thing I do. The fact that so many people, regardless of their affection for other developers, still consider this the one to beat says something. I fall in and out of love with the MGM sound but this one is a constant!
*Vista* - this edges out Con Moto but barely. Big leap ahead for a kind of legato I very much need.
*8dio Agitato* - even before Adachi, the phrasing possible with this was next level.
*Spitfire Symphonic Brass* - perhaps not _the _best brass library ever but outstanding, with lower dynamics that only seem to be matched in quality by AROOF's brass
*Berlin Brass* - not perfect, but the best. Overkill in its detail, though I wish it had the multitonguings of SSB rather than just the repetitions.
*Sample Modeling Brass* - still mindblowing
*Berlin Woodwinds* - if we're talking about the combined legacy and revive packages, hard to beat IMO. Just wish they had recorded ensembles the second time around, and then pre-orchestrated tutti patches. But none of the major libraries seem to do that other than Synchron.
*Berlin Strings* - Surprise! I was actually an OT fanboy the whole time. While I do think the legatos could use an Appassionata style supplement, and I wish they all had outriggers like the sordinos, the complete BS set (including SFX, special bows, and con sordino, excluding symphonic) is a massive project and the best workhorse out there.

Truthfully, CSS belongs on any definitive top 10 but I knew it would be well represented in this thread, so some of my earlier choices on the list got a little boost.

Honorable mentions: CSS, OT Time, CineStrings Runs, Cinebrass, Bohemian Cello and Violin, Rise and Hit, REV, Thrill, Oceania, NI Sunburst Deluxe, NI Picked Acoustic, PLCK, Hollywood Brass and Strings, Met Ark 4, OSR, Damage 1 and 2, Strezov Choirs, LASS, Joshua Bell Violin, Tundra, SCS, Caspian...


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## Double Helix (Sep 12, 2022)

lettucehat said:


> . . . *Sample Modeling Brass* - still mindblowing


I see what you did there. . .


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## zwhita (Sep 12, 2022)

Gigapiano
Miroslav Vitous String Ensemble
Dan Dean Solo Woodwinds
Voices of the Apocalypse
Distorted Reality 1&2
Nostalgia(Kompakt engine)
Ilio Metamorphosis
No Kick
Beneath the Planet of the Breaks
Methods of Mayhem: Industrial Toolkit


Oh wait, did you mean after 2003? No Idea, I have no composition skills, I just play synths.


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## lettucehat (Sep 12, 2022)

Double Helix said:


> I see what you did there. . .


I did nothing, but good catch!


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## thesteelydane (Sep 12, 2022)

muk said:


> I know, I know. Sorry! How could I know that anybody actually reads my posts?


It’s ok😉 It’s a great library!


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## Scamper (Sep 12, 2022)

*1. Cinematic Studio Strings *- most solid and musical string library
*2. Vista* - sounds so alive and fluid compared to most libraries
*3. Cinematic Studio Woodwinds *- very solid and playable
*4. Spitfire Chamber Strings *- fantastic shorts, flautando and room sound
*5. CinePiano *- great character and sound
*6. Infinite Brass *- super playable and yet with good sounding room placement
*7. Albion Tundra *- just magical
*8. Sample Modeling Trombone *- the most fun library to play
*9. Cinematic Studio Brass *- pretty solid overall
*10. Embertone Walker *- good sound, playability, lots of dynamic layers, very flexible


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## awaey (Sep 12, 2022)

_*1-VSL Special Edition Bundle*_
_*2-EW OL Symphony
3-Nucleus Orchestral Core
4-Palette Symphonic sketchpad
4-Orchestral Essentials 1,2
5-The Orchestra Complete
7-Albion 1, one
8-Cinematic Studio String
9-Agitato String*_
*10-Century Brass*


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## erikradbo (Sep 13, 2022)

1. CSS
2. CSB
3. OT Berlin WW (Legacy)
4. Dominus
5. Albion Tundra
6. Audio Ollie TASTE - almost free, get it!
7. Noire
8. OACT
9. Hollywood Percussions 
10. Albion ONE - still great for sketching


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## Sebastián collao (Sep 13, 2022)

Edirol orchestra x10


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## STMICHAELS (Sep 13, 2022)

I love all these. it is great as I am looking at picking up my first set of libraries. 
I think it would be cool to see your Top 10 but also why you chose that for your particular style of music or project or why you love it. I see some have done this and it is informative as to why you picked it.


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## Fr. hugo (Sep 13, 2022)

Ben Osterhouse Sospiro Strings
Silka
Tundra
Originals Frozen Strings
Heirloom
8Dio quintet
sonokinetic orchestral Strings
Karoryfer Hster
Insolidus
Westwood untamed Brass


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## Reid Rosefelt (Sep 15, 2022)

These are sample libraries that have given me countless hours of joy both playing and composing:

Cinematic Studio Strings
Cinesamples - Tina Guo Legato
Organic Samples - Solo Opera
Virharmonic - Bohemian Violin
Native instruments - Picked Acoustic
Indiginus - The STEEL
Art Vista - Malmsjö
Modwheel - The Lowdown
Evolution Series - Vocal Colors Brontë
Ben Osterhouse - Pathfinder Cello


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## dko22 (Nov 12, 2022)

Cinematic Studio Strings
Cinematic Studio Woodwinds
Cinematic Studio Brass
VSL solo strings (Synchron-ized)
Cinematic Studio Solo Strings
BBC Symphony Orchestra Core
EWQL Hollywood Choirs
EWQL Symphonic Choirs
VSL Historic Instruments (SE vol 7)
VSL SE vol 1 

I write mainly classic/romantic music and the CS series are overall the best programmed and warmly involving despite one or two annoying programming quirks like legato latency and stupid two note trills (which makes for unnecessary extra work in notation software but you soon get used to it). For chamber works, the more analytical VSL tends to dominate. For choirs there is no choice outside EWQL as no-one else (apart from the fascinating Cantamus online rendering) can sing text.

There is a place for a cooler but not sterile string sound as CS has a lot of vibrato and I'm quite interested in OT Tallinn -- more research required.


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## Mr Sakitumi (Nov 12, 2022)

1/ CSS
2/ CSSS
3/ OT Time Macro and Micro
4/ OT Metropolis Arks 1-4
5/ AI Jaeger
6/ SFA OACE
7/ 8Dio Silka and Insolidus
8/ NI Noire
9/ U-HE Hive 2
10/ Westwood Untamed Strings


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## AJHnob (Nov 21, 2022)

Hard to choose, but these are my current favorites.

1. Olafur Arnalds Chamber Evolutions
2. OPW by Spitfire Audio
3. Rev X-Loops by Output
4. Tina Guo Cello Vol 1 + 2 by Cinesamples
5. Contemporary Drama Toolkit by Spitfire Audio
6. Exhale by Output
7. Hammers + Waves by Skybox Audio
8. Indie by Sonokinetic
9. Memoir Piano by Audio Ollie
10. Dream Guitars by Dream Audio Tools


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## aesqe (Nov 21, 2022)

1. Spitfire BBCSO Pro
2. EW Hollywood Brass
3. Spitfire HZ Percussion 03
4. Spitfire Albion Loegria
5. Performance Samples Vista
6. Performance Samples Caspian
7. EWQL Symphonic Orchestra Percussion
8. CineBrass Sonore
9. Spitfire Albion Tundra
10. Sonuscore The Orchestra 2


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