# Audio Imperia Chorus is crazy versatile (dude, those syllables…!)



## zedmaster (Mar 4, 2022)

Is Audio Imperia’s Chorus the all-purpose choir library it wants to be?

One thing’s for sure: It can go very quiet and *surprisingly loud*, and those slow syllable transitions are soft as a baby's bottom.

Here's my take on the library and an exposed/naked demo (super mean to do this to a choir library imo).


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## wahey73 (Mar 4, 2022)

As always a very detailed and enteraining presentation 
The library itself sounds really cool, not only for the epic stuff as I expected


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## zedmaster (Mar 4, 2022)

wahey73 said:


> As always a very detailed and enteraining presentation
> The library itself sounds really cool, not only for the epic stuff as I expected


Thanks, Martin! It really goes whisper quiet, but can also pack a punch.


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## ip20 (Mar 4, 2022)

Superb video. You showcased the library better than anything I’ve heard or seen prior.


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## zedmaster (Mar 4, 2022)

ip20 said:


> Superb video. You showcased the library better than anything I’ve heard or seen prior.


Thank you! I always try to do a good mix of a presentation aspect, a review aspect and a nice demo in my library overviews


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## Robo Rivard (Mar 5, 2022)

I added Chorus to my template today, and it's much better than I thought. I was scared at first that it would sound too much like Strezov's Storm Choir Ultimate (which I own), but it's a different animal.

I think it's closer to the original "EWQL Symphonic Choir", and its update, "Voices of the Apocalypse". But with a muuuch better sound quality and scripting. Very warm sounding and playable! Having every syllable on its own keyswitch is a nice move. You can change the spelling afterward.


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## zedmaster (Mar 7, 2022)

Robo Rivard said:


> I added Chorus to my template today, and it's much better than I thought. I was scared at first that it would sound too much like Strezov's Storm Choir Ultimate (which I own), but it's a different animal.
> 
> I think it's closer to the original "EWQL Symphonic Choir", and its update, "Voices of the Apocalypse". But with a muuuch better sound quality and scripting. Very warm sounding and playable! Having every syllable on its own keyswitch is a nice move. You can change the spelling afterward.


Definitely a different animal (and a versatile one). I like the very clear, detailed and transparent sound of the Scott Smith mix and how "floaty" the low dynamics are.


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## ThisFellowPlayingTheCello (Mar 20, 2022)

Very impressed with your reviews.
The demo at the end was just so well made, while explaining what you were testing.
Your Atlantis review made me buy it, this one a bit too pricey. Not saying it's not worth the pricetag, I usually just wait for those big sales . Seems amazing, but I'm going to wait for an Oceania sale, since I already have sustain/legato's, mostly the epic staccato and marcato I need, Oceania should handle that nicely ^^


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## MeloKeyz (Jul 5, 2022)

So Kevin, do you think that Chorus replaces Storm ultimate? I am considering to buy both but Chorus has it all, soft, aggressive,..etc. all in one, which makes Storm just a duplicate library if I buy it.


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## Robert_G (Jul 5, 2022)

This review is more like a commercial/advertisement then a review. It seems like a very well made library, but lets be real. It's a sample library and there is no such things as a perfect sample library.....which is why I ask the question. Why isn't there one single critique in the entire review? Because even the best things in life get critiqued. All I heard in here is what works well....You don't question, critique, or compare anything in it.... Unless I missed something in there.....


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## Robo Rivard (Jul 5, 2022)

Robert_G said:


> This review is more like a commercial/advertisement then a review. It seems like a very well made library, but lets be real. It's a sample library and there is no such things as a perfect sample library.....which is why I ask the question. Why isn't there one single critique in the entire review? Because even the best things in life get critiqued. All I heard in here is what works well....You don't question, critique, or compare anything in it.... Unless I missed something in there.....


Simeon Amburgey and Alex Pfeffer have already made convincing reviews. I own the library and can confirm the quality.


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## Trash Panda (Jul 5, 2022)

Robert_G said:


> This review is more like a commercial/advertisement then a review. It seems like a very well made library, but lets be real. It's a sample library and there is no such things as a perfect sample library.....which is why I ask the question. Why isn't there one single critique in the entire review? Because even the best things in life get critiqued. All I heard in here is what works well....You don't question, critique, or compare anything in it.... Unless I missed something in there.....


That’s because the only real downside to the library, unless you don’t like its sonic quality, is the polyphonic legato is limited to chord changes (no base note with a melody over it).


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## Mike Fox (Jul 6, 2022)

Trash Panda said:


> That’s because the only real downside to the library, unless you don’t like its sonic quality, is the polyphonic legato is limited to chord changes (no base note with a melody over it).


Ya know, i got a similar comment on my SCU review. I thought my response was quite appropriate.


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## Robert_G (Jul 6, 2022)

I challenge anyone to go to motortrend.com or emmunds.com and find me a review where there isn't one complaint about any vehicle. In fact go to any website in any industry. I'll save you the time. You'll never see a review without critiques (as tiny as they might be) on an independent/unbiased review website.

Any unbiased review will always mention critiques....even if they are tiny. Nothing in this world is perfect (and that goes 5x for sample libraries), *and for those reasons the review video in this thread should be taken with caution*....even though I do believe this is a very very good library.


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## Robert_G (Jul 6, 2022)

Mike Fox said:


> Ya know, i got a similar comment on my SCU review. I thought my response was quite appropriate.


I watched your review where you compared it to Storm Choir. You made good and bad points on both libraries. It was a fair review.


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## QuiteAlright (Jul 6, 2022)

Robert_G said:


> I challenge anyone to go to motortrend.com or emmunds.com and find me a review where there isn't one complaint about any vehicle. In fact go to any website in any industry. I'll save you the time. You'll never see a review without critiques (as tiny as they might be) on an independent/unbiased review website.
> 
> Any unbiased review will always mention critiques....even if they are tiny. Nothing in this world is perfect (and that goes 5x for sample libraries), *and for those reasons the review video in this thread should be taken with caution*....even though I do believe this is a very very good library.


I agree. I think if something only shows the positive aspects of something, it's not a review. It's just a showcase. Not that there's anything wrong with a showcase!

A review should be a critique. An acknowledgement of the good aspects of something and with a thorough analysis of it's flaws as well. And potentially some insight on how it compares to other products on the market.


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## Zanshin (Jul 6, 2022)

As an actual buyer of Chorus - my only critique is that I wish it cost less and that it had more content


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## Mike Fox (Jul 6, 2022)

Robert_G said:


> I challenge anyone to go to motortrend.com or emmunds.com and find me a review where there isn't one complaint about any vehicle. In fact go to any website in any industry. I'll save you the time. You'll never see a review without critiques (as tiny as they might be) on an independent/unbiased review website.
> 
> Any unbiased review will always mention critiques....even if they are tiny. Nothing in this world is perfect (and that goes 5x for sample libraries), *and for those reasons the review video in this thread should be taken with caution*....even though I do believe this is a very very good library.


Being a sample library reviewer is a really weird gig. Say something positive, and you’re heavily questioned. Say something negative, and the fanboys come out of the woodwork to tell you that you don’t know what you’re talking about.

Take my SCU review, for example. Even though I tried my hardest to make the review as honest and transparent as possible, someone still felt compelled to express their distaste for it.

So the problem with being a reviewer (especially with sample libraries) is that you’re pretty much damned either way, and I’ve seen some of the most honest and balanced reviews get unfairly torn to shreds. 

And because of the fact that you’ll never be able to make everyone happy, I’ve come to the conclusion that reviewers should review sample libraries only one way: any way they fucking want to, especially since they’re going to get shit from people no matter what they do.

And maybe it’s just me, but i thought it was internet 101 to take pretty much all reviews/opinions with caution.


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## Petter Rong (Jul 6, 2022)

Mike Fox said:


> Being a sample library reviewer is a really weird gig. Say something positive, and you’re heavily questioned. Say something negative, and the fanboys come out of the woodwork to tell you that you don’t know what you’re talking about.
> 
> Take my SCU review, for example. Even though I tried my hardest to make the review as honest and transparent as possible, someone still felt compelled to express their distaste for it.
> 
> ...


People will always have an opinion about stuff, but it shouldn't be too hard to judge what is baseless complaints and what is constructive. Of course content creators should be free to do reviews "any way they fucking want to", but not everything is relative when it comes to quality of a review. There are good reviews, and there are bad reviews. I agree that a good review, if it's going to be called a review and not just a showcase, should take some time looking at negative/downsides/critiques. Nothing is ever perfect, and it should make a note of exactly what the specific downsides are, even if in the grand scheme of things it's outweighed by the positive. I would hazard a guess that 99% of people looking at a review (not just sample libraries, but really anything) are looking at it because they in some capacity is interested in buying the product in question. Anything that makes me more confident and that I've gotten more information from that will impact my buying choices, I will consider a good review. For sample libraries, most often that involves looking at practical aspects instead of relying on specs, show both isolated and context audio demos, and yes, highlighting the negative.

With that said, I don't see anything calling the OPs video a review, so I will interpret from the content that this was a video highlighting the positive sides of the library and sharing the OPs thoughts on those. And based on their other content, this seems to be the style of videos that they usually go for, and I take no issue with that at all. You however, seem to be calling your SDC video a review, and just responding "Who said it was supposed to be an honest review?" is not exactly an elegant response from a content creator of reviews. I would advice to be cautious about complaining about your audience when that is your response to critique of your content (I haven't seen the video in question, so I don't know if it's baseless or not, but the wording was totally reasonable and you seem to agree with the commenters main point about it not being balanced). I also don't agree with your point about being "damned either way". I can't claim you won't receive negative comments, but there are certainly things you can do that will impact the quality, authenticity and balance of your review, and the fact that you're (or at least the possibility of) getting "shit from people no matter what you do" shouldn't be an excuse to ignore this. If you do, I think that should be made clear to your audience. 

Obviously these are just my opinions, and I'm not going to dictate how you run your channel and create your content, but I felt that your arguments and comments about audience of review videos did not fall right with me as one who watches reviews and like to comment on content when I think they do a good job of reviewing and when I don't.


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## Petter Rong (Jul 6, 2022)

For reference, what I would characterize as a good review format (but obviously not the only correct way of doing it) would be Corey Pelizzari's videos. They are very detailed, so I know that not everyone has the capacity of doing that format, but there are certainly a lot of good points to take note of that apply to any sample library review


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## zedmaster (Jul 6, 2022)

Lots of good points there @Petter Rong and glad you noticed that I don't label my video as a review.

There are already people and companies who specialize on sample libraries reviews in the typical sense. I want to showcase *my* experience with these libraries. Always unsponsored, always honest. I do accept review copies. If there's a dealbreaker in the library, I will mention it. If I think the library is absolutely amazing, I will mention it.

I only make videos with libraries and devs that I feel confident about. I don't want to spend 20-30 hours of production on something I have doubts about for free (except for the review copy of the library which again is not exciting if you already have doubts about the library). If I were a review channel I guess I'd have another stance on that, because that would be my main business, but it's not.

I think this format makes sense especially in the context of my channel where I've been documenting my experience, my achievements and mistakes on my journey through the composer community and industry during the last 2 years. Those libraries that resonate with me, I will make a video about. With high-quality editing, helpful content, an evaluation + a great demo.

I'm trying to find a good balance between being fair to myself (expressing my true opinion), to my audience (not misleading anyone by praising bad libraries) and the devs (acknowledging hard work when deserved).

I think the sample libraries I made videos about on my channels are all - every single one of them - great products. And in every video I try to explain _why_ I think so 

I'm still fine-tuning. Every now and then, people say my narration is unbearable and makes the videos unwatchable because of "fake excitement". Others say my opinions are fake or sponsored. Or not nuanced enough. The vast majority of people (who voice it at least) seem to like what I do. I am open to feedback on both ends of the spectrum, and definitely take critical comments as a stimulus to further fine-tune the balance I strive for.

That's why I'm grateful if this happens in a respectful manner, like @Robert_G did. I don't agree that I "should" be doing what he described for the reasons I've described here, but I am willing to accept it and it will naturally influence me in my further production, consciously or not.

Hope my sample libraries videos will continue to educate, entertain and help.


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## Mike Fox (Jul 6, 2022)

Petter Rong said:


> People will always have an opinion about stuff, but it shouldn't be too hard to judge what is baseless complaints and what is constructive. Of course content creators should be free to do reviews "any way they fucking want to", but not everything is relative when it comes to quality of a review. There are good reviews, and there are bad reviews. I agree that a good review, if it's going to be called a review and not just a showcase, should take some time looking at negative/downsides/critiques. Nothing is ever perfect, and it should make a note of exactly what the specific downsides are, even if in the grand scheme of things it's outweighed by the positive. I would hazard a guess that 99% of people looking at a review (not just sample libraries, but really anything) are looking at it because they in some capacity is interested in buying the product in question. Anything that makes me more confident and that I've gotten more information from that will impact my buying choices, I will consider a good review. For sample libraries, most often that involves looking at practical aspects instead of relying on specs, show both isolated and context audio demos, and yes, highlighting the negative.
> 
> With that said, I don't see anything calling the OPs video a review, so I will interpret from the content that this was a video highlighting the positive sides of the library and sharing the OPs thoughts on those. And based on their other content, this seems to be the style of videos that they usually go for, and I take no issue with that at all. You however, seem to be calling your SDC video a review, and just responding "Who said it was supposed to be an honest review?" is not exactly an elegant response from a content creator of reviews. I would advice to be cautious about complaining about your audience when that is your response to critique of your content (I haven't seen the video in question, so I don't know if it's baseless or not, but the wording was totally reasonable and you seem to agree with the commenters main point about it not being balanced). I also don't agree with your point about being "damned either way". I can't claim you won't receive negative comments, but there are certainly things you can do that will impact the quality, authenticity and balance of your review, and the fact that you're (or at least the possibility of) getting "shit from people no matter what you do" shouldn't be an excuse to ignore this. If you do, I think that should be made clear to your audience.
> 
> Obviously these are just my opinions, and I'm not going to dictate how you run your channel and create your content, but I felt that your arguments and comments about audience of review videos did not fall right with me as one who watches reviews and like to comment on content when I think they do a good job of reviewing and when I don't.


Like I said, you're going to get people who complain NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO as a content creator. Once you truly understand that, it's a lot easier to make reviews the way YOU want, and not have to worry about what anyone else thinks.

Seriously, what do you do when most of the feedback from your audience is positive, yet you've got that one heckler or Karen in the crowd who isn't satisfied? Do you really wanna change your entire act just to appease that one dude? Fuck that.

The guy who felt that my SCU review was more of an advertisement than an honest review was the only one in the comment section who complained, and I received a lot more likes than dislikes on that review, by far! I also knew that I was as honest as possible with that review, so I wasn't going to sweat it. Instead, I came back with a sarcastic JOKE. If someone gets their feelings hurt by something as dumb as that, or because I didn't come back with an "elegant" response, then I really don't want them watching my channel to begin with. That's not the kind of audience I want.

Lastly, I'm far more interested in being myself, doing things my way, and doing the best I possibly can, rather than being concerned about what someone who stumbles across one of my videos might think. I'm far more concerned about making quality content that I'm happy with, rather than living up to the expectations of people like yourself. No thanks!


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## Petter Rong (Jul 7, 2022)

I think the differences in responses to my thoughts on review videos speaks very clearly for itself on how one ought to interact with their audience and how one ought not to. Not that I expect the latter to care. Anyway, keep making good content 😀👍


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## LillisGubbins (Jul 13, 2022)

Cool video, nice


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