# Symphobia 1 or 2?



## milesito (Aug 19, 2014)

Hi all,

Just curious if anyone has strong preferences for symphobia 1 or 2. I'm coming to terms based on the $$'s in film scoring that speed is going to be key...and my ideal of composing every line and everything from scratch is a bit ... well, idealistic...

That said, do you find symphobia 1 or 2 more useful?

thanks...


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## Maestro77 (Aug 19, 2014)

I use both but I think S1 would probably be more useful in a general sense. It has most of the basic sectional articulations you'll need for quick scoring. If you need _really _quick ready-made phrases and soundbeds I'd also recommend checking out S3 (Lumina). You can't beat the lush sound of ProjectSAM's libraries.


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## JPQ (Aug 19, 2014)

I tested sometime ago them with try sound to me Symphobia 1 is clealry more commoly useful.


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## milesito (Aug 19, 2014)

Ok understood. If I have Individual libraries already like:

Berlin woodwinds, cinesamples brass and percussion, spitfire sable and hz percussion, cinestrings for my orchestral palette, omnisphere and komplete ultimate, project bravo and alpha, and east west composers collection orchestra platulinum plus is there anything to be gained by symphobiA interm of speed of composition or instantly good out of the box sound quality or missing patches that you cannot live without?


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## Guy Rowland (Aug 20, 2014)

milesito @ Wed Aug 20 said:


> Ok understood. If I have Individual libraries already like:
> 
> Berlin woodwinds, cinesamples brass and percussion, spitfire sable and hz percussion, cinestrings for my orchestral palette, omnisphere and komplete ultimate, project bravo and alpha, and east west composers collection orchestra platulinum plus is there anything to be gained by symphobiA interm of speed of composition or instantly good out of the box sound quality or missing patches that you cannot live without?



If speed is a primary concern....

Conceptually, S1 is all about the everything, while S2 is about expanding on the detail. In a sense, you have the detail quite well covered (and plenty of good legato patches), so if it was either / or, I'd probably go for the everything in S1. I'm always going on about Symphobia's multis, I think they're golden for fast scoring. S1 has a much greater range to draw on than S2, in the sense that all the basics are there to assemble stuff in 1, wheras with 2 you're a bit more restricted. I also prefer the kind of multis in S1 where they are layered, rather than 4-patches-in-different-zones-on-the-keyboard type affairs.

Don't get me wrong, S2 is still highly desirable, but in an either / or case, I'd go for S1 first.

S3 is slightly different again, skewed towards fantasy, magical, cartoon and bit of brooding. The Stories there are more elegant versions of the multis in S1 and S2.


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## AC986 (Aug 20, 2014)

If there was one library concept where I would get them all if I could afford it, it would probably be Symphobia et al including Lumina.

I have Symphobia 1 and if I had the whole lot of them, I would probably not mix them with anything else and just use them solely on a track to track basis, thus retaining the unique sound.


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## Saxer (Aug 20, 2014)

I have both and rarely use 2


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## Maestro77 (Aug 20, 2014)

milesito, I have most of those you listed as well as LASS, CineEverything, CS2, Albions, etc. I find myself still reaching for Symphobia when I want to get something down quick that still sounds great. PS's products sound so great out of the box and are easy to work with.


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## milesito (Aug 20, 2014)

Thanks all. It looks like Symphobia 1 is the way to go for this for me personally right now...


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## MillsMixx (May 24, 2018)

Symphobia is sort of like the Arks from BO. The first one being sort of like the flagship main library. 

I'm steering more towards Lumina. If you listen to Guy Rowland's walkthough he mentions he passed on Symphobia II feeling it was more fragmented across the keyboard with an instrument group here & there where you need 5 arms to run it. They could have done an update however. 

That's what I like about ProjectSam, after all these years they still keep there instruments up to date, even adding new entire sections to the series. You get the best of both worlds...great playable instruments, and with the multi's "instant orchestra in a box." Great for if you're on a deadline or just need some inspiration or a creative jump start. You really can't go wrong with any of the 3. Lumina tailors to more fantasy if you need to add that to your palate.


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## Henu (May 24, 2018)

From another topic:



Henu said:


> I'm _definitely_ getting Lumina, but I was wondering how much Symphobia 1 differs from 2 and how "outdated" those two feel to people? I'm definitely not needing "basic orchestral legato instruments" but more of those playable multis- mostly used for either composing inspiration, FX things and to fill possible gaps in picture/ layering things together.






Eptesicus said:


> There is nothing outdated in the sound of the Symphobia stuff, even in 1. In my opinion it still sounds better than most of the stuff released today.




As I later mentioned, I think 1 might suit better to my needs as 2, as it seems there is a lot of stuff in 2 I don't most likely need. I'm still going to watch Guy Rowland's walkthrough on both (and try them at work at colleague's computer if I have time) to make sure of it, though. However, Lumina is definitely in my shopping list...or has been for a couple of years now. And Rowland's all videos on that convinced me totally, completely and 100% that I want it. 

(Everyone should really watch those who are wondering what they should get, because they are extremely insightful and informative. And fun, too!)


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## dsblais (May 24, 2018)

MillsMixx said:


> Symphobia is sort of like the Arks from BO. The first one being sort of like the flagship main library.
> 
> I'm steering more towards Lumina. If you listen to Guy Rowland's walkthough he mentions he passed on Symphobia II feeling it was more fragmented across the keyboard with an instrument group here & there where you need 5 arms to run it. They could have done an update however.
> 
> That's what I like about ProjectSam, after all these years they still keep there instruments up to date, even adding new entire sections to the series. You get the best of both worlds...great playable instruments, and with the multi's "instant orchestra in a box." Great for if you're on a deadline or just need some inspiration or a creative jump start. You really can't go wrong with any of the 3. Lumina tailors to more fantasy if you need to add that to your palate.



Does Lumina add much beyond what already exists in Orchestral Tools' Arks (especially 2) and, say, ERA II? Thank you.


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## MillsMixx (May 24, 2018)

dsblais said:


> Does Lumina add much beyond what already exists the Arks (especially 2) and, say, ERA II? Thank you.



I'm not sure as I don't have Lumina yet but I've spent a bit of time with the walkthoughs.
Lumina seems to more delicate than the Arks (I have Ark 1 & 3 but not 2). As we know MA series can get quite bombastic and powerful. When I think of Lumina I think of softer mystical/fantasy type of arrangements like harps, choirs, elven voices, celesta, & flutes. I'm sure it can get quite powerful as well and not limited to just that, but that seems to be the main focus. The "stories" multis are appealing to me in Lumina, something the ARKs don't have.

ERA II would be a good choice too but since Lumina is 50% off it would make more sense. I also have issues with the Play engine for ERA. I can't even seem to update it. so I'll stick with Kontakt.


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## Eptesicus (May 24, 2018)

I don't think era II is in any way comparable to Lumina really. I have both.

Apart from the the fact that both Lumina and Era have a tin whistle and some recorders, they are entirely different libraries really.


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## dsblais (May 24, 2018)

Thank you very much to both of you.


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## dhlkid (May 24, 2018)

I only use Symphobia 2 strings 
Symphobia 1 is more useful.


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## JeremyWiebe (May 24, 2018)

Thinking of picking up Lumina. Can anyone hear offer any comparisons to some of Sonokinetic's stuff? 

Sotto would seam to be the closest match to the fantasy style of Lumina. I've never used ProjectSam or Sonokinetic's libraries, but have been wanting to get my hands on some more phrase-based material. With Lumina on sale, it's about the same as Sotto regular price. Lumina has more content though (80gb vs 60gb).


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## Ah_dziz (May 25, 2018)

milesito said:


> Hi all,
> 
> Just curious if anyone has strong preferences for symphobia 1 or 2. I'm coming to terms based on the $$'s in film scoring that speed is going to be key...and my ideal of composing every line and everything from scratch is a bit ... well, idealistic...
> 
> ...


I'd go with 1 if you dont already have it. Both is ideal. You can get lots done with just those two. I may grab the third in the NI Sale.


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## Quasar (May 25, 2018)

Is Symphobia redundant if you already have Albions? I suspect that it is (notwithstanding the baked-in Air sound), but admit to being seduced by the "lowest price ever for a limited time" sale, and have long wanted to try something in the Project Sam line... 

...I've watched some walkthoughs (Guy Rowland has an excellent one from 2015) and really like what I've heard, but am not convinced that I can't get to pretty much the same places with what I already have. On the other hand, Spitfire doesn't seem to have anything quite like the Symphobia multis, which are most appealing.


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## Thorsten Meyer (May 25, 2018)

*Symphobia 2 by ProjectSAM Review*
By Cory Pelizzari

*https://www.strongmocha.com/2018/02/12/symphobia-2-projectsam-review/*


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## DivingInSpace (May 25, 2018)

Quasar said:


> Is Symphobia redundant if you already have Albions? I suspect that it is (notwithstanding the baked-in Air sound), but admit to being seduced by the "lowest price ever for a limited time" sale, and have long wanted to try something in the Project Sam line...
> 
> ...I've watched some walkthoughs (Guy Rowland has an excellent one from 2015) and really like what I've heard, but am not convinced that I can't get to pretty much the same places with what I already have. On the other hand, Spitfire doesn't seem to have anything quite like the Symphobia multis, which are most appealing.



I feel the same way right now, though I only have Albion One. I was considering EWHO too, but it can't be both sadly. 

On another note, the animator sounds gorgeous/really fun, does anyone have any experience with it?


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## Ah_dziz (May 25, 2018)

I have and love animator. I've used it loads for comedy cues. Sometimes things need to get full on cartoony. The way the patches are setup makes programming it very simple. The one thing I don't really like is the way the velocity to volume is setup.


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## GtrString (May 26, 2018)

I have the Symphobia trio, and use it as my core orchestral libraries, and then supplement with others. I find it really great for that, as the Symphobias complement each other really well.

If you already have the bases covered, I'd consider Symphobia 2 if I needed really great versions of those instruments, or Lumina, if I needed a library that instantly could give me the fantasy, comedy, romantic vibe.

Listen to Guy Rowland. He is spot on with all of his reviews and comments.

I was tired of sample libraries when I got the Symphobias, but these libraries have sparked new intrest and enthusiasm in libraries for me. What drew me in was really the tone of these libraries, as they sound very musical out of the box (probably due to the way they are recorded, the ProjectSam philosophy). The Symphobias also work really well with Swing and Swing More, with which you can do a whole lot more.

Check out the videos at ProjectSam's website, they are highly inspirational and educational.

You really can't go wrong with any of these, just be mindful about what you need beforehand, as they are quite specialized pro libraries.


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## Mike Fox (May 26, 2018)

All the Symphobias are downright incredible, and are possibly the most unique approach to sample libraries I've ever come across. I absolutely love the room or hall they used to capture these sounds. I can't quite figure out what type of environment these samples were recorded in, and ProjectSAM will not reveal it.

If you already have the Albions, then go ahead and buy the Symphobias, because they are completely different. From the multis, to the instrument fx, you're bound to find several patches that will serve you well for quite some time.

In terms of which Symphobia is more useful, that really all depends. I'd say S1 is more useful in the general sense, but I find myself using S2, because it is loaded with horror elements, and that's what I gravitate towards. I will say that the multis in S2 are not as useful. S3 is even more niche from the first two Symphobias, but is still spectacular.

ProjectSAM truly cares about their customers, and continuously offers free updates to their libraries by adding new content. They also offer license transfers. I probably respect and admire them more than any other developer.

@JeremyWiebe My recommendation is Lumina. It has both phrases (that are actually useable), as well as several playable instruments. I have also found that ProjectSAM's audio quality is generally much better than Sonokinetic's.

@dsblais Lumina, and Ark 2 are totally different. You don't have to worry about overlap.

Another plug for Guy Rowland. His walkthroughs have done justice to the Symphobia series. Not to mention that he is just really entertaining to listen to.


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## dpasdernick (May 26, 2018)

S1. S2 is nice too but S1 is more rounded.


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## jmauz (May 26, 2018)

Both


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## Mike Fox (May 26, 2018)

I'll also add that ProjectSAM very rarely has sales, and I've NEVER seen them offer a 50% discount. Now is the time to buy these products If you don't already have them.


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## star.keys (May 26, 2018)

Quasar said:


> Is Symphobia redundant if you already have Albions? I suspect that it is (notwithstanding the baked-in Air sound), but admit to being seduced by the "lowest price ever for a limited time" sale, and have long wanted to try something in the Project Sam line...
> 
> ...I've watched some walkthoughs (Guy Rowland has an excellent one from 2015) and really like what I've heard, but am not convinced that I can't get to pretty much the same places with what I already have. On the other hand, Spitfire doesn't seem to have anything quite like the Symphobia multis, which are most appealing.



Symphobias and Albions are different. I would buy Symphobias in a heartbeat. There is really nothing that sonically comes remotely close to Symphobias in my view. I wish PS did a strings-only library. It will kill everything else that's out there in the market - no exceptions.


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