# Review: 8Dio Silka Choir



## bfreepro

This was the most difficult review yet as there is a lot of content to dig through, and I initially was wowed by the arcs. However we gotta take a look at everything included and all the aspects of using this library. Can it hold it's own to justify a $598 price tag AND offer enough content besides the amazing arcs? Check out the full review to see the final score, full details and a demo/impression video!

https://www.bfreemusic.com/news/2018/10/22/review-silka-choir-by-8dio


Next Up: Orchestral Tools TIME Macro


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## michaelhung

I own 8dio insolidus and I do agree that when silka came out...it seemed like more of the same. The arcs are absolutely gorgeous and was what roped me into buying insolidus. Again they sound amazing and silka’s arcs from the walkthrough videos sounded spectacular. That being said, it didn’t seem to me that silka was different enough to justify having both insolidus and silka


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## Carlster

bfreepro said:


> This was the most difficult review yet as there is a lot of content to dig through, and I initially was wowed by the arcs. However we gotta take a look at everything included and all the aspects of using this library. Can it hold it's own to justify a $598 price tag AND offer enough content besides the amazing arcs? Check out the full review to see the final score, full details and a demo/impression video!
> 
> https://www.bfreemusic.com/news/2018/10/22/review-silka-choir-by-8dio
> 
> 
> Next Up: Orchestral Tools TIME Macro


One of the most honest reviews I’ve read in a long time. Thank you.


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## Ifness

Excellent, comprehensive review. Led me to read a couple other reviews of yours, which were equally well done. Thanks!


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## Robert_G

The review given is perfectly fair. You buy this library for the arcs. The other articulations have their uses but are limited. 

For $598 I would feel I overpaid. But i paid $278 at the current BF sale.....and the arcs alone are worth that price since there is not another lib out there that even comes close to replicating them.

I agree with the 7/10 rating but at $278 this gets a 9/10....providing you havent already got Insolidus. I feel good about this purchase, but to be perfectly honest, I went into this wanting the arcs first and foremost. If your focus isnt the arcs, i dont recommend buying it. 

All in all....very happy with Silka.


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## Utkarsh

What an amazing Review! (Just saw your YouTube Video of the same.) Ok... So... Another sale going on. Both Insolidus AND Silka are available for $198 (And with an added discount... effectively for "$170").
I have neither (I only have EW Choir and that's not... that great.)
What would you recommend now? Which one do I buy? Silka or Insolidus? 🤷‍♂️ ☹️


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## Robert_G

Utkarsh said:


> What an amazing Review! (Just saw your YouTube Video of the same.) Ok... So... Another sale going on. Both Insolidus AND Silka are available for $198 (And with an added discount... effectively for "$170").
> I have neither (I only have EW Choir and that's not... that great.)
> What would you recommend now? Which one do I buy? Silka or Insolidus? 🤷‍♂️ ☹



Wish it was that easy. I have only Silka. Silka has the 5 syl arcs which are unreal good, but it's missing the basic sustains which makes transitions challenging. 
I think if I could do it again, I'd buy Insolidus first even though there are no 5 syl arcs. The 4 syl are still very nice. Ideally you buy both.


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## Utkarsh

Thank you for such a fast reply 🙏🏼
looking at the sale price, (From 599 to 199), my 1st thought was let’s get both 😂
but I resisted. but Ive spent a little too much on the instruments during the lockdown already... 🙈
after reading your reply. It’s 55-45 in favour of Insolidus 
let’s wait for some more responses. 😌


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## Wunderhorn

I have Silka too and it is definitely beautiful at what it does. But it is too incomplete and therefore a supplemental library to something more flexible. Insolidus isn't much different in this. I suggest you save your money and save up for something more comprehensive like Dominus Pro. Buying choir libraries because they are on sale is a quick road to regret. Get what serves you best regardless of any sale. The workflows and features differ too much between libraries, you have to do the research and decide on features, workflows, walkthroughs, reviews alone.


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## Utkarsh

Wunderhorn said:


> I have Silka too and it is definitely beautiful at what it does. But it is too incomplete and therefore a supplemental library to something more flexible. Insolidus isn't much different in this. I suggest you save your money and save up for something more comprehensive like Dominus Pro. Buying choir libraries because they are on sale is a quick road to regret. Get what serves you best regardless of any sale. The workflows and features differ too much between libraries, you have to do the research and decide on features, workflows, walkthroughs, reviews alone.


Well... based on your advice, I held back and didn’t purchase either. The sale is over. Both are $598 Yet again. I’m reminding myself that I did the right thing


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## Macrawn

Wunderhorn said:


> I have Silka too and it is definitely beautiful at what it does. But it is too incomplete and therefore a supplemental library to something more flexible. Insolidus isn't much different in this. I suggest you save your money and save up for something more comprehensive like Dominus Pro. Buying choir libraries because they are on sale is a quick road to regret. Get what serves you best regardless of any sale. The workflows and features differ too much between libraries, you have to do the research and decide on features, workflows, walkthroughs, reviews alone.


Only if it isn't a good library. Silka is a good library and $170 seems like a good price. 


Utkarsh said:


> Well... based on your advice, I held back and didn’t purchase either. The sale is over. Both are $598 Yet again. I’m reminding myself that I did the right thing


Don't worry, it will come on sale again. Do your research and think about it. Is Dominus Pro really more complete? One of the differences in philispohy is that 8 Dio doesn't think that you can do word building very well in choirs yet. It can't sound as good as more generic sounds, it's always going to sound more artificial. But maybe you need actual words in it, then in that case something with a word builder fits. Most of the time though generic sounds just work and meaning from the listener comes out of them. 

Does Dominus pro have a children's choir? In some ways children's choirs are even better because of the higher tone that can be heard better through the background. Often a choir can be hard to hear if it's with a lot of other instruements because there is so much mid range. Children's choirs can cut above that sometimes. Can Dominus Pro do an epic sound like Emperioum Choir? So is Dominus Pro a one stop shop? Does it put a lot into extra resources that maybe as a whole don't sound as good? 360+ legato sounds... is that necessary over the 40 I think Silka has? Does that make it more complete? Does that make it sound better? Maybe it does. I still think that Dominus Pro isn't a one stop shop though. 

The actual size of those two libraries is similar, at 50 gb but Silka has put more into the arcs for example (which I think are more valuable and useful) than other things like a word builder. 

I do not think you need to own both Insolidus and Silka though. They should have been one choir honestly. And 600 bucks for Silka is too much. If you can get it for $170 that's a good deal. That deal will come around again in the future so don't worry about missing it. It will come back. Take that time to research and find that target you want which might be Dominus Pro. That' will probably go on sale too right?


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## Utkarsh

Macrawn said:


> Only if it isn't a good library. Silka is a good library and $170 seems like a good price.
> 
> Don't worry, it will come on sale again. Do your research and think about it. Is Dominus Pro really more complete? One of the differences in philispohy is that 8 Dio doesn't think that you can do word building very well in choirs yet. It can't sound as good as more generic sounds, it's always going to sound more artificial. But maybe you need actual words in it, then in that case something with a word builder fits. Most of the time though generic sounds just work and meaning from the listener comes out of them.
> 
> Does Dominus pro have a children's choir? In some ways children's choirs are even better because of the higher tone that can be heard better through the background. Often a choir can be hard to hear if it's with a lot of other instruements because there is so much mid range. Children's choirs can cut above that sometimes. Can Dominus Pro do an epic sound like Emperioum Choir? So is Dominus Pro a one stop shop? Does it put a lot into extra resources that maybe as a whole don't sound as good? 360+ legato sounds... is that necessary over the 40 I think Silka has? Does that make it more complete? Does that make it sound better? Maybe it does. I still think that Dominus Pro isn't a one stop shop though.
> 
> The actual size of those two libraries is similar, at 50 gb but Silka has put more into the arcs for example (which I think are more valuable and useful) than other things like a word builder.
> 
> I do not think you need to own both Insolidus and Silka though. They should have been one choir honestly. And 600 bucks for Silka is too much. If you can get it for $170 that's a good deal. That deal will come around again in the future so don't worry about missing it. It will come back. Take that time to research and find that target you want which might be Dominus Pro. That' will probably go on sale too right?


Thank you So much for the detailed reply. Means a lot (I actually put Silka on Cart and removed. Maybe instincts were right). 
anyway, in my current project, I have managed with the female choir of EastWest. (Have layered it with strings and pads so it’s slightly artificial sound is covered.)
will wait and see what happens 1st now. If I need a soft choir in a project, then I’ll Purchase Silka In full price without guilt. 
and if a Sale happens 1st, then will go for it


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## arznable

Silka is on sale for $148 right now. Wondering is it the lowest sale price so far?


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## bfreepro

arznable said:


> Silka is on sale for $148 right now. Wondering is it the lowest sale price so far?


Yep I believe so and it’s absolutely worth it for that price


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## WWBiscuit

A heads up that, along with Silka, Insolidus is now also on sale for $148. Incidentally, you can pick up Liberis children's choir for 78 bucks!


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## BassClef

So... Is Silka arcs only? Can you not also use it for normal sustains, controlling volume with cc controllers like expression and modulation?


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## arznable

BassClef said:


> So... Is Silka arcs only? Can you not also use it for normal sustains, controlling volume with cc controllers like expression and modulation?


From Brian's review, it seems Silka does not have any normal sustains at all.


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## Robert_G

arznable said:


> From Brian's review, it seems Silka does not have any normal sustains at all.


As an owner of Silka, I can confirm this. It has sustains, but they are unique. There are no normal sustains.


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## arznable

Robert_G said:


> As an owner of Silka, I can confirm this. It has sustains, but they are unique. There are no normal sustains.


To my understanding, in the sustain patch, the ones that sustain are not normal, and the only normal "Oh" patch does not sustain (which is an arc indeed). Please correct me if I am wrong.


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## Robert_G

arznable said:


> To my understanding, in the sustain patch, the ones that sustain are not normal, and the only normal "Oh" patch does not sustain (which is an arc indeed). Please correct me if I am wrong.


That's more or less correct.


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## BillBk

bfreepro said:


> This was the most difficult review yet as there is a lot of content to dig through, and I initially was wowed by the arcs. However we gotta take a look at everything included and all the aspects of using this library. Can it hold it's own to justify a $598 price tag AND offer enough content besides the amazing arcs? Check out the full review to see the final score, full details and a demo/impression video!
> 
> https://www.bfreemusic.com/news/2018/10/22/review-silka-choir-by-8dio
> 
> 
> Next Up: Orchestral Tools TIME Macro


Update to this old post:
I saw somewhere that Silka/Insolodus got an update (V1.1?). Anyone know if the current version addressed the shortcoming pointed out in this review? - "No standard “Ah, Oh, Oo, Mm” Sustains".


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## bfreepro

BillBk said:


> Update to this old post:
> I saw somewhere that Silka/Insolodus got an update (V1.1?). Anyone know if the current version addressed the shortcoming pointed out in this review? - "No standard “Ah, Oh, Oo, Mm” Sustains".


No standard sustains still. I’ve never seen 8dio add newly recorded content for any of their library updates. It’s always been just bug fixes, interface changes, new feature implementation, etc. 

The library is definitely useful and, on sale, it’s a good buy as long as you know what you’re getting. 

If you own insolidus I personally don’t see a reason to also own Silka.


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## [email protected]

I think that _Silka_ sounds "fuller" than _Insolidus_. But I don't get the "Ark-legato" to work with _Silka_ desite knowing it's possible. In _Insolidous_ it works fine.


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