# How good are the default Staffpad libraries?



## thevisi0nary

I hear a lot about the expansions, but how are the included sounds?


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## dcoscina

Very good. Berlin series in particular is exceptional and their strings sound quite good at all dynamic ranges.

Spitfire winds are nice too and CineBrass is good (trombone legatos especially).


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## thevisi0nary

dcoscina said:


> Very good. Berlin series in particular is exceptional and their strings sound quite good at all dynamic ranges.
> 
> Spitfire winds are nice too and CineBrass is good (trombone legatos especially).



Sorry I am referring to the included factory sounds not expansions.


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## dcoscina

thevisi0nary said:


> Sorry I am referring to the included factory sounds not expansions.


Hmm. They are serviceable. Still leagues better than Notion.


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## Rory

Recently, I made some posts with basic factual information on the third party libraries, including how they compare in size to the originals. I created a separate thread because I thought that the main StaffPad thread had already become unwieldy, and had also become reminiscent of a personal blog.

Here are the posts covering the third party libraries: https://vi-control.net/community/th...amples-orchestral-tools-spitfire-audio.93854/


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## robcs

I've wondered the same thing. To me, it's a little worrying that NO-ONE - not even StaffPad themselves - appears to have posted videos using the default libraries. It makes me wonder just how bad they must be!


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## stevebarden

Compared to stock instruments in other products such as Notion (comparing apples to apples on an iPad) they are really more than serviceable, in my opinion. The weakest section by far are the strings. That would be the first instrument library to replace if you could only add one.

Of course, comparing each section to any of the third-party libraries will pale in comparison.


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## thevisi0nary

robcs said:


> I've wondered the same thing. To me, it's a little worrying that NO-ONE - not even StaffPad themselves - appears to have posted videos using the default libraries. It makes me wonder just how bad they must be!



Yeah I agree. I wouldn’t have issue with buying some of the expansions, but having no ability to crossgrade them from iPad to windows desktop with Staffpad is a big problem for me.


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## Michael Antrum

I had Staffpad for a month or two before buying a third party library, As others have said the stock sounds are more than serviceable - with the possible exception of the strings. 

After taking advice on here, I bought the Berlin Strings and there was a simply night and day difference.

Changing platforms for third part libraries is an Apple/Microsoft issue, and isn't the fault of the Staffpad developers.


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## thevisi0nary

Michael Antrum said:


> I had Staffpad for a month or two before buying a third party library, As others have said the stock sounds are more than serviceable - with the possible exception of the strings.
> 
> After taking advice on here, I bought the Berlin Strings and there was a simply night and day difference.
> 
> Changing platforms for third part libraries is an Apple/Microsoft issue, and isn't the fault of the Staffpad developers.



Doesn’t really matter who’s fault it is when you have to pay for the same thing twice if you ever move to a different system. They could use something like a promo code on a per user basis.


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## brandowalk

robcs said:


> I've wondered the same thing. To me, it's a little worrying that NO-ONE - not even StaffPad themselves - appears to have posted videos using the default libraries. It makes me wonder just how bad they must be!


I have an example of the stock sounds here: 

there is a link for comparison using premium libraries as well.


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## robcs

brandowalk said:


> I have an example of the stock sounds here:
> 
> there is a link for comparison using premium libraries as well.




thank you. That was quite an eye (ear?) opener! The stock sounds are better than some commercially available sample libraries. Ok, they won’t have multiple mic positions and I doubt there are too many round robins, but you could certainly put a mock-up together without worrying that you’ll be laughed out of the room.

Great work by the way. I was seeing Lindy’s bike ride in my mind’s eye all the way through  loved the hints of de Falla and Wagner at the start


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## brandowalk

robcs said:


> thank you. That was quite an eye (ear?) opener! The stock sounds are better than some commercially available sample libraries. Ok, they won’t have multiple mic positions and I doubt there are too many round robins, but you could certainly put a mock-up together without worrying that you’ll be laughed out of the room.
> 
> Great work by the way. I was seeing Lindy’s bike ride in my mind’s eye all the way through  loved the hints of de Falla and Wagner at the start


Appreciate your comments.

Yeah the stock sounds are fully usable for mocking up a composition. You are right, the limited round robbins are the weakness in the stock sounds, especially in the strings shorts. However the stock sounds and premium libraries all have only 1 mic position. This is, I understand, to get down to a reasonable size (less than 2GB) for the iOS format.

I admit I wasn't familiar with de Fall and had to look him up. Wow, some great music there and I will be listening to more! Thank you.

There are additional "Lindy" movements in the suite if you are interested in listening to more: Lindy Dreams (StaffPad) and Lindy Flies a Kite (DAW).

Brandon


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## dcoscina

David used the Sonic Impants samples from the Boston Symphony for his core library. This is no secret as he mentioned this in our interview last month. I think they've been programmed very well and the sample quality is quite nice and usable (says the guy who practically has all of the expansion libraries- LOL).... But they sound much better than what you get with Notion these days as far as portable notation/composition apps go.


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## thevisi0nary

brandowalk said:


> I have an example of the stock sounds here:
> 
> there is a link for comparison using premium libraries as well.




thank you very much! Great composition, these are totally serviceable.


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## CatOrchestra

Michael Antrum said:


> I had Staffpad for a month or two before buying a third party library, As others have said the stock sounds are more than serviceable - with the possible exception of the strings.
> 
> After taking advice on here, I bought the Berlin Strings and there was a simply night and day difference.
> 
> Changing platforms for third part libraries is an Apple/Microsoft issue, and isn't the fault of the Staffpad developers.



I didn't have such problem with Pleco if I recall correctly, purchasing some dictionaries for that app through the android version and then using it on ios


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