# Are the 8dio Choirs worth it?



## shponglefan (Aug 12, 2019)

8dio has discounted Lacrimosa for only $98 this week. I've been tempted by it for a little while now.

However, I already own Storm Choir 2, Mystica, Cantus, EW Symphonic Choirs (including VOTA), plus just picked up Genesis, Requiem Light and Voxos 2.0 in the NI sale.

Would Lacrimosa (or any of the other 8dio choirs) be redundant given the existing choirs I already have?


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## Robert_G (Aug 12, 2019)

shponglefan said:


> 8dio has discounted Lacrimosa for only $98 this week. I've been tempted by it for a little while now.
> 
> However, I already own Storm Choir 2, Mystica, Cantus, EW Symphonic Choirs (including VOTA), plus just picked up Genesis, Requiem Light and Voxos 2.0 in the NI sale.
> 
> Would Lacrimosa (or any of the other 8dio choirs) be redundant given the existing choirs I already have?



If you have Genesis, you do not need another childrens choir


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## AllanH (Aug 12, 2019)

I would look at insolidus. That's my favorite 8dio choir


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## Kubler (Aug 12, 2019)

IMO :

Lacrimosa definitely beats Voxos, _probably_ beats Requiem Light (though it's still a very good bank for its age.) Mystica and Cantus are a very different type of choir library so it will not be redundant regardless.

Storm Choir 2 could stand up (powerful sound, expressive yet super-reactive legatos, simple and efficient syllabe engine), but its strenght remains in bombastic stuff while Lacrimos can achieve a way softer sound without much struggle. Also, the range of SC2's sections is really limited, that's its biggest flaw.

Never used Symphonic Choirs, so I can't tell ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Except for that one, I wouldn't say Lacrimosa is really redundant to your current collection, though it wouldn't be a gigantic addition to it. If you're looking to make very a substantial improvement, maybe save your money for something else. If you've got some to spare, then Lacrimosa can undoubtly be useful


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## dzilizzi (Aug 12, 2019)

I think at $98, it is definitely worth it. The arcs are really great - really the only reason to buy it. Very smooth legato that you don't get in other choirs. But you are stuck with the phrases in the arcs. 

I have both Lacrimosa and Insolidus and they are similar to me. You can make them both loud or quiet.


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## EgM (Aug 12, 2019)

Perfectly happy with Lacrimosa here, does what it should


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## sostenuto (Aug 12, 2019)

dzilizzi said:


> I think at $98, it is definitely worth it. The arcs are really great - really the only reason to buy it. Very smooth legato that you don't get in other choirs. But you are stuck with the phrases in the arcs.
> 
> I have both Lacrimosa and Insolidus and they are similar to me. You can make them both loud or quiet.



Only Requiem Pro and Liberis now. Do you feel Lacrimosa can be complementary here as well ?


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## Robert_G (Aug 12, 2019)

Robert_G said:


> If you have Genesis, you do not need another childrens choir



I got them mixed up. I was thinking you were asking about Liberis. With that said...if you have Genesis...you wouldnt need Liberis.


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## zAr2 (Aug 12, 2019)

Hi!
I have a similar question, i hope the OP doesn't mind.
I have EW Symphonic Choirs + VOTA, Requiem Lite and Voices of Rapture.
Does Insolidus have the Vowel Arcs (Ah, Oh, Mm, etc) like Lacrimosa?
I'm looking for a 'soft' Choir library, if i could only get one of them right now,
which one would be the best?


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## Robo Rivard (Aug 12, 2019)

Robert_G said:


> I got them mixed up. I was thinking you were asking about Liberis. With that said...if you have Genesis...you wouldnt need Liberis.


That's not true. Genesis and Liberis are two different products. Genesis is using sections of boys and girls choir, while Liberis covers the classic stuff, including solo singers.


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## Kubler (Aug 12, 2019)

Robo Rivard said:


> That's not true. Genesis and Liberis are two different products. Genesis is using sections of boys and girls choir, while Liberis covers the classic stuff, including solo singers.



Both are children choirs. I'd personally go for Genesis


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## AllanH (Aug 12, 2019)

zAr2 said:


> Hi!
> I have a similar question, i hope the OP doesn't mind.
> I have EW Symphonic Choirs + VOTA, Requiem Lite and Voices of Rapture.
> Does Insolidus have the Vowel Arcs (Ah, Oh, Mm, etc) like Lacrimosa?
> ...


I prefer the tone of insolidus over lacrimosa. The demos of insolidus accurately reflect the instrument. if I recall, my ears tell me that the legatos in insolidus are lifted from lacrimosa, or at least are very close.


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## dzilizzi (Aug 12, 2019)

sostenuto said:


> Only Requiem Pro and Liberis now. Do you feel Lacrimosa can be complementary here as well ?


Okay, I went back and looked at them. Insolidus is the one with arcs with latin words. Lacrimosa arcs are just vowels and mm's. Both have separate male/female sections, which is nice if you don't want the full choir. So I do like the Insolidus a little better. It seems to be a Lacrimosa with a bit more. They both have sequencers so you can lump a bunch of sounds togethter. The actual legato patch is just okay in the combined choir on Insolidus. The arcs are much more flowing. I think the problem is the singers more than the patches. When you mix the sopranos and altos and hit say an F-G-A run, it sounds a little flat on the G, but it is really the change from chest to head voice that a lot of sopranos do about there. At least that is what it sounds like to me. And? I really can't tell the difference between the two just listening to the legato "ah". So I might get Insolidus over Lacrimosa. I do like the sound of both of them, but they do sound very similar to me. 

I don't have any version of Requiem yet. I may be getting the Soundiron bundle, more for the other stuff. I really have enough choirs, though it didn't stop me from getting Genesis.


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## SimonCharlesHanna (Aug 13, 2019)

I bought 8dio Silka and it has more artifacts than an Indiana Jones film


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## jamwerks (Aug 13, 2019)

SimonCharlesHanna said:


> I bought 8dio Silka and it has more artifacts than an Indiana Jones film


Artifacts? What Kind?


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## SimonCharlesHanna (Aug 13, 2019)

jamwerks said:


> Artifacts? What Kinder?


are you calling me a child mein herr


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## jamwerks (Aug 13, 2019)

SimonCharlesHanna said:


> are you calling me a child mein herr


Silka is on my to-buy list and am interested in any comments!


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## SimonCharlesHanna (Aug 13, 2019)

That's @ 96bpm so


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## jamwerks (Aug 13, 2019)

SimonCharlesHanna said:


> That's @ 96bpm so


Thanks for sharing the example. Frankly, that doesn't sound bad to me. Am I missing something? Given what the multi-syllable thing lets us do, sounds very usable.

That being said, I've always found this aspect of their libraries useless. Who is going to write phrases changing the syllable consistently every quarter or half note? You would have to compose with that in mind, but that's a limit that's not of interest to me. 

Silka seems to be the same singers, same everything as Insolidus, but with more materiel. If they do a super-sale on Silka, I'd jump!


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## j_kranz (Aug 13, 2019)

SimonCharlesHanna said:


> That's @ 96bpm so



Are you using TM patches? I don’t have Silka so I’m not sure if those are included or not. To be honest I always take those with a grain of salt when it comes to orch/choir outside of runs, since theres naturally a tolerance when it comes to time stretching, no matter how good the algorythm.


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## SimonCharlesHanna (Aug 13, 2019)

j_kranz said:


> Are you using TM patches? I don’t have Silka so I’m not sure if those are included or not. To be honest I always take those with a grain of salt when it comes to orch/choir outside of runs, since theres naturally a tolerance when it comes to time stretching, no matter how good the algorythm.


They're tempo sync'd by design.


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## AndyP (Aug 13, 2019)

jamwerks said:


> That being said, I've always found this aspect of their libraries useless. Who is going to write phrases changing the syllable consistently every quarter or half note? You would have to compose with that in mind, but that's a limit that's not of interest to me.


Not useless, but sometimes a limitation that tells me to work harder with the EWSQ which is way more flexible, but sometimes hard to use.


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## sostenuto (Aug 13, 2019)

dzilizzi said:


> Okay, I went back and looked at them. Insolidus is the one with arcs with latin words. Lacrimosa arcs are just vowels and mm's. Both have separate male/female sections, which is nice if you don't want the full choir. So I do like the Insolidus a little better. It seems to be a Lacrimosa with a bit more. They both have sequencers so you can lump a bunch of sounds togethter. The actual legato patch is just okay in the combined choir on Insolidus. The arcs are much more flowing. I think the problem is the singers more than the patches. When you mix the sopranos and altos and hit say an F-G-A run, it sounds a little flat on the G, but it is really the change from chest to head voice that a lot of sopranos do about there. At least that is what it sounds like to me. And? I really can't tell the difference between the two just listening to the legato "ah". So I might get Insolidus over Lacrimosa. I do like the sound of both of them, but they do sound very similar to me.
> 
> I don't have any version of Requiem yet. I may be getting the Soundiron bundle, more for the other stuff. I really have enough choirs, though it didn't stop me from getting Genesis.



Thank-you very much for your detailed impressions !!  
My aging ears prefer Insolidus (demo tracks) as well, but this 'sale' offers at 2X Lacrimosa $$. 
Few more days to sort this and also hoping to see Roula added.
Based on your comments, I am much more comfortable now with Lacrimosa.

Regards


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## dzilizzi (Aug 13, 2019)

sostenuto said:


> Thank-you very much for your detailed impressions !!
> My aging ears prefer Insolidus (demo tracks) as well, but this 'sale' offers at 2X Lacrimosa $$.
> Few more days to sort this and also hoping to see Roula added.
> Based on your comments, I am much more comfortable now with Lacrimosa.
> ...


I think Insolidus is newer? Maybe wrong about this. It definitely is more, but I get waiting for the price to come down. Based on 8Dios practice, in about a year (or maybe by next BF, it will be around $98.


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## AndyP (Aug 13, 2019)

I'll answer the opening question after I test Lacrimosa.
For 98$ this is definitely a very good deal.
I love the EWSQ and for slow phrases it is an unbeatable tool which with a little patience and a lot of learning can even sing what I want in an understandable way. The boys choir in EWSQ is incredible and my favourite choice.
But with Lacrimosa it goes faster, sounds good and I find it flexible enough not to get bored quickly. Also fast staccato and phrases are better than in many other tools.
Who wants to sing even faster epic phrases can't avoid Oceania.
For the detail work EWSQ will always be my tool of choice. 
The combination of Requiem light (which I like a lot as well), Lacrimosa, Oceania and EWSQ satisfies me completely.


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## Mr. Ha (Aug 13, 2019)

I have a 8Dio Choir Week related question. I already own Lacrimosa (which is great) so I'm not going to get another choir library this flash sale but I am considering either getting Jennifer or Laurie. Which one is better and more easy to use?


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## Robert_G (Aug 13, 2019)

Laurie is just phrases but they are useful ones...8$ go for it

Jennifer also has phrases plus legato....also worth 38$


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## sostenuto (Aug 13, 2019)

Laurie emphasis on Balkan, Celtic, yet useful. Jenifer more operatic /soprano .... 
Kinda general comments mostly to stimulate careful review. 
Have Laurie now. Adding Jenifer.


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## Owen Smith (Aug 13, 2019)

I have insolidus, lacrimosa, and Laurie. I find I like the arcs in Lacrimosa better than insolidus, but I use insolidus more because I like how soft and smooth it can get. For Epic stuff, the insolidus multivowels might get lost behind all the other instruments. I would probably use the marcatos from Lacrimosa instead of insolidus, though I also have Oceania and that works well for Epic. I find myself going back to Laurie occasionally. I have had a hard time fitting the celtic phrases into my music, but sometime the balkan style can be very cool. Here is a short track I composed using Laurie Balkan legato:



For this track, I used Lacrimosa marcatos starting at 1:05 and Laurie sustained vibrato on top of it. The intro phrases are vocalise.



Finally, for this track I used Insolidus for the backing choir and ethera gold for the solo legato and phrases:




I have 8dio Cait, but haven't used it yet. I'm really interested in the studio sopranos. Anyone have that library?


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## kitekrazy (Aug 13, 2019)

Robert_G said:


> Laurie is just phrases but they are useful ones...8$ go for it
> 
> Jennifer also has phrases plus legato....also worth 38$



One could accomplish the same with loops libraries. I have these type if libraries from other developers as well. They really don't get used. You can take a sample, chop it up, use Melodyne.


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## Owen Smith (Aug 13, 2019)

Robert_G said:


> Laurie is just phrases but they are useful ones...8$ go for it
> 
> Jennifer also has phrases plus legato....also worth 38$


 
Hey Robert, I think maybe you accidentally said Laurie instead of Cait. Cait is just phrases and is on sale for $8. Laurie is $28 right now and has celtic and balkin legato as well as sustains and sustain vibratos which if used sparingly can be really useful. Cheers


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## Robert_G (Aug 13, 2019)

Owen Smith said:


> Hey Robert, I think maybe you accidentally said Laurie instead of Cait. Cait is just phrases and is on sale for $8. Laurie is $28 right now and has celtic and balkin legato as well as sustains and sustain vibratos which if used sparingly can be really useful. Cheers


Thats the 2nd time in 2 days ive gotten confused. It simply means i own too many libraries

I meant fran


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## Owen Smith (Aug 13, 2019)

Robert_G said:


> Thats the 2nd time in 2 days ive gotten confused. It simply means i own too many libraries
> 
> I meant fran


Happens to all of us  I know what you mean about having too many libraries too:/


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## Paul_P (Aug 13, 2019)

Owen Smith said:


> Cait is just phrases and is on sale for $8.



I see Cait https://8dio.com/instrument/the-new-forgotten-voices-cait/ at 78$ reduced to 46,80$ with coupon L8VE (on the 8dio site).


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## Owen Smith (Aug 13, 2019)

Paul_P said:


> I see Cait https://8dio.com/instrument/the-new-forgotten-voices-cait/ at 78$ reduced to 46,80$ with coupon L8VE (on the 8dio site).





Paul_P said:


> I see Cait https://8dio.com/instrument/the-new-forgotten-voices-cait/ at 78$ reduced to 46,80$ with coupon L8VE (on the 8dio site).


I think you're right. I also made the mistake. When I just looked now it has Francesca for 8 dollars. I tried to add the L8VE coupon code to one of the vocal libraries on sale but it says that they don't qualify for the code.


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## Owen Smith (Aug 13, 2019)

Owen Smith said:


> Happens to all of us  I know what you mean about having too many libraries too:/


I also made a mistake and it looks like Francesca is 8 dollars and Cait isn't part of the sale unless you use the coupon code. I did get Cait for 8 dollars a little while back though.


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## sostenuto (Aug 13, 2019)

Site has had some issues and not the first time. I applied Code to Cart with Lacrimosa, Jenifer, and V8P Emperium Choirs Bundle Edition. The Code worked and deducted ~ $ 119. Went back minutes later and discount was removed. 
Advised 8Dio and got standard Reply about not 'stacking' discounts. Understand, but their software allowed and then disallowed. Maybe this is happening with other scenarios as well ?? Also Site has been down more than once today …..


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## shponglefan (Aug 13, 2019)

Thanks all for the replies and advice. Based on the recommendations, I ended up picking up both Lacrimosa and Insolidus.

Only installed Lacrimosa so far and played around with it a bit. My first thought is it has a *lot* of reverb. I'm guessing it's baked into the samples because it doesn't seem like there is a way to dial it down. Unless I'm missing something?


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## Robert_G (Aug 13, 2019)

shponglefan said:


> Thanks all for the replies and advice. Based on the recommendations, I ended up picking up both Lacrimosa and Insolidus.
> 
> Only installed Lacrimosa so far and played around with it a bit. My first though though is it has a *lot* of reverb. I'm guessing it's baked into the samples because it doesn't seem like there is a way to dial it down. Unless I'm missing something?



At least you chose to open the best one last. Im not a fan of Lacrimosa....too loud.


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## jtnyc (Aug 13, 2019)

From listening to all of the 8Dio demos and walkthroughs I like the sound of Insolidus best. I'm unsure how flexible it is, but it sounds absolutely beautiful, soft and lush. If it were at $98 I would have grabbed it in a heartbeat, but I'm gonna wait for a future sale. Meanwhile I'm very close to grabbing Genesis at $199. Seems like a great value at that price. I really want Dominus as well. It's down from $379 to $299 right now, but I've seen it at $229 in the past so I think I'll wait on that as well.


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## rollasoc (Aug 14, 2019)

Owen Smith said:


> I think you're right. I also made the mistake. When I just looked now it has Francesca for 8 dollars. I tried to add the L8VE coupon code to one of the vocal libraries on sale but it says that they don't qualify for the code.


I spoke with support about that last night. The banner on their front page is confusing. It says the voucher is for qualifying products, then list 8 products that DONT qualify for the discount. There isn't even a divider between the two sales.
Support said they will pass my concerns.


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## Owen Smith (Aug 14, 2019)

shponglefan said:


> Thanks all for the replies and advice. Based on the recommendations, I ended up picking up both Lacrimosa and Insolidus.
> 
> Only installed Lacrimosa so far and played around with it a bit. My first thought is it has a *lot* of reverb. I'm guessing it's baked into the samples because it doesn't seem like there is a way to dial it down. Unless I'm missing something?



If I remember right, most of the patches come with reverb already turned on on the fx page. I think it is the "wonder" reverb which is pretty wet. You have to scroll down on the effects page because reverb is at the bottom. You should be able turn it off so that it is more dry and then you can add your own reverb if you prefer it.


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## august80 (Aug 14, 2019)

Robert_G said:


> At least you chose to open the best one last. Im not a fan of Lacrimosa....too loud.



That library can be incredibly intimate. Example:



Lots of dynamics options using velocity or mod wheel, etc. Most of the articulations can be intimate enough that they pair with Insolidus / Silka. Yes, it can be very loud / aggressive if needed, but it's got an amazing softer side that I don't think comes across much in the demos. I was actually surprised by how soft it could get when I started messing around with it this week.

EDIT: Important to note that the staccato and marcato articulations are 100% aggressive, and don't really have expression dynamics. Well, there is dynamics with velocity, but it feels more like volume than expressive performance. The 'arcs' have a softer tone primarily - although it's a big choir so always sounds very full. 'Multi-vowel' articulations are very soft to very loud (using velocity), 'sustains' are very soft to very loud (using mod wheel), 'legato' is semi-soft to aggressive (mod wheel).


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## synthetic (Aug 14, 2019)

rollasoc said:


> I spoke with support about that last night. The banner on their front page is confusing. It says the voucher is for qualifying products, then list 8 products that DONT qualify for the discount. There isn't even a divider between the two sales. Support said they will pass my concerns.



They said in the email that the coupon doesn't work on the (idiotically low-priced) flash sales. So $8 isn't low enough, you need it for $4.80? Come on man that's not even a Frappacino.


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## dzilizzi (Aug 14, 2019)

synthetic said:


> They said in the email that the coupon doesn't work on the (idiotically low-priced) flash sales. So $8 isn't low enough, you need it for $4.80? Come on man that's not even a Frappacino.


But it's a frappuccino!!!! I need my coffee! 

No really, from the way it was worded, I expected to use the code to get the discounted price, or on other products, not as an additional discount on sale items. And? I've bought a lot from them over the years, so I kind of understand how they work. Why would you expect 40% on top of an already low discounted price?


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## Robert_G (Aug 14, 2019)

dzilizzi said:


> Why would you expect 40% on top of an already low discounted price?



My thoughts exactly.


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## Henu (Aug 16, 2019)

Just a couple of thoughts.

For basic SATB choirs I have....

Requiem Light
Voxos 2
Dominus
Oceania
Olympus Elements
Storm Choir

+ Mystica/Cantus and and choir patches from libraries like Lumina, MA II, etc.

But after a couple of days of listening to demos and watching all videos and reviews I could get, I decided to pull the trigger on this one. And I definitely think Lacrimosa brought something new to the table for me. It's like Voxos on steroids for what it comes to the sound. 
Very clear, yet extremely powerful when needed (being still very intelligible on high dynamics) while still sounding surprisingly tight considering it packs 200 people. It also doesn't sport a ton of vibrato which is a good thing for me, as Requiem and especially Oceania take care of that over-the-top sound for me. The syllables lack a bit variety for my needs and the release tails are a bit too fast even in the slowest setting but then again those fast releases work wonders on faster stuff without cluttering everything. 

For $98 I consider this a very good deal and I'm happy I bought it. Also, I'm a sucker for choirs, so I guess that normal people could also live without this and ignore everything I wrote.


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## zAr2 (Aug 17, 2019)

Thanks for all the help.
Bought Lacrimosa and Laurie but i hadn't much time to play with them.


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