# Audio Imperia Areia vs. Cinematic Studio Strings: Poll and Comparison



## star.keys (Jul 15, 2020)

Keen to understand from the community of users... What do you think folks:

1. How does Areia compare with CSS and if you were buying one, what would you buy?
2. CSS sounds quite stellar actually. Does Areia offer anything that CSS doesn't?
3. If you were to own both libraries, why would you own both?

P.S. Price is not a point of comparison for me because I qualify for cross-grade offer for CSS as an owner of CS2.

Cheers


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## mybadmemory (Jul 15, 2020)

Hard choice! I love the sound of CSS but I would most probably hate the varying pre-roll on note level. I love how Audio Imperia has consistent and adjustable pre-roll for everything, but it doesn’t sound as buttery smooth and has no portamento.

We really can’t have everything in one package can we? :D


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## Eptesicus (Jul 15, 2020)

From the demos, Areia doesnt sound as realistic/convincing as CSS in my opinion. Many parts of the demos I have listened to sound pretty sterile.

CSS has a musicality to it that not many other string libraries have captured.


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## filipjonathan (Jul 15, 2020)

I mean Areia is good but really nothing compares with CSS 🤷🏻‍♂️


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## nuyo (Jul 15, 2020)

What Audio Imperia does best at the moment, are their interfaces. Easy to use with the right amount of control. CSS and CS2 are to clunky for me.
The sound of CSS is more roomy and Audio Imperia sounds more in you face. (not necessarily in a good way)
But I would choose Areia because its much easier to use. And you don't have to load an all in one patch.


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## Gerbil (Jul 15, 2020)

Not even close. CSS. but I'd probably choose it over any other string library if it was a question of only owning one.


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## star.keys (Jul 15, 2020)

Greta insights... Poll is already 6 for CSS vs 1 for Areia


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## muziksculp (Jul 15, 2020)

I think one thing to note here, is that Areia is a brand new Strings library, whereas CSS has been around for quite some time, and is already a very popular library. So, it is not surprising that the poll will be swinging towards CSS's Side. 

I have both, haven't spent much time with Areia yet, I think they are both great sounding strings libraries, Areia has a more aggressive sound when needed, CSS mellower, darker tone, so they kind of complement each other. I voted for Both. Since non is perfect, when it comes to strings, the more options you have the better.


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## AndyP (Jul 15, 2020)

Since I do not have CSS I cannot compare. CSS and CS2 I do not have (yet). Somehow I have not yet jumped on the bandwagon.
CS2 I like the sound a bit better (at least the demos I have heard).
They are also not as often in sale as I have noticed so far.
I am very satisfied with what I have so far. I often hear CSS is a must have. Is that so?


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## star.keys (Jul 15, 2020)

I just bought CSS as an owner of CS2 using 30% discount voucher. I regret for not making decision many years ago. I can say this having owned pretty much all major strings libraries on the planet, except Areia. If I had one library, that would be CSS. I agree with the comment above. Areia lacks portamento and that's a no go for me. CSS portamento is spot on and can be controlled very well. There is a huge difference in the flexibility of having portamento Vs not having it at disposal when needed.


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## filipjonathan (Jul 16, 2020)

star.keys said:


> I just bought CSS as an owner of CS2 using 30% discount voucher. I regret for not making decision many years ago. I can say this having owned pretty much all major strings libraries on the planet, except Areia. If I had one library, that would be CSS. I agree with the comment above. Areia lacks portamento and that's a no go for me. CSS portamento is spot on and can be controlled very well. There is a huge difference in the flexibility of having portamento Vs not having it at disposal when needed.


Enjoy!!


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## Yogevs (Jul 16, 2020)

Having this poll without any context is not super helpful.
What is each library doing better? Is the vote still what it is even with the intro loyalty price for $199 for Areia?
Ease of use matters (I can always work with Areia with the grid while I can't with CSS)?
Who has better specific sections?

That's a much more interesting discussion than a poll comparing a library that has been out for years vs. a library that has been out for less than a month....


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## Yogevs (Jul 16, 2020)

star.keys said:


> Greta insights... Poll is already 6 for CSS vs 1 for Areia



Great insights? Most people here already have CSS and never used Areia . I wish I could have learned something from it myself (as I'm trying to decide between the two... but I don't think it's really helpful... Thanks for the attempt !


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## filipjonathan (Jul 16, 2020)

CSS is a standard among the composers. It's got THE best legato out there! It's DEFINITELY worth picking up. The latency tat some of you mention is not a "down side" to this library. It's just that way. You play everything in either with the marcato articulation or using the legacy legato patches. The latency contributes to the legato being so good. Once you get used to working with CSS you won't even notice it. +300 for CSS.


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## Gerbil (Jul 16, 2020)

Yogevs said:


> Great insights? Most people here already have CSS and never used Areia . I wish I could have learned something from it myself (as I'm trying to decide between the two... but I don't think it's really helpful... Thanks for the attempt !



I'm going by sound and unfortunately haven't heard anything from Areia that makes me want to buy it. CSS I liked from the very first demo I heard, although it took some time for me to get used to performing parts with it.


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## star.keys (Jul 16, 2020)

Yogevs said:


> Great insights? Most people here already have CSS and never used Areia . I wish I could have learned something from it myself (as I'm trying to decide between the two... but I don't think it's really helpful... Thanks for the attempt !


I spent good 3-4 hours comparing the two. Alex's CSS legato demo says it all. User user testimonials above are quite clear. As far as Areia is concerned, DJ's youtube live stream is good to get an idea of the sound and features of the library. It was a fairly no brainier decision for me to buy CSS. DJ's live stream and another user's youtube demo where he combines it with SSS exposes what I do not like about Aeria.


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## BassClef (Jul 16, 2020)

I like the sound of Aeria but after using CSS, I could not live with Aeria's legato transitions... way too jumpy... so it's CSS for me.


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## Mike Fox (Jul 16, 2020)

AndyP said:


> Since I do not have CSS I cannot compare. CSS and CS2 I do not have (yet). Somehow I have not yet jumped on the bandwagon.
> CS2 I like the sound a bit better (at least the demos I have heard).
> They are also not as often in sale as I have noticed so far.
> I am very satisfied with what I have so far. I often hear CSS is a must have. Is that so?


CSS is a must have for some, but not for me. The legato is its stong point (and the price is good too), but I'm personally not a fan of the sound, which is dark and almost lofi (the ensemble sustains patch sounds really synthy too), or the playability, which i found to be so annoying i rarely use the library anymore. I do like the shorts though! But the sound of the room is just kinda....meh.

I feel the completely opposite about CS2. I love the sound as well as the hall it was recorded in. Simply gorgeous.

I'm obviously in the minority here though, and I've heard some people do some pretty amazing things with CSS, so it's certainly capable of producing excellent results, but i personally can't jive with it.

It also just doesn't make any sense for me to use CSS when I've been so spoiled by Afflatus.


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## muziksculp (Jul 31, 2020)

filipjonathan said:


> CSS is a standard among the composers. It's got THE best legato out there! It's DEFINITELY worth picking up. The latency tat some of you mention is not a "down side" to this library. It's just that way. You play everything in either with the marcato articulation or using the legacy legato patches. The latency contributes to the legato being so good. Once you get used to working with CSS you won't even notice it. +300 for CSS.



You surely are a big fan of CSS.  

Question : How do you deal with the various Pre-Roll requirements of CSS Legatos (Standard, and Advanced Legato Modes) ? 

What do you think is the best way to use the legatos, without using a Kontakt Script ? 

The various requirements of negative dealys for the various legato speeds, based on note-velocity of this library imho. makes it a bit confusing to use, can you elaborate on this detail, and what you find the best way to manage or deal with this. 

I think Alex Wallbank mentions that it is a matter of getting used to playing the notes in real time (with practice), when using the advanced or standard legato modes, and then compensating the track delay by a certain amount, but the delay required for various speeds of legato is different, so how do you deal with this ? and how did Alex expect us to deal with these variable delays ? 

Thanks.


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## Wibben (Jul 31, 2020)

muziksculp said:


> You surely are a big fan of CSS.
> 
> Question : How do you deal with the various Pre-Roll requirements of CSS Legatos (Standard, and Advanced Legato Modes) ?
> 
> ...


I realize you didn't ask me, but since this is the internet I figured I'd but in... Haha sorry in advance :D

I hard quantize everything to the grid, then I run a macro I've setup in Cubase that nudges all the notes based on a velocity threshold the correct amount of milliseconds. I also have a negative track delay on the CSS tracks based on the fastest speed. I love CSS a lot. The delay is frustrating in the beginning but you really DO get used to the work flow. The sound is worth it! 😊


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## muziksculp (Jul 31, 2020)

Wibben said:


> I realize you didn't ask me, but since this is the internet I figured I'd but in... Haha sorry in advance :D
> 
> I hard quantize everything to the grid, then I run a macro I've setup in Cubase that nudges all the notes based on a velocity threshold the correct amount of milliseconds. I also have a negative track delay on the CSS tracks based on the fastest speed. I love CSS a lot. The delay is frustrating in the beginning but you really DO get used to the work flow. The sound is worth it! 😊



Thanks for the feedback.

But, I don't use Cubase, I use Studio One Pro 5, I don't have a macro that would do that for me, I'm still not sure how best to use CSS Legatos given the various delays it requires for the standard and advanced legato modes. Honestly I wish Alex had a better way to implement the Legatos.


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## muziksculp (Jul 31, 2020)

Talking about CSS Legato Implementation, how did Alex intend us to use the Standard, and Advanced Legatos, if there were no Kontakt Helper Scripts, or Advanced DAW Macros to deal with the variable delays required for the various legato speeds ?

Please CSS fans, enlighten me on this detail.

Thanks.


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## Wibben (Jul 31, 2020)

muziksculp said:


> Talking about CSS Legato Implementation, how did Alex intend us to use the Standard, and Advanced Legatos, if there were no Kontakt Helper Scripts, or Advanced DAW Macros to deal with the variable delays required for the various legato speeds ?
> 
> Please CSS fans, enlighten me on this detail.
> 
> Thanks.


Well, it's not that difficult, really. More work than using some other libraries, sure. But if you've spent time programming drums at all, micromanaging timings of each note to perfection, you'll get use to it fine  just listen and tweak to your liking, timing wise. At least that's what I did before I figured out macros, and it works fine. If you really need to sketch and play in lines fast, then any other library, or the "classic legato" patches provided in CSS, will do nicely!


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## muziksculp (Jul 31, 2020)

Wibben said:


> More work than using some other libraries



Well, that's imho. a weakness of CSS.

Yes, It eventually pays off with great results after you perform lots of time performing midi surgery to note timings, which is not a lot of fun, but I guess there is a price for everything, as usual... no pain, no gain


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## Grizzlymv (Jul 31, 2020)

nuyo said:


> What Audio Imperia does best at the moment, are their interfaces. Easy to use with the right amount of control. CSS and CS2 are to clunky for me.
> The sound of CSS is more roomy and Audio Imperia sounds more in you face. (not necessarily in a good way)
> But I would choose Areia because its much easier to use. And you don't have to load an all in one patch.


For the all in one issue, what I do is to unload what I don't need. I prefer to work with 1 art per track, so even if I initially have to load the all in one patch, I will use ALT-click to unload all arts I don't need and then save them individually as track presets. Granted, it's not out of the box, but it could be a workaround.


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## ALittleNightMusic (Jul 31, 2020)

muziksculp said:


> Question : How do you deal with the various Pre-Roll requirements of CSS Legatos (Standard, and Advanced Legato Modes) ?
> 
> What do you think is the best way to use the legatos, without using a Kontakt Script ?



In Logic, the Thanos Scripter preset is amazing.

In Cubase, I’ve set up logical editor presets. Very fast.

Edit: Saw you are on S1. S1 has known very bad bugs with track delay. Also I don’t believe their macro has the ability to nudge based on velocity? If so, try that. If not, well sadly the price you pay with S1 right now.


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## muziksculp (Jul 31, 2020)

By the way, Audio Imperia is working on an update to Areia, that will give us more control over the Legato. 

Here is the statement quote of Audio Imperia : " We'll be including a controller in this upcoming update that allows you to change the legato transition behavior to your liking. "


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## muziksculp (Jul 31, 2020)

ALittleNightMusic said:


> In Logic, the Thanos Scripter preset is amazing.
> 
> In Cubase, I’ve set up logical editor presets. Very fast.
> 
> Edit: Saw you are on S1. S1 has known very bad bugs with track delay. Also I don’t believe their macro has the ability to nudge based on velocity? If so, try that. If not, well sadly the price you pay with S1 right now.



Yes, I use S1Pro 5, we already have a negative delay issue that needs to be fixed by Presonus, hopefully they will fix it via the next update. There is a Kontakt Multi Script that is supposed to help as well, but I'm not interested in using a Kontakt Multi Script to deal with this issue. 

There are no Macros in S1Pro 5 that will nudge midi notes based on velocity. 

I go back to the question of how did Alex Wallbank the developer of CSS intend us to use this legato system, given that when he developed it, he surely must have realized that this type of legato implementation would result in a lot of labor editing the midi data.


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## ALittleNightMusic (Jul 31, 2020)

I believe he suggested if you want to play it in live and leave it like that, use legacy legato (there are patches). If you want improved realism, you can then switch to advanced legato but you’ll need to tweak. All libraries tend to require some amount of MIDI programming.


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## muziksculp (Jul 31, 2020)

Is the difference in quality of the Advaced-legato a huge step up from the Standard-Legato ? 

I mean, is it very noticeable ? 

I find playing in legato notes using the Standard- Legato with a bit of the delay it introduces, not that bad. but the Advanced mode is a bit too much of a delay. feels very odd to play in real time.


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## Supremo (Jul 31, 2020)

CSS is an incredibly consistent library with probably the best legato in the market but the room it was recorded (Trackdown) is not that perfect for strings so the tone of the library is dark and a bit shallow. 
It’s default (non-classic) patches are very time-consuming to work with and I hate having to surgically tweak a simple strings passage by moving notes here and there, changing velocities of every single note in order to have legato transitions sound in time. You start losing inspiration while playing them because of those annoying legato delays.
That’s where I find Areia very useful. I personally love the tone of the library and its playability is wonderful thanks to the delay offset option provided inside the lib itself. Legatos are bumpy though but Audio Imperia guys promised to come up with a quick update enabling users to tweak them to personal liking. 

So I very much like Areia and don’t regret buying it. I also like blending CSS and Areia thus having benefitted from the advantages of both libraries.


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## Vladimir Bulaev (Jul 31, 2020)

I use CSS and without any scripts with crutches. I just program them and I like it. I'm used to and only include advanced legato as there are three legato options available. Especially perfect for slow things. I also really love CSSS and mix them with ensembles. If a lag that kills your inspiration is bothering you, stop using css immediately, just use any other library or pencil and paper, lol.


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## ProfoundSilence (Jul 31, 2020)

Im suprised I don't see more videos using the "shorts" from areia

With the marcato short/long seems like a really solid companion with JXL/berlin brass. 

I dont like the lack of violin II. 

CSS has nice shorts but there are somethings that I can't stand, which is the inability to edit their behavior in any meaningful way - because you can't go under the hood in kontakt due to it being locked. 

Obviously areia wins on the sordino

CSS is still going to be great for rebow legato(something that's kind of idiomatic for string melodies)

I think there is no clear/easy winner, despite how much everyone likes CSS -I'm going to have to say that areia is definately a suprise.


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## nuyo (Jul 31, 2020)

Grizzlymv said:


> I will use ALT-click to unload all arts I don't need and then save them individually as track presets.



Yes but Kontakt still loads data for the other articulations. It would be better if they just added single patches.


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## NeonMediaKJT (Jul 31, 2020)

muziksculp said:


> Well, that's imho. a weakness of CSS.
> 
> Yes, It eventually pays off with great results after you perform lots of time performing midi surgery to note timings, which is not a lot of fun, but I guess there is a price for everything, as usual... no pain, no gain


There's no surgery getting it to sounds right, really. Just shift the notes to the left until they sound right. It usually takes me a very short amount of time to get them to be dead-on the beat. Regarding performing the notes in, the short notes are the most difficult. I personally program them in anyway. But performing legato phrases is very easy, unless you're doing very fast stuff.


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## Vladimir Bulaev (Jul 31, 2020)

To be honest, for a good string library I would require more layers, as many round robins as possible for legato for the sake of realism and the ability to play both slow and fast trills, repetitive notes and intervals. Today, modern computers must have enough resources for this. I have 32 cores and 265 gigabytes of RAM and there is simply no need to pay attention to such things. Give me a deeply sampled, fairly realistic and well-programmed library like css! ahahaha! Or am I asking too much?


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## Supremo (Jul 31, 2020)

Vladimir Bulaev said:


> I use CSS and without any scripts with crutches. I just program them and I like it. I'm used to and only include advanced legato as there are three legato options available. Especially perfect for slow things. I also really love CSSS and mix them with ensembles. If a lag that kills your inspiration is bothering you, stop using css immediately, just use any other library or pencil and paper, lol.


No, thanks. I don't like drawing CC curves with pencil on the paper.


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## ProfoundSilence (Jul 31, 2020)

Supremo said:


> No, thanks. I don't like drawing CC curves with pencil on the paper.


Adam Neely would like a word with you


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## ALittleNightMusic (Jul 31, 2020)

Personally, I find the tones of these two libraries quite different - may complement each other well. If you like the Areia tone, perhaps Hollywood Strings would be another one to look at (it is on sale right now, much deeper, but also more involved to program - personally think it has a stellar tone that I find more realistic than Areia's, certainly for those fast lines)


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## Vladimir Bulaev (Jul 31, 2020)

That's it! We have not seen deep libraries for a long time, which could compete on a par with the same Hollywood Strings that are already ten years old. Shame! Just as a dubious addition again? Sorry, but not for me.


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## RoyBatty (Jul 31, 2020)

NeonMediaKJT said:


> There's no surgery getting it to sounds right, really. Just shift the notes to the left until they sound right. It usually takes me a very short amount of time to get them to be dead-on the beat. Regarding performing the notes in, the short notes are the most difficult. I personally program them in anyway. But performing legato phrases is very easy, unless you're doing very fast stuff.



I am just a hobbyist ... but wouldn't most decent quality string libraries require shifting the notes a bit? I couldn't imagine one that was always spot on time with no lead in. Just the nature of some instruments.


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## alecgargett (Jul 31, 2020)

star.keys said:


> another user's youtube demo where he combines it with SSS


Couldn't find this. Any help?


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## paulmatthew (Jul 31, 2020)

alecgargett said:


> Couldn't find this. Any help?


It's at 6:29


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## Yogevs (Jul 31, 2020)

RoyBatty said:


> I am just a hobbyist ... but wouldn't most decent quality string libraries require shifting the notes a bit? I couldn't imagine one that was always spot on time with no lead in. Just the nature of some instruments.



That's what is so nice about Nucleus and this Areia (I only have Nucleus). You can align the notes on the grid (and then huminize if you want) and it works - with the sample start feature. Such a time saviour.


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## ALittleNightMusic (Jul 31, 2020)

For folks that have both, how do you like Areia compared to Spitfire Symphonic Strings? Granted there's a price difference (fairly large one normally - but Spitfire is sometimes 50% off), but tonally, curious to know people's thoughts along with workflow (Areia seems like it'd be very fast to work with, while Spitfire due to the sheer amount of patches may be an abundance of choice).


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## Yogevs (Jul 31, 2020)

ALittleNightMusic said:


> For folks that have both, how do you like Areia compared to Spitfire Symphonic Strings? Granted there's a price difference (fairly large one normally - but Spitfire is sometimes 50% off), but tonally, curious to know people's thoughts along with workflow (Areia seems like it'd be very fast to work with, while Spitfire due to the sheer amount of patches may be an abundance of choice).



I don't think SSS is ever 50%. Maybe as part of the bigger collection - but itself as a product is max 40% off I think.


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## ALittleNightMusic (Jul 31, 2020)

Yogevs said:


> I don't think SSS is ever 50%. Maybe as part of the bigger collection - but itself as a product is max 40% off I think.



Right now I can get it for 50% with the sale and completing a collection I have.


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## Yogevs (Jul 31, 2020)

ALittleNightMusic said:


> Right now I can get it for 50% with the sale and completing a collection I have.



Oh - with completing collection yeah . I can't .
On the other hand - because I own Nucleus then Areia is 50% off for me as well.


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## star.keys (Aug 4, 2020)

SSS is far different my ears and I am absolutely loving the layering of SSS with CSS. Best of both worlds. Aeria is unfortunately redundant with everything I have in my template, although it sounds good (except legato bumps).


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## ALittleNightMusic (Aug 4, 2020)

I ended up going with SSS - sounds great! Lots of articulations and performance legato patches are easy to use quickly. Nucleus has somewhat “harder” legato transitions even at -250ms sample start compared to HS, CSS, SCS - wasn’t expecting dramatic differences with Areia.


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## star.keys (Aug 4, 2020)

ALittleNightMusic said:


> I ended up going with SSS - sounds great! Lots of articulations and performance legato patches are easy to use quickly. Nucleus has somewhat “harder” legato transitions even at -250ms sample start compared to HS, CSS, SCS - wasn’t expecting dramatic differences with Areia.


Congratulations.. I think you have made a great choice. SSS has served me really well.


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## alecgargett (Aug 14, 2020)

paulmatthew said:


> It's at 6:29



Thanks


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## Beans (Aug 30, 2020)

Does anyone with both Areia and CSS have updated impressions? I've had CSS for several years but picked up Jaeger this weekend. I'm surprised at how much I'm liking the Jaeger strings as a "middle ground" strings library on the Classic mix.

They're not without faults, but neither is CSS. I've started a new project (_just _started, as in, two bars and four instrument tracks) and might be going with Jaeger strings for this one over CSS or EWHO Strings Diamond (I also have Afflatus, but usually pull it in only on special "oomph" occasions, sketching, and inspiration).

I'm tempted to pick up Areia or Synchron Strings I (or wait for Aaron Venture Infinite Strings, or Hollywood Orchestra's update, or Audiobro's new library, blah blah blah). I'm weak on woodwinds, but the Jaeger cello legato patch is sitting well with BBCSO Pro's woodwinds in this quick start.


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## Yogevs (Aug 30, 2020)

Beans said:


> Does anyone with both Areia and CSS have updated impressions? I've had CSS for several years but picked up Jaeger this weekend. I'm surprised at how much I'm liking the Jaeger strings as a "middle ground" strings library on the Classic mix.
> 
> They're not without faults, but neither is CSS. I've started a new project (_just _started, as in, two bars and four instrument tracks) and might be going with Jaeger strings for this one over CSS or EWHO Strings Diamond (I also have Afflatus, but usually pull it in only on special "oomph" occasions, sketching, and inspiration).
> 
> I'm tempted to pick up Areia or Synchron Strings I (or wait for Aaron Venture Infinite Strings, or Hollywood Orchestra's update, or Audiobro's new library, blah blah blah). I'm weak on woodwinds, but the Jaeger cello legato patch is sitting well with BBCSO Pro's woodwinds in this quick start.



What's the faults you are seeing with Jaeger? I'm interested.


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## Beans (Aug 31, 2020)

Yogevs said:


> What's the faults you are seeing with Jaeger? I'm interested.



Sure thing!

I'll hopefully get back in front of them tonight and put some more thought (and memory) into it, but there were some patches in which the dynamic layers were more noticeably jumpy than others. I had to be really cautious with the modwheel compared to some direct comparisons with EWHO.

The spiccato strings are an interesting one, too. They have a crispness I've been needing, but a _little _at the expense of having body. I was going mad A/B'ing the Jaeger shorts and CSS shorts.

If you're going with the Modern mix for a punchy trailer, I don't have a problem with the centered recording and needing to pan on your own. For Classic, it can grate on me. It's like patching drywall - even if my wife thinks I did a good job, I'll always notice "the seams."

Speaking of panning, I ran into one issue in which an Ensemble patch had a note (something like C-3 in Portato?) seemed to be shifted to the left more than the rest of the recordings. Maybe my headphones were playing tricks on me when I should've taken a break.

I recall some volume inconsistency across sections. That's not a big deal, however, and something I'd only legit warn about if this was a $1000 library. Fixable with some light CC editing.

*With that said, *I'm having such a good time with the Jaeger strings that I very nearly bought Areia despite having strings from EWHO Diamond, CSS, Arks 1+2, Afflatus Ch 1, and BBCSO Pro. I clearly don't "need" them, but the Jaeger strings are so good and easy to use that they almost got me. If I had Jaeger months ago and didn't just now spend that money (or if I had one less strings library), I probably would have jumped on the Areia deal that just expired.

So, that's what I remember of the strings. A few nitpicks for what isn't even intended to be a "strings library." It looks like Audio Imperia put in some great work into the Jaeger update, and they've gone from not being on my radar for future purchases to always being on my mind.

For someone without a ton of libraries, I think Jaeger + Nucleus + Areia would be an incredible way to get started. On the flip side, I don't appreciate when consumers are expected to buy the same samples twice, as I _believe_ is partially the case between some Jaeger and Areia strings per another thread. I also assume that - having bought Jaeger via the NI sale, I won't get a loyalty discount for a future AI web site purchase (which is what the web site language seemed to indicate). That's fair.

Here's hoping for another interesting deal around Black Friday or end of year.


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## easyrider (Aug 31, 2020)

I bought the Jaeger bundle, Areia and Nucleus in the sale...couldn’t be happier.

Thats a lot of top notch content for a decent saving.


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## Mike Fox (Aug 31, 2020)

I don't have Areia, but i have Jaeger, which are basically the same strings, and I'd take them any day of the week over CSS. 

CSS can take a bit of work, and I'm not a fan of that dark tone, or the room it was recorded in.

Jaeger strings are just so much fun to play and sound excellent in Classic mix for more traditional writing, while the Modern mix is crazy good for cutting through dense mixes. They really took me by surprise!


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## Beans (Aug 31, 2020)

Mike Fox said:


> They really took me by surprise!



Totally, from the first line through several hours of scrutiny, I've been unexpectedly pleased! This why I reopened this thread on Areia.


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## Tim_Wells (Aug 31, 2020)

Mike Fox said:


> CSS is a must have for some, but not for me. The legato is its stong point (and the price is good too), but I'm personally not a fan of the sound, which is dark and almost lofi (the ensemble sustains patch sounds really synthy too), or the playability, which i found to be so annoying i rarely use the library anymore. I do like the shorts though! But the sound of the room is just kinda....meh.
> 
> I feel the completely opposite about CS2. I love the sound as well as the hall it was recorded in. Simply gorgeous.


I don't either library, but FWIW, based on listening to the demos only, I also strongly preferred the sound of CS2 over CSS.


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## Vladimir Bulaev (Aug 31, 2020)

Can anyone do a simple test with Areia?
The legato melody is simple, but few libraries do it well.

01 - Cinematic Studio Strings - Cellos Legato 
02 - Spitfire Symphonic Strings - Perfomanse Legato 
03 - Spitfire Chamber Strings - Perfomanse Legato 
04 - Spitfire Chamber Strings - Legato Perfomanse 
05 - Con Moto - Cellos 
06 - Soaring Strings - Legato Cellos 
07 - CineStrings - Cellos Legato 
08 - Berlin Strings - Celli Legato 
09 - Berlin Strings - Celli Trills Measured 
10 - Cinematic Strings - Cellos Legato


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## BassClef (Aug 31, 2020)

Cinematic Studio Strings is the winner to me.


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## ALittleNightMusic (Aug 31, 2020)

Vladimir Bulaev said:


> Can anyone do a simple test with Areia?
> The legato melody is simple, but few libraries do it well.
> 
> 01 - Cinematic Studio Strings - Cellos Legato
> ...




I feel CSS, Spitfire Symphonic and Chamber, and Berlin were the winners out of this personally.

Nucleus (which has the exact same samples as Areia for the overlapping articulations, including legato) tends to have more audible transitions (some would say bumpy). The new legato smoothing knob certainly helps that though (but at the cost of making it sound a little synth-like). I feel as a well-rounded workhorse library that can flex to most situations, hard to beat CSS. Hollywood Strings are another great option.


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## Mike Fox (Aug 31, 2020)

ALittleNightMusic said:


> I feel CSS, Spitfire Symphonic and Chamber, and Berlin were the winners out of this personally.
> 
> Nucleus (which has the exact same samples as Areia for the overlapping articulations, including legato) tends to have more audible transitions (some would say bumpy). The new legato smoothing knob certainly helps that though (but at the cost of making it sound a little synth-like). I feel as a well-rounded workhorse library that can flex to most situations, hard to beat CSS. Hollywood Strings are another great option.


Yeah, Hollywood strings is still an amazing string library that's dirt cheap!


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## Yogevs (Sep 1, 2020)

Beans said:


> Sure thing!
> 
> I'll hopefully get back in front of them tonight and put some more thought (and memory) into it, but there were some patches in which the dynamic layers were more noticeably jumpy than others. I had to be really cautious with the modwheel compared to some direct comparisons with EWHO.
> 
> ...



Nice - thanks for the thorough explanation . I have Nucleus which (I think) have the same strings recording as I was wondering. Jager and Nucleus users got a pretty deep discount for Areia ($199 as the intro price) exactly because of the "buying samples twice" thing.


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## Eptesicus (Sep 1, 2020)

Vladimir Bulaev said:


> Can anyone do a simple test with Areia?
> The legato melody is simple, but few libraries do it well.
> 
> 01 - Cinematic Studio Strings - Cellos Legato
> ...




CSS is the winner here. Sounds the most realistic/natural. Most of the others have too many "tells" (ie that it is just a sample).


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## Vladimir Bulaev (Sep 1, 2020)

ALittleNightMusic said:


> I feel CSS, Spitfire Symphonic and Chamber, and Berlin were the winners out of this personally.
> 
> Nucleus (which has the exact same samples as Areia for the overlapping articulations, including legato) tends to have more audible transitions (some would say bumpy). The new legato smoothing knob certainly helps that though (but at the cost of making it sound a little synth-like). I feel as a well-rounded workhorse library that can flex to most situations, hard to beat CSS. Hollywood Strings are another great option.


In my audio examples only *Cinematic Studio Strings*, *Spitfire Chamber Strings - Legato Performance*_(alternating between different types of legato) _and a separate patch *Berlin Strings - Measured Trills -* were able to do this more naturally and convincingly than others.
When like a* Spitfire Symphonic Strings - Perfomanse Legato*, *Spitfire Chamber Strings - Perfomanse Legato*, *Berlin Strings - Celli Legato *and others, do it very badly, not convincingly and synthetically, you can hear a distinct lack of RR on the repeated notes. Legato Round Robins are actually missing from every library I know.
I don’t have *Hollywood Strings* yet, and I would be interested in how well and naturally he will do this very simple line.


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## Trash Panda (Nov 2, 2020)

Vladimir Bulaev said:


> Can anyone do a simple test with Areia?
> The legato melody is simple, but few libraries do it well.
> 
> 01 - Cinematic Studio Strings - Cellos Legato
> ...



A bit late on the reply, but here you go. Both in Modern and Classic Mix.

No FX of any kind applied, except for the Kontakt volume increased for Classic Mix. Sample Start set to -250 ms, progression is Legato Smoothing 100% > 50% > 0%


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## Taj Mikel (Nov 18, 2020)

Wibben said:


> I realize you didn't ask me, but since this is the internet I figured I'd but in... Haha sorry in advance :D
> 
> I hard quantize everything to the grid, then I run a macro I've setup in Cubase that nudges all the notes based on a velocity threshold the correct amount of milliseconds. I also have a negative track delay on the CSS tracks based on the fastest speed. I love CSS a lot. The delay is frustrating in the beginning but you really DO get used to the work flow. The sound is worth it! 😊


Hello, is it possible for you to share this macro or point me in the direction to find it? Thank you!


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## dedene (Nov 18, 2020)

How would CSS compare to Afflatus (as it being on sale puts it in a similar price bucket)?


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## Mike Fox (Nov 18, 2020)

dedene said:


> How would CSS compare to Afflatus (as it being on sale puts it in a similar price bucket)?


Apples and Oranges.

Different tone, different approach, different set of articulations, different everything, really.

CSS has Afflatus beat in terms of legato to an extent, but Afflatus has true polyphonic legato and is much more user friendly when it comes to playability. It's a library that works for you, whereas CSS is much more demanding, imo.

I say go with the one that sounds best to you.


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## muziksculp (Nov 18, 2020)

Are we expecting an update for *Areia* in the near future ?

I remember something about an update mentioned a while ago, or maybe I'm confused


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## Yogevs (Nov 18, 2020)

muziksculp said:


> Are we expecting an update for *Areia* in the near future ?
> 
> I remember something about an update mentioned a while ago, or maybe I'm confused



I think it was delayed a bit due to COVID


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