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The Robber SSS (Spitfire Symphonic Strings)

AlexanderSchiborr said:
For anyone who owns SSS can also try how the library deals with measured trems?

here is the midi and the short rendition I did pretty quick back then CSS was released during june this year.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/twzg7c10g1ey052/Alex_Schiborr_MS_Trems_CSS.mid?dl=0

Click to expand...

The maes Trems patch in SSS is fundamentally different in programming, it is a looped sustain of maes trems which goes on forever when holding the note, but the loop has no round robins. The loop length is almost two bars. Dynamics are controlled with CC1 instead of note velocity. To do a lot of short accents in the phrase with SSS maes trems is a lot harder since dynamics are controlled with CC1 and acts like when playing and controlling sustain patch dynamics. Since the loop has no round robbins, with this midi file SSS maes trems would sound like machine gun galore, and wouldn't do justice to the beauty of the patch.

I don't have CSS yet but I concluded by watching the demo that the feature to control maes trems with note velocity makes it more suitable for these action type sequences with lots of accents in the phrase. How many round robbins does this patch have? Is it correct that for every repetition you have to hit the note again? How well does it play live on the keyboard. Does it require programming afterwards, or does it already sound good when jamming on the keyboard? The CSS patch would be a major reason for me to get CSS, since I don't know of any other library that can do it that way. (I know adagio has a spic bounce patch but it isn't time syncd)
 
benmrx said:
Agree. I really like the sound of both libraries. It's like asking what color you like more. No wrong answer IMO. Thank you again for all these examples! VERY eye/ear opening!
Click to expand...

Neither of them sounded synthy *cough cough vienna*. CSS sounded "better" than SSS. SSS sounded more realistic than CSS. I have to say, with the newest update for performance legato, SSS > CSS overall if everything including sound and playability was taken into consideration.
 
Christof said:
I just want to say that I didn't create this thread to say that one library is better that the other.Both are amazing and wonderful tools.
Click to expand...
Yep, but in the end it happened (as usual here)! :rolleyes:

Personally I would like to buy both (and add Soaring Strings also to them), but you know...
for sure SSS intro offer is stronger as appealing than the 50$ less off CSS for the Black Friday, that will be less traumatic to pay in future than the 200 Euros for SSS, if I will regret the choice/purchase.

SoNowWhat? said:
Marvellous thread. Marvellous music. Marvellous libraries. Thank you for starting the thread Christof.
...only now I'm more confused than ever. I can really see/hear how these two could work together in an arsenal.
Click to expand...

Yes, the same me too here but perhaps the Test Drama versions are making me less confused about what I could need more at the moment.
Ok, this is my personally taste, but usually I prefer the raw sound (bow-noise) on shorts (the same feeling I have with LASS) but I don't like that CSS "bow noise aura" on long violins as I hear in the Test Drama.
For longs it seems that I like and prefer the cleaner sound of SSS violins.
The EQ version (thanks for that) unfortunately doesn't clean enough that noise for me on CSS longs violins...

@Cristof: you, who have now both under your hands, could tell me please which, in your opinion, has the stronger/intense vibrato between SSS and CSS?
Perhaps that Rachmanikov legato patch?
I wonder if SSS can make enough to avoid me purchasing also Soaring Strings (at least for the moment).
 
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uh, that strings piece from "Nocturnal Animals" I mentioned yesterday is this one:



EDIT: checked, the soundtrack was recorded in London. Don't know where precisly but in the credits Geoff Foster is listed for recording and mixing.
And we know where and with whom he worked already. ;)
 
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JanR said:
The maes Trems patch in SSS is fundamentally different in programming, it is a looped sustain of maes trems which goes on forever when holding the note, but the loop has no round robins. The loop length is almost two bars. Dynamics are controlled with CC1 instead of note velocity. To do a lot of short accents in the phrase with SSS maes trems is a lot harder since dynamics are controlled with CC1 and acts like when playing and controlling sustain patch dynamics. Since the loop has no round robbins, with this midi file SSS maes trems would sound like machine gun galore, and wouldn't do justice to the beauty of the patch.

I don't have CSS yet but I concluded by watching the demo that the feature to control maes trems with note velocity makes it more suitable for these action type sequences with lots of accents in the phrase. How many round robbins does this patch have? Is it correct that for every repetition you have to hit the note again? How well does it play live on the keyboard. Does it require programming afterwards, or does it already sound good when jamming on the keyboard? The CSS patch would be a major reason for me to get CSS, since I don't know of any other library that can do it that way. (I know adagio has a spic bounce patch but it isn't time syncd)
Click to expand...

Greetings Jan,

I don´t know how many round robins they had sampled for the meas. trems., but so far what I can say is that they work very good even in various different speed, from pretty slow to effingly fast and also in passages where the tempo is continously varied, here is a short example of one of my tracks where I varied the tempo and the measured trems adapted all the time the right pace. I remember in the old CSS release thread there were people trying to do that stuff with other libraries and in my opinion none of the examples had this "nice live" grittyness what CSS features here. PS: It does not require much programming..not really.

Anyways here is the short snippet:

 
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Both great libraries, cannot say which library is better because both sound great!

Personally, I think that CSS shorts sound great, while SSS legato is very intense.

I personally noticed a problem with SSS longs: the volume of the note tend to rise up in the middle of the sustains samples: I remember that I noticed something similar in HS, and I hated this because I needed a lot of midi editing.
 
Polarity said:
you, who have now both under your hands, could tell me please which, in your opinion, has the stronger/intense vibrato between SSS and CSS?
Click to expand...
Hard to tell, it's a matter of taste in my opinion, both have a wonderful expressive vibrato.
 
luke_7 said:
@Christof i did Cine Samples Strings version. Used only Spiccatos and some eq / compression.
Click to expand...

Thanks for this version luke_7!
For me this doesn't work, I dislike the tone of Cinestrings, I tried them at a friends studio and it was clear that this library is not for my needs.
But I love Cinebrass for example, and Cinewinds/Cineorch.
But those strings don't sound good to me.
Anyway, thanks for sharing your version!I had fun listening to the bartok pizz. at the end...crazy bass players there ;)
 
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Christof said:
Thanks for this version luke_7!
For me this doesn't work, I dislike the tone of Cinestrings, I tried them at a friends studio and it was clear that this library is not for my needs.
But I love Cinebrass for example, and Cinewinds/Cineorch.
But those strings don't sound good to me.
Anyway, thanks for sharing your version!I had fun listening to the bartok pizz. at the end...crazy bass players there ;)
Click to expand...
Crazy bass players haha yes indeed, why so serious...right ? :elephant:
 
AlexanderSchiborr said:
Greetings Jan,

I don´t know how many round robins they had sampled for the meas. trems., but so far what I can say is that they work very good even in various different speed, from pretty slow to effingly fast and also in passages where the tempo is continously varied, here is a short example of one of my tracks where I varied the tempo and the measured trems adapted all the time the right pace. I remember in the old CSS release thread there were people trying to do that stuff with other libraries and in my opinion none of the examples had this "nice live" grittyness what CSS features here. PS: It does not require much programming..not really.

Anyways here is the short snippet:

Click to expand...

Thanks a lot Alexander!
The CSS meas trems really shine with accents in the phrase, thanks for your snippet. Definitely getting this library :)

Btw. SSS has three maes trem patches which have their own character. One recorded at 150 bpm and one recorded at 180 bpm and one con sordino at 150. All patches sync to tempo and shine at vivaldi 4 seasons type meas trems
 
In my humble opinion everyone who makes a living from creating music and mockups should have both CSS and SSS.
With these two you are on the safe side.
I collected many big string libraries in the past, but actually I only use these two now.
But I have to say that I never tried or owned Berlin strings, so I can't say anything about them, but I guess they are a great option too.
 
Christof said:
In my humble opinion everyone who makes a living from creating music and mockups should have both CSS and SSS.
With these two you are on the safe side.
Click to expand...
Yep, I agree! But actually (and unfortunately) at the moment it's not my case.... :unsure:
otherwise I would have got both... well all three I nominated in my wishlist. ;)
 
markleake said:
I'm curious, can you provide more detail on why you thought CSS sounded better and SSS more real?
Click to expand...

Ok well to me SSS sounded more herman-esque. I think tha'ts what i mean by "real" as it sounded more traditional. CSS sounded more like a midi mockup, but a very nice and beautiful one, unlike all of VSL's string libraries that sounded synthy/straight out of sibelius/finale. Both are great and I love the sounds of both so therefore one is orange and one is apple. A lot of it for SSS I think, has to do with air studio hall reverb and nice beautiful (sometimes imperfect) transitions/vibratoes/attacks. SSS will even sound realistic even if you had everything quantized at 100% to the beats. CSS is super modern beautiful and perfect to the point that I can tell it's a Midi-mockup but hey i'm a string player so no one needs to feel like they have the same kind of ears I have right?
 
ctsai89 said:
Ok well to me SSS sounded more herman-esque. I think tha'ts what i mean by "real" as it sounded more traditional. CSS sounded more like a midi mockup, but a very nice and beautiful one, unlike all of VSL's string libraries that sounded synthy/straight out of sibelius/finale. Both are great and I love the sounds of both so therefore one is orange and one is apple. A lot of it for SSS I think, has to do with air studio hall reverb and nice beautiful (sometimes imperfect) transitions/vibratoes/attacks. SSS will even sound realistic even if you had everything quantized at 100% to the beats. CSS is super modern beautiful and perfect to the point that I can tell it's a Midi-mockup but hey i'm a string player so no one needs to feel like they have the same kind of ears I have right?
Click to expand...

Agree completely - also a string player (retired)
 
JanR said:
Btw. SSS has three maes trem patches which have their own character. One recorded at 150 bpm and one recorded at 180 bpm and one con sordino at 150. All patches sync to tempo and shine at vivaldi 4 seasons type meas trems
Click to expand...

Oh thanks, I totally forgot about this sync option for the measured trems.
 
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