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Ark 4 or Afflatus strings, before i pull the trigger?

Goldie Zwecker

Active Member
I have Ark 1, 2 & 3, as well as some spitfire stuff (symphonic orchestra, chamber strings, bhct, swarms, olafur evo), and i have an opportunity to get either ark 4, along with stretching it for the NI KK s61 mk2 (as a scond tier, bottom is nord stage 3), or Strzov Afflatus strings which i can get with a teacher & loyalty discount.
Ark 4 matches and completes the Ark series, giving the "edge" and first chairs sound. Afflatus impressed me very much, has a very defined sound with lots of articulations - but restricted only for strings.
Ark 4 is currently for sale for €399 while Afflatus will cost me €625 after the discounts.
Opinions are most welcome!
Thanks!
 
I have Ark 1, 2 & 3, as well as some spitfire stuff (symphonic orchestra, chamber strings, bhct, swarms, olafur evo), and i have an opportunity to get either ark 4, along with stretching it for the NI KK s61 mk2 (as a scond tier, bottom is nord stage 3), or Strzov Afflatus strings which i can get with a teacher & loyalty discount.
Ark 4 matches and completes the Ark series, giving the "edge" and first chairs sound. Afflatus impressed me very much, has a very defined sound with lots of articulations - but restricted only for strings.
Ark 4 is currently for sale for €399 while Afflatus will cost me €625 after the discounts.
Opinions are most welcome!
Thanks!
It depends on what you need and what you want. Helpful, I know!

I'm still not convinced on the concept of Ark 4 and whether it will indeed be a good supplement to what's lacking in the other 3 Arks. It has some good stuff, and I'm still considering it, but I still don't get what OT was going for in this library, other than avoiding competing with their Berlin line. Are you hearing in the sounds of Ark 4 that seem like they would help you make the music you want to make?

As for Afflatus, it sounds like a very nice string library—indeed like several nice string libraries, and if you don't have a dedicated string library or two or a dozen, then it seems like it would be a good library to get, again presuming that you like the sounds you are hearing from the demos.

Deciding whether to go for Afflatus or Ark 4—that really would depend on where you find your current libraries lacking.
 
… and of course the extra Eur 390 should not bias things in any notable way. :P

(edit) Much less difference in your specific case, but a real factor for many others.
 
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I have Ark 1, 2 & 3, as well as some spitfire stuff (symphonic orchestra, chamber strings, bhct, swarms, olafur evo), and i have an opportunity to get either ark 4, along with stretching it for the NI KK s61 mk2 (as a scond tier, bottom is nord stage 3), or Strzov Afflatus strings which i can get with a teacher & loyalty discount.
Ark 4 matches and completes the Ark series, giving the "edge" and first chairs sound. Afflatus impressed me very much, has a very defined sound with lots of articulations - but restricted only for strings.
Ark 4 is currently for sale for €399 while Afflatus will cost me €625 after the discounts.
Opinions are most welcome!
Thanks!

Two very different libraries. I am not sure what to recommend. What do you like better? Latte Machiatto or Espresso? You really should focus on what you want and need. Asking people here? Sure, you can always do that. Well..I have both..both are cool, but very different. I dont need to tell you that still I am confused what advice I can give you here. Well let me ask: Do you have a descent classic orchestral string library? If not, maybe watch out for Afflatus or affiliates, like CSS, Hollywood strings etc. (Trollywood orchestra is on sale..it is often..lol). If you are packed with strings: Do you need a very specific and not that common orchestration presets and special kind musical baked in performances? MA4 has quite a couple of those. Check out their walkthroughs if you havent yet..You seem to like OT otherwise you wouldn´t have MA1-3. So..what is your budget?
PS: What kind of music do you write?
 
Well let me ask: Do you have a descent classic orchestral string library?
I mentioned in the opening post that i have the Spitfire Symphonic Orchestra - which includes Spitfire Symphonic Strings. I also have the Spitfire chamber strings, Bernard Hermann Composer toolkit (which some claim to have some similarities to Ark 4, but i'm not sure), Evo 3, Olafur chamber evo, orchestral swarms - and ark 1, 2, 3 (i should mention that as for hybrid stuff and phrase based stuff i have Novo, Forzo, some sonokinetic libraries and "The Orchestra").
The string sounds coming out of Afflatus seem to have more "weight" and have some great sounding articulations. Ark 4 seems to blend in with the rest of the arks and add an edge and definition the others lack because they are more focused on symphonic sized ensembles.
 
Make sure you do your homework. From all the demos here, Afflatus has some serious phase issues and strezov has never made any mention of fixing it. As some have mentioned some of his other libraries have phase issues as well so whether he's not able to hear it or doesn't know how to fix it or it's a flaw in his technique right from the recording sessions, I don't know. I wrote about it in the Afflatus thread but of course the thread came to a halt more or less when I mentioned that lol.

I'm not gonna say buy it or not, just do your homework. It's one thing that composers here gush over it, I don't expect them to be able to hear phase issues. But a lot of reviewers gush over it and aren't capable of hearing phase issues which is nuts. But it should tell you that you can't trust anyone's ability of someone you don't know personally (or their agendas) - both composers and reviewers.

I heard it instantly in the demos, put a phase meter on it, the phase meter went nuts and confirmed it. And I'm not the only one here to call it.

Do your homework. Really listen to the demos. Trust yourself - don't read reviews other than to hear sound samples - that's all they're really good for, so you can find the issues the reviewers can't to help you make a decision.

Good luck. Trust yourself.
 
I have an educational discount and an additional discount for having other strezov library

Envious of your current impressive Library collection (and reduced price of Afflatus).

1) I'm unsure of my current impressions of Afflatus, in the sense that it seems that much of its content could be achieved with combinations from your extensive content. Likely my ignorance and will appreciate being advised correctly.

2) Also, ARK 4 content does not duplicate respected content in Berlin Strings, but supplements well-respected ARK(s) 1,2,3.

In these two scenarios, tendency is more toward ARK 4 than Afflatus.
I hope to learn more in order to also make a choice between these two respected offerings.

(Plz Note) This post was being composed as @ ionian was making the above post
 
Make sure you do your homework. From all the demos here, Afflatus has some serious phase issues and strezov has never made any mention of fixing it. As some have mentioned some of his other libraries have phase issues as well so whether he's not able to hear it or doesn't know how to fix it or it's a flaw in his technique right from the recording sessions, I don't know. I wrote about it in the Afflatus thread but of course the thread came to a halt more or less when I mentioned that lol.

I'm not gonna say buy it or not, just do your homework. It's one thing that composers here gush over it, I don't expect them to be able to hear phase issues. But a lot of reviewers gush over it and aren't capable of hearing phase issues which is nuts. But it should tell you that you can't trust anyone's ability of someone you don't know personally (or their agendas) - both composers and reviewers.

I heard it instantly in the demos, put a phase meter on it, the phase meter went nuts and confirmed it. And I'm not the only one here to call it.

Do your homework. Really listen to the demos. Trust yourself - don't read reviews other than to hear sound samples - that's all they're really good for, so you can find the issues the reviewers can't to help you make a decision.

Good luck. Trust yourself.
If you hear phase issues, don't buy it. Afflatus is the best string purchase I have ever made. Nothing comes close to the tone and expressiveness. I've been too busy enjoying the library, no time left to do any homework!
 
Make sure you do your homework. From all the demos here, Afflatus has some serious phase issues and strezov has never made any mention of fixing it. As some have mentioned some of his other libraries have phase issues as well so whether he's not able to hear it or doesn't know how to fix it or it's a flaw in his technique right from the recording sessions, I don't know. I wrote about it in the Afflatus thread but of course the thread came to a halt more or less when I mentioned that lol.

I'm not gonna say buy it or not, just do your homework. It's one thing that composers here gush over it, I don't expect them to be able to hear phase issues. But a lot of reviewers gush over it and aren't capable of hearing phase issues which is nuts. But it should tell you that you can't trust anyone's ability of someone you don't know personally (or their agendas) - both composers and reviewers.

I heard it instantly in the demos, put a phase meter on it, the phase meter went nuts and confirmed it. And I'm not the only one here to call it.

Do your homework. Really listen to the demos. Trust yourself - don't read reviews other than to hear sound samples - that's all they're really good for, so you can find the issues the reviewers can't to help you make a decision.

Good luck. Trust yourself.
Did you hear and measure phase issues just in the demos, or do you own a copy and hear this in your studio?
 
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