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Most Disappointing Library Purchase?

1. Sampletank 4 Max

Not because it sounds bad, but I have no use for most of the stuff. The good old sales trap, so it was my fault.

ST2 and 3 was nice and I was a great fan of the original Miroslav library, it was my first vsti orchestral library.

The Miroslav update 2.0 contained to my surprise the complete version 1.0 with some fixes and there were patches with keyswitches now.
But no legato, not even something like a fake legato. some patches were nice but I had some new libraries I liked better.

ST4 Max was a real challenge to download and install. And the included Miroslav 2 CE was also completely in the original Miroslav 2 Update. Not a single new sound, even no legato. Well, it was only one part of the package, but it doesn't have to be recycled that way (if you already have Miro 2).

The ST4 player is also not very resource friendly and there were some strange bugs. Meanwhile, the installation is no longer on my work disks. I didn't miss it either.

I didn't like the organization of the browser very much either, so it was a bad buy for me.

So have you auditioned all of those sounds? Miroslav CE takes a lot of work compared to just about every library.
 
So have you auditioned all of those sounds? Miroslav CE takes a lot of work compared to just about every library.
Yes, because I´ve had them already in the Miroslav 2 update. The CE2 is only a slimmed down version of the full version.
What annoyed me was that Ik polished up a lot of the old content and ST3 sounds were recycled.
I'm also not saying that I don't like the Miroslav sounds in general, but now there are a lot of librarys that sound better and are more playable. The update to version 2 was an improvement, but not really good.
I like the sound of the solo violin, but the different articulations are extremely difficult to harmonize.
I think after 10 years it is also legitimate to change.
 
We need a Phobos support group. As in, emotional support.

Christian Henson's demo was brilliant, and the library sure seems full of promise, but the usability is still super rough. It's mostly just missing better preview capabilities on the sound sources and IRs. Full of gems but super hard to find.
Yeah, sure! the library is cool. A lot of potential there. I made this with it:

but somehow it's not my "go to" library...
 
A surprising thread! Can't say I've regretted any purchases but in a twist of Avatar irony, the BH toolkit hasn't had much love in my recent tracks. I tend to covert these things for months on end reading and watching reviews, walkthroughs etc so I pretty much know what I'm getting or I either buy a library for a specific project and therefore use it all the time while that's being completed.
 
I don't own many libraries, (Yet. >.> ) but the most disappointing one in my collection would have to be EW's Voices of the Opera.

Not even because it's terrible - I've used it to satisfactory results - but because it doesn't do what I expected it would. When I heard the demos and heard the phrases, and I thought; "oh, cool! A soloist library with word builder!" Which was quite silly of me, but hey. :P

I recenty bought Virharmonics Soloists of Prague which is a soloist library with wordbuilder and was kind of disappointent. It does exactly what it was advertised to do and is by no means a bad product. But it is impossible to get these right. Solo Voiced are problematic, wordbuilders as well... To combine them in a realistic way seems hardly possible.
 
I recenty bought Virharmonics Soloists of Prague which is a soloist library with wordbuilder and was kind of disappointent. It does exactly what it was advertised to do and is by no means a bad product. But it is impossible to get these right. Solo Voiced are problematic, wordbuilders as well... To combine them in a realistic way seems hardly possible.
Which is why I’d say that for the present it’s a good idea to temper your expectations. We’re not yet at the point where word builders will allow for distinct words, but for a general choral feeling of singing something with nice tone, they do the job.
 
Which is why I’d say that for the present it’s a good idea to temper your expectations. We’re not yet at the point where word builders will allow for distinct words, but for a general choral feeling of singing something with nice tone, they do the job.

Yes, my expectations were unrealistic. From what I have learned I regard libraries with wordbuilders that are capable of building any word as highly advanced tools for choral writing. Lyrics and phrasing are a key element for that.

If it is only for the effect even limited wordbuilders with a few syllabils can achieve nice sounds without actual lyrics and provide the sensation of verbal language.
 
Cinesamples Solo Strings.

Expected Tina Guo Legato levels of quality and expression. Turned out to be a library which i never use.

I'm surprised by this. I have it and i think the violin 1 and cello in particular are some of the most convincing solo strings available.

It is a frustrating library in terms of the jumble of articulations and the fact violin 2 and viola didnt get as much attention or the expressive legato that the violin 1 and the cello get.
 
I'm surprised by this. I have it and i think the violin 1 and cello in particular are some of the most convincing solo strings available.

It is a frustrating library in terms of the jumble of articulations and the fact violin 2 and viola didnt get as much attention or the expressive legato that the violin 1 and the cello get.

It's still a neat library. I expected probably something like the Joshua Bell Violin when it comes to playabilty and expression. Also the Solo section i think should be the best players available and playing highly expressive, this is serviceable but not Guo or Bell levels IMO. But it's in general that delicious legato lines and fast runs are so hard to capture with VI's.
 
I think the secret is this:
  • Buy what you really want (and not what price dictates)
  • Realize that if you cannot make your music sound as good as the demos, then it is your fault and not the library’s fault
...then you will be satisfied with nearly every purchase from the big developers.

(Exceptions do happen though)
 
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