Menu
What's new
By:
Filters

All in one libraries under $400. Best choices 2019.

Best all in one under €400

  • Total voters
    170
Hi there,

I'm having the same questions that the OP... But I'm a very very noob in writing... just starting, I just have NI Symphonic Essentials + Komplete 11U, Noir Piano.
I have a decent Mac Mini 2018 i7 with 32Gb Ram and very fast SSDs...

Now with BF deals, I can see a pack with East West Hollywood Orchestra + Solo Instruments Series (Gold) on sale for $363 !!!

So my question is : For this price ($363), is EW HO+SIS a better choice that Nucleus at $375 (on sale) ? or OT inspire $399 ? is it worth it ?

From what I can read in different forums about EW: Play is a messy app. Loading time are horrible, and it's not sounding good oob, dated UI.... is it really the case with Play6 ?

My objective is to start writing with straight to the point all in one Orchestral VI, with NKS support with my NI KK keyboard, stable , and not too complicated to use....

btw: what about Audio Imperia Jaeger ? any good ?( it's on sale for less that $400)

Thanks a lot for your help guys !!!!
 
Last edited:
yassinex said:
From what I can read in different forums about EW: Play is a messy app. Loading time are horrible, and it's not sounding good oob, dated UI.... is it really the case with Play6 ?
Click to expand...

That is all a bunch of baloney regarding Play, I've been using it since it's inception and it's a great sample player. EW sells one of the best orchestral libraries out there IMO; It has a very comprehensive set of instruments and articulations. If you're after NKS, then look at Kontakt libraries. Spend some time scouring YouTube for walkthrough videos of the libraries you've mentioned, and go from there. Also note that EW is now compatible with KK, works like charm.
 
I changed my selection from Nucleus to other. Not because I don't like Nucleus, it's a great library!
But I rather think that VSL Synchron SE 1 or 2 with 1 or 2 + or EWHO for under 500 is the better choice.
More flexibility and good sound, but not as easy as Nucleus.
 
yassinex said:
Now with BF deals, I can see a pack with East West Hollywood Orchestra + Solo Instruments Series (Gold) on sale for $363 !!!
Click to expand...

For $372 I would go for HO Diamond. I didn't and since regretted it as they rarely do sales on upgrades.
Play works great.
 
Thanks guys for your inputs, appreciated :)

James H said:
For $372 I would go for HO Diamond. I didn't and since regretted it as they rarely do sales on upgrades.
Play works great.
Click to expand...

Diamond for HO + Solo series is sold at $590... ( $230 more than the Gold pack ).
Is the Diamond version sound quality noticeably better than the Gold ? - Other than Mic positions, which is not something I'm after -

AndyP said:
I changed my selection from Nucleus to other. Not because I don't like Nucleus, it's a great library!
But I rather think that VSL Synchron SE 1 or 2 with 1 or 2 + or EWHO for under 500 is the better choice.
More flexibility and good sound, but not as easy as Nucleus.
Click to expand...

Just to make sure I'm comparing Apples to Apples..... Are you comparing Nucleus to EWHO Gold or Diamond ?

I'm trying to stick to my budget ( $400 ), so unless there is really a noticable "sound" difference between EWHO diamond and Gold, I'll go for the Gold version + Solo Series.... or Nucleus is EWHO Gold is not that good...



Thanks for your help !
 
yassinex said:
Diamond for HO + Solo series is sold at $590... ( $230 more than the Gold pack ).
Is the Diamond version sound quality noticeably better than the Gold ? - Other than Mic positions, which is not something I'm after -
Click to expand...

The extra mics were what I thought I didn't need either. The 1 default one you get isn't bad by any stretch, but you are lacking in detail without others. I kick myself daily for it... including today! But there are others here who manage well without from reports. But as I say, you won't get the option any time soon, so choose wisely.

I don't own them, but the solo strings don't get much love from what I have read. Maybe someone who has can clarify for you. There's better solo options.

Also, maybe worth holding out on the solo strings if you are just starting out? As writing for them is a different beast... again something I didn't realise until after. Just food for thought, and the EW stuff is on sale every other week.
 
Last edited:
James H said:
The extra mics were what I thought I didn't need either. The 1 default one you get isn't bad by any stretch, but you are lacking in detail without others. I kick myself daily for it... including today! But there others here who manage well without from reports. But as I say, you won't get the option any time soon, so choose wisely.

I don't own them, but the solo strings don't get much love from what I have read. Maybe someone who has can clarify for you. There's better solo options.
Click to expand...

I've always used the Gold versions, they are just fine. I have the close mic as part of the CC "X" subscription, but have rarely used them. I Diamond you also get bow change...but again, is that something you really need.

Also not a fan of the solo strings. They are "meh". Definitely better choices out there.
 
Wolfie2112 said:
I've always used the Gold versions, they are just fine. I have the close mic as part of the CC "X" subscription, but have rarely used them. I Diamond you also get bow change...but again, is that something you really need.
Click to expand...

Cheers man, I did think it was you but wasn't 100% sure, so refrained from tagging.

Does make me feel better, a bit haha. So you'd say the close weren't worth the price, and more worryingly disk space/performance? I feel like I'm missing out, but I'm probably comparing them to Spitfire libs?
 
James H said:
Cheers man, I did think it was you but wasn't 100% sure, so refrained from tagging.

Does make me feel better, a bit haha. So you'd say the close weren't worth the price, and more worryingly disk space/performance? I feel like I'm missing out, but I'm probably comparing them to Spitfire libs?
Click to expand...

I got a killer deal on CC a couple years ago, some sort of deal where if you committed to an annual subscription you got Gold X. If I want to use close mic's, I just click on the close-mic radio button and it loads. I an't comment on performance, as I only used them a few times. But yes, it takes up a lot more drive space when you download the Gold X versions.

I'm not really a "mic position" guy anyways. Even with BBCSO, I just use the default mic mix. Just finished a major live theatrical production, and Mix 1 was perfect.
 
I would probably go for the EWHO. Also, I have heard that the inspires are really good, looks like a great orchestral sketching tool that covers a lot of ground. I'm currently waiting for some kind of sale for the inspires then ill be getting them :)
 
Wolfie2112 said:
Also not a fan of the solo strings. They are "meh". Definitely better choices out there.
Click to expand...

Agree 100% with this. If you owned say Joshua Violin or Emotional Violin/Cello or Tina.....you could write 1000 scenerios for solo strings and you would choose HW solo strings 0 times instead of the ones mentioned.
 
I went ahead and bought Nucleus, and actually added the two Spitfire Originals libraries as well, since they were so cheap. So I'm now using those two, and the CineSymphony Lite I already had since before.

What i'm finding is that while all three are starter/core/sketching libraries and would perhaps seem to be covering similar bases, the sound and playability of them differ hugely, to the extent that i really see uses for all three depending on the song or phrase. I guess this is why people end up with so many libraries in the end. That the idea to have ONE library covering all your needs is an ideal that doesn't work well in reality.

Thinking about it like this, I'm actually considering adding Berlin Inspire as well later (next sale perhaps) since I already feel that the three I have are so different. I guess if you're into proper orchestration, expanding into more specialised libraries would make more sense, but if you're mostly into sketching and songwriting like me, I feel that having multiple sketching libraries is a great thing to find the sound / playability you're looking for for a particular song or phrase.

If anyone would be interested in a a written comparison between Nucleus / Spitfire Originals / CineSymphony I could do a quick write-up of those three. :)
 
mybadmemory said:
Not really interested in mic positions, fully separate sections, or super hyped epic trailer sound. Basically just want a beautiful bread and butter orchestra, preferably with some solo instruments, and perhaps even a harp / piano as well.
Click to expand...
VSL SE 1 and 2 have been my go-to starting point for years. They cover a lot of instruments with a lot of detail and flexibility. You’ll want to put them in a room or stage _and_ then possibly add a large hall for the tails if you want.

For sketching and more, I also recommend the KH Virtuoso library. The VSL and KH libraries aexcellent value tools.
I used Orchestral Essentials 1 and Albion 1/ONE for a time and found inspiration in both but not so much in recent years. Although they both have some unique sounds that I still use sometimes. Lately I find the reverb saturation, especially in Albion ONE to be very distracting. I prefer drier libraries that I can adapt as needed more than the overly reverberant libraries.

Carlos Garza
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom